The Costa
de la Luz (Coast of light) is
the perfect holiday resort with beautiful sandy
beaches, endless sunshine and it's famous love
of fiestas. The Costa de la Luz is the on western
part of the Cadiz coastline overlooking the
Atlantic. It boasts of the best sandy beaches
in Spain.
The beaches are wider and bigger than those
in the other coasts of Spain and are usually
in natural surroundings backed by sand dunes
and pinetrees. It is still very natural and
unspoilt there are not the highrise apartments
blocks which spoil the Costa de la Sol.
Without a doubt one of the busiest times in
Cadiz on the Costa
de la Luz is during the Semana Santa.
The Easter holidays in Cadiz are colourful event
lasting a week . The Easter celebrations in
cadiz are called Semana Santabut what is it:
What is Semana
Santa or Easter in Cadiz?
Semana Santa (or Holy Week) is the Spanish name
for Easter. It dates back to the 16th century
when the Church decided to present the story
of the Passion of Christ in a way that the lay
person could understand. It was decided that
the best way to do this would be a series of
processions through the streets, depicting scenes
from the story of the fall and rise again of
Jesus Christ.
When do the majority
of activities take place?
Most processions take place in the evening -
the earliest being at about 6pm (especially
in Leon) but most at about 9pm. (the exception
is Domingo de Ramos, the Sunday before Easter
Sunday, which has its activities at about midday.)
The biggest procession of the day is usually
at about 11pm. In Toledo the main procession
of the day will often be be named after the
day it is held on - so, for example, the main
procession of Miércoles Santo (Holy Wednesday)
will be the 'procesión de Miércoles
Santo'.
Friday is the big day. The events from Thursday
evening never really stop, with processions
from Thursday night (the early hours of Friday
morning) until Friday evening. Unless you have
an excellent capacity to drink large quantities
of coffee, you'll have to miss some of it to
get a little beauty sleep. The events of Thursday
night/Friday morning are the most important,
so plan your sleep around this fact.
The mass of Easter Sunday, the last day of
Semana Santa, is also important.
The hoods that have been worn throughout the
week to signify mourning at the death of Jesus
Christ, are taken off to celebrate the resurrection.
(It should be noted that the hoods have nothing
to do with the Ku Klux Klan, to which they are
so often compared. It is said that early KKK
members saw the Semana Santa celebrations and
adopted the costume, so impressed were they
by the effect the design had on onlookers.)
What if it
rains?
Semana Santa is an outdoor event - rain is bad
news. With many of the floats very old and easily
damaged, processions are called off with even
the slightest drop of rain. Those involved are
bitterly disappointed - they've waited all year
for this. If rain is forecast, stay away, there'll
be nothing to see.
What is a
saeta?
A saeta is an element of Semana Santa particular
to Andalusia and specifically Seville. It is
an outburst of flamenco song, sung from one
of the balconies in the narrow streets of the
city. In times gone by they were spontaneous,
the singer so overcome with emotion that only
a flourish of flamenco will be enough to convey
their emotions. Today, they are invariably preplanned.
The procession will stop and listen to the song
until it is over.
The Costa de la Luz is famous for it's love
of fiestas and partys vist our web page for
further information of all the years holiday
events: CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
NEW
PLANS FOR PUERTO SHERRY
Plans for a New Puerto Sherry which include
1,039
new berths, three hotels and a shopping centre
were submitted to the judge in exchange for
an end to the bankruptcy order .
Carmen Fornell the judge declared on Wednesday
an end to the bankruptcy order which has marred
the complex from since 1995 when it went into
voluntary bankruptcy. The new plans include
the construction of a new dock with a capacity
of more than 1,039
berths along with the 788
moorings that currently exist in the complex,
a shopping
mall,
three new hotels and a convention
hall for 500 people.
The complex which has had 13 years of legal
battles and judicial misfortunes, now has been
given the green light to finish the project
thought to be the New Puerto Banus of Cadiz.
From March onwards the ambitious plan for the
New Puerto Sherry can begin.
The new plan will include:
1,039 new berths
with the construction of in a new dock running
from the existing lighthouse to Emilio’s
Bar in Pueblo Sherry. There will be 199 moorings
for six meters long boats, eight moorings for
193m, 184m, 10m, 242m, twelve, moorings for
boats of 185m, 15m, 16m 20m and 20 moorings
for 25m boats . To date, the occupation of moorings
is almost one hundred percent and there is a
waiting list of 300 boats. Around this new dock
there will be 618 car parking spaces, as well
as a promenade that joins with the residential
area of the Pueblo Sherry.
The new shopping
mall of 4,500
square meters will have an underground parking
for 15,000 square meters. The Yacht Club Hotel
which now exists within the complex will be
joined with another three new hotels , which
is pending planning permission, will be one
three star hotel, and two of four star hotels,
along with a glazed conventions hall with the
capacity for 500 people.
The end to the bankruptcy also opens the way
for the construction of houses in Pueblo Sherry
along with a new development on the La China
which is prime land which lies between Pueblo
Sherry and Fuertecuidad . This land was sold
to the Noriega Group in 2005. Plans for 640
new homes will be submitted for approval along
with the 380 new homes in Pueblo Sherry.
There is also the possibility of extending
the beach La Muralla to join with the new dock
which would double the actual size of the existing
beach but this all depends on the coastal authorities
giving their permission.
IKEA TO OPEN
IN JEREZ
The Swedish multinational company IKEA
plans to open the store in
Jerez
between 2009 and 2010, reports Europa Press,
although it was hoped to have the store up and
running for the early part of 2008.
The Jerez store, which will be located next
to El Calvario in Jerez, will open
its doors to cutomers at the same time that
the store plans to open a new store in in Pulianas
in Granada.
In each of these stores the expected average
investment of about 50 or 60 million Euros and
a workforce of about 400 people in each store.
Andalusia will be the first region in Spain
to have four IKEA
shops and will have invested about 200 million
Euros in the region, the Sevilla Shop which
is now up and running, Malaga, which has just
opened in the earlier this year, Jerez and Pulianas
(Granada).
According to IKEA,
these new stores will join the one at Castilla
de la Cuesta, in the province of Seville, which
has been up and running for the last three years
and has invested 50 million Euros and has 534
employees.
Along with the store in Seville, Ikea has opened
the Malaga store which has invested some 50
or 60 million Euros and employs about 400 people.
In other areas of Spain, such as Madrid, there
are plans for a third store to be built, but
Andalusia will remain the only area in Spain
to have four stores.
In Spain, Ikea currently has a total of eight
stores.
