Spanish Iberico ham, new classification

In order to help consumers know at a glance the origin of Spanish Iberico hams bought in specialised stores and supermarkets, a new tag system has come into force in January 2014. The colour scheme will classify each ham into one of four groups and is part of a number of other changes being introduced.
The new system will appear over time, as current stocks in stores need to be sold first. These new labels will be placed on the hams in origin and there will be greater emphasis placed on the need to be able to trace each animal by means of a “genealogical book”. The overall aim is to reinforce consumer confidence in a market that has suffered from over-production and an important drop in sales during the recession.

The New Iberian Ham Classification

Spanish hams will be sold with one of the following four colour codes:

• Black: reserved for 100% acorn-fed Iberian pigs Jamón 100% Ibérico de Bellota
• Red: acorn-fed Iberian pigs (may have had other foods) Jamón Ibérico de Bellota
• Green: grazing pigs Jamón de Cebo de Campos Ibéricos
• White: fed with fodder Jamón de Cebo Ibérico

A previous fifth classification, Jamón de Recebo (mixed feed), has been eliminated.

What Other Changes Are Included In The New System?

The changes also include limitations on images, logos and symbols used on labels to avoid indicating a type of ham different to that being sold.
The labelling rules will not only be applied to iberico hams but will also be extended to other pork products too such as paleta and lomo. If you’re not sure about the difference between “jamon” and “paleta”, remember that jamon refers to the hind legs whilst paleta is for the smaller front legs, a typical jamon weighs around 7.5 kg and a paleta around 5 kg.

How Will Consumers Benefit?

As well as knowing immediately they type of ham being sold without having to interpret vague information, the new labelling system will also make it easier for consumers when comparing prices between different products. Remember that in most stores the salesperson will be able to help you decide between different hams and that you can taste the ham before buying.

Spanish Pigs

Famous ham regions in Andalucia are:
The Alpujarras: Ham from Trevélez
Huelva: Ham from Jabugo

Museum of Glass, Malaga

The ´'Museo de Vidrio y Cristal' is the Travellers first Choice of attractions in Malaga 2013, in Tripadvisor.

The museum is located in a carefully restored house of an Italian merchant, dating from the 18th century and posesses a private collection of more than 3.000 pieces of glass of different epochs, accompanied by pictures, furniture and decorative objects in a setting that corresponds to each historical period represented, immersing us in an environment close to the domestic context of the era.

Glass Museum Malaga

It is a museum of decorative arts that aims not only to contribute to the rehabilitation of the old craftman's neigborhood of San Felipe Neri, but also to be a reference centre for artisans' techniques of the past, many of them lost, unknown or forgotten.

Room in the Glass musseum Malaga

Open: from Tuesday till Sunday, from 11:00 till 19:00
Entrance fee: 5€
Location: Plazuela Santísimo Cristo de la Sangre2, Malaga

More information: webpage museum
Opinions Tripadvisor
More about Museums in Spain: Thyssen Málaga, Zabaleta Jaen, Prado Madrid,

Van Gogh, Monet, Courbet and Léger in Malaga

From October 4th till April 20th in Thyssen Museum in Málaga

The exhibition Courbet, Van Gogh, Monet, Léger. From naturalist Landscape to the Avant-gardes in the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, organised in collaboration with Obra Social ”la Caixa”, focuses on the role of landscape painting in the renewal of modern art through the quest undertaken by artists for greater freedom of execution and direct contact with nature. At the same time, it reveals the interesting connections that arose between the principal Spanish painters and the most important artistic movements that simultaneously emerged in Europe.
Through a selection of more than forty works from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, the exhibition offers a survey of landscape painting from the mid-19th century to 1950, relating the most important Spanish landscape painters such as Carlos de Haes, Eliseu Meifrèn and Santiago Rusiñol to the principal trends in international, particularly French art with the aim of seeking out affinities and influences.

Claude Monet, Low Tide in Varengeville, 1882

In comparison to genre painters, whose work was governed by strict rules, landscape painters achieved a greater degree of freedom by establishing a direct dialogue with nature while also trying out new techniques that incorporated scientific discoveries of the day. Thus for late 19th-century artists, painting could not be confined to the imitation of reality: beauty was the result of an internal order and their conception of a painting as a flat plane covered with colours anticipated the contribution of the 20th-century Avant-gardes. Around 1930 and following a period when landscape was to some extent eclipsed, the Surrealists gave it a new meaning as the representation of the subconscious.
Overall, the exhibition allows visitors to appreciate how landscape painting evolved over almost a century, from naturalism to the markedly introspective character of Avant-garde landscapes, while also taking into account the transition from post-Romanticism to Symbolism, the interest in light characteristic of Impressionism and the return to classicism.
Information from: Website Museum Carmen Thyssen M

Entrance fee for this exhibition: 4 €
Opening hours. from tuesday till sunday from 10:00 to 20:00
More information: Website Carmen Thyssen Museum

More flights to Malaga this winter!

There are more flights to Malaga this winter (2013-2014) than ever!

There are 25 new routes this low season with 80% more seats on flights from Germany and 20% more on routes from the rest of Europe.

The new routes from Germany are from Dortmund, Köln, Nürnberg, Hannover, Münster and Hamburg.

Malaga from the plane

The new routes from the UK to Malaga are from Gatwick with a Norwegian airline and from Bournemouth, Edingburgh and Cardiff.

From Belgium there is a new route from Brussels and from Liège.
 
From Switzerland there is a new route from Genève.

Also from Prague, Bucharest, Rome and Moscow.

Passenger figures from the Scandinavian countries have increased this summer by 21%.

More information about airlines operating flights to Malaga you can find on the website of  Aena. and on the website of Malaga airport

Hall Malaga airport

The source of this information is an article in the newspaper Sur in English from november 1st till 7th. This newspaper is distributed freely on the Costa del Sol on a weekly basis.

More articles about flights to Andalucia you can find on:

Cheap flights to Almeria
Tips cheap airtickets
Granada Airport
Low cost flights Holland and Belgium
Cheap flights from France

Exhibitions about Islamic Arts & Culture in Seville and Granada october 2013 february 2014

Two interesting exhibitions about the islamic culture are held in Seville and Granada from october till february.

Nur, Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World

From October 25, 2013 till February 9, 2014 the Focus-Abengoa Foundation organizes "Nur, Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World, an exhibition of Islamic art and culture, spanning more than ten centuries and including artworks and secular objects from throughout the Islamic world in the Abengoa Foundation’s historic 17th-century building, the Hospital de los Venerables Sacerdotes.

Featuring 150 objects from public and private collections in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the United States, Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World will explore the use and meaning of light in Islamic art and science, and demonstrate how light is a unifying motif in Islamic civilizations worldwide. The exhibition, organized and developed by Islamic art and culture expert Dr. Sabiha Al Khemir, will include a significant number of objects that have never before been presented to the public, from artworks to rare manuscripts and scientific objects. Following the exhibition’s debut in Seville at the Focus, the exhibition Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World will be on view at the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas from March 30, 2014, to June 29, 2014.
Where: Plaza de los Venerables 8, Seville
Entrance fee: Free
Opening: Every day from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00- 20:00
Closed 25 december and 1 january, and reduced opening times december 24 and 31.

More Information: Abengoa Foundation

Thousand years of Medinat Illbira 

From October 4th 2013 till february 2014 the Consortium for the Conmemoration of the first Milennium of Granada's Kingdom and the Foundation Legado Andalusi, organize this exhibition in the Parc of Sciences in Grenada.

Madinat Ilbira (Medina Elvira) is an archaeological site that holds the remains of the most important city in the Vega de Granada region between the 7th and 10thcenturies, during the first stage of the presence of Islamon the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of the most important areas related to the emergence of Andalusi society.

This exhibition presents the results of the research carried out over the last decade that revealed the processes behind the transformation from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. The research has also been used to build upon what is known to date about the establishment of the Arab world on the peninsula. 

The city was abandoned in the 11th century, when the population moved and founded the current city of Granada. It was rediscovered  in the 19th century and then forgotten again for more than a hundred years until the University of Granada research group “ The Toponymy, History and Archaeology of the Kingdom of Granada” began work on the project The City of Madinat Ilbira. In a unique place, during a crucial period in history, the role played by Madinat Ilbira in European historiographical debates was key.

Where: Park of Sciences Granada
Opening hours: Monday till Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00
Sunday, Monday and holidays from 10:00 to 15:00
Entrance fee: Standard ticket 6,50 €
More information: Parque de las Ciencias

Beautiful new Holiday Rentals in Orgiva on Website Le Chien Andalous

We are very proud to announce we have incorporated two new beautiful holiday rentals in Orgiva, in the Alpujarras on our website.

Pool with waterfall Finca Rio Seco, Orgiva

Both houses feature:
* Private pool with waterfall
* Free Internet
* Satellite TV

Living Room Finca Rio Seco

* Private Soccer field
*Private Volleyball court
* 5000 m2 private gardens

Pool with waterfall Finca Rio Chico

See video, more photos and description on our website www.lechienandalus.com
Finca Rio Seco:  in English, in German, in Dutch and in French
Finca Rio Chico: In English, in German, in Dutch and in French

You can read more about the surroundings of these houses in the following articles:
About
- the Alpujarras
- about the Sierra Nevada National Park,
- beaches Mediterranean/Motril
- Alhambra

One opinion about Finca Rio Seco

Le Chien Andalous in the Press

We were very pleased to discover that our agency Le Chien Andalous was mentioned in a nice article about Andalusia, published in the january/february 2013 issue of the magazine "ANWB Reizen", the dutch Automobile Association.

You can see the article about Andalusia written by Anne Wesseling with photos of Jurjen Drenth here and the page with tips and advice where Le Chien Andalous is  mentioned here.
(look at 'hotels en zo')

Ronda Ravine