Spanish festival Benicassim has future secured in deal

Organisers of Spain’s Benicassim say the festival’s future has been secured after it was bought back by its previous owners.

Promoter Vince Power has struck a deal with administrators to rebuy the event.

It was under the control of administrators after Power’s company Music Festivals PLC went under in September.

Power said he was “delighted” by the agreement.

This summer’s Benicassim saw performances from The Stone Roses, Ed Sheeran and David Guetta.

In the past thousands of British music fans have made the journey to the festival which takes place in the town of Benicassim, near Valencia.

via BBC – Newsbeat – Spanish festival Benicassim has future secured in deal.

Castellón resort “rejected” as EuroVegas site after last-ditch casino bid

A day after Castellón announced that it wanted to be considered as a bidder for Sheldon Adelson’s EuroVegas, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation said Tuesday that it would not consider the Valencia province’s offer to host the multi-million-euro mega casino project at the Marina d’Or resort complex.

Company sources said that “only Barcelona and Madrid are being considered” by Aldeson to build his mammoth casino, hotel and convention center project, but “thanked” Castellón for its interest, Europa Press reported.

“At this moment, negotiations are nearly at their final stage,” the sources said, adding that both Barcelona and Madrid still have a “50-50 chance” of hosting EuroVegas.

Castellón made a splurge on Monday when it announced that it was throwing its hat into the ring at this stage of the game.

Lluís Recoder, the Catalan commissioner for territory and sustainability, said that he thought Castellón was “a latecomer.”

Officials at Marina d’Or had said they only made a formal proposal to bid for the project, and were waiting to hear from the chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation so they can set up a meeting.

Marina d’Or and Castellón airport are two of the biggest construction flops of the past decade

Valencia government officials said they were being “prudent” about the proposal, but regional premier Alberto Fabra on Tuesday was less than discreet. “We are going to give them all the help they want, where it is needed, so that this dream becomes reality,” the Popular Party (PP) premier told reporters. But others, such as Lola Johnson, the Valencia tourism commissioner, and Javier Moliner, the speaker of the regional parliament, played down the announcement by acknowledging that the plans were still in their “infancy.”

Landing EuroVegas would be a huge stroke of luck for Castellón, which has been grappling with two of the biggest regional construction flops of the past decade. Thousands of homes built during the real estate boom sit empty at the seaside Marina d’Or resort, in Oropesa del Mar, while Castellón is also dealing with a white elephant regional airport, which has still not seen a single plane given that it is unable to obtain the necessary flight permits. What’s more, the State Agency for Air Security has found that its main runway is too narrow for airplanes to turn around, and will have to be widened to meet regulations. The subject of intense criticism by the Valencian Audit Office, the airport cost 200 million euros to build with an additional 30 million euros spent on advertising. It was the pet project of Castellón’s former provincial administrator, Carlos Fabra (no relation to Albert Fabra), also of the PP.

Marina d’Or president Jesús Ger has offered EuroVegas some 18 million square meters of land between Oropesa del Mar and Castellón, where he had planned to build the massive Marina d’Or Golf resort. Currently there are three golf courses, a string of hotels and hundreds of apartments built on the land, but the project, which was approved by the Valencia regional government in 2010, never got off the ground.

In 2009, Marina d’Or was 700 million euros in debt. Its workforce was reduced from 1,540 employees to 865.

Carlos Fabra, who remains the PP party leader in Castellón as well as secretary general of the local chamber of commerce, also came out on Tuesday in favor of bringing EuroVegas to Marina d’Or.

“It would be the end of an old chapter and the beginning of a new era for Castellón,” he said in a press release. Fabra went on to say that “its proximity to the airport, its 320 days of sun a year, and the efforts made by Marina d’Or provide the necessary framework to make this a success.”

LORENA ORTEGA Castellón 5 JUN 2012 – 19:29 CET

via http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/05/inenglish/1338917024_575153.html

International Festival of Benicàssim,(FIB) 12 to 15 July 2012

Another year the good music and spectacular are guaranteed in this obligatory date for lovers of indie music.

• The Stone Roses,
• New Order,
• Florence + The Machine,
• Noel Gallagher´s High Flying Birds,
• The Horrors,
• David Guetta,
• Bombay Bicycle Club,
• The Vaccines,
• Dizzee Rascal,
• Kurt Vile & The Violators,
• Joe Crepúsculo,
• Disappears,
• Maverick Sabre,
• Todd Terje Howler, and more form part of the line up of 2012.

But FIB is more than music, you will find all the information at: fiberfib.com/ .

Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Castelló

If you are in the Peñiscola area this festive period take the opportunity to see Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Castelló in concert at the Palau de Congressos de Peñiscola.

The concert starts at 20:00 hours on Wednesday 4 January 2012 and the programme will be Mahler’s 9th Symphony. This will  also be performed on Friday 6 January at 19:00 hours at the  Palau de Congressos de Castellón.

There is very little opportunity in this area to see live music so support it when you can.  More information at:http://www.culturalcas.com/

The hordes return to Benicàssim

Festival-goers arrive at the campsite for this year's FIB.-

“Right now everyone just wants to relax and take a vacation. Are festivals in crisis? That’s rubbish. They will never disappear and they will continue to be a business.” So says Vince Power, the man behind the Benicàssim festival (known by its Spanish acronym, FIB). And he knows what he’s talking about. Since Monday, nearly 20,000 youths ? mostly British ? had been camping out in the Castellón town awaiting the start of the 17th FIB festival (July 14 to 17).

For his second year at the helm of the festival, Power has brought out the big guns. While the organizers denied it at the time, last year’s event came very close to being classified as a failure: compared with the 50,000 people a day who filled the grounds in 2009, only around 32,000 did so in 2010, while other festivals enjoyed record attendance. Top-billed bands such as Arcade Fire and Muse went elsewhere. Meanwhile, the British crowd took over the premises and turned them into their own particular summer utopia, which included turning the flinging of half-drunk beer cups onto the crowd into a national sport.

“I don’t think that last year was a failure,” argues Power. “A lot of people felt more comfortable because there were less people. Although I am much happier from a commercial point of view now. Of course, I have had to spend more money ? the budget is huge. But I won’t tell you how much I have paid for the groups. I don’t want to give my competitors clues.”

Attracting Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Primal Scream and Portishead must have cost a pretty penny. But Power’s reticence to disclose the budget means that FIB is the only Spanish festival not to publicly state what it spends.

Now, with the firepower awarded by these bands, FIB (which is no longer being sponsored by Heineken) may reach the 50,000 figure again. That is a huge amount of people, considering that the grounds are sandwiched in between the mountains, the train tracks and the N-340 road, and will be pretty much at top capacity. In fact, organizers had to push the main stage back to ensure that the public will be able to see the top-billed bands at maximum attendance hours. Incidentally, the legendary swimming pool, in which so many rockers have taken the plunge over the years, has been covered up. It is clear that the additional 18,000 people expected this year will be welcomed by a festival that claims sponsorships only account for seven percent of revenue.

If the top of the bill is strong this year, the body of the festival is a little weak compared with 2009, but interesting performances can be expected from Roska, Juan McLean, the Spaniards Nudozurdo, Beirut and Astrud & Col.lectiu Brossa.

As for the legends department, which has in the past seen the likes of Leonard Cohen, Ray Davies and Brian Wilson, this year the festival is making do with The Stranglers.

But for the town of Benicàssim itself, it’s Christmas time for the 18,000 inhabitants. The economic impact of the festival is as much as 15 million euros. Around 3,000 people are hired during the event, with 120 suppliers being drafted in.

Since Monday, thousands of British adolescents have been camped out at the festival, bathed in sun cream on the beach and spending their money on food and booze. “We’ll be here for 10 days,” explains Jamie Miller. “We’ve got the beach, music and alcohol. What more do you want?”

DANIEL VERDÚ – Benicàssim – 15/07/2011

via The hordes return to Benicàssim · ELPAÍS.com in English.

VIII Peñiscola International Jazz Festival

Jazz Peñiscola

Once again some of the top jazz artists and groups in the world will converge on Peñíscola in July.

The giant of the blues world B. B. King is undoubtedly the major attraction of the 8th edition of this festival, that over the years has become one of the foremost on the summer musical agenda of Spain.  The American legend offers a special concert on July 20 in the port area of Peniscola, a venue with capacity for 4,000 people. This concert will be the first of three that he will offer in Spain. He will without doubt be the big attraction but not the only one because the festival also features other leading figures from the jazz world.
The Jeff Lorber Fusion will be charged with opening the festival with a concert in the Palau de Congressos on 8 July. On 15 July will be Lucky Peterson, Lucky Peterson, another American musician who plays contemporary blues, fusing soul, R&B, gospel and rock and roll. The last two concerts will feature two of the best  female vocalists of the current jazz scene: Cassandra Wilson (22 July) and Roberta Gambarini (29 July).
As in past editions there will be free performances on Thursday nights in the  Plaza Santa María and at the Don Carlos Hotel on Saturday evenings. There will aso be three free master classes on the afternoons of 14, 21 and 28 July . In addition the Street Marching Band will offer it’s now traditional processions on the evenings of the concerts in the Palau de Congressos.
A pamphlet giving full details of the festival can be download from
http://accesible.culturalcas.com/UserFiles/File/programacion_2011/Palau-JAZZP__11-Programa-WEB2.pdf

Programme

07 July 23:00h – Access to Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Jazz Street Marching Band
08 July 23:00 h. – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Jeff Lorber Fusion
09 July 19:00h – Hotel Don Carlos
Gipsy Jazz Hot
14 July 17:00h – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola.
Master Class by Ronald Baker
14 July 23:00 h. – Plaza Santa María
Ronald Baker Quartet
15 July 23:00 h. – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Lucky Peterson
16 July 19:00h – Hotel Don Carlos
Amadeu Marín
21 July 17:00h – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Master Class by Rene Marie
21 July 23:00 h. – Plaza Santa María
Rene Marie
22 July 23:00 h. – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Cassandra Wilson
23 July 19:00h – Hotel Don Carlos
Arantxa Domíngez
28 July 17:00h – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Master Class by Marc Fosset
28 July 23:00 h. – Plaza Santa María
Marc Fosset Quartet
29 July 23:00 h. – Palau de Congressos de Peñíscola
Roberta Gambarini
30 July 19:00h – Hotel Don Carlos
Paco Albiol & The Funky Talks

El Corte Inglés Autumn 2010 Clouds

It’s now Autum here is the new spot for El Corte English that has just been released on major television and has the presence of the Italian Bianca Balti. In the announcement from the agency Zapping M&C Saatchi, which follows the channels creative spot for spring, we see the aforementioned model Bianca Balti on the hunt for and capture of each cloud in her way to become part of her particular collection ( sounds crazy, but that is what there is).

The song of the spot, not as catchy as last spring, is in this case a piano instrumental version of “The Windmills of Your Mind” made exclusively for publicity purposes by the Madrid studio Jinglebox. 

 

It’s Summer Time

Today sees the official start of what is expected to be one of the hottest summers on record. The official beginning of summer in Spain starts today, June 21 at 13.28hrs. This is also the longest day, with 15 hours of daylight, compared to nine hours on the shortest day, December 22.

Spring is here: Ya es primervera

It’s now Spring and here we have the TV advert by El Corte Inglés for the Spring season. It was recorded in the streets of Madrid where it tries to reflect the arrival of the first rays of Spring in the city.

The background music is “Il pericolo numero uno” by Renato Carosone.

 

It’s Autumn: Ganas de Otoño

Autumn starts today and it always sort of catches me by surprise.  You think summer is going to go on and on.

Now everyone is now back at work, the schools and colleges have started back and we have the advert from El Corte Inglés to remind us.