New Terminal T1 Opens At Barcelona Airport

Travelers to Barcelona will be treated to a more luxurious arrival and departure with the official opening of the new Terminal T1. The Ricardo Bofill-designed terminal will accommodate approximately 30 million people annually.

Created for $1.7 billion, Terminal T1 boasts some serious amenities. In addition to a 256,181-square-foot shopping promenade, there's also a spa, fitness center, hair salon, four VIP lounges and a multi-faith chapel. Business travelers will have access to a series of offices, boardrooms, a private gym and rest area with beds, baths and TVs.

More from the Tourist Office of Spain:

This terminal is one of the largest civil engineering projects recently undertaken in Europe. Bofill designed the structure with sustainability in mind, placing hundreds of solar panels on the aluminum roof. Thus, 70 percent of the water in T1 is heated using thermal collectors. Curtain walls, designed to resist air, water infiltration, wind and its own dead load forces are composed of an aluminum framing filled with glass to provide an architecturally-pleasing and light-filled structure.

The opening of T1 has created 3,000 jobs in a terminal where over 6,000 will be employed. Many will work in the new processing building which has 166 check-in desks and 52 auto check-in machines. The Barcelona Airport is now able to serve 55 million passengers per year. Improvements have also been made in regards to flight operations. In 2004, the airport facilitated 64 operations per hour. Flight operations will now increase to up to 90 per hour. A total of 19 airlines are currently based in T1 including: Lufthansa, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, Swiss International, TAP Portugal, US Airways and Egyptair. At the beginning of September, One World (Iberia, American Airlines and Vueling), will move to the new terminal and by the end of the year, SkyTeam (incorporating Air Europa) will relocate there. Every seven minutes, a shuttle bus connects passengers from T1 to T2. For further information about the Barcelona Airport, go to www.aena.es.

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Portugal Parks: Serra da Estrela National Park (Pt. 2)

Continuing our series highlighting Portugal parks (with some excellent information from the Tourist Office), today we'll feature Serra da Estrela National Park.

"The Natural Park of Serra da Estrela is the largest in Portugal and also features the highest mountain peaks in mainland Portugal. Both the Rio Mondego and the Rio Zêzere start here and cut through the Natural Park. These are the biggest two rivers that start and end in Portuguese territory. The Park began in 1976 to protect the rural character of the granite villages and its landscape. It lies to the east of the Central region of Portugal and stretches 55 kilometers from Celorico de Beira in the north, down to Vide in the south west, covering 1,000 square kilometers. It has some of the most stunning mountain scenery in Portugal and even has a small skiing resort."

The park also contains villages towards to the bottom of its mountain ranges. There's a notable Roman presence and past Arab settlers demonstrate influence on the area with unique irrigation systems and orchards. This diverse history gives travelers the opportunity to purchase region-specific cuisine and crafts.

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Portugal Parks: Peneda-Geres National Park (Pt. 1)

The Portuguese Tourist Office recently sent over an excellent information guide to the country's vibrant parks and natural habitats. We'll roll out the information slowly, so you get a chance to really soak it in.

To start, we'll preview Peneda-Geres National Park way up north:

"The Peneda-Gerês National Park is a stunningly beautiful wilderness ofrugged granite mountains mixed with forest and fields of flowers. Lower lying areas offer conifer and broadleaved forests including some rare native woodland that contain oaks. The National Park covers a 70,000 metric acres. The striking mountains reach 1500 meters in rough granite. Here you will find the only surviving, untouched Roman road, complete with markers, on the Peninsula, and wild Gerês horses, roaming the wilderness. The spa town of Gerês offers water that is like silk, and renews you at first touch. Ancient villages fill the northern part, with a lake built around a sunken town."

Click here for more information.

As usual, thanks for reading. Please visit International Lodging Corporation at our home page.