Oz in Spain

Viva Sydney… and España

a) That South Korean “pop sensation” Gangnam Style has officially become the first video on YouTube to reach one billion views…

b) That when South Korean “pop sensation” Gangnam Style took over top spot one month earlier (with 805 million views since its launch in July 2012) Justin Blubber’s Baby video clip had been leading the way…

c) OzinSpain actually first performed a remarkably similar “horse-riding dance” in 1982 towards the end of a long and memorable company Christmas dinner – i.e. when Psy aka Park Jae-Sang was just five years old (and, perhaps fortunately, 23 years before the advent of YouTube)…

d) South Korea apparently sees such popular culture as a “potent export force”…

e) All of the above…

Santa María de los Reales Alcázares (Úbeda)

Palacio de Jabalquinto (Baeza)

Jaén is something of a hidden treasure for many visitors to Andalucía. The seven other provinces (Málaga/Costa del Sol, Granada, Sevilla, Cádiz and, to a less extent, Córdoba, Huelva and Almería) tend to corner the market when it comes to tourism in Spain’s renowned southern region. […]

Finally… a voice of reason to ease the looming trepidation of men of a certain age. In its latest book of preventative health guidelines, the Royal Australian College for General Practitioners advises its members not to recommend prostate cancer screening to patients. Arguing that the risks of being screened for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits, the group says the risks of being screened for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits.

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(Photo: Getty Images)

It’s now official: Miguel Ángel Jiménez is the oldest winner on the European Tour. It took two years after his last win (Omega European Masters in Switzerland) but, with 11 of his 18 Tout titles having come since turning 40, few were surprised when the 48-year-old Málaga-born star triumphed in the UBS Hong Kong Open. It was his third victory in the event (following 2005 and 2008) and meant he was six months older than Des Smith when the Irishman won the 2001 Madeira Islands Open. […]

Popular Costa del Sol vegetarian restaurant Vegetalia is celebrating its 15th anniversary in November with a sumptuous new menu, numerous raffle prizes and festive sparkling wine. […]

Posing surrounded by black cats, underneath a ladder, in front of a broken mirror… Penelope Cruz clearly was untroubled tempting common superstitions for the 2013 Campari calendar. […]

The people have decided… this hauntingly evocative photo, “Graveyard”, taken by Julie Fletcher at Menindee Lakes in new South Wales, has won the People’s Choice Award in the ANZANG Nature Photography Competition at the South Australia Museum. […]

Marbella’s favourite soul diva, Yanela, has made it through the first stage of La Voz (the Spanish version of The Voice singing competition) and will do battle in the second stage on Telecinco (Wednesday 24 October, 10pm). Cuban-born Yanela, a popular performer during Marbella’s summer gala season, wowed two of the “coaches”, David Bisbal and Melendi, with her version of Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman – ultimately opting to join the former’s team.

(Photo: Jesús Domínguez © Museo Picasso Málaga)

Málaga’s Museo Picasso takes a look at the grotesque in art in its latest exhibition. On show until 10 February, The Grotesque Factor features more than 250 works by almost 80 artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Francisco de Goya, James Ensor, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Otto Dix, Willem de Kooning and Francis Bacon. […]