This Costa Blanca city is much more than just a gateway to some of Spain's busiest resorts – it offers the weekend visitor a fascinating mix of antiquity and elegance.

Globespan, Scotland's biggest airline, faces a "crunch-time" funding deadline tomorrow, which is likely to decide the fate of the company.

Styling by Lee Holmes

Stretched out between two Spanish resort towns lies a rocky, undeveloped landscape. Mick Webb explores the area with no map and just a wild boar for company

A fugitive named in a scheme targeting criminals on the run in Spain has handed himself in, a Crimestoppers spokeswoman said today.

Ryanair is shutting its base in Valencia, Spain, with the loss of 70 weekly flights after a dispute with the local council over funds for marketing. The no-frills Irish carrier flew from Valencia to 10 destinations, including three in England: Stansted, East Midlands and Liverpool. The flights, used by 750,000 passengers a year, will stop from 4 November, and 750 local jobs will be lost. Ryanair blamed "the refusal of the Comunitat Valenciana to engage in constructive discussions in relation to the promotion of the airport and its routes".

Budget airline Ryanair announced today it is shutting its base in Valencia, Spain, with the loss of 70 weekly flights following a row with the local council.

VALENCIA COULD be without their much-touted striker Adrian Ilie for next Wednesday's Champions' League match with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Valencia 2 Rangers 0

Biennials such as poppies, sweet Williams and foxgloves should be sown now for brilliant drifts of colour in next year's borders. And, warns Sarah Raven, timing is important: sow too early or too late, and you could be disappointed

SENIOR FORD executives yesterday urged the Prime Minister to commit more state aid to a key British plant to prevent 1,400 jobs being lost.

Cheap, warm and quiet, Benidorm isn't so bad out of season. And when you tire of the third-rate entertainers you can always escape to the nearby mountains. Matt Fletcher joins the fiftysomethings on the Costa Blanca

A BELGIAN woman aged 35 died near the town of Alicante in southern Spain after being subjected to ritual satanic abuse in her own home, Spanish police said yesterday. Her Spanish husband was among four suspects detained in connection with the death, apparently caused by a ritual attempt to drive evil spirits from her body.