In old Madrid a new wine experiences center, Vinotium, has opened with the latest audiovisual equipment offering a light-hearted yet instructive view of the various phases and techniques of wine making, for which Spain is world famous. Possibilities include a virtual harvesting simulator, virtual stomping winery and the wine flavors game. Tasting courses are available with wine and/or extra virgin olive oil being combined with Spanish ham and cheese. This could be followed up by a wine or gastronomic tour in one or two of Spain’s prestigious ‘denomination of origin’ wine regions, visiting bodegas (wineries) and tasting their products in situ. Contact Valesa Cultural Services to arrange a tour with the full flavors of Spain.

Several of Spain’s well-loved classic hotels are planning temporary closure for extensive refurbishment during the next two years. One is Seville’s Alfonso XIII Hotel (operated by Starwood), which is aiming to reopen in March 2012 in time for Holy Week and the Spring Fair.  In Granada, the Alhambra Palace Hotel will be closing for its face-lift in November 2011. Finally, we report that San Sebastian’s emblematic Hotel Maria Cristina (run by Starwood) is also about to close doors temporarily for extensive renovation, from October 9, 2011 through June 30, 2012. Several other celebrated hotels are also due for temporary closure at dates still to be announced. Valesa Cultural Services can keep you up-to-date with these developments.

  Two new high quality services are now available at the airports of Madrid and Barcelona. Meet and Assist for arrivals means the passengers are met at the bridge gate, escorted through Immigration, Customs and baggage collection, and then assisted to their ground transport or driver. On departure, clients are assisted at check-in and with baggage drop-off, escorted to a VIP lounge (optional) and then on to the boarding gate.

The Fast Track service (only available in Madrid’s Terminal 4 at present) provides for meeting arrival passengers at bridge gate, passing through an exclusive independent security control (x-rays), and driving them to the Sala Premium Lounge where they wait comfortably while the staff collect their luggage. The lounge offers full facilities including showers, wi-fi and refreshments. Passport control and Customs formalities take place in the same lounge, and finally the clients are escorted to their transport in a private parking lot. On departure, passengers can be picked up from the  hotel or elsewhere, or met at the airport, and escorted to the Sala Premium Lounge. They are assisted with check-in and baggage drop-off, and again passport control and Customs formalities take place in the lounge. Clients pass through an exclusive independent security control (x-rays) and then are transported by van to board the plane by the bridge stairway. Check with Valesa if you would like to book this new service.

Toledo is one of Spain’s most historic cities and is less than a one-hour journey from Madrid. For those already familiar with its main sites, Valesa Cultural Services can now offer more visits to previously unexplored sites. Among the newly opened sites are the fascinating archaeological remains of Roman baths, the so-called ‘Caves of Hercules’ that figure in legends associated with Toledo’s foundation and early history, the Jewish House (with an area possibly used long ago for ritual purification baths), the Church of El Salvador with remains from an earlier mosque, and preserved architectural and archaeological remains of Islamic baths.  Another possibility is to climb a recently-restored Mudéjar church towers in order to appreciate their construction techniques, as well as the view when you reach the top!

We are excited to hear that researchers at Madrid’s Prado Museum have announced the discovery of a previously unknown work by the master Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a sprawling, 5-by-9-foot tempera-on-linen peasant scene called “The Wine of St. Martin’s Day.”

“The discovery of the painting is fantastic news for the history of art,” Prado director Miguel Zugaza said.

Spain’s El Pais newspaper said the museum was prepared to pay about €7 million ($9.33 million), but that the painting could fetch as much as €25 million if sold in the private sector.

The owners of the painting had wanted to sell it and had unaware that it was a Bruegel. Sotheby’s of Madrid then asked the Prado to study the much-deteriorated work and investigations gradually brought to light that it was a Bruegel.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the patriarch of a prolific Flemish painting dynasty, is known for his landscapes and depictions of peasant life.

Prior knowledge of the painting’s image was known from an ancient engraving, but the work itself “had been taken for lost,” Zugaza said. The painting was brought to Spain from Italy by the ninth Duke of Medinaceli in the 17th century and remained in the family’s hands up until recently, he said. Its current owners were private collectors who did not want to be named.

The minister said the owners had indicated they would prefer it went to a national museum rather than into private hands.

It’s a remarkable event, it’s unlikely that there will ever be another Bruegel discovered again in such an unexpected manner. There are barely 40 Bruegels in the world,” said Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/35860/spain-discovers-a-bawdy-unknown-work-by-pieter-bruegel-the-elder/

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/23/spain-ids-previously-unknown-bruegel-masterpiece/

http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2010/09/24/prado-discovers-a-breugel/

http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php?/news/comments/spains_prado_museum_restorers_find_unknown_bruegel_masterpiece/

Other works by Bruegel

http://www.abcgallery.com/B/bruegel/bruegel.html

Continue reading other articles in our Latest News Here

Spain’s newest museum,  The Museum of Human Evolution is due to open in the northern city of Burgos on July 13, 2010. The location of this museum is important as it is located just 10 miles/15,km from the world famous archaeological site of Atapuerca. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Atapuerca’s excavations have revealed remains of one of the most significant settlements of the first Europeans. The human fossils recovered from Atapuerca so far constitute 85% of all the world’s fossils from the period known as the Middle Pleistocene.( 781—126 thousand years ago)

Undoubtedly the Museum will be a global reference point for prehistory, both on a scientific level and in terms of education and dissemination. Atapuerca Palaeontologist Juan Luis Arsuaga stated to El Pais Seminal “This is a unique museum in the world. There is nothing like it. During its conception, our team had decided that we did not want a museum of prehistory, of fossils and bones. We wanted a museum of the living, not of the dead. For this reason the building is very bright, the architecture is very open, like a huge glass box..”  The museum will also have exhibits which will interpret what the findings at Atapuerca can help us understand about ourselves. It will also be a center for research.

Another important factor in differentiating this museum from others is that the museum will show authentic fossils, contrary to many museums which exhibit copies while the original pieces are kept in safes. Among several, one of the treasures of the museum is Skull 5 known as ‘Miguelon’. It is one of the most complete human fossil skulls in the world, found in 1992 at Atapuerca and dated at 400,000 years old. 

Burgos is a plesasant city to visit, along with its charming old quarter with its many churches and convents, it is home to an extraordinary Cathedral, considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Gothic art.  A visit to Burgos would fit nicely into a route including Madrid, the Rioja wine region and the northern cities of Bilbao and San Sebastian or even west to Galicia. For those interested in pre-history, we also recommend visiting the Altamira cave museum (near Santillana del Mar and Santander).

Atapuerca Links:

Museo de la Evolución Humana – http://www.museoevolucionhumana.com

Palaeontologist Juan Luis Arsuaga’s website:  http://www.atapuerca.tv/

Atapuerca Foundation: http://www.atapuerca.org/

http://www.fundacionsiglo.com/atapuerca/datos_en.html

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/atapuerca.html

This summer experience music and dance emblematic sights such as the beautiful beaches of San Sebastian, The Alhambra in Granada, Montjuic hill in Barcelona or the Real Alcazar in Seville. We have compiled a short list of the many music happenings going on in Spain this summer. 

GRANADA

International Festival of Music and Dance

24 June to 14 July

Each summer an explosion of artistic activities is held in perhaps most emblematic monument in Spain, The Alhambra.  The concerts of major symphony orchestras in the Palacio de Carlos V, dance and ballet at the outdoor theater of the gardens of the Generalife, the concerts in the Courtyard of the Myrtles in the Alhambra, together with concerts in churches and monuments of Granada, along with the late nights of flamenco and world music in typical neighborhoods Albaicín and Sacromonte each year gather thousands of people, all attracted by the magic of the show in these unique settings.

Website: www.granadafestival.org

BARCELONA

13 Jun 2010 – 18 Aug 2010

On the Montjuic Hill near Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium is a Greek-style amphitheatre – the Teatre Grec. Many of the 45 events of the Barcelona Summer Festival of theatre, music and dance are performed here, along with a dozen other venues around this magical city. Popularly known as the ‘El Grec’, the festival offers a mix of entertainment with musical highlights for this year include, Joan Manuel Serrat, Corinne Bailey Rae, McCoy Tyner Trio & Joe Lovano, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gerard Quintana. Every year, the Grec Festival of Barcelona focuses on the theatre scene in a chosen country, helping to give spectators more global insight into the creative world.  This year, the Festival sets its sights on Japan, a country that boasts an active theatre scene with the added attraction that Japanese productions often adopt a very different approach to that taken in the West. For the first time, then, the Grec Festival of Barcelona presents a section devoted to the different theatrical arts of Japan, and it does so within a context that also includes such Japanese traditions as ikebana and the tea ceremony.

Website:  www.barcelonafestival.com

MADRID

Veranos de la Villa 

29 June – 22 August

Various stages throughout the city will offer music, theatre and dance this summer.

Spanish stars such as flamenco guitarrist Paco de Lucia, Singer Manuel Carrasco, Pop-Flamenco group Ojos de Brujo, International stars such as Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes, Diana Krall, Sinead O’Connor, The Wailers 40^th Anniversary tour will perform at the outdoor stage at Puerta del Angel. Other stages are set around the city offering Zarzuela (Spanish operetta), theatre, and concerts in locations such as the Sabatini gardens next to the Royal Palace.

Website: veranosdelavilla.esmadrid.com

SAN SEBASTIAN

Heineken Jazzaldia Jazz Festival

21st to the 25th of July, 2010

The 45th annual Heineken Jazzaldia Jazz Festival will be held in San Sebastian from the 21st to the 25th of July, 2010. Hosting some of the largest names in Jazz, this festival has been called the best jazz festival in Spain if not all of Europe and is one of the oldest currently running music festival in Europe. This years festival will see the likes of Patti Smith, Ron Carter, Archie Shepp Quartet + Mina Agossi, Christian Scott, Dave Holland + Pepe Habichuela, Kris Kristofferson,  Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes, and the Arturo Sandoval Sextet.

Website: www.heinekenjazzaldia.com

SEVILLE

From June 6 to Sept. 12, 2010

Nights in the Gardens of the Alcazar, Sevilla

From the orchards of citrus flourish Islamic palace centuries later these gardens, an object of fascination and product of centuries of overlapping cultures that have passed through our ancient city. Now as then, the gardens of Real Alcázar continue to captivate visitors and fountains whisper the voices of other times. Those of the past and those to come. This summer Nights in the Gardens of the Alcazar presents an ecletic series of concerts ranging from classical, to flamenco to pop music. Concerts begin at 10:30pm and cost 4 euros.

Website; (In Spanish) http://www.actidea.com/agenda/2010/07

Download calendar here.

Click here for previous articles in “Latest News”

In early June the Culture Ministry and the Altamira board of directors unanimously approved the reopening of the Altamira Cave which has been closed to visitors since 2002. The cave, located in northern Spain near Santander is known as the “Sistine Chapel of Prehistoric Art”. It is decorated with vivid depictions of bison and other animals dating back 15,000 years, a testament to the artists’ skill in using rock formations to accentuate perspective.

The cave was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985 and is considered a masterpiece of Palaeolithic art, along with the Lascaux cave in France.

The Spanish authorities suggest that while the cave may not adapt to touristic uses, it is a heritage sight for all of humanity, a museum and a place for research. They request patience for the moment as requests to visit the museum are not being taken until after the summer. Currently it is being decided how many visitors would be allowed per day in order to protect the paintings. As reported by USA Today, the Spanish scientific research body has recommended that the caves remain closed.

We recommend visiting Altamira II, an exact replica of the cave that opened in 2001 and is located near the original. At the same location there is the Altamira Museum, with its highly informative exhibits on Cantabrian prehistory and cave art.

In the area, we suggest visiting the delightful medieval town of Santillana del Mar, just a couple of kilometres away. For those interested in visiting more caves we suggest a visit to Puente Viesgo, the “Prehistoric Capital of Cantabria.” Visit the Las Monedas Caves and the Cueva del Castillo, where 180 images of  horses, bison, deer, goats and mammoth, dating back 12,000-14,000 years cavort on the walls.

Ask us about private tours with expert guides throughout northern Spain. As an example we are organizing a special cave focused tour of the Archaeology Institute of America. This October the group will be led by world-renowned archaeological author Paul Bahn.

To many, Marrakech’s La Mamounia is Africa’s most renowned hotel. Sir Winston Churchill spent much of his retirement time here and for decades it was an international “IN crowd” destination. The hotel re-opened in the fall of 2009 after a 3-year total makeover. Here is a first-hand account of our recent inspection.  

The avenue in front of the hotel is now off limits to all traffic, a great thought to cut down on noise and provide a sense of privacy to rooms facing that side, though the security one now needs to pass just to get near the hotel is somewhat daunting. Upon entering, first impressions count and this one is very good: instead of facing a sober desk and concierge, you are now greeted by an impeccably dressed young staff, seemingly fluent in every language you can think of, who whisk you off to the foyer for a cup of mint tea while the “formalities” are taken care of. That foyer, a hallmark of the hotel, has lost none of its grandeur and is worthy of a king’s Moroccan palace. This airy space, large enough to fit an orchestra and audience, has been improved by adding bright screens between each sitting area to add privacy.

On to the rooms: The Mamounia suffered competition over the last dozen years from a number of deluxe small boutique hotels located within the old city, all converted from former palatial residences, with their opulent Moroccan wall and ceiling art. Thus, the Art Deco flourishes installed in the Mamounia’s 1986 remodeling are all gone, replaced by traditional Moroccan woodwork and decor. The rooms have lost nothing in their comfort or elegance, while a bed-side remote gadget allows you to control everything, from raising the window shades, adjusting temperature, to requesting maid or laundry service (just in case you never want to get out of bed!). A window with traditional Moroccan wood fretwork screen has been installed between the bedroom and bathroom, a nice decorative touch that allows natural light into the bathroom, but not so ingenious if you’d rather not be seen by your room-mate while taking a shower! The vast grounds sprinkled with bougainvillea and palms are as splendid as ever, with the outdoor breakfast nook now moved to the far side of the pool, so that clients in the prime pool-view rooms are no longer awakened by the clanging of dishes at 7am! That buffet breakfast is still one of the world’s most extravagant, a true jaw dropper (albeit at a hefty 35 Euro). And the hotel has retained its 3 Blue Ribbon signature restaurants: French, Italian and Moroccan. Overall, the 3-year effort is a great improvement to the look and ambiance of the hotel. If you’re looking to experience a legendary hotel, with its history, its full range of services, its utter comfort, the Mamounia will not disappoint.

Contact us for a tailor-made trip in Morocco…

The public square in front to the CaixaForum Madrid will host monumental bronze cast sculpture of a seven meter high elephant by the artist Miquel Barcelo until June 13.

The sculpture is part of the exhibition that opened its doors on February 10, 2010 and will encompass the trajectory of the Majorcan artist since 1983.

It is the first time that Miquel Barceló has displayed this monumental sculpture, from 2009, as part of an exhibition. The elephant will invite visitors to enter the Madrid CaixaForum and experience the creations of Barcelo, an essential figure in the Spanish contemporary arts scene.

140 works will be part of the show which includes ceramics, sculpture, drawings, watercolors, posters, books and traveldiaries. Barceló himself will be present so the spectator can better understand the creative process of this artist of international importance.

 CaixaForum Madrid is open from Monday to Sunday 10.00 a 20.00 h

 Address: Paseo del Prado, 36

28014 MADRID

 More information:

http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBuscadorAgenda.do?codigoEvento=E5479&codigoLocal=2516&tipo=1

http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/nuestroscentros/caixaforummadrid/caixaforummadrid_es.html

Click here to read past entries in “Latest News”