An appealing and thoroughly slow day might involve strolling leisurely through Mahón, the island’s capital city, as it has one of the most beautiful promenades in the country. The clear waters and the gentle sea breeze wafting in from the gulf make a walk along this promenade an essential experience. We propose the following itinerary, having judiciously weighed up many other potential alternatives.

Venturing Out

Start out on the Camí de Ciutadella and link up with Calle s’Arraval, which leads you into Plaza Bastió. Still standing there is one of the old city gates, a vestige of the 14th century. It is worth stopping in the square to have a bite, before setting out on the walk. Head for Santa Rita, which offers tapas and well-drawn draught beer as its fortes. From there, make for the old town and stroll aimlessly about. After a while, you will inevitably draw gradually nearer to the harbour. The stretch running towards the Moll de Llevant jetty is very pleasant. The right side is lined solid with shops, from those selling craft souvenirs of the island to restaurants, ice-cream parlours and seafaring pubs whose calling card, currently in vogue, is a cocktail based on gin and tonic, downed – gulp! – to the rhythm of chill-out music.

A Stopover

But, let’s take a breather, and the best place to relax is Can Vermut, a youthful spot where you can have well-priced tapas while savouring one of their wonderful aperitifs. As an accompaniment, we recommend the huevos estrellados cabreados (fried eggs and chips with pungent red pepper), anchovies and homemade chicken croquettes.A great tuck-in there will cost you less than 15 euros. After that, the best way to promote digestion is to continue along the itinerary, at a leisurely pace, calmly taking in everything happening around you – enjoy the marvellous maritime views, with the breeze caressing your skin. Before pressing on, go over to the sea side of the street and delight in the sight of yachts and other vessels dotting the coastline. Also entertaining is watching the fish – some are really huge! –in the crystal-clear waters. One way of enjoying the moment is to chill out on the terrace of the kiosko, on the lower reaches of La Costa de Ses Voltes. There, the breeze is likely to rouse you from your lethargy and, if you order a coffee to boot – here, they are served strong – you will regain the necessary vitality for resuming your sightseeing venture.

“Wanderer, there is no path”

Refuelling would be in order now, particularly if you want to negotiate the steep slope back up to the old town. This will take you to the Museu de Menorca, which affords a stunning, panoramic view of the spectacular gulf. The museum is housed in the erstwhile convent of Sant Francesc, where the building and its contents are equally interesting. The latter include unique exhibits from all ages, illustrating the socio-cultural evolution and changes wrought in Minorca, from its pre-history to the present. After that you could have a stroll around the shopping centre, starting at the Plaça de la Constitució, where you can admire the neoclassical architecture of the Ayuntamiento or City Hall. Inside the adjoining Church of Santa María you can have a peep at the monumental organ, comprising 3,210 pipes and four keyboards, designed by the German masters Otter and Kirburz. Near there, at 11 Ses Moreres street, is the Heladería Ambrosia. Resisting the temptation to enter this ice-cream parlour when passing by would be something of a feat. So, you choose a flavour and then head for the Claustro del Carme, just a few metres away, immediately opposite the Plaza de España. From here, both sides of the Calle del Carme are lined with small shops offering wares ranging from confectionery and delicatessen to fine leather.

Tell Me a Story

After window shopping in Mahón, you’re certainly going to need a rest. You could go over to the Teatro Principal de Mahón, to see what’s on the programme. It is really well worth visiting. This was the first opera house to be unveiled in Spain and last year marked its 185th anniversary. The fact is that Minorca has a long-standing operatic tradition. The story goes that many companies that were touring the continent used to stop over at Minorca and it was here that they would stage their dress rehearsals before pressing on to London, Paris or Vienna. It was then that Minorcans came into contact with this genre of theatrical music, and the decision was made to  build a theatre devoted mainly to opera, in order to enjoy works in a comfortable setting. And, to round off the day, we recommend going for a pomada – Gin Xoriguer and lemonade – at the Bar Nou. Opened in 1986 by Joan Saura in an art nouveau building, it is now a whole institution among Minorcans, and here they really know what they’re doing.

I’m sure you’re eager to explore Mahón – check out our flights here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación, Can Vermut

The seventeenth edition of Primavera Sound will be held in Barcelona from 31 May to 4 June. The main centre of operations is the Parc del Fòrum, but concerts will also be hosted at other points in town (check out the festival website for these extra concerts and ticket availability). Barcelona will actually become the world’s music capital for five days. This year the line-up is headed by a wide variety of top-notch artists, notably Van Morrison, Grace Jones, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, The xx, Aphex Twin, Slayer and Solange, as well as a number of highly interesting b-series artists, including The Damned, Wild Beasts, Angel Olsen, The Magnetic Fields, Marie Davidson, Julie Dorion and Mac Demarco, among others.

Apart from treating visitors to myriad musical offerings, Primavera Sound also gives you the chance to see the city. Barcelona is a comparatively compact city, so you can tour it in a short space of time. Here, then, are some tips on how to do it at your convenience.

Room Wanted

Barcelona is a tourist resort and, as such, offers a host of hotel accommodations. Then again, that makes it difficult to decide on an option. Here are three quite different proposals to help you make your choice. The first is Hostel Generator, located on Calle Córcega, well placed in terms of the city centre, the Gràcia district and the Verdaguer metro stop where you can get Line 4 straight to the Fòrum. Another interesting option is Melon District Marina, a student residence which also accepts bookings for just a few days, located halfway between downtown Barcelona and the main Primavera Sound venue (it’s just a fifteen-minute ride by either Metro or Trambaix to the Parc del Fòrum). Lastly, if you’re on a shoestring budget, you could always check out the Couchsurfing Barcelona website to find free accommodation.

Affordable Snacks

Barcelona’s culinary array is also endless. Here, we focus on a few reputable restaurants serving a Mediterranean diet and, more importantly, at reasonable prices. Let’s begin at Urretxu, a Basque restaurant near the Olympic Village which serves up market cuisine – ideal for a quick meal before any of the concerts. It is close to several stops on Line 4 and just a stone’s throw from the Fòrum. More centrally located – specifically, on Calle Diputación – is Gelida, with its typically Catalan culinary offerings which will suit all pockets. They do not have a house menu, but the list of dishes based on fresh products is great. Winding up these recommendations is the Bacoa hamburger chain, with several outlets scattered about the city. You can sit down to a meal of their organic meat hamburgers in any of their establishments, or opt for a takeaway, a good choice if you’re looking to get to the festival grounds as early as possible.

Hunting For Vinyl

If you’re left with any spare time after the flurry of activity generated by Primavera Sound, why not drop in on some of the city’s most venerable record shops? It’s worth embarking on that quest for the vinyl you’ve been seeking out for some time in the Calle Tallers, right next to Barcelona’s Rambla. There you will find the two stores owned by Discos Revolver, who celebrated their thirty-fifth anniversary just a short while ago. Another place of pilgrimage for music lovers which you should make a point of visiting is Ultra-Local Records, located on Calle Pujades, just a few metres from the line 4 metro stop of Llacuna (three stops from the Fòrum). Another way of “searching for the lost record” on the Sunday hangover morning is by visiting Mercat de Sant Antoni, an emblematic second-hand street market where, apart from vinyls, you can pick up all sorts of collectibles at very reasonable prices.

Book your Vueling to Barcelona and gear up to revel in the Primavera Sound festivities.

Text by Xavi Sánchez Pons

A museum in Denmark named after an American state? This is not the only fetching fact about Louisiana. Located in the small town of Humlebæk, some 35 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Louisiana draws thousands of visitors each year to its alluring interior and exterior. Its contemporary art collection is truly extraordinary, as is – perhaps even to a greater degree – its siting, opposite the cold waters separating Denmark from Sweden, nestling in a vast area of parkland, trees and cliffs. Likewise its architectural design, seamlessly integrated into its surroundings.

The museum was founded in 1958 by the Danish businessman and philanthropist, Knud W. Jensen, who commissioned the first stage of the project to the architects Vilhelm Wohlert and JørgenBo. Oddly enough, the museum is not actually named after the American state, but on account of a coincidence – the previous owner of the land happened to marry three times, and each time his wife was named Louise! As the museum’s private collection is far larger than what can be displayed, many of the constituent works are loaned from one place to another. The building houses works by Lucien Freud, David Hockney, Asger Jorn (one of Denmark’s leading 20th-century artists), the Spaniard, Juan Muñoz, photographers such as the German, Thomas Demand, and the New Yorker, Cindy Sherman. And, what is likely the jewel in the crown – a room where a painting by Francis Bacon, and one of the most striking sculptures by Alberto Giacometti, are placed face to face, as if in the throes of an ongoing dialogue. In the garden we find several weighty sculptures, including one by Alexander Calder and another by Joan Miró – set just five metres apart and permanently chaperoned by the sea in the background – in addition to works by Louise Bourgeois and Max Ernst, among many others. 

You have just until the end of January – be quick! – to see a long-distance exhibition hosted by the museum, as well as an installation which raises eyebrows. The exhibition reviews the extensive, colourist and provocative work of the multi-disciplinary Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama (phallic sculptures, rooms painted in polka dots, rent garments and other marvels). The installation is a huge sculpture by the Canadian, David Altmejd, called The Flux and the Puddle, which takes up a whole room and is well nigh impossible to fathom – it involves a visceral, high-impact blend of methacrylate, food, taxidermy, strings and mirrors.

Louisiana is easy to reach from Copenhagen – at the Central Station in the capital, you take a Helsingor-bound train and get off at Humlebæk. That’s all. On your return, you are urged to explore the district of Vesterbro, adjoining the aforementioned Central Station. Once the haunts of prostitutes and crooks, it is now one of the most exciting and bustling city quarters, brimming with galleries, stores, cafés and restaurants. Make sure you stop off at Bang & Jensen, in Istedgade, which is open all day. Their lentil soup with curry and cilantro comes highly recommended, and you can also play some pinball and Arkanoid. Another landmark worth seeing is the so-called Meatpacking District, the former fish and meat market reconditioned as one of Copenhagen’s cool areas, where you can choose from among a host of appetising culinary offerings. For lovers of music and vinyl, the best spot in Vesterbro is undoubtedly Sort Kaffe & Vinyl, a small record shop cum bar. Or vice versa – a café with records. Its claim to fame is a small but carefully curated selection of folk, jazz, electronic, exotic and experimental music. For sleeping over and putting away a hearty breakfast the next morning, here are two recommendations in the same district: Bertrams Guldsmeden (very near Værnedamsvej, one of the prettiest streets in the city), and the Avenue Hotel, which has a beautiful patio if you happen to be there in spring or summer.

While the city itself is well worth the visit, the chance to see Louisiana and even spend some hours in Vesterbro makes this a well nigh compulsory trip. Why wait to book your flight to Copenhagen?

Text by Carles Novellas for ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Carles Novellas and Anna Higueras

Cantabria’s mining past remains alive in the 750 hectares of reddish landscape which is home to the Cabárceno Nature Park. Situated just 15 kilometres from Santander, its proximity is inversely proportional to the feeling of being in a wholly different part of the planet. Here, around one hundred animal species from the five continents roam in semi-freedom, including African elephants, gorillas, the ankole-watusi, the addax, llamas and sea lions.

The open-air tracts of land are spacious and immensely beautiful. The flora lives out its natural cycle during the four annual seasons, so you see a different park in the spring, summer, autumn and winter. The structures left behind from the area’s mining past have been re-used to appoint the various enclosures in Cabárceno. Animals are kept on land which resembles their natural habitat as closely as possible, as here the terrain is accommodating. A number of lookouts bring home the immensity of the panoramic landscape and allow visitors to spot herds of Somali asses, water buffalo, Grevi zebra and ostriches. The karst relief characterised by water’s fickle erosive force makes for fascinating observation and enhances the act of animal spotting.

Nature is allowed to run its course in the park. There are fights between members of the same species, the rutting season unfolds and dominant males abound. Man only intervenes in the event of illness, wounds, a life-threatening situation for some specimen and to feed the animals. That is when the park provides its Wildlife Visit. From 10 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, a single vehicle seating 4 occupants drives through various areas inhabited by rhino, bears and giraffes. The tour costs €400, which includes a brunch in the park restaurant. Escorted by a ranger, visitors can get to see certain animals close up, as well as touch and feed them. This contact enables them to learn the traits and curiosities of each animal or species.

That is how you discover the three elegant giraffes that come running up to you because they see you arriving with a bag of carrots. All three are male and they get along well precisely because there are no females. Or you learn the amazing story of Jums, a 39-year-old African elephant that came from England and recognised one of its offspring that had been living in Cabárceno.

During the Wildlife Visit, guests are told about the rituals and training sessions conducted with some of the animals to get them accustomed to the presence of people for the sole purpose of enabling a vet to treat a wound or give them a medical check-up whenever necessary. This is a difficult task as wild animals retain their survival instinct and are thus wary of people, but it is gratifying to see how the staff’s daily work and their affection for the animals can work a miracle, as can an apple or a carrot!

The animals’ daily routine is not affected by the fortunate participants in the Wildlife Visit – book ahead, as there is a waiting list – and regular feeding times are strictly adhered to. The only enclosure where visitors are not allowed to get out of the car is that of the brown bears. However, a group of bears can be comfortably observed munching on a piece of bread or chicken through the car window just a few metres away. There are around 70 specimens in a 35-hectare space, which gives you some idea of how big the park is.

The Cabárceno Nature Park is dotted with natural lakes, and the 14 resident elephants relish bathing in waters up to 8 metres deep. The hippo enclosure here, rumoured to be the best in the world, is sited in the Lago Sexta, and a cableway is slated to run above this lake as of March 2016.

A one-day admission ticket to the Cabárceno Nature Park costs €25, and €15 for small children. However, we recommend you check out all the various types of admission, as there are discounts for families and “friends of Cabárceno”. Your ticket allows you to drive around the 20 kilometres of tracks in your own vehicle through all the areas. But, you are urged to observe the speed limit and safety precautions. Unfortunately, this unaccompanied drive-through does not allow you to touch or feed the animals; firstly, for safety reasons, as you will not be escorted by a ranger to guide you and, secondly, as each species has a specific diet at regular hours. A map is given to visitors at the entrance – the routes are clearly marked and you can download a mobile app which provides information on what you are seeing at all times. Park facilities include picnic areas for you to have a packed lunch at your leisure, and there are also cafés, restaurants and gift shops. Your ticket permits you to leave the park and re-enter later on. You are also allowed to make the tour in a camper van.

Your day trip will fly past as you observe the antics of fallow deer, red deer, gorillas, camels, displays of birds of prey and their types of flight, and sea lions cavorting about. (Don’t let them catch you calling them seals with ears – they don’t take kindly to being confused!) Whatever your age; if you like animals, this is where you will have a whale of a time!

Make haste to discover all this wildlife. Check out our flights to Santander here.

Text and images by Planeta Dunia