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TRAVEL NEWS

Flights, trains and ferries: Spain’s new international travel routes in 2023

The year 2023 will bring with it some new international travel routes to and from Spain. Here's all you need to know about getting to Spain by air, rail and sea this year.

Published: 3 January 2023 17:11 CET
Updated: 15 January 2023 08:59 CET
Flights, trains and ferries: Spain's new international travel routes in 2023
The new transport routes to Spain in 2023. Photo: JOSEP LAGO / AFP

It looks like 2023 is going to be a good year for travel if you live in Spain as there are many new transport routes, reaching cities across the country. While some are entirely new routes, others will be starting up again after stopping during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

From Madrid:

  • Cathay Pacific started flying to Hong Kong, China on October 2nd, 2022 and will continue into the new year.
  • Korean Air will be connecting Madrid with Seoul, Korea from March 26th, 2023 with three flights a week.
  • Norwegian Air will be operating routes between Copenhagen, Denmark and the Spanish capital from June 22nd 2023 twice a week.
  • Aeroméxico will be offering flights to both Monterrey and Guadalajara in Mexico from March 2023 with 3-5 per week and from June 1st, 2023 one per day. 

From Barcelona:

  • United Airlines will be flying between Barcelona and Chicago, US from May 6th 2023 (seasonal service only).
  • Level airlines started to operate flights between the Catalan capital and Santiago, Chile from October 30th 2022, 3 times a week and then 4 times from December 5th 2022.
  • Level also started offering 5-7 flights a week to Buenos Aires, Argentina from November 5th, 2022 and will continue to do so in 2023. 

READ ALSO: Everything that changes about travel in Spain in 2023

From Málaga:

  • United Airlines will be offering flights between the Andalusian city and New York three times a week from May 31st 2023. 
  • Eurowings will be opening the first direct flight from mainland Spain to Cape Verde from April 2023, which will operate twice per week. 

From Murcia:

  • easyJet will be launching a new route between Manchester, UK and Murcia between March 28th and September 26th, 2023 with four weekly flights.
  • The airline will also be running routes between London, Luton and Murcia three times a week from April 1st 2023. 

From Vigo:

  • Air Nostrum will connect Vigo with London three times a week in the high season and two in low season from April 2023.

From Bilbao:

  • Low-cost airline Volotea will be offering a new route between the Basque city and Marrakech, Morocco from May 27th 2023.
  • Air Cairo also launched a new route between Bilbao and the Egyptian capital from October 31st 2022. 

Ferries

Brittany ferries will be opening up and selling its routes to Spain from March 2023. 

  • Portsmouth to Bilbao – Two sailings per week (31 hours 30 mins to 36 hours overnight (two-night). 
  • Portsmouth to Santander – Two sailings per week (28 hours 30 mins to 33 hours 30 mins overnight or two-night). 
  • Plymouth to Santander – Two sailings per week (20 hours 15 mins overnight). 
  • Rosslare, Ireland to Bilbao – Brittany Ferries also launched the Rosslare, Ireland to Bilbao mini cruise in late 2022 and will be continuing this offering in 2023. The Salamanca will sail from Rosslare to Bilbao twice weekly. The journey will take around hours with one to two nights spent on board.

And within Spain…

Trains

Iryo – From March 31st 2023, the new high-speed rail operator Iryo which launched in November 2022, will start running trains from Madrid to Seville, Málaga, Córdoba and Antequera in the southwestern region of Andalusia. And on June 2nd, it intends to launch its route to the eastern coastal city of Alicante (via Albacete). 

Ouigo

Ouigo, another high-speed train network, also plans on extending its network in 2023 and towards the end of the year will offer round trips to Seville, Málaga, and Córdoba from Madrid. 

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TOURISM

FACT CHECK: No, Spain’s Balearics haven’t banned tourists from drinking alcohol

Over the last few days, there have been a slew of sensationalist headlines mainly from UK media stating that Mallorca and Ibiza have banned alcohol.

Published: 16 May 2024 11:35 CEST
FACT CHECK: No, Spain's Balearics haven't banned tourists from drinking alcohol

Anyone having read the news about Spain in the UK over the past few days would be forgiven for thinking that drinking alcohol had been completely banned on the ‘party’ islands of Mallorca and Ibiza, but that’s not exactly the case. 

GB News went with ‘‘I cannot believe this!’ Britons fume at ‘tough’ new alcohol restrictions in popular parts of Spain’, while the Daily Mail wrote: ‘A kick in the Balearics for boozy Brits’.

Euronews reported ‘No more ‘sun, sex and sangria’ tourism in Ibiza and Mallorca under new alcohol laws’ and The Drinks Business simply said ‘Balearics bring in booze ban’.

It’s easy to understand why holidaymakers are confused and there has already been quite a lot of backlash, particularly from Brits.

Most of these articles concede further down that the truth is that the islands have only updated and toughened up laws on drinking in the street, and have also put a stop to shops selling alcohol late at night.

All this is in a bid to try and curb anti-social behaviour which many locals have been protesting against recently.

In fact, the rules don’t even apply to the whole of the Balearics or even the whole of Mallorca and Ibiza, they only apply to three resorts in Mallorca – Palma, Calvià and Llucmajor and one in Ibiza – Sant Antoni de Portmany.

As well as a ban on drinking in the streets in these areas, shops in these locations will also be forced to close between 9.30pm and 8am.

It’s not only that they will be banned from selling alcohol between these times, like many reported, but that they will have to close completely. 

The Governing Council of the Balearic Islands approved the modification of the Decree Law 1/2020 at the proposal of the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sports, which regulates ‘excess tourism’.

The changes aim to promote responsible tourism and the improvement in the quality of tourist areas.

The ban also extends to one nautical mile or 1.85km off the coast, in a bid to put a stop to party boats from coming in too close to shore or picking up extra passengers.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t drink at all at night. Bars, clubs and restaurants in these resorts will still be serving booze late into the night, you just can’t walk down the street with your bottle of beer.

Anyone found breaking the rules will be subject to fines between €500 to €1,500.

The government of the Balearics also approved an annual spending of €16 million from tourist taxes which will be allocated for the modernisation and improvement of these areas and enforcing the ban.

The new laws came into effect on May 11th and the government has confirmed that they will be in effect until at least December 2027. 

What has changed from before?

The new decree reinforces laws that were brought in in 2020 banning alcohol offers such as two-for-one drinks, happy hours and bar crawls in these areas. These will also be extended until 2027. 

The prohibition of alcohol sales between 9:30pm and 8am was also already in place, but now the shops will be forced to close entirely.

The main change that will affect holidaymakers will be the ban on drinking alcohol on the streets.

Nothing new

But this is nothing new when it comes to Spain. Aragón, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Valencia, Extremadura, Madrid and La Rioja all have some type of ban on what is known in Spain as botellón, essentially drinking alcohol with friends in a public place (street, square etc).

The Balearics are simply catching up to a large majority of the country, where this is already the norm.

All of this comes on the tail of mass complaints from the locals, particularly in Ibiza, where residents are planning to take to the streets at 8pm on May 24th to call on authorities to act on the impact tourism is having on locals’ living standards.  

It started with calls online to “imitate the protests that took place in the Canaries” in April, with many locals feeling that the issues that Ibiza faces are even worse than those of the Atlantic Archipelago. 

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