Pyrenees

Secret Spain - Huesca

Posted on 25. May, 2004 by catherine in hidden, Huesca, mountains, Pyrenees, secret

HUESCA is a city of  45,000 inhabitants which most Brits have never heard of, let alone are able to spell.

Located on a plain beneath the foothills of the Pyrenees the city is a truly well kept secret. In all the times I’ve been there I’ve come across only a couple of British residents. A few tourists can be found around the monuments, like the late Gothic cathedral and provincial archaeological museum, but they tend to be French or Spanish.

Coming as I do from Canterbury, which is always swarming with tourists, I am used to locals complaining about the visitors who dwardle along looking up at the architecture and then block the flow of pedestrians in the street as they stop to take pictures.

Formigal Spanish ski resort

Posted on 24. Mar, 2004 by catherine in Formigal, Pyrenees, ski, snow, spain

 THE Spanish ski resort of Formigal has its sights set on welcoming back British visitors as work gets underway on a €68 million expansion.

Just over an hour’s drive from the modern French airport of Pau, Formigal was, until a few years ago, a popular destination with British skiers. Between 250 and 300 tourists from the UK descended on the resort in the central Pyrenees each week during the season until they were tempted by the cheaper alternative of Andorra.

The price of holidays to the Pyrenean principality were dramatically cut when the Andorran government intervened, by paying the cost of transfers from Barcelona airport to the mountains. The knock-on effect was that Formigal lost most of its UK business.

With the expansion underway the resort is aiming to regain trade from the British market during the next few years.

The main thrust of their campaign will be that they provide a quality service, better than would be found in resorts in the Alps, and at much lower prices.

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