Spa holidays are becoming more popular, and good news for those who like the idea of a spa holiday in Gran Canaria - the International Medical Travel Journal report:

The Spanish Island of Gran Canaria, just off the coast of Morocco, is fast establishing itself as a wellness and health tourism destination, offering facilities and technology at an affordable cost. The doctors and nurses in all hospitals and clinics are well qualified as well as speaking fluent English. The cost of treatment is up to 40% less than other UK and European medical tourism destinations even with the current exchange rate.

Famed for its healthy microclimate averaging 24 degrees all year round and its purifying natural mineral waters and Aloe Vera, Gran Canaria offers perfect conditions in which to recuperate and rejuvenate. It has long attracted holidaymakers in search of blue skies and beaches. Being just a short flight from many EU countries and with some of Europe’s best spa and thalassotherpy facilities makes it an ideal destination to combine surgery, post operative recuperation and holiday relaxation.

Gran Canaria boasts some of the best-rated spa and thalasso facilities in Europe including the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort Spa & Casino which has a spa set in an area reminiscent of a volcanic cave, The Lopesan Villa del Conde Resort & Corallium Thalasso with private seawater pools, jacuzzis, sun terraces and treatment rooms, and The Gloria Palace San Agustín Thalasso and Hotel with its four high tech sea water pools.

The Gran Canaria Spa, Wellness & Health Association (GCSW&H Association) has persuaded several of the top spas, medical and recuperation facilities on the island to offer bespoke wellness and medical holiday packages to suit individual needs of medical tourists, particularly from France, Germany, Spain and the UK.It has also persuaded fourteen of the top spa hotels to offer packages. These all provide guests with a choice of three to five star accommodation offering outstanding spa facilities and comfort, and close to: Hospital San Roque Maspalomas, Clinica San Roque Las Palmas, Eurocanarias Oftalmologica Eye Clinic and Branemark Center.Clinica San Roque Las Palmas specialises in cosmetic surgery. Eurocanarias Oftalmológica is a top specialist eye clinic. Hospital San Roque Maspalomas is a cosmetic surgery specialist. Branemark Center is a specialist dental clinic.  To read the full article click here

For cheap Gran Canaria flights and a Gran Canaria weather forecast visit yourgrancanaria.net

The Irish Times has put Gran Canaria among its top ten best places for a winter holiday.

They comment:

The Canary Islands are a home from home for many an Irish holidaymaker, offering the twin attractions of value and sunshine. Those who love Gran Canaria wouldn’t go anywhere else. Those who haven’t tried it might like to think again. Far from being just one long beach, the island is a continent in miniature, with surprising contrasts in landscape that range from deep ravines to mountain peaks. And while most of us associate Gran Canaria only with dunes, the northern part of the island is carpeted in green pines and lush sugar-cane and banana plantations.

More details about Gran Canaria holidays are at http://www.yourgrancanaria.net

The Guardian in the UK has reported in its travel pages about an alternative to connventional holidays in Gran Canaria, that aren’t very well known about. They say:

We were sitting on a cliff top eating a camping stove dinner and gazing blissfully into the void. Behind us pine trees swished, 1,400m below the ocean thudded into the coastline, and in front, beyond a volcano piercing the cloud canopy, the sun took a bow of epic proportions. It was the kind of sunset you don’t want to take your eyes off: colours shifted imperceptibly as the sky drifted through the spectrum to black, then filled with stars. It was one of those joyous outdoor moments every committed camper hopes for: the ones that erase all those memories of sodden socks, sore limbs, over-sexed neighbours, sleepless nights and biblical floods. That recidivist campers are masochists with selective memory loss is no great revelation; what is, is that this particular moment happened in Gran Canaria.

The karaoke bars and Irish pubs of Playa del Ingles aside, camping on Gran Canaria, with its year-round sunshine and cheap charter flights, doesn’t sound like a bad idea. But a quick internet search deters most. Only two campsites come up clearly on Google: one is in a town . . . beside the airport on the windswept east coast; the other on the sunny though heavily developed south coast, is called Camping Guantánamo.

Not wanting to be intimidated by the unfortunate name we headed to the latter straight from the airport. But unlike its namesake, this Guantánamo had already been shut down. After lengthy discussions with the staff of a nearby restaurant and a wild goose chase through sprawling, soulless tourist developments, we spent our first night curled up in the back of our hire car.

Next morning, we left the condo-jungle in search of the island’s wilder side. On the Gran Canaria map it seems a straightforward affair: a big mountain rising from the ocean, a circle of rock 50km in diameter with a high point in the middle. In reality, it’s a bit more complicated: falling away from the Cumbre, literally the summit, were dozens of barrancos, deep gorges gauged into the volcanic rock that meander towards the coast.

To read the full article click here and for more information about the island visit http://www.yourgrancanaria.net

The annual Canary Islands Music Festival event has been drawing the world’s best classical musicians since 1985, and helps to attract thousands of tourists to both Tenerife and Gran Canaria, producing extra tourist Euros for the islands.

The Canary Islands Music Festival boasts events stretched over a period more than a month. Concerts and cultural events take place on both the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife from January 9 to February 16, 2009.

Festival organizers are recognising some important milestones that will influence the festival’s theme. This celebration of classical music has reached the quarter-century mark. The 25th anniversary will be marked with much fanfare amongst organisers, visitors and local business owners.

Many of the works of classical pianist and composer Franz Lizst will be featured. The Hungarian musician would be nearing his 200th birthday. Lizst was highly regarded during his lifetime, even by his own contemporaries. He is still considered by many to be the greatest pianist in the history of the world. Festival organizers have chosen to focus on his work during its 2009 series.

The upcoming New Year also marks the 250th anniversary of the death of Georg Friedrich Handel. The Canary Islands Music Festival will pay fitting tribute to the German Baroque composer.

Handel is probably most well-known for his oratorio ‘Messiah.’ Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is a holiday favourite the world over. Handel wrote over 40 operas, more than 25 oratorios and hundreds of songs, cantatas, duets and other musical works.

The Canary Islands Music Festival has grown since its debut in 1985. It was begun by likeminded avid classical music lovers. They wanted the Canary Islands to be recognized as a symbol of culture. They recognised the rich history of the islands as a magnet for tourists seeking culture in addition to sun and surf.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists have flocked to the festival since it opened its doors and boosted the number of holidaymakers taking Gran Canaria holidays.  It boasts some of the finest performances by modern classical musicians in one grand event. It has featured in past years names such as Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Colin Davis, Frans Bruggen and many more.

Events take place in various venues in the capital cities of the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Concerts and cultural happenings are spread over more than 35 days. Tickets for various events range in price from 20 to a hundred Euros, depending on the artist and the venue.

Music loving tourists can come for part or all of the festival. Local hotels, apartments and bed-and-breakfasts are booking quickly. Tour packages are also available through a number of travel agencies. Many include hotel stays, concert ticket bundles and admission to other local attractions for one inclusive price.

The Canary Islands may still be best known worldwide for sand and sun. However, the Canary Islands Music Festival has done much to promote the region as a place rife with culture. Thousands of tourists have come to appreciate the islands for the history they boast. Getting a little bit of winter sun with the music is a bit of a bonus too!