The Latvian airline airBaltic has launched a new direct route linking Riga and Madrid. The route, which will be operated in cooperation with the Spanish-airline Iberia, offers convenient travel options for travellers between Spain and Latvia and beyond to destinations in the Baltics, Europe, Scandinavia, CIS and the Middle East.

Valencia received a record 95,106 British visitors in 2016, 19.9 per cent more than in 2015 and, with new direct flights from London Luton, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh being launched in the next few months, that figure is expected to grow further this year.

Barcelona has outlawed new city centre hotels as part of a plan to curb excessive tourism. New tourist apartments are also to be prohibited as the city seeks to reduce visitor numbers to what has become one of the most popular destinations in Europe.

British travellers to Spain have been warned not to take undue risks jumping from balconies when visiting the country. In advice many would hopefully consider, holidaymakers have been warned falling from a hotel room could cause serious injury.

Etihad Airways is set to introduce a daily service from Abu Dhabi to Madrid, introducing three new flights each week effective from June 2017. Continuing to operate with a two-class Airbus A330-200, the daily service will strengthen the air bridge between the two capital cities and appeal more to corporate and leisure travellers.

Eurowings is taking the next step towards pan-European expansion, with the low-cost carrier opening its first base in a non-German-speaking foreign country in Palma de Mallorca. The Spanish island in the Mediterranean has long been seen as a top holiday destination with guaranteed sunshine far beyond Germany’s borders and has been breaking one visitor record after another for months.