Record of passengers at El Prat-Airport and the Port of Barcelona in 2017.

Barcelona-El Prat Airport is now consolidated as a strategic point of reference in the Euro-Mediterranean airspace.
The continuous improvement of its facilities and the quality of its services have enabled this airport to establish an exceptional position to face the future with certainty.
The increase in passenger traffic at the airport is an accurate indicator of the advances made over the last decade. Passenger numbers have gone from 11,727,814 in 1995 to 44,154,693 in last year, one of the highest average growth rates among Europe’s leading airports.
Having modernised its facilities, Barcelona-El Prat can offer quality services for passengers and an airfield worthy of a top-level airport, suitable for use by large commercial planes.
The construction and introduction of the third runway in September 2004 and the extension to the primary runway were decisive steps to increase the airport’s capacity, and it can now handle 90 operations an hour.
With the aim of consolidating the airport as a model in the Mediterranean and southern Europe, the Master Plan included a set of actions to modernise and increase the airport’s capacity.

The most emblematic project in this phase was the construction of Terminal T1, which is located between runways. T1, of great architectural value, was conceived as a large logistical operations and services centre. It has a capacity of 33 million users per year and has overseen an investment of 1.26 billion euros.
Work on this building was followed by the remodelling of Terminal T2 and the expansion and remodelling of the shopping areas in both terminals. New shops, new concepts, and new brands to adapt the offer to the passengers who use the airport facilities.
Other projects included in the Master Plan are the urbanisation of over 300 hectares as a service area for the industrial and commercial development of the airport; the creation of a 90-hectare aeronautic park for installing maintenance hangars; and the construction of a city with office buildings and hotels.
This plan will continue to transform the airport by applying an innovative concept that aims to turn its facilities into a sustainable airport city and a large air traffic distribution centre for southern Europe.

Barcelona was once again the first-ranked port in number of cruise passengers in 2017. These positive statistics have emerged from the publication of new data by the government port agency Puertos del Estado, highlighting that the Catalan capital has for another year been selected by cruise tourists as their most frequent destination within the Spanish state.

In 2017, the Port of Barcelona led the arrival rankings again with 2.7 million cruise passengers  This number surpasses the 2.68 million from 2016, according to the Barcelona Port Authority.

Second place in terms of passenger volume was occupied by the Balearic Island ports, which received more cruisers (811), almost 11% more than in 2016, but fewer passengers (2.06 million – an increase of +6.4%); and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands followed with 985,662 cruise passengers, 6.6% up, and with a total of 448 calls by ships of this type, a 5.6% rise.

Passengers on regular cruise lines also rose by 4% in 2017, reaching 24.7 million individuals. Spain’s Ports estimates the volume of business as €1,255 million, with 26,500 jobs created by the cruise industry in Spain.

Font.- Aena – Port de Barcelona – ACN

Winter is similarly rich in culinary events, boasting such festivals as the calçotada (calçots are long, sweet onions that are grilled over red-hot embers) in Valls, steeped in a centuryold tradition; olive oil festivals and shows in the Terres de l’Ebre region and Lleida.

For this event, our first guest is the “Calçot” (pronounced “calsot” in Catalan), a sort of a green onion found principally in Catalonia and which its pick season starts precisely now in January until April (approximately).

This onion is typical from the western Catalonia (Lleida and Tarragona) and their countryside. Although the traditional “calçotada” (act of eating calçots in group) takes places on several provinces around our region, the epicenter is the city of Valls in Tarragona.

Calçots tradition

It is said that its name was given due to the fact that as the plant grows it is covered by soil over and over. In the Catalan agriculture, for such action they use the term “calçar” which derived on “calçot”.

The calçot is less bulbous, sweeter and milder compared to the regular onions and its size goes from 15cm to 25cm. The way normally Catalans cook them is grilling them on high fire and flames (preferably vines barbecue) and then wrapped up in newspaper. To present them on the table, the best way is using terracotta tiles which keep their heat. The last step is eating them, it’s so easy: peel with your hands the burned external parts and then dip the “calçot” on romesco sauce (nut and red pepper-based sauce).

With 100 years tradition, the “calçotada” is the expected event that takes place annually in Catalonia in the beginning of the year to celebrate its harvest. Nowadays, the calçotada is not just a lunch but also a social moment where you gather with family and friends outdoors or in an indoor restaurant.

The agenda of commercial meetings held reinforces the position of FITUR as the first major business forum of the global tourism industry, with more than 6,800 B2B appointments scheduled with international buyers and more than 38,000 appointments requested in the digital calendar. All of them organized by FITUR to which thousands of bilateral meetings have been added in the own stands.

FITUR has also registered a record in business participation.
A particularly relevant here was the greater progress made in the participation of international businesses. Equally, a significant increase was seen in direct business participation.
We have also seen confirmation not only of FITUR’s leadership for Latin American countries but also, and gradually on the rise, for the countries from the African continent, both of them markets to which the Trade Show offers its strategic potential for gaining access to Europe’s tourism and at business.
Also contributing to these figures and the climate of optimism observed at FITUR.
Were the high levels of national and international institutional support received, with the presence of high representations and dignitaries. Since the trade show was inaugurated by the Queen of Spain on Wednesday 24 January, FITUR has welcomed 80 ministers and leading heads of tourism from the five continents. Furthermore, representing the highest State institutions as well as the Spanish Government and the governments of the Autonomous Regions, the trade show was attended by the President of the Government; the President of Congress, the Ministers of Industry and Tourism, of Culture, of Development and of Justice, as well as a high presence of regional Presidents and Councillors of Autonomous Governments. To this we must also add the important support given by the World Tourism Organisation, which concentrates its principal actions at FITUR.