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The stunning ‘hidden gem’ city in Spain which hardly any British tourists know about | Travel News | Travel
Spain is one of the world’s most visited countries, with 71 million international tourists crossing its borders in 2022 alone.
Among them, more than 15 million were Britons – many of whom travelled to holiday hotspots such as Magaluf, Benidorm and Ibiza.
Much like other tourists, British people visiting the Mediterranean country have the tendency to overlook one city often described by travel bloggers and experts as a “hidden gem” – Zaragoza.
Among them, LEN Journeys noted in an article dating back to 2021 how many travellers remain “seemingly unaware” of the capital of the Aragon region.
The writer added: “However, Spain’s fifth-largest city is definitely worth a detour thanks to its impressive heritage and monuments.”
Standing by the River Ebro, the city in northeastern Spain was built by the Romans as a trading post.
It has since seen the passage of Goth invaders, the Moors and Christian armies before the creation of modern Spain.
In 2018, it counted more than 666,800 residents and is the 27th most populous municipality in the European Union.
While it is buzzing with people, Zaragoza also boasts a rich culture and unique architecture thanks to its multicultural past.
Among its most famous landmarks are La Seo Cathedral, the ruins of Zaragoza’s Roman theatre and the Basílica del Pilar.
The latter includes the first fresco painting by Francisco de Goya, one of the most influential artists of the 18th and 19th centuries who happened to grow up in Zaragoza.
The church is also an attraction to many pilgrims, as it includes a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, who is said to have scaled down a pillar from heaven to appear before St James.
Zaragoza, distancing only a one-and-a-half-hour high-speed train trip from Madrid, should appeal also to those more interested in experiencing food and getting to know locals.
Casco Viejo, or the Old Town, is a maze of historic streets crowded with churches, tapas bars and restaurants.
The fact Zaragoza has managed to remain off the beaten track and is visited mostly by Spanish tourists, allows travellers to get an undiluted experience of the city which, unlike other more popular destinations, didn’t need to adapt to a large influx of foreign visitors.
In 2007, Constanza Hernandez, a then spokeswoman for the Zaragoza Tourism Board, spoke about the lack of foreign tourists coming to her city, as she told Travel Weekly: “We live in the shadows of Spain’s most popular tourist destinations.”
The following year, Zaragoza was spotlighted by the Expo, which attracted many to the city with its theme “Water and Sustainable Development”.
While international tourists have since taken note of the city, Zaragoza still gives visitors the possibility to experience the authentic spirit of Aragon.
The first photos of the late tech mogul Mike Lynch’s superyacht being raised from the depths have surfaced. The main boom and anchor from the Bayesian were retrieved from the ocean floor following the devastating sinking of the ship off the coast of Sicily, Italy, in August last year.
Mr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among the seven fatalities when the 56-metre vessel went down. Fifteen individuals, including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued.
Salvage crews used a diamond cutting wire on the boom, sail and furling gear near the mast, hoisting them onto Hebo Lift 2, a versatile floating barge equipped with diving and remotely-operated underwater vehicle systems, as well as a support tug.
A remote-controlled submersible was then deployed to sever one of the ship’s anchor chains, enabling it to be raised. The recovered pieces will be transported to the nearby town of Termini Imerese, where Italian prosecutors investigating the sinking are based.
Additional specialist equipment needed for the eventual lifting of the Bayesian will be loaded onto the 5,695-gross-tonne Hebo Lift 10, reputed to be one of the most potent maritime cranes in Europe.
Salvage experts from Dutch companies Hebo and SMIT Salvage are ramping up the use of remote-controlled tools following the death of a diver during underwater operations on May 9, reports the Mirror.
Additional equipment and crew are being sourced from across the continent, including an extra remote-controlled submersible to aid in the salvage operation. Efforts have been successful in securing the Bayesian’s tank vents and openings, significantly reducing the risk of pollution during the ongoing operations, with no environmental damage reported so far.
Salvage teams have initiated the process of positioning steel lifting slings and other necessary gear beneath the Bayesian. The next phase involves removing the vessel’s complex rigging, towering 72-metre mast, spreaders, and any remaining sails to ensure a safe lifting operation.
Marcus Cave, representing the British salvage company TMC Marine at the helm of the operation, remarked on Tuesday: “Over the past 10 days, the team has developed alternate methods to undertake certain tasks for this project.
“This will minimise diving activity and increase the use of equipment that is controlled directly from the floating work platforms. Whilst this change will increase the time it will take to complete this project; it will continue to prioritise the safety of those working on this complex lifting and recovery operation.”
Around 70 specialist personnel have converged on the quaint fishing village of Porticello from various parts of Europe to partake in the recovery efforts that kicked off earlier this month. Concurrently, inquest proceedings in the UK are delving into the tragic deaths of Mr Lynch and his daughter, alongside Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, aged 70, and his wife Judy Bloomer, 71 – all of whom were British nationals.
The other victims of the tragic sinking were American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, along with Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was employed as a chef on the boat. Mr Lynch and his daughter reportedly resided near London, while the Bloomers were based in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The business magnate established software behemoth Autonomy in 1996 and was exonerated in June of the previous year of committing a colossal fraud related to the sale of the company to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011. The ill-fated boat trip was intended as a celebration of his acquittal in the US case.
Bella May Culley is being held in a women’s prison in Georgia (Image: Facebook)
British teenager Bella May Culley faces a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty of smuggling drugs into Georgia. Ms Culley, 18, from Billingham, County Durham, was arrested after 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish were found in luggage at Tbilisi Airport on May 13. She is sharing a cell with two other inmates at Women’s Penitentiary Number Five. Her dad, Niel Culley, 49, has reportedly been denied permission to visit her since he arrived in Georgia on May 14, according to MailOnline.
A court in Tbilisi heard last week that Ms Culley is pregnant, with authorities carrying out a medical examination to confirm if the claim is true. Her lawyer is reported by Teesside Live as saying Ms Culley was “terrified and confused” by her first time in court, which led to the decision she would exercise her right to remain silent. The case raises a number of unanswered questions, including who Ms Culley was referring to as “Clyde” in a previous comment on social media.
Who is ‘Clyde’?
In a video posted on her TikTok account, Ms Culley reportedly boasted of leading a “Bonnie and Clyde” lifestyle, in reference to the notorious US couple known for their murders, kidnappings and bank robberies in the 1930s.
During a TikTok video uploaded on April 1, she can be heard saying: “Blonde or brunette? Erm how about we get up to criminal activities side by side like Bonnie n Clyde making heavy figures and f***ing on balconies over the world.
“I don’t care if we on the runnnnn baby long as I’m next to uuu.”
The clip doesn’t make clear who is meant by “Clyde”, if anyone at all.
Bella May Culley was backpacking in Asia before she flew to Georgia (Image: Facebook)
Who is ‘Russ’ or ‘Ross’?
There are also questions surrounding the identity of a mysterious man Ms Culley is said to have met in Asia before her arrest.
Her granddad, William Culley, said she spent time in the Philippines with a man called Ross or Russ before travelling to Thailand.
Mr Culley said she went to the Philippines to see a lad there who she used to go out with a couple of years ago but was now working out there.
He said the man was possibly working for his father’s company in the Philippines, but he has since wondered if that was true.
How did Bella May Culley get into this situation?
Ms Culley’s family has denied she was involved in drug smuggling. Her granddad has said she was “sucked into something, somehow”.
He told reporters: “She’s got sucked into something, somehow. She’s not an international drug trafficker. Can she even tell them who’s given her the drugs to take over?
“I bet she [can’t]. These people keep out of the way. It’s all just very strange and at the moment we just don’t have any answers. We don’t know what to think.”
Mr Culley has suggested his granddaughter was taken advantage of during a holiday with friends.
A family friend told The Sun Ms Culley was “completely exploited” after getting mixed up with British drug dealers while backpacking.
They said: “This is totally out of character for her. I know, because she’s a close friend of my daughter. She’s just a normal 18-year-old. She’s not some hardened criminal.”
General Jemal Janashia, former head of Georgia’s national bureau, said he felt sorry for Ms Culley, whom he suggested had been “clearly used and manipulated”.
Who is the father of her unborn baby?
Ms Culley claimed in court that she is pregnant, but the public has not been informed who the father of the unborn child is.
Georgia-based lawyer Mariam Kublashvili told MailOnline she has met with Ms Culley but is not representing her.
Ms Kublashvili told the same publication that Ms Culley requested warm clothing, fresh fruit and tuna during her prison visit.
The tuna request led the legal eagle to believe Ms Culley was experiencing pregnancy cravings. She reportedly was told by Ms Culley that medical tests haven’t been carried out.
Ms Culley also suggested she had met with a doctor but the language barrier meant they couldn’t understand each other.
Was Georgia her intended final destination?
At this stage, it is also unknown whether Ms Culley was travelling to Georgia or was meant to get on a connecting flight to another destination.
Her lawyer is said to have told MailOnline that her client ended up in Georgia without really knowing what she was doing.
The lawyer said that if convicted, then Ms Culley faces a 15 year minimum term to life in prison.
However, Ms Culley’s age and possible pregnancy would be mitigating factors if she were to plead guilty and assist with an investigation.
Did she know what was in the luggage?
This is arguably one of the most important questions of all and one investigators will no doubt be asking Ms Culley.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the drugs found have a street value of £200,000.
When Ms Culley was told about the severity of the alleged crime, her lawyer said she was “visibly shaken”.
China wants to get involved with huge Russian projects in the Arctic, according to one of Vladimir Putin‘s ministers. Energy chief Sergey Tsivilyov said that Chinese firms were exploring the possibility of participating in Russia‘s largest independent gas producer, Novatek’s new liquid natural gas (LNG) projects, according to the TASS news service. The company is currently focused on delivering two major schemes in the Arctic: Arctic LNG 2 and Murmansk LNG. The former is located in northern West Siberia and has a planned capacity of 19.8 million metric tonnes per annum.
The facility has been hit by US sanctions, but has started production at its second train, despite being unable to sell liquefied natural gas from the first train, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Murmansk LNG, meanwhile, is expected to have two lines that will yield 6.8million tonnes per year each. In addition, China, as well as India, are interested in being looped in on the Snezhinka international Arctic station, which is being built on the Yamal Peninsula in north west Siberia.
The project’s website states that it was created on the initiative of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University) and is a “year-round and fully energy autonomous complex based on renewable energy sources and hydrogen energy.”
It adds: “The goal is to test and demonstrate nature-saving technologies of life support, robotics, telecommunications, medicine, biotechnology, new materials, and artificial intelligence solutions.”
The station could become more of a collaborative endeavour between BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, Russia‘s Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov hopes, according to reports today.
He said: “In compliance with the Arctic zone development strategy, we have been creating the Snezhinka international research station – an autonomous scientific and educational complex using renewable energy sources.
Chekunkov added: “The project is being implemented by MIPT jointly with the Ministry of Education and Science, Yamal’s government. China and India have demonstrated interest in the project. Therefore, we hope that it may become international, it may be a project of the BRICS countries.”
It comes after Reuters reported that officials from Washington and Moscow have held discussions about the US helping to revive Russian gas sales to the continent, citing eight sources familiar with the talks.
The EU’s REPowerEU Plan aims to wean member states off Russian energy.
Gas imports have so far decreased from 45% in 2021 to 19% in 2024.
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