“Welcome to Andalucía, welcome home”

That’s the new slogan of Andalucia for the British market, believe it or not.

Whilst curled up in a corner in a cafe in Granada browsing ABC this weekend (terrible paper, don’t bother, but it was on the pile in front of me) I came across a clipping about Andalucia’s stand at the World Travel Market in London. “Bienvenidos a Andalucía, bienvenidos a casa”.

Luciano Alonso, minister for tourism in Andalucia’s Junta, explained to ABC that the British are the single most important market for Andalucia, and that the Junta is determined to turn Andalucia into “a second home for the Anglosaxons” [sic]

Via a “360º marketing tour” across London, Liverpool and Manchester, using the WTM as the main focal point, the Junta intends to lure Brits to Spain via a mix of cultural and leisure tourism.

All 8 provinces will be represented at Andalucia’s 600 m2 stand, which hopes to have 13,000 professional visits during the 3 days the fair lasts (7-10 Nov).

On the cultural side, the region hopes to attract the Liverpudlians with mentions of Picasso and La Pepa (200 years old! Hurrah!)… whilst pictures of ski and beach will bring in the happy Manchurians.

The Junta will, however, tighten its belt this year, spending only 872,000€ on the fair and marketing promotion, down 33% from last years extravaganza.

No mention of actually buying  a house here, however. Fly into an all inclusive resort, get sunburnt, and fly out again seems to be the idea. And don’t pinch anything whilst you’re here.