Spanish islands beg tour operators not to promote secluded cove
The Balearic Islands local authority is asking that media outlets and tour operators stop promoting Caló des Moro, a small cove in Mallorca.
The small cove saw 4,000 visitors daily last summer after being featured in influencer content.
Its capacity is only around 100 people.
The influencer campaign, initially intended to divert tourists to less-known areas, backfired by causing overcrowding in remote and protected locations.
The local authority has removed images of the cove from its website and will stop using social media influencers to promote tourism.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Lebanon aims to lure back wealthy Gulf tourists to jumpstart its war-torn economy
Fireworks lit up the night sky over Beirut's famous St. Georges Hotel as hit songs from the 1960s and 70s filled the air in a courtyard overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The retro-themed event was hosted last month by Lebanon's Tourism Ministry to promote the upcoming summer season and perhaps recapture some of the good vibes from an era viewed as a golden one for the country. In the years before a civil war began in 1975, Lebanon was the go-to destination for wealthy tourists from neighboring Gulf countries seeking beaches in summer, snow-capped mountains in winter and urban nightlife year-round. In the decade after the war, tourists from Gulf countries – and crucially, Saudi Arabia – came back, and so did Lebanon's economy. But by the early 2000s, as the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah gained power, Lebanon's relations with Gulf countries began to sour. Tourism gradually dried up, starving its economy of billions of dollars in annual spending. Now, after last year's bruising war with Israel, Hezbollah is much weaker and Lebanon's new political leaders sense an opportunity to revitalize the economy once again with help from wealthy neighbors. They aim to disarm Hezbollah and rekindle ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which in recent years have prohibited their citizens from visiting Lebanon or importing its products. 'Tourism is a big catalyst, and so it's very important that the bans get lifted,' said Laura Khazen Lahoud, the country's tourism minister. On the highway leading to the Beirut airport, once-ubiquitous banners touting Hezbollah's leadership have been replaced with commercial billboards and posters that read 'a new era for Lebanon.' In the center of Beirut, and especially in neighborhoods that hope to attract tourists, political posters are coming down, and police and army patrols are on the rise. There are signs of thawing relations with some Gulf neighbors. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lifted yearslong travel bans. All eyes are now on Saudi Arabia, a regional political and economic powerhouse, to see if it will follow suit, according to Lahoud and other Lebanese officials. A key sticking point is security, these officials say. Although a ceasefire with Israel has been in place since November, near-daily airstrikes have continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah over the years had built its political base and powerful military arsenal. Tourism as a diplomatic and economic bridge As vital as tourism is — it accounted for almost 20% of Lebanon's economy before it tanked in 2019 — the country's leaders say it is just one piece of a larger puzzle they are trying to put back together. Lebanon's agricultural and industrial sectors are in shambles, suffering a major blow in 2021, when Saudi Arabia banned their exports after accusing Hezbollah of smuggling drugs into Riyadh. Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of desperation. The World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks collapsed. Tourism is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries -- and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities. 'It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now,' said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank. With summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been brisk. At the event hosted last month by the tourism ministry, the owner of the St. Georges Hotel, Fady El-Khoury, beamed. The hotel, owned by his father in its heyday, has acutely felt Lebanon's ups and downs over the decades, closing and reopening multiple times because of wars. 'I have a feeling that the country is coming back after 50 years,' he said. On a recent weekend, as people crammed the beaches of the northern city of Batroun, and jet skis whizzed along the Mediterranean, local business people sounded optimistic that the country was on the right path. 'We are happy, and everyone here is happy,' said Jad Nasr, co-owner of a private beach club. 'After years of being boycotted by the Arabs and our brothers in the Gulf, we expect this year for us to always be full.' Still, tourism is not a panacea for Lebanon's economy, which for decades has suffered from rampant corruption and waste. Lebanon has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and water. Without those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a 'morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain" rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib said. The tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun. "But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before,' she said. 'And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Visiting this charming Norfolk seaside town feels like stepping into another century
I stepped off the train and into, it seemed, a former century. Sheringham is the terminus of the mainline from Norwich but, on the other side of Station Road, on another set of tracks, the steam locomotives of the Poppy Line clank and exhale, waiting to take trippers further along the coast. It was the arrival of the railway in 1887 that transformed this small fishing town. The poet and theatre critic Clement Scott wrote of the rail-accessible joys of North Norfolk for The Telegraph (coining the term 'Poppyland'), and holidaymakers began to flock in, creating such demand that fishing families would rent out their homes (sound familiar?). Now, the heritage railway is one of Sheringham's biggest draws. But it wasn't the only thing generating vintage vibes. Red, white and blue bunting flapped in the North Sea breeze, strung along a bygone-era high street: greengrocers, butchers, bakers, a model railway emporium, and an ironmongers dating back to 1897. Every September, Sheringham holds a 1940s Weekend, with themed window displays, classic cars and period music. But it was looking pretty throwback even on a regular Tuesday. 'It is a bit like going back in time,' one local told me. 'Whether you think that's good or bad – well, that's a personal preference.' What's it really like? As seaside resorts go, Sheringham is pretty low-key. There are a couple of arcades, ice creameries a-plenty, a toyshop that's sold buckets-n-spades since 1912. Sheringham Museum is filled with lifeboats and local history and a gallery of 200 shell sculptures, if things made from shells are your thing. Best is the big Blue Flag beach, backed by some of the county's highest cliffs; Norfolk's zenith, 103m (!) Beacon Hill, is nearby. The beach itself is lovely, when it's there – at high tide the sand is swallowed completely For all its nostalgic charm, Sheringham is actually pleasingly real, having managed to remain itself in the face of surrounding forces. It doesn't have the social issues that plague Great Yarmouth, 40 miles south. But nor is it as expensively gentrified as spots like Burnham Market (aka 'Chelsea-on-Sea'), 20 miles west – though local house prices reflect its proximity. Sheringham's identity has been tested. Long holding out as a bastion of independents, the town finally caved to Tesco in 2013, after a 17-year planning battle. However, the supermarket hasn't affected trade as much as feared: it's close to the centre, with parking – it may have actually brought more people in. More recently, a surge of young entrepreneurs has shaken things up. One of them is Ben Stubbs, who grew up in Sheringham and runs Stubby's, a 'chef-led' pizzeria where toppings include vodka sausage and black pudding. ' The Gangway bar opened around the same time as us,' Ben told me. 'Before, there were just pubs and fish and chips. Suddenly there was pizza and cocktails!' Gentrification, Sheringham style. What's not to like? Honestly, not a lot. The town's elderly-leaning demographic means you're unlikely to find much to do beyond 8.30pm, but that's probably not why you're here. And there's no headline-grabbing destination hotel or Michelin-starry restaurant – yet. Sheringham isn't perfect. But unlike the boarded-up shops and dwindling investment experienced in many coastal communities, it seems positively vibrant. District Councillor Liz Withington believes it may just offer the blueprint for other such towns looking to revive their fortunes. Liz moved here in 1994 but has lived all over, including Marbella – and sees similarities. 'It's the same with many seaside towns – rammed in summer, back to community in winter,' Liz said. 'We've got it right because we've maintained that sense of community.' There are concerns about preserving Sheringham's retail diversity as takeaway outlets increase. The current beef is with a pizza chain that's trying to move in. The council has objected, the chain has appealed. 'High streets are supposed to be about 30 per cent hot-food takeaways; Sheringham is over 40 per cent already,' Ben explained. 'If the appeal is overturned, where does it end? It could be the first Domino to fall, pardon the pun… Small towns are delicate little ecosystems. They need to be nurtured and protected.' Do this… Definitely ride the Poppy Line, which takes 25 minutes to huff from Sheringham to the pretty market town of Holt. After that, head to the Little Theatre. Seating just 160, and almost entirely run by volunteers, it's small but mighty. In 2024, actress Suranne Jones – who has a holiday home nearby – became President. 'She'd started to come quite regularly,' explained Debbie Thompson, the Little's director. 'She loved that it was a true community theatre and wanted to be involved.' Jones hosts workshops and helps promote the theatre's varied programme, which includes a traditional summer rep season, music, comedy and more. Eat this… Crab. Cromer, five miles east, has sown up the marketing, but Norfolk's famed crustaceans come from Sheringham too. In CA Seafoods you can buy them neatly dressed; it also has a 150-year-old smokehouse where they hot and cold smoke all sorts of fish. However, I ate at Camellia Cottage, a postcard-pretty, brick-and-flint cafe by the clock tower. It was heaving, both inside and out in the courtyard garden. I ordered the crab sandwich and had a tense wait while the server checked with the kitchen, and nabbed the last one of the day. Steep at £12, but a local treat. But don't do this… The ancient Cromer Shoals Chalk Bed – nicknamed 'Britain's Great Barrier Reef' – is the longest in the world, and lies only a stone's skim offshore. The 46-metre-long Sheringham Snorkel Trail, which follows a disused Victorian sewage pipe, leads out to this unexpectedly colourful underwater world that teems with crab, lobsters, fish, rare sponges and anemones. But in order to experience it, you need a long period of calm to cause the North Sea's sediment to drop and turn the water clear blue – which happens for about five or six days a year. Unless you get lucky, perhaps go stand-up paddle boarding with SUP Shack instead. From a local 'Shops come and go, restaurants change – but not a lot. That's the charm of it. Sheringham is expanding out, with new houses, but the core has remained the same. It's a great little town where everyone looks out for each other.' – Chris Taylor, Sheringham-born photographer, lifeboatman and shanty-man. From a tourist 'We've made a day-trip. My mum recommended the steam train, and it fully lived up to expectations. Quite slow but nice views and friendly staff. We like the museum. Now we're going to walk the seafront and get fish and chips from the shop with the longest queue.' – Sarah Wilson and Carl King from Lincolnshire Get there Sheringham is an hour by train from Norwich, at the end of the Bittern Line, which also stops at Cromer and Hoveton & Wroxham (a jumping-off point for the Broads). The Coasthopper Bus connects Wells-next-the-Sea and Cromer, via Sheringham. For more information, see Visit North Norfolk and Experience Sheringham. Stay at Burlington Berties (01263 821500) has B&B doubles from £320 for two nights.
The Sun
10 hours ago
- The Sun
I stayed in a floating yacht hotel in Europe – we had champagne breakfasts on a budget and even spotted celebs
DAVID WALLIAMS was sitting at the next table offering to massage a newlywed couple. First morning aboard the Sunborn floating hotel in Gibraltar and the professional extrovert was in full character, engaging with star-struck holidaymakers as only he can, with a twinkle in his eye. 6 6 6 We arrived too late the night before to catch the Little Britain comic's one-man show at a sports centre but apparently it went down a storm. He has already asked to return for November's literary festival, and it's no surprise. Gibraltar has for so long been pigeonholed as a stopover for day trippers. Passengers on the 250-odd cruise ships that briefly moor under the Rock's majestic presence dash around to see a few sights but mainly aim to take advantage of the VAT-free shopping. It's a trend the local tourist board is working hard to reverse. They want travellers to take more time fully taking in the surprisingly large number of things to do on a tiny sun-kissed slab of Britain at the mouth of the Med. And when beer is just £3.75 a pint, why not stay longer to enjoy? Secret bunker Gibraltar's gripping history has a deep association with our Armed Forces. The Royal Engineers were founded here in the 18th century and practically built the place. The honeycomb of tunnels dug by clever sappers during World War Two offers a fascinating insight into the work of our determined Armed Forces and the strategic importance of Gibraltar during the conflict. In one cavern hangs a full-size replica of a legendary Spitfire fighter plane. There is also the spine-chilling story of the Stay Behind Cave — the once secret bunker carved into the heart of the mountain, complete with provisions for a year and a bicycle generator. An elite group of patriotic volunteers agreed to be sealed off from the outside world for a year and spy on the Axis powers, should Gibraltar get overrun — the ultimate one-way ticket in the line of duty. From the exotic Moorish times, through the centuries of the British Empire and beyond, there are tours to take and a bloody back story to hear in the name of entertainment. Strait of Gibraltar Tunnel: A New Bridge Between Continents My wife and I stayed four nights on the permanently moored Sunborn yacht hotel, anchored flush against the dockside of Gibraltar's Ocean Village. It's a 5H joint, and the food and service reflects that. Yet even in high season, a spacious double room with a large window can be yours for £185 a night, including champagne breakfast. Step ashore and you can be seated in one of many lively bars with giant outdoor screens beaming major sports from back home. If that's not for you, just 50 yards away is Little Bay Restaurant — a vibrant Indian fusion eaterie where bubbly manager Kelly welcomes you with warm cockney charm, before delicately blended curries combined with zingy cocktails top off an early summer evening. Gibraltar's biggest attraction in every sense is the looming mound of limestone that dominates everything here. Get to the top via the scenic cable car and peer down from the stomach-churning Skywalk 1,400 feet above the sparkling sea — opened by Luke Skywalker, aka Mark Hamill, himself. Take in the view across the Straits, a 15-mile- wide blue chasm separating Europe from North Africa — which David Walliams heroically swam in aid of Sport Relief in 2008. The Northern Defences are also worth a visit. This cavernous labyrinth of tunnels has been added to over time, since the eighth century. Our guide, Karl Viagas, is steadfastly uncovering more historical treasures underground that will be spectacular when fully open. 6 6 6 James Bond creator Ian Fleming was stationed here with Naval Intelligence, and daring undersea attacks on the Allied fleet by Italian scubamen in the war fuelled his already vivid imagination for future books and movies. And in true 007 style, we were accompanied by a glamorous former Miss World who would grace any Bond movie. Kaiane Aldorino, former Mayor of Gibraltar, is now an ambassador for the territory. Sunshine, cheap beer and a beauty queen for company — plus you can spend British pounds. But like many places, travel and the natural world can often rub each other up the wrong way. Gibraltar's playful macaque monkeys are funny to watch for a time but have become a way for taxi drivers to make a few easy quid. The roads at the top of the rock were clogged with cabbies queuing to feed junk food to these wild animals in return for them doing tricks. Far better to join Brian Gomila on his Monkey Talk tour in the kinder environment of the surrounding trees. And if you really want to go green, join Stuart at EBike-Gibraltar. Power-assisted cycling on a lap around the base of the rock is easy on the legs and the eyes as you stop off at small fishing villages with inviting beaches. There's a lot of fun to be had too. A dizzying gin-tasting session at the Spirit Of The Rock distillery was as enlightening as it was alcoholic. David Walliams might agree, it's Little Britain — but with Spanish style and weather.
