The long-awaited opening of the new terminal at London’s Heathrow Airport is set to make travelling to Spain even easier for British passengers.

Although the UK already enjoys excellent links to the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca, the £4.3 billion Terminal 5 will provide even more flights to southern Spain and significantly reduce queues and waiting times for holidaymakers.

Due to open on March 27th and built exclusively for the use of British Airways, the terminal will be capable of handling 30 million passengers each year and is five times as large as Terminal 4, the Telegraph reports.

However, it has other advantages in addition to its size, with a number of innovative features designed to make the experience of taking a flight as quick and comfortable as possible. Terminal 5 will offer an online check-in system, eliminating the need for queues at the desk, while luggage can also be conveniently deposited at one of the 96 ‘fast bag drops’.

The terminal also contains a number of designer stores bound to appeal to shopping fans, including such prestigious names as Harrods, Prada and Paul Smith.

BA’s franchise GB Airways currently operates flights to Malaga from Heathrow, while an Alicante route is available from nearby London Gatwick.

An industry group has revealed details of a special conference for female businesswomen on the Costa Blanca.

Organised to coincide with International Women’s Day, the Company Women Conference takes place at the Bahia Costa venue, near Torrevieja, on March 6th.

The event is entitled What marvellous women do away from home and will focus on the successful businesses set up by women in overseas locations, with a number of high-profile guest speakers booked to appear.

BT Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 Kerrie Keeling will give a keynote speech, while American newsreader Terri Wiltshire will also make an appearance.

Conference organiser Caroline Garrett commented: “We’re absolutely thrilled that such high-profile, successful female entrepreneurs have agreed to speak at our first conference.

“We extend a very warm invitation to all women who are working in Spain or about to set up a business in Spain to come along and join us.”

Torrevieja is now the fifth largest city in the entire Valencian community, behind Valencia, Alicante, Castellon and Elche, recent population figures have revealed.

With the festival season in full swing across Castellon province, music lovers have another reason to celebrate this weekend when Van Morrison arrives in the area.

The legendary Northern Irish singer is set to perform two concerts on January 31st and February 1st at the Auditorio Castellon de la Plana, just a short trip along the coast from Benicarlo, Peniscola and Vinaros.

‘Van the Man’ will be backed by a full band and is expected to play many of the hits from his long career, including Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance and Wild Night, as well as serenading the audience with his saxophone and harmonica talents.

The two concerts will be the only chance to see Morrison in the Valencia region this year, making them an essential event for fans of his unique combination of folk, jazz and soul music, Comunitat Valenciana reports.

Festivals are currently occurring in Benicarlo and Vinaros, with Benicarlo’s famous Artichoke Festival reaching its conclusion today (January 28th).

The former Malaga home of celebrated English writer Gerald Brenan is to be converted into a new museum, it has emerged.

According to Typically Spanish, the museum will comprise of three sections, with the first documenting Brenan’s life and work and the second dedicated to the “romantic travellers” of Spain.

The third part of the museum will house artefacts from the agricultural life of the Churriana district, where the building is located.

Brenan died in 1987 and is one of many authors from overseas who have been inspired by the Spanish lifestyle and landscape, forming part of a tradition which includes such figures as Laurie Lee and Ernest Hemingway.

Born in Malta, Brenan grew up in the UK but spent much of his life in Spain. His best known works include The Spanish Labyrinth and South From Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village.

Valencia is the place to be for fans of opera at the moment, with a celebrated work by Sergei Prokofiev about to open at the city’s Palau de les Arts.

The Russian composer’s Betrothal in a Monastery will be performed in Valencia from January 26th until February 10th, following its appearance at the famous Glyndebourne opera festival in Sussex, England, Comunitat Valencia reports.

Written by Prokofiev and Mira Mendelson, Betrothal in a Monastery tells the story of Louisa, who is engaged to marry a rich merchant against her will. Defying the wishes of her father, she elopes with her true love Antonio.

The opera was first staged in St Petersburg in 1946 and has delighted opera lovers around the world ever since. Dmitri Jurowski provides the musical direction for the Valencia production, while stage direction is handled by Daniel Salter.

Last week, Valencia’s Palau de la Musica hosted the city’s annual flamenco festival, with many of the top flamenco performers in Spain appearing over a four-day period.

Journey times between Malaga and Seville will be significantly reduced by the launch of a new high-speed rail service in February, it has been announced.

Spanish development minister Magdalena Alvarez revealed that the new AVE train will cut the trip from its current time of two hours and 30 minutes to just one hour and 55 minutes, Typically Spanish reports.

The improved journey time will provide Costa del Sol homeowners with easy access to one of Europe’s most vibrant cities, while people living in Seville can travel down to the south coast for a leisurely weekend or mid-week break.

According to the news provider, there will be a daily service of six trains running in each direction. The train currently travels via Cordoba, although a direct connection will be introduced at a later date.

The growth of the AVE train network has seen transport links in Spain improve “by leaps and bounds”, according to the European Rail Guide website, which praises the service’s “excellent customer service, punctuality and easy to understand fares”.

New passenger statistics have revealed that Alicante’s El Altet Airport saw significant growth during 2007 and is developing into one of Spain’s busiest destinations.

Official data shows that overall passenger levels increased by three per cent at El Altet last year, with the Costa Blanca hub now ranked as the sixth most important airport in the whole of Spain.

According to Costa Blanca News, the expansion of low-cost airlines such as Ryanair has given the airport a significant boost in the last few years, with the Irish carrier recently making Alicante one of its main flight bases.

In addition, the enduring popularity of Costa Blanca resorts among European holidaymakers continues to fuel demand for flights to Alicante, with the airport serving over one million passengers during the peak holiday month of August last year.

Airport officials have predicted that El Altet will continue to go from strength to strength this year, with plans for a new terminal and car park well underway, the website reports.

Work is also progressing on the new airport at Murcia, Round Town News reported last year. The Corvera hub will function in addition to the existing San Javier Airport and is expected to be operational by 2010, improving access to Costa Blanca locations such as Torrevieja and Santa Pola.

People interested in the Spanish cultural artefacts of a bygone age are advised to visit an exhibition currently taking place at Alicante.

Entitled Del Mediterraneo a los Andes, the exhibition explores the roots of Mediterranean and Andean culture and demonstrates how the two combined to create a new identity, Communitat Valenciana reports.

Recommended for fans of both Spanish and South American culture, the event includes a wide variety of exhibits including religious items, archaeological remains, ceramic pieces and other examples of the rich legacy of the Mediterranean-Andean cultural exchange.

Taking place until February 6th, the exhibition should have plenty to offer holidaymakers and property owners who would like their stay on the Costa Blanca to provide more than just sun and sand.

Another attraction currently drawing people to the Valencia region is Formula One, with Spanish former champion Fernando Alonso currently test-driving his new Renault car at Valencia’s Cheste circuit before the new season begins.

This year could see the long-awaited plans for an underwater tunnel linking Spain with north Africa move closer to realisation, it has emerged. Experts have been working on technical reports for the project since 2006 and are due to present their findings this year, although the idea of a tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar was first considered by the Spanish and Moroccan authorities as far back as 1980. According to southern Spanish newspaper Sur, the main sticking point of the development relates to financial matters - a conservative estimate puts the cost at approximately 5,000 million euros. 

However, with Spain and Morocco applying to the World Bank, European Investment Bank and Arab Monetary Fund for financial backing, there is renewed hope that 2008 could be a year of significant progress in what will be a complex undertaking for both countries. Italian engineer Giovanni Lombardi once said that the Spain-Morocco tunnel would make the Channel Tunnel between England and France look like “child’s play”. Costa del Sol property owners can currently visit north Africa using the Algeciras to Tangier high-speed ferry, which usually takes just over 30 minutes.

A growing number of European people are choosing to access southern Spain by flying to Malaga, according to new figures.

Data released by the Spanish airports authority Aena shows that overall passenger numbers at the Costa del Sol hub increased by 3.9 per cent last year, with the largest number of arrivals coming from the UK.

This means that over 13.5 million passengers flew to Malaga in 2007, with the airport serving more than 2.5 million British travellers over the course of the year, Typically Spanish reports.

According to the figures, an increasing number of German, French and Irish passengers also entered Spain through Malaga Airport during 2007.

Last week, the website reported that work on a new road to relive traffic congestion around the airport has begun in Malaga. The €36 million (£26.74 million) project is expected to take two years to complete but will significantly improve access for travellers as the airport continues to increase in popularity.