European Palm Society Summer Meeting Spain 1997

Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome! Horst Gunter Brütt waits to welcome us to his fabulous garden.

Our meeting this year will again take place in September, and is set for the 3rd to 6th inclusive, plus one day to arrive and one to depart. The meeting is centred in Almune car on Spain's southern coast. During the four days we will be visiting gardens both private and public; there will be talks, slide shows and other events to make the trip interesting, informative and memorable. The dates have been chosen to coincide with the first congress of the 'Spanish Association of Friends of Palms', who have kindly agreed to organise the meeting and its activities for us.

Almuñécar is a most lovely old town, full of friendly people, clean streets, whitewashed buildings, beautiful sunny beaches and of course many different species of palms scattered throughout its parks and streets. Expect to see Roystonea (Royal palms), Hyophorbe, Dypsis, Syagrus Caryota Latania, etc.

These are some of the highlights of our four day meeting:

• Cocktails, and welcome by the Mayor of Almuñécar
• A visit to Majuelo Park, the town's foremost botanic garden, with many exciting palms to see, many hardly seen elsewhere in Europe
• A trip by bus to the famous city of Ma' laga and to the equally famous 'La Conceptión' Botanical park, with a talk on its palms by Mr José Canizo, its head gardener, himself an authority on palms
• An opportunity to see one of Europe's only two species of endemic palm, Chamaerops humilis in the wild.
• A visit to the private garden of Mr Gunter Brütt. Gunter's garden can only be described as 'fabulous' and he undoubtedly has one of the best collections of palms in Europe. Among the treasures: Bismarckia, Neo/Dypsis decaryi, Cocos nucifera Roystonea Howea Aiphanes, Burretiokentia, Veitchia, many Chamaedorea species, etc. in all over 150 species in the ground. Also a large planted collection of Cycads AND a swimming pool! Not to be missed!
• A visit by bus to Motril to the nursery of Mr Antonio Silvestre, where plants may be purchased
• A visit to 'Loro Park' bird park and cactus garden
• Optional excursion to Alhambra in Granada, a unique experience, never forgotten
• Talks with slides by Thomas Font Perez (President of the Association of Friends of Palms), Jacques Deleuze, Tobias Spanner and Martin Gibbons, plus any others who wish!
• Farewell dinner and address

The price for the four days' events will be approximately £95/21000pts/840FF/250DM per person. This covers all transport to the various venues, some meals, and entrance fees where appropriate. It does not cover transport to Spain, accommodation. the Alhambra side trip, or personal insurance. Almunecar is a popular holiday destination; flights to nearby Málaga are frequent and not expensive. For those wishing to stay longer, Granada, Gibraltar and even Morocco and north Africa are all within striking distance!

By any standards, last September's meeting in Rome was an enormous success, with over 50 members from across the entire continent in attendance. This year's promises to be just as exciting, so do plan to be there.

As last year we will offer accommodation at a convenient and reasonably priced hotel. Please complete the enclosed form and indicate if you wish us to book your accommodation.

We hope as many people as possible will attend what should be a wonderful occasion.