Spanish green zones, letters to Santa Claus and sports hotels in Africa

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In today's travel news, we can tell you about new Spanish environmental zones. We can certainly understand the idea of green zones, but we can't help but wonder why it has to be so complicated. Couldn't there be a common European system? In other news, it's time to write letters to Santa Claus, Finnair is collaborating with Roxette, and Apollo is opening a major sports hotel in Africa. We can also report on a survey on how Swedes finance their trips abroad.

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Spain introduces new environmental zones

Since last year there is an environmental zone in Barcelona which prevents many types of vehicles from entering the city centre during periods of elevated air pollution. Rules have also been tightened in Madrid, as of 1 November 2018. Now only eco-labelled cars can enter the 'Madrid Central ZEZ' zone, and other zones are also restricted.

Since 27 July 2018, Spain has a system of eco-labels with four different categories/colours. The categories are based on the amount of emissions and the year of registration or EURO class of the car. Detailed information is available in the Green-Zones app.

Time to write letters to Santa Claus

Did you know that Santa's post office is located in Finnish Lapland? If you want to get a letter out on time, it's best to start writing now, according to the House of Lapland. Every year around 500,000 letters arrive from all over the world, most of them written by children. If you also want to write to Santa Claus, the address is: Santa Claus, Santa Claus' Main Post Office, Tähtikuja 1, 96930 Arctic Circle, Finland. Santa's post office is located in Rovaniemi and is open to the public throughout the year.

Finnair collaborates with Roxette

Aircraft noise weakens sweet and salty flavours, while enhancing umami and bitter flavours. To create the optimum in-flight dining experience, Finnair has enlisted the help of Per Gessle and Tommy Myllymäki and is introducing Hear the Taste. 

The soundscape is based on Roxette's hit song The Look, but has been adapted by Finnair to highlight the flavours of each dish. The experience will be available to all Business Class travellers on long-haul routes from Helsinki until February 2019.

How Swedes finance travelling abroad

Many Swedes prioritise travel when they have money to spare. Half of Swedes finance their holidays with existing savings, while one in five Swedes have a special "travel amount" that they set aside each month, according to Ticket's latest Sifo survey. Five per cent have parents who pay and three per cent buy the trip on their credit card. This is how Swedes finance travelling abroad (five most common answers):

1. I use existing savings (51 %)
2. My salary usually covers the cost (29 %)
3. I set aside a certain amount every month, which I use for travelling (18 %)
4. I start saving a few months before booking (15 %)
5. I use money I got back from the tax refund (15 %)

Apollo opens Africa's largest sports hotel

After great success with the Apollo-owned sports hotel Playitas and La Pared on Fuerte Ventura, Apollo now takes the next step and opens Aqua Vista, with the ambition to create North Africa's best sports hotel. 

Aqua Vista - powered by Playitas i Hurghada, Egypt, is one of Apollo's best-booked hotels and has now developed its sports and fitness infrastructure. The hotel includes a newly built 50-metre Olympic pool, Africa's largest hotel gym and tennis courts and offers many types of instructor-led training sessions.

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