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Travel - International
Note: For information on travel to and within the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands see the respective sections.
AIR: Spain’s national airline is IBERIA (IB). Many airlines operate to Spain, including an increasing number of low-cost airlines from the UK.
Approximate flight times: From Barcelona to London is 2 hours; from Ibiza is 2 hours 20 minutes; from Madrid is 2 hours 15 minutes and from Málaga is 2 hours 40 minutes. From Madrid to Los Angeles is 13 hours; to New York is 7 hours 25 minutes; to Sydney is 30 hours.
International airports: Spain boasts over 30 international airports. Information on the major airports follows; information on any of the others can be obtained from AENA (Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegación Aérea) Calle Arturo Soria 109, Madrid 28043 (tel: (91) 321 1000; fax: (91) 321 1440; website: www.aena.es) which is the organisation responsible for running all of the Spanish airports.
Madrid (MAD) (Barajas) is 13km (8 miles) northeast of the city. Coach service departs to the city around every ten minutes (0445-0200) and underground services run every five minutes (0630-0130). Taxi service is available. Airport facilities include restaurants and bars, bank, several car hire offices, hotel reservation and tourist information desks, and outgoing duty-free shop.
Barcelona (BCN) (del Prat) is 13km (8 miles) southwest of the city. Bus service to the city departs Mon-Fri every 15 minutes, Sat every 30 mins and Sun every 20 mins (0600-2400). Rail service is every 30 minutes (0613-2340). Taxi service to the city is available. Airport facilities include a bank, restaurant, bar, several car hire companies, hotel reservation and tourist information desks and duty-free shops.
Alicante (ALC) (Altet) is 12km (7 miles) southwest of the city. Bus service runs to the city (0700-2335). A taxi service is available to the city. There is a taxi connection between Alicante and Valencia Airport. Airport facilities include a duty-free shop, bank, bureau de change, car hire, tourist information and restaurant.
Bilbao (BIO) (Sondika) is 11km (7 miles) north of the city. A new airport terminal, control tower and other improvements were completed late November 2000. Bus, taxi and rail services to the city are available. Airport facilities include a restaurant, duty-free shop, tourist information desk and car hire.
Málaga (AGP) is 11km (7 miles) southwest of the city. Buses run every 30 minutes. Train service runs every 30 minutes. Taxi service to the city is available. Airport facilities include duty-free shop, bank/bureau de change, restaurant and car hire.
Santiago de Compostela (SCQ) is 10km (6 miles) northeast of the city. Buses and taxis are available to the city centre. Airport facilities include bar, banks, car hire and shops.
Seville (SVQ) is 12km (7 miles) from the city. Taxis and buses are available to the city centre.
Valencia (VLC) (Manises) is 10km (6 miles) west of the city. A rail service, taxis and buses (0600-2020, every 80 minutes) are available to the city centre. Airport facilities include several car hire firms, bank/bureau de change, restaurant, bar and duty-free shop.
Departure tax: None.
SEA: Brittany Ferries (tel: 08703 665 333; website: www.brittany-ferries.com) operates a service to Santander (on the north coast) from Plymouth (travel time – 22 hours). P&O European Ferries (tel: 0870 242 4999; website: www.poportsmouth.com) operates a twice-weekly service from Portsmouth to Bilbao (travel time – 36 hours).
RAIL: There are direct trains between Madrid–Paris and Madrid–Lisbon, as well as Barcelona–Paris, Barcelona–Zürich or Milan and Barcelona–Geneva. These services are called Talgo, Estrella or Train-Hotel. On other international services to and from Spain, a change of train is necessary. However, work on the AVE (high-velocity train) route between Madrid and Barcelona and is expected to be completed in 2006, after which the French border connection is expected to be fully operational in 2010 and it will be possible to connect with the French TGV (high-velocity route) and the rest of the high-velocity routes in Europe. Motorail services run between Paris and Madrid. For more information, contact the Spanish Rail service (tel: 0207 629 4543; fax: 0207 409 0379; website: www.spanishrail.co.uk ). Travelling from the UK, the quickest way is to travel by Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to Paris (travel time – three hours) and, from there, to Spain. For further information and reservations contact Eurostar (tel: (0870) 6000 792 (travel agents) or (08705 186 186 (public; within the UK) or (+44 1233) 617 575 (public; outside the UK only); website: www.eurostar.com); or Rail Europe (tel: (08705) 848 848). Travel agents can obtain refunds for unused tickets from Eurostar For Agents, Second Floor, Kent House, 81 Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PD, UK. Complaints and comments may be sent to Eurostar Customer Relations, Eurostar House, Waterloo Station, London SE1 8SE, UK (tel: (020) 7928 5163; e-mail: new.comments@eurostar.co.uk).
ROAD: The main route from the UK is via France. The main motorways to Spain from France are via Bordeaux or Toulouse to Bilbao (northern Spain) and via Marseille or Toulouse to Barcelona (eastern Spain). A number of coach operators offer services to Spain. In the UK Eurolines, departing from Victoria Coach Station in London, serves more than 20 destinations in Spain. For further information, contact Eurolines (4 Cardiff Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, L41 1PP; tel: (08705) 143 219; fax: (01582) 400 694; website: www.eurolines.com or www.gobycoach.com). For information on documentation and traffic regulations, see Travel – Internal section.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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