Oz in Spain

The design maestro responsible for putting the soul and heart into one of the Mediterranean’s most chic, and state-of-the-art, new marinas was the guest of honour at a lavish weekend of inauguration celebrations.

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Marbella mayoress Ángeles Muñoz was among the guests at a lavish cocktail presentation of the innovative new Ferrari 458 Spider at prestige car dealership C. De Salamanca. […]

Open de Andalucía 2012

Ranked 610th in the world coming into the event, and one of eight players gaining a place off the Spanish order of merit, Eduardo de la Riva led after the second and third rounds but eventually finished third behind Julien Quesne and Matteo Manassero, matching his best European Tour result in the 2011 Madrid Masters. The Spaniard has been to the Tour Qualifying School nine times but only passed the test once, a decade ago. (Photo: M. Álvarez)

Former manager of the England national football team Fabio Capello caught the action at Aloha. (Photo: M. Álvarez)

Javier Ballesteros, oldest son of Seve, was in the gallery following the first-day trio of Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Mateo Manassero and Robert Rock, accompanied by two other promising young Spanish amateurs who were also on the Costa del Sol competing in the Andalucía Cup at La Cañada. (Photo: M. Álvarez)

Tournament host Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who was seventh congratulates Eduardo de la Riva as the leading Spaniard and tournament winner Julien Quesne, who at 31 secured his first European Tour title with an outstanding closing eight-under 64 (matching the Aloha course record). (Photo: M. Álvarez)

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber test their cricket skills on St Kilda Beach in Melbourne.

An unprecedented six world champions will be on the grid when the new Formula 1 season begins in Australia on 18 March. Red Bull’s reigning champion Sebastian Vettel is pre-season favourite to win a third consecutive world title, with his main rivals Australian team-mate Mark Webber (career-best third in the 2010 and 2011 world championships), McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button (world champions in 2008 and 2009, respectively), and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (2005 and 2006). […]

Miguel Ángel Jiménez is not one to give up easily. As in previous years, when he caught up with Tiger Woods during the latest World Golf Championship event in the US, the Málaga-born star invited Woods to the Open de Andalucía event his promotional company Grupo MAJ has organised – and partly funded – the past six years. […]

Poster seen in the Santa Catalina area of Palma de Mallorca, imploring people to “Please, be responsible with your dog.”

Tournament Schedule in Spain

European Tour

Open de Andalucía: Aloha (Marbella) – 15-18 March

Open de España: Real Club de Golf de Sevilla – 3-6 May

Volvo World Match Play Championship: Finca Cortesín (Casares) – 17-20 May

Ladies European Tour

Tenerife Open de España Femenino: Las Américas (Tenerife) – 20-23 September

European Senior Tour

Mallorca Senior Open: Pula Golf – 11-13 May

Benahavís Senior Masters: La Quinta – 1-3 June

Public holidays in Andalucía

1 January: New Year’s Day (Año Nuevo)

6 January: Three Kings Day (Epifanía – Reyes Magos)

28 February: Andalucía Day (Día de Andalucía)

5 April: Easter Thursday (Jueves Santo)

6 May: Labour Day (Fiesta del Trabajo)

15 August: Assumption of the Virgin (Asunción de la Virgen)

12 October: National Spain Day  (Fiesta Nacional de España)

1 November: All Saints Day (Fiesta de Todos los Santos)

6 December: Spanish Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución Española)

8 December: Immaculate Conception Saint’s Day (Inmaculada Concepción)

25 December: Christmas Day (Navidad)

Seasons

Winter (Invierno): 21 December-19 March

Spring (Primavera): 20 March-19 June

Summer (Verano): 20 June-21 September

Autumn (Otoño): 23 September- 20 December

(PHOTOS: IMAGEN©TURISMO ANDALUZ S.A.)

(IMAGEN © TURISMO ANDALUZ, S.A.)

…ACRONYM for Spanish Ministry of the Environment’s Planes de Ordenación de Recursos Naturales department, which looks after the nation’s natural resources: P.O.R.N.

In the latest, almost inexplicable, example of how social networking can warp otherwise prudent people’s judgment, a Mallorca politician has been forced to withdraw her candidature for a Senate seat in the 20 November elections. […]