San Pedro de Alcántara's Paleochristian Basilica at Linda Vista Baja

Google San Pedro’s Basilica, and what comes up first is one of the Vatican City’s most famous of historic monuments, founded by Pope Julius II and built between 1506 and 1626. But we’re not in Rome… we’re on the Costa del Sol, and the Basilica we’re talking about is in San Pedro de Alcántara.

But while it’s a modern, thriving and cosmopolitan resort – just to the west of Puerto Banús and forming part of the municipality of Marbella – San Pedro is also home to the Vega del Mar Paleochristian Basilica located in Linda Vista Baja. Dating from the 4^th and 5^th centuries, it’s one of the few remaining ruins from the time of the Byzantine domination of Southern Spain and is the only surviving example of its type anywhere in Europe.

Having just undergone a period of restoration, the Basilica was opened to the public last week and can be visited on Fridays between 11am and 1pm. Guided tours for schools and other groups can also be arranged by contacting the Municipal Cultural Delegation, on T. (+34) 952 765 996.

According to a report released by the local Tourist Board to coincide with the 32^nd edition of the FITUR International Tourism Fair taking place in Madrid this week, despite the recession a total of 9.1 million holidaymakers visited the Costa del Sol in 2011, up by 3.5% compared with 2010. The average vacation length, however, was down from 13 days to nine, while the average spend also dropped – although only very slightly – from €800 to €760.

Tourism is Málaga’s principal industry, last year representing more than 13% of the province’s GDP which amounted to €8,000 million.

The Costa del Sol Racecourse in Mijas Costa welcomes in the Chinese New Year on Sunday, 15 January. Yep, OK, so it’s a few days early, but don’t let that put you off ‘cos the local town hall assures us it’s going to be the biggest Chinese New Year celebration in Southern Spain. Admission is free and everyone’s welcome!

The event gets underway at 4pm, with a series of performances by Andalusian folklore dance groups, and at 5pm, coinciding with midnight in Beijing, the 25 members of the well-known Jin Fan dance group – the winners of the latest edition of the Festival of Dance celebrated in China – will be putting on a spectacular show.

Celebrating the transition from the Year of the Rabbit to the Year of the Dragon, the event at the Hipódromo Costa del Sol has been financed by the Chinese government and will be attended by the Chinese Consul General in Spain. Oh yes, and if you’re wondering about the date, well the reason why it’s been brought forward, is simply because the Jin Fan dancers have to be back home in time to welcome in the New Year in China which of course really starts on Monday 23 January.

It was back in August that Spain’s Socialist (PSOE) Government took the unheard of step of slashing the purchase tax on new-build properties by 50%, thus reducing the 8% rate of IVA (VAT) to just 4%. An unprecedented move, the very welcome reduction was, however, originally planned to remain in force only until 31 December 2011, creating a pretty short-lived window of opportunity for buyers.

So, if you thought you’d missed the boat, then you’ll be delighted to hear that Spain’s new Conservative (PP) Government – who swept to power in a landslide victory at the General Election on 20 November 2011 – have extended the IVA reduction on all sales of Spanish new-build homes until the end of 2012.

This means for example that if you’re purchasing a property with a price tag of €200,000, instead of paying the €16,000 IVA previously in force, the tax bill will now only equate to half that amount – €8,000. On a sliding scale, a property costing €400,000 will therefore only mean a tax bill of €16,000 instead of €32,000… and so on.

Just think what you could do with all the money you save!

98-year-old Doña Antonia plants an almond tree at The People's Forest in Marbella

The International Year of the Forest was drawing to a close when Marbella’s oldest resident – 98-year-old Antonia Aranda Fernández – planted an almond tree at The People’s Forest being created by Arboretum at Finca El Trapiche.

With five children, 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, when Antonia was told about the project to create a forest – made by and for the people of Marbella – with some 18,000 trees native to the area, she was impressed. “That’s an awful lot of trees,” she said, “but I like the idea and I’d like to take part. I can’t dig many holes nowadays, but I can still take care of the trees and plants.”

Born in 1913 to a local farming family, Antonia was one of 14 children and had a hard but rewarding life in close contact with the land and “fighting like a lioness” to provide for her family. Starting work in the fields at the tender age of 12, by the time she was 14 she was carrying sacks of flour in return for bread and oil, and when she was older she earned her living as a cleaner….

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The 2012 Travel Trends Report from Skyscanner, one of Europe’s leading travel search sites, confirms that Spain is still the top destination for British holidaymakers – as well as for French, German, Swedish and Spanish travellers – not only heading the list of country searches, but also leading the way with four of the top five city and resort searches with Málaga and the Costa del Sol coming first for the second consecutive year, ahead of Alicante, Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca.

Well worth a read, the report additionally highlights the fact that in 2011 Spain also topped the Post Office Holiday Costs Barometer, showing overall how much money 10 key items in 14 different holiday resorts would set you back. With prices pegged at 2010 levels, Spain came out on top as Europe’s best-value destination.

As a spokesman for the Spanish Tourist Board in London explains, “Despite economic challenges and a shrinking outbound market, UK visitors to Spain are up 8.8% on the comparable period in 2010. Since the first flight-inclusive package holiday to the Costa del Sol in the early 60s, there has been a long history of British families taking their holidays in Spain…

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According to a recent report from the Bank of Spain, the latest figures currently available show that overseas investment in Spanish real estate soared by 27.8% up to September 2011 – compared with the same period in 2010 – with the transactions made during that time amounting to €3,601 million.

A separate report, by Spain’s daily newspaper El Mundo, also states that for the first time since 2008, overall investments during the three consecutive quarters were in excess of €1,000 million, while in the third quarter of 2011 foreign investment in Spanish property totalled €1,164 million – up a substantial 19.2% on figures for the same period in 2010.

Swan Lake: Demanding technical skills, stunning costumes and haunting music.

The internationally acclaimed Russian National Ballet Theatre, founded in Moscow during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s, are performing Tchaikovsky’s much loved Swan Lake (in Spanish billed as ‘El Lago de los Cisnes’) at the Teatro Cervantes in  Málaga on Sunday 8 January, Monday 9 January and Sunday January 15.

The first of the three ballets he was commissioned to compose for the head of the Russian Imperial Theatres in 1875, Swan Lake wasn’t an instant hit by any stretch of the imagination since conductors, dancers and audiences alike all thought his musical score was much too difficult and complicated to perform to, while its original choreography by Julius Reisinger was considered uninspiring and lacking in originality.

After Tchaikovsky’s death, however, the ballet was reconceived by legendary choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and has become one of the most iconic full-length ballets of all time.

Depicting the age-old struggle of good versus evil, Swan Lake is known for its demanding technical skills, its stunning costumes and haunting music. All the ingredients you’d expect from this magical fairy tale which has captivated and entertained audiences around the world for more than 100 years.

Swan Lake at the Teatro Cervantes, Málaga

Performances: Sunday 8 January 2012 at 7pm; Monday 9 January 2012 at 9pm; Sunday 15 January 2012 at 6pm.

For more information: T. +34 952 224 109

Ticket hotline: T. 902 360 295

Online tickets

Orange Square, Marbella

According to a recent report in Málaga’s provincial daily Diario Sur, in 2011 the Marbella town hall has processed 976 opening licences, a significant increase of 17.5% compared with 2010 when 806 applications were registered. So it’s very welcome news that despite the global economic crisis, entrepreneurs are betting on Marbella as their Costa del Sol town of choice when it comes to launching a new business.

“These figures reflect Marbella’s dynamism and the strength of its economy, even during such a difficult time,” said local mayor Ángeles Muñoz, who also pointed out the changes in legislation recently introduced by the town hall in order to streamline and simplify what had previously been a slow, complicated and cumbersome process.

In the case of a new bar, for example, reports first had to be produced by the Fire Brigade, as well as the Town Planning, Health and Industry departments meaning that the procedure could take more than a year to complete. But with the Industry delegation now solely responsible for the process, that length of time has been reduced to around three months, while some new businesses – such as fashion retailers and lawyers’ offices – are now often able to open on the very same day that the relevant documentation is presented.

This year’s 17.5% increase is in stark contrast to the previous three consecutive years when decreases in opening licences were recorded. In 2008 the figure for opening licences stood at 1,554, dropping by 18% in 2009 with 1,250 applications, and down again in 2010 with just 806 applications.

After its launch in Stockholm in January 2011 – where more than 280,000 visitors passed through the doors – Madrid is only the second city to host the NASA: The Adventure of Space Exhibition which will be touring Europe for the next five years. Totally unique, the 2,500 square metre showcase brings together an extraordinary collection of more than 300 original items – instruments, artefacts, machinery, spacesuits… all of which have journeyed into space, plus faithful life-size replicas and meticulously-crafted scale models –  which have never before been exhibited, perhaps surprisingly, not even in the US.

And the Spanish capital is the perfect place for The Adventure of Space Exhibition – which opened on 16 December 2011 and runs until 15 June 2012 – not only because if you’re on the Costa del Sol, then Madrid is just a 60-minute flight, or less than 2.5 hours away by high speed train, but also because the city has played a key role in NASA’s Space Program, and for that matter still does.

But more of that later, ‘cos unless Neil Armstrong’s inimitable words: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” – witnessed by millions around the world as he stood on the moon on 21 July 1969 – left you totally unmoved, then you’ll be itching to find out just what’s in store for you at this once in a lifetime exhibition…

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