San José beach, in Níjar, one of the Blue Flag beaches in Almería.
San José beach, in Níjar, one of the Blue Flag beaches in Almería. (R. I.)

Almeria's beaches in Spain's top 10 for Blue Flags

The province has achieved this recognition for 38 of its coastal areas, which is three more than the previous year, placing it seventh in the country and second in Andalucía

Alicia Amate Almería

The Bottom Line - Opinion

Don't call it high speed

Back in 2008, when the AVEs had been running for a few weeks we asked when the travel time between Malaga and Madrid could be reduced to two hours; now the journey takes three hours, complains columnist Ignacio Lillo

Ignacio Lillo

The Music Maker

Spring into action

Watching swallows go about their springtime business is one of life's little luxuries; they bring a sense of optimism and renewal to the world, says columnist Peter Edgerton

Peter Edgerton

The Bottom Line

Coming together to heal

Rare diseases like Epidermolysis bullosa (butterfly skin) often fall into the shadows of pharmaceutical research because the "market" is too small. This is where the expat spirit shines brightest

Dilip Kuner

Food and Drink

National drinks

Beer, wine, or something stronger - most countries have multiple traditional drinks, says Andrew J. Linn

Andrew J. Linn
  • Food and drink opinion

    Traditional orujo

    Unlike other spirits made from varied raw ingredients, it is exclusively grape-based, and although widely linked with Galicia, its origins are also claimed elsewhere in Spain

    Andrew J. Linn |
  • 'Goodbye Norma Jean...'
    The iconic picture of Marilyn Monroe and other photographs. (Ñito Salas)

    Art review

    'Goodbye Norma Jean...'

    Looking back on six decades of American photography at an exhibition at the Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga until 13 October

    Georgina Oliver |
  • The Bottom Line - opinion

    Stubbing out smoking

    Along with the possibility of losing regular clientele because of these new laws, this measure could also have a considerable knock-on effect on tourism

    Tony Bryant |
  • The Music Maker - opinion

    Strangers in paradise

    Local village bars are great places to catch the zeitgeist on current affairs and the death of Robert Redford was hot off the press last night

    Peter Edgerton |
  • Alexander Fleming: an invitation to Seville and Cordoba
    Sir Alexander Fleming with dignitaries and scientists in Cordoba. (ABC)

    Foreign influencers in southern Spain

    Alexander Fleming: an invitation to Seville and Cordoba

    The Scottish doctor who discovered penicillin visited Spain in 1948, three years after he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

    Jennie Rhodes |
  • The Euro Zone - opinion

    Fighting for Catalonia

    In order to fulfil his promise to pass a national budget next year (the first since 2022), Pedro Sánchez is going even further than usual to satisfy Catalan separatists

    Mark Nayler |