Friday morning found Diego Velazquez striking the familiar pose he has held for the past 370 years, staring out, brush in one hand, palette in the other, from the huge canvas of Las Meninas. The 14 people who stood before the painting to meet the Spanish artist's haughty gaze not to mention the heavy eyes of the dozy mastiff in the picture's foreground were among the first visitors of the day to Madrid's Prado Museum.
In the scorching heat, a long line of rental cars stretching for kilometers struggles up the winding road. On this late summer morning, an army of vacationers heads for Valldemossa. The picturesque mountain village is one of the most popular destinations on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, and, as in years past, traffic jams on the narrow mountain road are once again a daily occurrence.
In July 2025 a foreign visitor spent on average €1,330 (€965 excluding fares) on their trip to Ireland, breaking down as €364 on their fare, €54 on prepayments, €413 on accommodation, and €498 on day-to-day expenses, they explained. Edward Duffy a statistician in the tourism and travel division, said: "Visitors from Great Britain accounted for €118m (19pc) of this spend, Continental Europe for €197m (32pc), North America for €255m (41pc), and visitors from the Rest of the World for €54m (9pc)."