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TOURISM

IN PICS: The 15 beautiful small towns you should visit in Spain

Each year the list of the Most Beautiful Towns in Spain swells it ranks and 2020 will see 15 more win a spot in the coveted association.

Published: 2 January 2020 10:25 CET
IN PICS: The 15 beautiful small towns you should visit in Spain
Alcudia in Mallorca makes the list of Spain's most beautiful towns. Photo: Asociación Los Pueblos más Bonitos de España

From white-washed hilltop villages in Andalusia to medieval walled towns in the foothills of the Pyrenees, a total of 94 locations have been awarded status as Los Pueblos más Bonitos de España

The idea to start the association, in 2011, came after the success of its French counterpart and first such group, Les plus beaux villages de la France. 

“It is our goal to promote preferably rural and small towns,” the association says on its website.

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Town halls can apply for their town to join the list, but only 20 percent make the grade, winning the right to publicize themselves as “one of Spain's prettiest towns”. 

To qualify, towns must have a population of under 15,000 and some kind of provable architectural or cultural heritage. 

On January 1 another 15 towns will be accepted. Their names were announced last week at a ceremony in Zamora.

“We welcome these fifteen new municipalities, they will become part of our great family, beautiful villages that have passed a rigorous audit thanks to the work of generations of neighbors, who have cared for and protected the cultural heritage, architectural and landscape inherited,” said Francisco Mestre, president of the Association.

So here’s a look at the latest towns to make the grade.

Alcudia in Mallorca, Balearic Islands


Photo: Depositphotos

Pollença in Mallorca, Balearic Islands


Photo: Depositphotos
 

Atienza in Guadalajara province Castilla-La Mancha

Photo: Depositphotos

Pastrana in Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha


Photo: PMRMaeyaert/CC/ Wikipedia 

Betancuria in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands


Photo: Depositphotos

Teguise in Lanzarote, Canary Islands


Photo: Depositphotos

Castellar de la Frontera in Cádiz, Andalusia


Photo: Depositphotos

Castrillo de los Polvazares in León, Castille and Leon 


Photo: Depositphotos

Monteagudo de las Vicarías in Soria, Castile and Leon


Photo: PMRMaeyaert/CC/ Wikipedia 

Vinuesa in Soria, Castile and Leon

Photo: Depositphotos

Culla in Castellón, Valencia


Arial photo: Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Castellón

Mogrovejo in Cantabria

Photo: Depositphotos

Olivenza in Badajoz, Extremadura


Photo: Depositphotos

Robledillo de Gata in Cáceres, Extremadura

Ponte Maceira in A Coruña, Galicia
 


Photo: Depositphotos

READ ALSO: The eight least touristy cities in Spain (and why you should visit them)

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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