budget

I expected a no-frills Caribbean cruise – but instead found white-sand beaches, all-inclusive perks and surprisingly luxurious touches that felt far beyond the price tag

Stretched out on the top deck of a catamaran, after a dip in impossibly clear water, I looked back at the white sands of an uninhabited Caribbean island that was ours for the day. This felt a long way from the so-called “budget” cruise I had imagined. For my first trip to the Caribbean, I boarded Marella Discovery, one of five ships in TUI’s all-inclusive fleet. Flights, transfers, food, drinks, and tips are included in the price. On paper, it promised value for money but in reality, it felt like far more. The Tropical Isles itinerary offers something different, even for seasoned Caribbean travellers. Instead of the usual tourist trail, we stopped at newer ports including Puerto Rico’s second city, Ponce, and the tiny island of Isla Catalina. After a short tender ride to shore we were welcomed with a live band and dancers before being waved to rows of neatly lined sunbeds, an all-inclusive beach bar and grills preparing a complimentary barbecue. Best known for its snorkelling, Isla Catalina’s crystal-clear waters looked too good to miss. I headed out on a catamaran excursion along the milky-white coast, swimming among shoals of tropical fish before drying off in the sun with fresh fruit as merengue music played.

By the time we returned, the smell of grilled seafood was drifting across the sand. Passengers helped themselves before retreating to shaded loungers – where there was little left to do but switch off and listen to the waves. Back on board, The Marella Discovery doesn’t try to compete with the Caribbean’s mega- cruise liners brimming with waterslides, waterfalls and ziplines. Instead, it offers something more relaxed – and for many, far more appealing. With nine restaurants, seven bars, two pools and a packed entertainment programme, there’s more to do than most passengers will manage in a week. Entertainment leans towards easy-going fun appealing to all ages with an outdoor cinema, mini golf and in the evening, West End-style shows to fill your day. Before my trip I’d been warned it was easy to get lost on a huge cruise ship, but the Discovery layout is very manageable and centred around a five storey atrium. Within a day, I had my bearings – starting with my cabin. For the week, I stayed in a recently refurbished balcony room. It was spacious, comfortable and thoughtfully designed, with plenty of storage. From summer 2026, Marella customers can upgrade further with premium Elemis products as part of the new “Suite Service Max” package – one of several add-ons available to elevate the experience.

Food is a big part of any cruise – and here it’s a major selling point. There are nine dining options included and three specialty restaurants for those wanting to really push the boat out. On the first night, I opted for one of the all inclusive options, Piccadilly’s, a British-style gastropub menu where the show-stopper was a rich, slow-cooked steak and ale pie. Over the week I worked my way through nearly every restaurant on board. Gallery 47, the Italian venue, was a favourite thanks to its varied and regular changing menu. While The Glass House, a casual poolside spot, was ideal for lunches, offering everything from pasta and roast chicken to salads and freshly baked cakes. One evening, I tried Kora La, the ship’s pan-Asian restaurant (at a cost of £18.95 for three courses). With fragrant curries and beautifully presented Vietnamese-style dishes, it was worth the extra cost and a popular choice among diners wishing to celebrate a special occasion.

Marella’s fun-filled and friendly vibes continued ashore with each stop on this relatively new itinerary. In Puerto Rico, I joined an excursion to El Yunque National Forest, swapping blue seas for lush rainforest, waterfalls and birdsong. Our helpful guide offered insight that brought the island to life, something you don’t always get when travelling independently. Back in capital city San Juan, I wandered the cobbled streets where pastel-coloured buildings led the way to lively squares.

I followed our guide’s recommendation for lunch at Café Manolín, a must for authentic food, the place was packed with locals and dock workers. I ordered the Mofongo, a Puerto Rican comfort dish made from mashed green plantains, garlic and steak. It was every bit as good as the queue suggested.

Later it was time to try another Puerto Rican export. At the Ron del Barrilito rum distillery, we swapped the city for something slower-paced. Set within the historic Hacienda Santa Ana, we were served up a welcome cocktail of choice in the stunning gardens listening to the blissful sounds of the birds. The experience included a tour of the ageing warehouses and a guided tasting of several rums, including one from a £700 bottle. Another standout was a visit to the stunning Magens Bay on the island of St Thomas. This horseshoe shaped beach delivered exactly what you’d hope for from the Caribbean – powdery sand, sparkling waters and turtles swimming just offshore. With the help of our local guide Derek, we were able to swim with the stunning creatures as they glided through the shallows.

The final stop, Ponce, offered a glimpse of a more authentic Puerto Rico on our return to another side of the island. With cruise ships only arriving in January 2026 it felt refreshingly un-touristy. I found colourful buildings, a relaxed square and latin music drifting from every bar. Throughout the trip, what stood out most was how easy everything felt – from the relaxed feel of the ship, the organised excursions to the stress-free all-inclusive drinks and dining. The atmosphere among fellow passengers was sociable and lively. The ship came alive in the evening with live shows and packed dancefloors – even into the small hours at Bar 11.

At the Broadway Show Lounge, live performances became my nightly post-dinner treat. Being a massive fan of the Fab Four, I could not miss Marella’s newest show Life Story: The Beatles, a theatrical retelling of their rise to fame. While the West-End to Broadway show, a celebration of a number of hit musicals, led to a roaring standing ovation after a finale of Les Miserables classics brought the house down. After feeling inspired, on our final day at sea I indulged in the Great Musicals Afternoon tea – a must for any theatre fan. The weekly event brings the West End to Marella cruises with dishes inspired by famous musicals, served alongside a live pianist and special performances – the perfect end to the holiday.

Marella Cruises has built a reputation on affordable and straightforward holidays – but this trip proved it delivers far more than the price tag suggests in comparison to its competitors.

If the aim is a stress-free, fun-filled Caribbean escape with fantastic food, easy island-hopping and a sociable atmosphere, Marella’s Tropical Isles itinerary is hard to beat. It’s ideal for first-time cruisers, and will also impress seasoned explorers thanks to its brand new port destinations that have something special to offer beyond a well-trodden tourist trail. And while it may be sold as a ‘budget’ cruise, it delivers an experience that feels far more premium – proving you don’t have to spend a fortune to experience the Caribbean in style.

Book the holiday

Marella Cruises offers a seven-night Tropical Isles round trip from La Romana, Dominican Republic on Marella Discovery from £1573 per person. Price based on two adults sharing a Deck 2/3 inside cabin on an all-inclusive basis. Includes flights from London Gatwick, 20kg of luggage per person, transfers, tips, and service charges. Find out more at tui.co.uk/cruise.

A BUDGET train operator has launched a brand new rail service.

From this week, travellers can take a cross-border train journeys for under £30.

Lumo’s new low-cost journeys between London and Scotland have launched this week, connecting travellers between London Euston and Stirling.

Customers can travel on this 300 mile train route for only £29.90 per person, with journeys scheduled multiple times a day.

Stirling council leader, Cllr Susan McGill, said: “The sight of the first blue Lumo train in Stirling is an exciting moment, and we will continue to work closely with Lumo to ensure the new service is a success and delivers lasting benefits for everyone across the region.”

The new route also includes a handy connection between London and Preston, Lancashire, for just £23.90, and between Preston and Stirling for £14.90.

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Four direct return journeys will take place between Stirling and London Euston every day, with a fifth service running between Preston and London.

Lumo already runs a budget-friendly passenger train along the East Coast Main Line, connecting travellers between London King’s Cross, the North East of England and Edinburgh.

This new west coast route will call at Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Crewe, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.

For Scottish towns Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert, this is the first ever direct rail connection to London.

Graeme Cook, rail director for Transport Scotland, said: “Lumo’s new Stirling to London route is a very welcome addition to cross-border services which will provide wider economic and connectivity benefits to Scotland.

“The new services will not only boost tourism and hospitality for Stirling and the Forth Valley, but also increase connectivity by now providing customers from Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert with direct access to rail connections on the West Coast Main Line and London.”

The train service will run from Monday, May 25, with the full timetable set to be available in July.

Homicides in Los Angeles are down to levels not seen since the 1960s. Neighborhoods once awash in gang violence now sometimes go weeks, even months, without a shooting. And the follow-home robberies and street takeovers that captured the public’s attention in recent years have largely subsided.

By many measures, the city is safer than it has been in generations — and yet voters following L.A.’s hotly contested mayoral race might think the opposite.

The challengers to Mayor Karen Bass have zeroed in on homelessness and public drug use to argue she hasn’t delivered on public safety, while also criticizing how the Police Department has operated and been funded during her tenure.

Mike Bonin, a former L.A. City Council member, said the fact that Spencer Pratt — the former reality TV star who has been attacking Bass from the right — has gained so much traction in the race is proof of how Bass and other candidates to the left have failed to change “prevailing narratives that the city is unsafe.”

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt hosts a campaign block party on 10th Avenue in Los Angeles on May 20, 2026.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Pratt has been particularly active on social media, where he has shared artificial-intelligence videos created by fans depicting him as various superheroes coming to the rescue of a city that, under Democratic rule, has turned into a dystopian hellscape.

In a March 26 post on Substack, Pratt railed against the thousands of drug-related calls that emergency officials respond to every month. He has said that if elected mayor, he would order the police and fire chiefs and the county health director to “treat every encampment as a grave-disability zone.”

“No new laws needed,” he wrote. “No endless task forces.”

Flanking Bass on the left is Nithya Raman, a progressive City Council member who was once the mayor’s political ally.

Raman has argued that Bass has thrown too much money at the LAPD, with raises for police officers coming at the expense of other basic services such as park maintenance and street paving. Raman said the LAPD pay increases have “bankrupted” the city, depriving other services of much-needed funding. In campaign ads, Raman has cast herself as a more sensible alternative to Bass. Raman has said she would work to reduce traffic deaths and prioritize safety on the city’s buses and trains.

When she first ran for office in 2020, Raman called for defunding the police, saying the Los Angeles Police Department should be a “much smaller, specialized armed force.” Since then, however, she has voted for some budgets that increased spending on law enforcement.

In response to questions from The Times, Raman said she would work to find ways to overhaul public safety.

“I’ll propose budgets that expand unarmed response, work with LAPD to improve 911 response to more quickly answer calls for help that don’t require armed officers, and will appoint leadership at the Police Commission who will actively partner with the City Council to work on reform,” she said.

Representatives for Pratt and Bass didn’t respond to requests for interviews with the candidates.

Bonin said Bass — who supported various police reform measures while Congress — has shocked some of her supporters with how “aggressively pro-police she has been.”

When she ran for mayor in 2022, Bass vowed to retool the recruitment and hiring process in order to restore LAPD staffing to 9,500 officers. That hasn’t happened. The number of sworn officers recently fell below 8,600, despite Bass striking a deal with the police union to offer higher starting salaries and new retention bonuses.

Mayor Karen Bass takes part in a candidate forum on May 5, 2026, in Sherman Oaks.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

On Thursday, the City Council approved a $15-billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which included funds to hire 510 new officers — just enough to offset turnover and maintain current staffing levels.

Raman has said the LAPD should not shrink any further because there aren’t enough officers to respond to 911 calls “in a timely fashion.”

Samantha Stevens, a Los Angeles political consultant and former legislative staffer, said people seem willing to back Pratt because he acknowledges that their sense of safety has been shaken — even if he has offered few concrete details about how to tackle crime beyond cracking down on homelessness.

Pratt’s critics say that his plan relies on funneling homeless people into a shelter system that doesn’t have the capacity to handle them all. Others have noted that the aggressive tactics he has proposed would probably face legal challenges.

L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for mayor, makes a campaign stop at the site of a home burned in the Palisades fire.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“He’s kind of a case study in somebody who has a lot of opinions but has no idea of how the city is run,” Stevens said.

Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said Pratt seems to have tapped into a deep well of discontent among Angelenos who believe that crime and homeless have spiraled out of control. The challenge for Bass, he added, is that although the numbers suggest that crime has decreased, many people associate the sight of encampments spilling onto public sidewalks as “a breakdown” that indicates the city is becoming less safe.

“You want to go back to the days of Daryl Gates, you’ve got Pratt,” he said, referencing the former LAPD chief whose controversial police sweeps in the late 1980s yielded thousands of arrests while alienating large segments of South L.A.

“If you want more of the same from the past 20 years, you’ve got Bass,” Guerra added. “And if you want something new, then you’ve got Raman, but she has to explain what exactly she wants to do.”

Although Pratt and Raman appear to be the strongest challengers to Bass, several long-shot candidates have also made public safety a key issue in their campaigns. Some have gone after Bass for her support of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. Hired by Bass in 2024, McDonnell has touted the impressive drop in crime under his leadership, but also faced criticism over an uptick in shootings by police and aggressive crowd control tactics during protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell attends a news conference at LAPD headquarters on May 21, 2026.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Rae Huang, a minister and housing rights advocate, said if elected mayor she would immediately replace McDonnell with someone who has the “ability to really reimagine what public safety really looks like.”

“I’m the only one with the guts to say that out loud,” Huang told The Times during a recent campaign stop at a bookstore in the West Adams neighborhood.

In social media posts and interviews, Huang has frequently referred to the LAPD as “one of the biggest legal gangs in the world,” and said she would work on diverting money from the police budget to scale up programs that have shown promise in sending unarmed specialists to deal with emergencies that involve people experiencing mental health crises.

The city is already running two such pilot programs, but under Bass they have remained underfunded, Huang said. Last week, the City Council signed off on expanding one of the programs.

Huang said she would also invest more heavily in addressing the city’s lack of affordable housing, which she said is an underlying cause of crime and homelessness.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into attack ads against Huang and Raman.

Adam Miller, a tech entrepreneur, has tried to strike a balance in his mayoral campaign, advocating for changes while acknowledging that many people still feel unsafe despite the historic drop in violent crime.

He criticized a recent vote by the L.A. City Council to limit so-called pretextual stops, in which officers pull people over for minor traffic infractions in order to investigate more serious offenses. The stops have been blamed for enabling racial discrimination.

Miller said that “constraining the Police Department is the opposite of what we should be doing.” He called for “leveraging” AI and modernizing the department’s archaic computer systems, which he said could allow the LAPD to catch up to other agencies that have embraced new technology.

Miller told The Times that he recently went on a ride-along with officers from the Rampart Division, which he said was eye-opening.

“At the highest level I think Angelenos don’t feel safe anymore,” he said. “They don’t feel safe in their neighborhoods, but more recently they don’t feel safe even in their own homes.”

Statistically speaking, the city might be safer than it’s been in decades, he said — but that doesn’t necessarily matter to voters.

“I don’t think it’s just perception,” he said. “I think it’s reality that crime has spread.”

EASYJET will launch a loyalty program in 2027, to reward repeat bookers of both its flights and holidays.

Customers will be able to accrue points based on how much they’ve spent, which they’ll then be able to use for discounts on future bookings.

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The airline said that it benefits from a “local customer base” with lots of “returning” flyers and essentially wants to reward them for it.

Not many details about the scheme have been announced, but talking to the Financial Times, easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis said that it would have “broad appeal”.

He added: “Not only do we have commuters… but also people who book holidays accumulate value that they can redeem either on a flight or on holiday.”

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Reading between the lines, it doesn’t seem that easyJet will be replacing its easyJet Plus scheme, which is already in place and designed for frequent flyers.

easyJet Plus is available for an annual fee of £249, where passengers benefit from ‘Plus’ bag drop, speedy boarding, inclusive allocated seating and fast track security – and other ‘exclusive benefits’.

Many other airlines operate loyalty schemes, and recently British Airways made a change to the way its tier points count towards silver or gold membership.

As of April 2026, members of the British Airways Club started earning points based on the money they spend with the airline, rather than based on distance they have flown.

For every £1 they spend, they will earn one tier point, which makes it tougher for flyers to earn the top status.

According to the Financial Times, Virgin Atlantic said more than 10,000 BA members had switched to its programme after offering to match the status of any customers booking a flight. 

Earlier this year, easyJet announced it would be launching new routes from the UK – some of which are from Newcastle International Airport, its newest base which it opened in March.

In October, the airline will begin flights from Newcastle to Fuerteventura providing a winter sun escape to the Canary Island.

Anyone wanting to visit Reykjavik, Iceland, can travel from Newcastle from October 27 twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

SACRAMENTO — Hours before Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to present his budget plan on Thursday, his office released new projections of a $16.5-billion state revenue windfall over three years and offered a rosy outlook on California’s fiscal position during his final year in office and the year after.

Newsom’s office provided few details about his plan to reduce spending or other adjustments that he would need to propose in combination with the increase in revenue to eliminate projected deficits from 2026-27 through 2027-28.

The unusual early look at his budget proposal comes as Newsom begins to wind down his time at the state Capitol and considers a run for president in 2028.

Two weeks ago, the Legislative Analyst’s Office issued an analysis of state spending that said California could not, in the long term, afford to pay for existing services and the new programs that Newsom and Democratic lawmakers have enacted since he took office in 2019. State spending has outpaced California’s strong revenue growth by about 10%, creating a perennial budget shortfall, defined as a structural deficit.

California’s spending problem threatens to define Newsom’s fiscal legacy and could provide ripe fodder for his critics. If projections of the unexpected tax windfall, which analysts attribute to stock market interest in artificial intelligence companies, bear out, the upswing could mark a lucky break for Newsom.

The governor has largely resisted adopting new across-the-board tax increases or sharply curtailing his expensive policy proposals in order to align state spending with revenue.

His budget proposal includes a call to increase taxes on corporations by limiting state tax credits to no more than $5 million, or 50% of a company’s tax liability, beginning in the tax year 2027. No estimates were offered to explain how much revenue the new cap would bring in to support the state budget.

The preview of his budget has several new spending proposals, including providing $300 million to help low-income Californians keep $0 monthly premiums on healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act in response to cuts by the federal government, as well as $100 million to help wildfire victims afford construction loans to rebuild their homes. Two days before Mother’s Day, Newsom also introduced a plan to provide 400 free diapers for every California newborn at select hospitals beginning this summer.

Newsom is expected to present his budget in more detail late Thursday morning in Sacramento.

TV bosses of Celebrity Traitors are in fear of leaks of the line-up being exposed they have no taken extra steps to avoid this happening ahead of the upcoming series

TV bosses of Celebrity Traitors are taking no chances when it comes to keeping secrets of the show for the upcoming series under wraps.

According to reports, bosses at Studio Lambert have now put locks on the doors of the editing suite. But that’s not all. Bosses have also “banned” staff from talking about the nature of the BBC programme outside of the studio building.

A TV insider reportedly said: “They’re saying it’s become like The Masked Singer set-up, which is shrouded in secrecy with sealed production rooms.”

The source added to The Sun: “Only a few people are allowed in and out.”

This comes after it was reported that Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston had signed up for the show but was forced to pull out at the last minute.

Earlier this month, a few names were confirmed for the second series. This included Love Island host Maya Jama, Hollywood actor Richard E. Grant, Jerry Hall, presenter and comedian Romesh Ranganathan and EastEnders star Ross Kemp.

The stars were spotted heading to the Scottish castle.

The celebrities will donate their winnings of £100,000 to their chosen charities. Filming is underway but the show will not air until later this year.

Tom, who is best known for his roles in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, has been vocal about his love for the show. According to The Sun, his film commitments did not allow him to commit to the reality TV game show.

He recently said in an interview on BBC Radio 2: “I mean the celebrity one would be amazing. I think the whole show, the format is just the most ingenious thing, isn’t it? It’s completely compulsive. Maybe the best television I’ve ever seen.”

He added: “I’d like to be a faithful because then you can play detective, right? And you know that your conscience is clean and your heart is pure, and you’re just watching and trying to figure people out.”

Host Claudia Winkleman recently revealed that she has been told on how to spot a traitor in the mix. In an exclusive chat with The Mirror she said: “Stephen said at the last round table ‘Shall we just look at who is tired?’ because if you are a Traitor you go to bed later than everyone else.”

She added: “At that point, Jonathan’s face was slumped, Alan was yawning and Cat was asleep. And someone went: ‘No, no. You have to come at it from a different way.’ I was like ‘He has just said it’.”

The Mirror contacted the BBC for a comment.

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These fees are legally required, and few people are exempt from paying up

Holidaymakers planning a trip abroad in 2026 should ensure they set aside funds for an additional levy that visitors are anticipated to pay when travelling to parts of Europe. Certain popular cities could hit travellers with an extra €16 per night during their stay.

Dozens of destinations across the globe already impose a ‘tourist tax’ to help maintain the areas that both residents and visitors enjoy. These charges are typically applied on a nightly per-person basis, or as a percentage of the overall accommodation costs.

Such taxes are generally settled at check-in or checkout directly with the accommodation provider. The majority of tourists are legally required to pay these charges (children and those with disabilities are ordinarily exempt) or risk having their hotel reservations cancelled.

Consumer group Which? has recently published a summary of sought-after holiday destinations that people commonly flock to throughout the summer months. Some opt for short city breaks, while others may spend longer periods at holiday resorts, but most will need to factor in an arrival tax when budgeting.

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Spain and Portugal have charges ranging from €2 to €25, while certain locations in France could levy up to €16 per night at some accommodation providers. Italy remains a firm favourite for those seeking a quick city break, yet hotels in some areas could charge as much as €10 per night, reports the Mirror.

Popular EU cities and what they charge in tourist taxes: From July 2026, tourists visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, will be required to pay a levy of “5% of the cost of the accommodation of [the] first five nights’ stay”. Wales is set to follow in 2027 with a charge of £1.30 “per night” in areas where local councils opt to bring it in.

While it’s not officially classed as a ‘tourist tax’, UK visitors will need to fork out a £17 visa fee from late 2026 to enter 30 European countries. This would come on top of any local tourist levies.

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is a compulsory digital travel authorisation launching in late 2026 for visa-exempt nationals (including UK, US, Canada, Australia) visiting 30 European countries. The ETIAS is a one-off, separate payment needed to enter the Schengen Area of Europe. Once purchased, it remains valid for three years. The countries that will require this ‘e-visa’ include:

Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch and will be replaced by repeats

Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch. The presenter, 63, is front and centre on the broadcaster’s new gameshow format in which real-life households have gathered in a purpose-built neighbourhood to be in with a chance of winning a £250,000 cash prize.

There were clearly high hopes for the series as it premiered in between both segments of the explosive I’m A Celebrity…South Africa final on April 24, and has been airing at 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays ever since, where it has managed to pull in just half a million viewers.

But now, new schedules have revealed that, going forward, the programme will air at 10.45pm which takes it away from the coveted slot it was initially given, implying that it has not lived up to expectations in terms of viewing figures.

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This Thursday, viewers tuning in at 9pm will instead see a repeat of Davina McCall’s Long Lost Family, and an episode of Beat The Chasers: Celebrity Special, which was initially aired in 2021, will be shown instead. A spokesperson for ITV confirmed the schedule shift as they said said: “The full box set of The Neighbourhood is now available to stream on ITVX. Additionally, the show will continue to air in an evening slot on ITV.”

But sources have claimed that whilst the broadcaster pulled out all the stops to make the programme into a hit, it just hasn’t gone that way in the end. An insider told The Sun: “They threw everything at The Neighbourhood to make it a big success, but it’s ended up a bit of a damp squib.”

The six households competing are The Bradons, The Kandolas & Samra, The Lozman-Sturrocks, The Pescuds, The Scouse Haus and The Uni Boys. Challenges put every neighbour to the limit as they try and eliminate one another without becoming unpopular enough to get the axe themselves.

Opening up on his first reaction when he saw the entirety of the set, Graham said: “Arriving in Derbyshire and seeing the set, I’d seen pictures but I didn’t quite understand the scale of it. It really is like being on a movie set, except it’s 360 – everywhere you look, it’s real.

“The art department did an extraordinary job of building up that town square where we do the removals, the pub, the cafe, the interiors of the houses. It really took my breath away!

“It made it even more exciting. I thought – this is serious! We’re making a big show. Then add on top of that, what Derbyshire does when the drone goes up and we see the Neighbourhood and the nature and the rest of it, it’s so beautiful, those big driving shots. It’s just gorgeous.

BAFTA award-winning broadcaster Graham continued: “One of the loveliest things about the show is seeing households who would never meet in real life, not only meeting but forming proper bonds of friendship. There are a few moments in the show that really do bring a tear to my eye because it’s just so genuine, so lovely and properly heartwarming.

“It’s such an odd word to describe a show like this but it’s properly wholesome. There’s something about the bright colours, being out in the countryside and the genuine bonds that you see created.”

The Neighbourhood is available to watch on ITVX

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SACRAMENTO — One of Gavin Newsom’s top goals as he winds down his final year as California governor is to leave the state with a balanced budget.

After years of the state spending more money than it brings in, it’s Newsom’s last opportunity to fix a chronic deficit or dump the problem on the next governor.

How far he goes to solve the state’s structural spending imbalance will define his legacy as a steward of trillions in taxpayer dollars. As a potential candidate for president in 2028, he could also have a political incentive to do as little as possible.

“Any cuts you make are going to cause people to scream,” said Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist. “Any increases in taxes are going to cause people to scream and in terms of what’s best for a presidential run, it would be nice if people weren’t screaming.”

As California’s 40th governor, Newsom expanded publicly funded healthcare to income-eligible undocumented immigrants, increased state-subsidized child-care slots and provided free meals for schoolchildren among a wishlist of progressive wins since he took office in 2019.

His achievements have helped struggling Californians live in an increasingly unaffordable state and given him bona fides to tout to voters if he launches a bid for the White House.

But the state could never afford to pay for existing services and the new programs that Newsom and Democratic lawmakers enacted, according to an analysis of ongoing state spending since before the pandemic released by the Legislative Analyst’s Office last week.

Spending from the state’s principal operating fund has grown about $100 billion since Newsom’s first full fiscal year in office in 2019-20, mostly due to the growing cost of existing programs that he inherited. State spending has outpaced California’s strong revenue growth by about 10%, creating a perennial budget shortfall — a structural deficit — that Newsom and the Democratic-led Legislature solve with largely temporary fixes each year.

Instead of making across-the-board program cuts or raising taxes to align spending with revenue, Democrats have tapped into reserves designed to preserve social services for the state’s most disadvantaged communities during economic downturns.

While the California economy remains stable and state revenue has increased, Newsom and lawmakers have taken $12.2 billion from the rainy day fund. Democrats have borrowed $28 billion more from other state funds to cover their spending in recent years, according to the LAO.

“Taken together, these trends raise serious concerns about the state’s fiscal sustainability,” Legislative Analyst Gabriel Petek wrote in a review of Newsom’s January budget proposal.

Fiscal watchdogs have warned that the spending trends will leave California in a precarious position if the stock market tanks and tax receipts bottom out.

Personal income taxes are driving higher-than-expected revenue now, which analysts attribute to an artificial intelligence boom on Wall Street, and suggest the state could have no deficit in the upcoming year. In January, the Newsom administration anticipated significant operating deficits in the years ahead: $27 billion in 2027-28, $22 billion in 2028-29 and $23 billion in 2029-30.

The LAO, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor, said the state has already solved $125 billion in budget problems over the last three years with mostly short-term solutions.

“This issue is really whether they’re going to take seriously the structural deficit that is several years in the making now, where the spending has outpaced revenue, and to address that, they’re going to either have to make some fairly deep cuts or raise revenue and or both,” said former state Controller Betty Yee, who worked as a budget aide under Gov. Gray Davis and recently dropped her own campaign for governor. “But they have to be real. I think resorting to these one-time solutions has really exacerbated the problem.”

How Newsom wants to address the state’s financial challenges will be revealed on May 14 when he is expected to present his revised budget plan in Sacramento. His January budget proposal did not include any significant reductions or cuts to programs.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the California Department of Finance, said the governor is looking to solve the budget problem with more than a temporary fix.

“Although he is still finalizing his proposal that he’ll put forth to the Legislature, as he has said, he wants those solutions to be durable, and he wants them to have an impact beyond a single fiscal year,” Palmer said.

To stabilize California’s budget, Democrats will probably have to raise taxes or fees to generate new revenue and cut programs, according to the LAO. At least 40 cents for every dollar in revenue is dedicated to education under the state Constitution, requiring policymakers to find between $30 billion and $60 billion annually in additional revenue to cover projected shortfalls in 2027-28 and beyond if relying on new taxes alone.

President Trump’s cuts to healthcare are adding to the problem.

HR 1 will add $1.4 billion in state costs to the general fund. Newsom’s January budget proposal did not include a plan to help millions of low-income Californians who are expected to lose access to healthcare under the federal cuts.

To temper those cuts in California, other groups proposed a new tax on billionaires that appears poised to qualify for the November ballot.

Spearheaded by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the initiative would apply a one-time 5% tax on taxpayers with assets exceeding $1 billion. If approved by voters, the tax would generate roughly $100 billion, which would fund healthcare programs.

The measure has divided unions and Democrats at the state Capitol.

Newsom has criticized the initiative, citing concerns that increasing taxes on the wealthy will have the opposite intended effect and drive the highest earners out of California. Under a progressive tax structure, the state budget is dependent on income taxes paid by the ultra-rich on earnings largely from capital gains.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google, have already purchased residences in Florida, along with others looking to escape the tax if it goes through in November. Billionaires launched their own ballot measure campaign to undercut the tax proposal.

State lawmakers are also considering avenues to raise revenue, which include repealing a “water’s edge” tax break. Under the change, multinational companies would no longer be allowed to shield the income of their foreign subsidiaries from state taxes. California loses about $3 billion in revenue from the tax break each year.

In its budget plan released in April, the state Senate proposed a new fee on the largest corporations in the state to provide $5 billion to $8 billion annually for Medi-Cal.

The upper house said 42% of Medi-Cal enrollees are full-time workers who are not enrolled in their company’s healthcare plan because their wages are low enough to qualify for state-subsidized healthcare. As a result, corporations aren’t paying for healthcare for many of their employees and instead taxpayers are picking up the bill through Medi-Cal.

SEIU California, the powerful state union council representing over 700,000 workers, endorsed the plan. The union said Trump’s tax policy will reduce corporate taxes by $900 billion, while 3 million Californians lose healthcare.

“In this urgent moment, California’s workers need to see our leaders show us what they’re made of,” said Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California. “The Senate is showing the courage to demand corporations pay their fair share, rather than making working people pay with their lives.”

The change is being described as a more politically palatable “fee” and not a tax.

“We explored multiple revenue options, and this was the one that felt more narrow, it felt more focused, and it also felt like it was directly going for the subsidy that’s being lost because of the Trump HR 1 cuts,” said Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Goleta), who leads the upper house of the Legislature.

Limón said her caucus believes it’s important to address potential revenue streams because of the depth of federal healthcare reductions.

“If we don’t address the structural deficit, we are looking at severe cuts,” she said. “You are looking at people without health insurance. You are looking at hospitals closing down. You are looking at medical providers not being able to take more patients. You are looking at our emergency rooms over capacity, with not enough medical providers. I mean, you’re looking at a place that’s really, really, really difficult, and we feel like we have to, at least, look at what are viable options that are conditional on these cuts coming.”

Newsom has not commented publicly on the Senate’s plan. As governor, he’s been reluctant to embrace new taxes and fees.

Newsom could reject all the proposals for new taxes or fees and continue what he’s done before: take advantage of higher-than-expected tax collections, shift funds around, delay program implementation and borrow money to knock the deficit down to zero, or forecast a surplus, for his last budget year that begins July 1.

If he doesn’t take on California’s larger budget imbalance, then the problem would be the next governor’s to solve. A stock market crash, or economic recession, could force his successor to make drastic cuts across the board with limited reserves to support programs.

Kicking the can again would cement Newsom’s fiscal legacy as a governor who championed bold headline-making policies that bolstered the safety net for low-income Californians, but who failed to provide a solution to pay for his agenda.

“Not only has he not come up with a plan, he has pretended we don’t need one,” said Patrick Murphy, a professor of public affairs at the University of San Francisco.

Newsom’s interest in running for president could seemingly discourage him from slashing the budget and raising attention to the state’s financial woes, Sragow said. Newsom is setting himself up as a potential front-runner for his party. He has said he remains undecided about officially launching a 2028 campaign.

As a Democrat from California, his opponents would automatically label him as financially irresponsible and tax-happy. Calling out the massive budget problem on the horizon, raising taxes and making painful cuts will give them ammunition.

“There’s a long list of things that he’s going to be charged with, and this is likely to be one more,” Sragow said. “But I guess the question is, is he going to be charged with a political misdemeanor or a political felony?”

Former state Sen. Steve Glazer said Newsom is standing on political quicksand either way. State budget projections are based on assumptions about the future that often don’t bear out, leaving his choices exposed to criticism that he went too far, didn’t do enough, and everything in between.

“Whatever the governor decides to do in his May revise and in his final budget, it’s fraught with political risks, because it can be manipulated so easily by all sides,” Glazer said.

If Newsom ignores the spending problem, his successor could blame him for California’s financial woes when they take office in January and provide their own outlook of the state’s fiscal future. At the time, Newsom could be trying to convince America to make him the nation’s next president.

Murphy said Newsom has championed major policies and been reluctant to back off them later when revenue doesn’t pencil out.

In terms of spending, he’s governed similarly to the men who led California before him, with the exception of Jerry Brown, who cut programs to reduce a deficit he inherited in his second stint in the governor’s office and left Newsom with a surplus.

“It’s not all that different than most of the governors have done, which is finding it very hard to say no and finding it very hard to take on a tough choice of going to the ballot to ask for more money or raise taxes,” Murphy said.

On taxation, Newsom is perhaps most similar to former Gov. George Deukmejian, who opposed general tax increases for most of his administration.

Deukmejian left a budget disaster for his successor, Gov. Pete Wilson. Deukmejian publicly claimed he passed a balanced budget in his final year and blamed an economic downturn for the problems Wilson encountered.

When Wilson announced a record $13-billion budget deficit early in his first year in office in 1991, he said the Persian Gulf War, an economic downturn and natural disasters added to a structural deficit in the budget.

The Legislature and Deukmejian, Wilson said, had “papered over” the problem.

WASHINGTON, Apri; 29 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth alternated between championing a proposed massive increase to defense spending and fielding attacks from Democratic lawmakers during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

It marked the secretary’s first appearance before lawmakers since the start of a war that has roiled the global economy and decimated Iran’s military.

Hegseth appeared before the House Armed Services Committee alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Pentagon’s comptroller, Jules Hurst III. They entered the hearing room past protesters’ chants of “arrest Hegseth” and yells of “war criminal.” The secretary appeared unfazed.

“We’re rebuilding a military that the American people can be proud of — one that instills nothing less than unrelenting fear in our adversaries.” Hegseth said in his opening statement.

Hegseth’s testimony was intended to serve as a defense of the White House’s petition to Congress for $1.5 trillion in defense spending for 2027, a 44%t increase from the 2026 budget.

It’s an increase that, by itself, would be more than the total defense spending of any other nation, according to recently released figures. The spending level exceeds that spent on the Reagan-era military buildup and would be only overshadowed by levels seen during World War II.

The spending boom would come at the cost of domestic programs and at a time when federal tax revenue is set to take a $4.5 trillion hit over the next 10 years, mostly from tax cuts codified in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.

But rather than question Hegseth on the specifics of the budget proposal, many Democratic members grilled him about the war in Iran, recent firings of senior leaders in the Pentagon and lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Pacific and Caribbean oceans.

In one heated exchange, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., delivered a sharp critique of the war in Iran when questioning the defense secretary, calling it a “blunder” in which the United States had expended much to gain little.

Garamendi said it would take years for the U.S. and global economies to recover. The war has hiked average unleaded gas prices in the country to more than $4.20 a gallon and inflation to its highest level in nearly two years.

“Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from Day 1,” Garamendi said. “The strategy has been an astounding example of incompetence.”

Hegseth counterattacked. With his voice raised, he accused the congressman of “handing propaganda to our enemies.”

“I hope you appreciate how reckless it is,” Hegseth said of Garamendi’s description of the two-month-long war as a quagmire. “Shame on you.”

Hurst, the comptroller, told lawmakers the Iran war has cost the Pentagon $25 billion. Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., responded that was the first time he had been given a cost figure, despite repeated inquiries to the department.

In March, the Pentagon reportedly petitioned Congress for an additional $200 billion to replace stocks from the war and prepare for future operations, should they be ordered. When asked about it at the time, Hegseth indicated the report’s veracity.

“That number could move, obviously,” Hegseth said then. “It takes money to kill bad guys.”

Hegseth’s central defense of the war during the hearing was arguing that it served to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Republican members echoed his contention.

Iran maintains uranium supplies that could eventually be used to build a nuclear weapon if it were to be further enriched. But since the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, Iran has made “no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in a written statement to Congress in March.

“What is it worth to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?” Hegseth asked rhetorically in Wednesday’s hearing.

A defense budget unprecedented in modern times

The Pentagon’s budget request is composed of $1.1 trillion in base discretionary funding and an additional $350 billion in mandatory spending.

The mandatory funds, which are earmarked mostly for munitions and the expansion of the defense industry, would go through the budget reconciliation process and therefore would be shielded from a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

The expansion of America’s defense industrial base — the network of private manufacturers that supply the Pentagon — is a central facet of the proposed budget.

“President Trump inherited a defense industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of ‘America Last’ policies,” Hegseth said. “Under the leadership of President Trump, our builder-in-chief, we are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base on a war-time footing.”

Another of the administration’s top defense funding priorities, as reflected in the budget document, is the procurement of munitions.

“Critical munitions are vital to the administration’s priorities to defend the homeland and deter potential aggression after years of neglect by the previous administration,” the White House wrote in a recent budget justification. Limited munitions stockpiles and the United States’ inability to quickly produce them have long troubled U.S. war planners.

While the Trump administration has pushed to expand munitions stockpiles, it has also expended massive amounts of scarce ordnance in the Middle East in recent months.

An April analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that the U.S. military has expended more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Iran war from an estimated prewar inventory of 3,100.

Key U.S. capabilities like the Patriot and THAAD air defense systems have also seen stockpiles dwindle by about half since the start of the war, according to the report.

“We’re fighting wars”

The administration’s request for the massive infusion of cash comes as Trump has said that federal spending on healthcare and social programs should take a back seat to “military protection.”

In its proposed budget, the White House moved to cut non-defense discretionary spending by 10%. The spending category comprises public health, scientific research and scores of other domestic programs, but excludes mandatory programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

In a speech at a private Easter luncheon, Trump said spending on childcare, Medicare and Medicaid should be left to the states, while the federal government should be focused solely on national defense.

“We’re fighting wars,” Trump said.

The sentiment runs contrary to Trump’s long-held foundational critique of his predecessors — that money spent on foreign wars from Iraq, to Afghanistan, to Ukraine, should have been used to benefit Americans at home.

April 27 (UPI) — An industry group that represents budget airlines has reached out to the Department of Transportation about creating a $2.5 billion pool to help keep them in business as the price of jet fuel remains high.

The Association of Value Airlines — which represents Allegiant Air, Avelo Air, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country — said Monday that it has approached the Trump administration about the pool because an 88% increase in the cost of jet fuel is endangering their ability to do business, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported.

Spirit Airlines itself has been negotiating a possible $500 million bailout from the federal government after warning that it is running out of cash that is separate from the AVA request.

Airlines worldwide started raising fees in March after the United States and Israel started the war in Iran, which led the country to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in response and has caused the price of gas and oil to increase significantly.

Fuel expenses account for about 30% of airline operating costs and even a sustained $1 increase in per barrel of oil can increase those costs by millions of dollars.

“Since February, jet fuel prices have increased by nearly 100% and are placing significant financial pressure on value airlines,” the industry group said in a statement.

It also said that the “liquidity pool” would be used “exclusively” to offset fuel costs that are expected to stay above $4 per gallon in North America for the rest of the year.

The AVA also has approached Congress about waiting a 7.5% excise tax and $5.30 per-segment fee that airlines pay the government for each passenger they transport for the same reason it asked the administration for the emergency pool.

President Donald Trump acknowledged last week that Spirit has been in conversation with his administration for a bailout as it has struggled to exit its second bankruptcy filing in a year.

Trump said that the discussions are ongoing, but that he would like to help keep Spirit in business because competition is good for consumers and he is concerned about job losses should it go out of business.

The low-cost airline is cancelling flights in May and June due to soaring aviation fuel prices linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East

An airline that operates routes to and from the UK is axing flights in May and June because of surging fuel costs. Transavia, the budget airline owned by the Air France-KLM group, is scrapping scheduled services for May and June to cut expenses as aviation fuel prices soar due to the Middle East conflict.

The Air France-KLM group’s low-cost arm will change its timetable for May and June to streamline costs amid rocketing fuel prices linked to the Middle East war, a spokesperson confirmed to AFP. The airline operates from London Stansted to Rotterdam several times a week, and is used by tourists who fly to Schiphol airport in the Netherlands before going on to other European destinations with Transavia.

“Due to the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East and its impact on aviation fuel prices, Transavia France is adapting its flight schedule and is forced to cancel several flights scheduled for May and June 2026,” the carrier, which runs medium-distance routes, stated.

The cancellations represent “less than 2% of the flight schedule for the May-June period,” a spokesperson informed AFP. Transavia said “customers affected by a cancellation are notified individually by SMS and email.” Details of which routes are affected have not been disclosed so far.

They can then “benefit, according to their choice, from a free rescheduling, a voucher, or a full refund of their ticket.” Additionally, “for the majority of cancelled flights, a rescheduling solution within 24 hours is offered,” the airline states.

Europe normally gets half of its fuel from Gulf nations. However, since the start of the war between the United States and Iran in late February, the Strait of Hormuz has been shut down by Tehran.

In Brussels, European Commissioner Dan Jorgensen warned that the EU was “approaching very rapidly” a potential supply crisis, raising concerns about a summer characterised by “higher airfares and cancellations.” Airlines including Transavia have already begun raising ticket prices, with increases averaging approximately 10 euros per return journey, according to the carrier’s spokesperson speaking to AFP.

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones warned on Sunday that the ongoing conflict is likely to push up costs for energy, food and flight tickets in the coming months, with potential disruptions to energy supplies affecting production rather than causing empty supermarket shelves.

“You’re going to see prices go up a bit as a consequence of what Donald Trump has done in the Middle East,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. “That’s probably going to come online not just in the next few weeks, but the next few months. There’s going to be a long tail from this.”

When pressed on how long elevated prices could last, he indicated it would be roughly eight months after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and tensions in the region begin to ease. “I think our best guess is eight-plus months from the point of resolution that you’ll see economic impacts coming through the system,” the minister said.

Last week, German airline Lufthansa said it would cut 20,000 European short-haul flights over the summer. It blamed the price of jet fuel.

An industry expert told travel journalist Simon Calder on his podcast last week that he expected more flights to be cut by airlines. Ted Wake, managing director of Kirker Holidays, said: “I think Lufthansa has got a very comprehensive schedule. Twenty thousand flights isn’t a drop in the ocean but it’s a relatively small number if you look at the overall picture.

“I think other airlines within the UK market will be doing something similar.”

AN AIRLINE that recently axed flights has warned Brits to expect more cancellations in the future.

Earlier this month, Norse Atlantic axed all its flights from London Gatwick to Los Angeles in America due to rising fuel prices.

And now the airline has warned of even more cancellations.

Eivind Roald, CEO of Norse Atlantic Airways, said to BBC Newsnight: “From our side we will continue flying from London Gatwick and from Athens and Rome this summer, we don’t have any plans to cancel more flights.

“When it comes to our competitors, I can’t really say, I assume you will see more cancellations coming, we often see it coming in short haul flights in Europe.

“The long haul flights are still there.”

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He also said that travellers “will see that things will be changed” including some companies’ “existence”.

The CEO then added that he was confident jet fuel prices would fall in six to nine months time.

Even though the airline hasn’t announced more cancellations yet, the London Gatwick to Los Angeles route was only introudced by the airline in 2023.

And at that time, it operated seven flights per week from London Gatwick to Los Angeles.

The route was due to re-start next month, but instead will be cancelled for the entire season until October.

As a result, Norse will only have four long-haul routes this summer, including London Gatwick to New York and London Gatwick to Orlando.

A number of other airlines have also made the decision to cancel some flights or increase prices.

For example, earlier this month KLM said it was axing 160 flights across Europe over the next month due to the fuel crisis.

Despite the airline not yet having a shortage of fuel, the cancellations will impact flights travelling to and from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

Lufthansa also announced that its subsidiary airline CityLine is stopping all operations due to both the Iran War and recent strike action.

The airline would fly to Frankfurt and Munich from the UK.

As for long haul flights, Virgin Atlantic had raised the price of flights.

Those now travelling in economy have to pay an extra £50, those in premium economy have to pay an extra £180 and those in business class will need to pay an additional £360.

In other flight news, a closed UK airport has revealed the latest details about being able to reopen as part of huge £193million project.

Plus, a UK travel company has gone bust with all holidays cancelled – but Brits won’t get any refunds.

OFF the coast of Spain are a group of islands that many say feels like the Caribbean, but for a fraction of the coast.

The archipelago called the Cíes Islands are made up of three islands; Monte Agudo, O Faro and San Martiño.

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The islands are completely car free, and are described as being ‘Caribbean-like’ but on a camping budget.

Monteagudo is the largest and northernmost of the three Cíes Islands which can be reached by ferry from Vigo.

This is where visitors will find one of the world’s best beaches called Playa de Rodas, or Rodas Beach.

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Coming in at 18th in the world, the beach has ‘soft white sand and clear, calm waters’ – much like those in the Caribbean.

Visitors agree with one calling it a “natural paradise” and another agreed that it is “absolutely beautiful, pale sand crystal clear water.”

Others have said it’s the perfect place to swim with small fish that appear in the shallow water.

But there are warnings of the sea being cold as it is in the Atlantic as opposed to the warmer Caribbean Sea.

The coast is popular for snorkelling with lots of lobsters, crabs and sometimes bottlenose dolphins even being spotted too.

The sandbar across Playa de Rodas is what connects Monteagudo to its neighbour, Faro island.

Meanwhile, San Martiño can only be reached by private boat or on kayak tours – it’s a wild island so the top activities here are swimming and birdwatching.

For more on Spain, here are some of our favourite holiday spots…

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Hotel Best Punta Dorada, Salou

The Spanish resort is a popular destination near PortAventura World, a theme park with over 40 attractions and huge rollercoasters. It’s also close to sandy beaches like Platja de Llevant, and the scenic Camí de Ronda coastal walk.The hotel itself has an outdoor swimming pool to enjoy, as well as two bars along with evening entertainment and shows.

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Sun Club El Dorado, Majorca

With its palm tree-lined pool and Mediterranean backdrop, it’s a miracle this Majorca resort is so affordable. Expect a classic family holiday feel – where days revolve around soaking up the Spanish sunshine, chilling by the spacious pool and sipping on frozen cocktails. Set away from the busier resorts, it’s a good option if you’re after a more out-of-the-way escape.

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Magic Aqua Rock Gardens, Benidorm

The Magic Aqua Rock Gardens Hotel is African-themed and less than a mile from the beach. It has two outdoor pools, including a children’s freshwater pool with a waterfall and a tipping water bucket for the little ones. There’s also an aquapark with slides, and a kids club for both younger children and teens.

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Globales Montemar, Ibiza

For a calmer side of Ibiza, this hillside resort has two pools, a kids’ splash zone, and an all-inclusive buffet with a poolside bar. It’s a 10-minute walk from Cala Llonga’s shallow turquoise bay, offering a scenic, family-friendly base away from the island’s main party zone.

BOOK HERE

The islands are fairly quiet too as visitor numbers are limited because the islands form part of a national park.

During the high season it can welcome 1,800 visitors a day, but in low season, this drops to 450.

There are no overnight stays allowed until the Easter period and dates between May 15 to September 14.

But for those who want to stay, you can do so on Faro Island at the campsite.

You can pitch your own tent at Camping Islas Cíes from €10.90 (£9.49) per adult.

If you want to book and have a tent provided, prices start from €69 (£60.07).

On site are plenty of facilities like a phone charging station, snack bar, supermarket, even a souvenir shop.

There’s also a restaurant that looks across Rodas Beach which specialises in seafood like scallops and razor clams.

The site offers activities too from kayak tours to snorkelling, star-gazing and children’s workshops from games to arts and crafts.

When it comes to getting to the islands, it is slightly complicated.

The first thing you have to do is request a free authorisation code up to 90 days in advance.

After that then use it to buy a boat ticket for one of the crossings from Vigo which takes around 45minutes.

These leave the Estación Marítima port and operate frequently during high season which is between May and September.

From the UK, visitors can head to Barcelona, then take a transfer to Vigo Airport.

Return flights in May start from £100, with camping costs, a five-night stay equates to around £150.

Meanwhile, trips to the Caribbean can start from £850pp.

For more inspiration, here are 20 of Europe’s most beautiful islands that have direct flights from the UK – and some of the world’s best beaches.

And this beautiful Spanish island feels like Costa Rica without the long flight – with 31C summers and volcanic beaches.

April 23 (UPI) — Senate Republicans were up all night voting, eventually adopting a budget reconciliation package Thursday morning to prepare to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

The Senate plans to fund the department without Democrats’ help. The resolution was adopted at around 3:30 a.m. EDT Thursday by a vote of 50-48 after about six hours.

The only Republicans to vote against the resolution were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky. The bill now goes to the House. If the House adopts the resolution, the final funding bill can be written and voted on by Congress.

They are following a deadline of June 1 set by President Donald Trump.

“We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-N.D.

Thune told fellow senators to keep the package narrow to ensure speedy passage.

Since the January deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, both shot and killed by DHS officers, Democrats have refused to support funding the department without reforms. The department has been shut down since Feb, 14, though Trump told the department to use emergency funds to pay essential workers.

Just before the Easter recess, the Senate passed a bill that would fund most of DHS but not ICE and Border Patrol. But the House rejected it.

Republicans are hoping to fund the department through 2029 at a cost of between $70 and $80 billion.

The late-night vote-a-rama included votes about amendments that could be added to the resolution. Two Republican Senators who are vulnerable in the November elections — Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska — broke ranks on some amendments.

Collins and Sullivan voted for amendments to lower health care costs, to reverse last year’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts and to tackle insurance companies that delay or deny medical care. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., joined with Collins and Sullivan on the latter.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also sponsored an amendment that would tell the budget committee chair to help cut prescription drug prices by half. Hawley, Collins and Sullivan supported Sanders on it. Sanders said his amendment would codify ensuring that Americans wouldn’t pay more for prescriptions than Canadians or Europeans.

The amendments wouldn’t have the power to force Republicans’ hands, but they would make Republicans go on record about their views of these items.

“This reconciliation, or this budget act, will show who’s on whose side, and clearly if Republicans vote against our amendments, they’re not on the side of the American people,” Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox and Friends on Tuesday that the department will run out of money for salaries next month.

“I’ve got one payroll left, and there is no more emergency funds so the president can’t do another executive order because there’s no more money there,” The Hill reported he said.

The resolution does not include the SAVE America Act, the voter security bill that Trump and other Republicans have pushed for. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., sponsored an amendment to add similar restrictions, but it failed 48-50. Collins, Murkowski, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-S.C., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted against it.

WASHINGTON — Amid the din of battle over the federal budget, President Clinton summoned Democratic congressional leaders to the White House last week and gave them an unexpectedly upbeat message: With a little discipline and a little luck, they might win this fight yet.

“The Republicans are very disciplined and very good,” Clinton warned his war council around the Cabinet Room’s long mahogany table, according to people who were present. “But we’re making headway.”

Congress’ drive to cut the budget this spring was launched by triumphant GOP leaders, confident that they had a mandate from voters to slash government programs and shrink the federal budget deficit to zero.

But after three months of rhetorical battle, Clinton believes that he has begun to turn the Republicans’ issue around–into a major political opportunity for himself.

The budget battle is “the centerpiece” of Clinton’s work this year, said White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta. “It will determine a lot about the priorities of the country; it will determine a lot about our economy in the future; it will determine a lot about the role of government.”

It will also determine a lot about how voters view Clinton as the election year of 1996 approaches. “It . . . will better define who the President of the United States is, and I think that’s helpful,” Panetta said in an interview.

Transforming budget-cutting from a liability into an asset would be a startling turnaround for a President whom Republicans succeeded in painting as a “tax-and-spend Democrat” only last year. But public opinion polls read raptly by White House aides suggest that the voters are moving Clinton’s way: An ABC News-Washington Post poll last week found that while respondents by a wide margin once trusted Congress over Clinton to deal with the deficit, the President has nearly closed the gap.

Clinton’s biting attacks on GOP plans to shrink Medicare, education and veterans programs have helped lift his approval rating in the poll to 51%, its highest level in a year.

White House strategists said they were not worried that the House Republicans passed their GOP budget plan last week, as was long expected. More important, they said, was that Clinton apparently succeeded with his threat to veto a GOP spending-cut bill, since the GOP leadership acknowledged that they probably wouldn’t have the votes to override a veto. It showed that the President can still make himself relevant.

Clinton is betting that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other GOP leaders overestimated the public’s desire for cutting government–especially once the public realizes that the savings would come not only from unpopular programs, such as welfare and foreign aid, but also from middle-class benefits.

Political strategists note that Clinton’s argument may attract some swing voters–especially white women older than 35, one of the President’s critical demographic targets. Making up more than one-fourth of the electorate, they largely voted for Clinton in 1992, abandoned the Democrats in 1994–and could be key to his prospects in 1996.

At the same time, Clinton and his aides believe that they must eventually seek a budget compromise with the Republicans–if only to avoid the charge that the President has become irrelevant to the process of shrinking the government, a goal most voters still want.

“Preserver of the Big Government status quo is not a place you can end up in a fight this big,” one presidential adviser said.

So Clinton, Panetta and other aides have devised a two-part strategy to try to stop the GOP juggernaut and turn the budget battle to their advantage.

The first phase has been to shift the topic away from the deficit, force the public to confront the kind of cuts the Republicans want and paint the GOP as heartless vandals who would loot Medicare and student loans to give tax cuts to the wealthy.

“Less government? That’s not the issue. The issue is: Do you want your kids to go to college?” Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich said.

If that tactic works, and Republicans retreat from their proposed spending and tax cuts, then the Administration wants to sit down and try to negotiate a compromise, a budget “that might be nobody’s first choice but that is really quite a good budget,” said Alice Rivlin, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

But Clinton doesn’t want to begin those negotiations until “his leverage is at a peak,” Panetta said, meaning the President wants to continue whipping up public opposition to GOP budget cuts and threatening to veto a budget he doesn’t like, at least for a while.

“The Republicans are beginning the budget triage, amputations and decapitations, and for the moment the Democrats are happy to sit in the surgical theater and watch the blood flow,” said Ross K. Baker, an expert on Congress at Rutgers University.

Already, however, Panetta and other Administration officials have begun sending signals to Capitol Hill about the kind of deal Clinton might eventually want to make.

“Yes, we want additional deficit reduction,” Panetta said. “But in order to engage, the Republicans have to back off these huge tax cuts, they have to recognize that any Medicare or Medicaid savings have to be done in the context of [health care] reform, and they have to be willing to protect education as a key investment.” Almost everything else is “on the table,” he said.

One key concession the White House has quietly offered: Clinton is willing to drop most or all of his proposed $500-per-child tax credit–the core of his long-promised “middle-class tax cut”–if Congress agrees to make college tuition tax-deductible.

Those early signals suggest to some members of Congress, including some worried liberal Democrats, that Clinton may be willing to give up quite a lot–except for his major concerns on Medicare, Medicaid and education–for the chance to claim a victory.

When bargaining can begin in earnest depends mostly on the GOP’s tolerance for pain. Aides say Clinton will stay on the attack for at least three weeks as Republicans pass their budget resolutions and begin making decisions on the discretionary portion of the budget.

But White House officials hope that the solid Republican line will begin to fracture as members of Congress read the mood of their constituents. Some in Congress predict a turning point could come as early as the Memorial Day recess, which begins Saturday, but others warn that it might be September before negotiations start.

The White House strategy is not assured of success, of course. At least three problems loom:

First, Clinton has succeeded only partially in changing the focus of the debate from deficits to middle-class benefits. By a wide margin, the public still says it wants a balanced federal budget, with no deficit. The President’s dirty little secret is that he doesn’t think a balanced budget can be achieved in the foreseeable future at reasonable cost.

In fact, the public is inconsistent on these issues. Large majorities say they want to balance the budget, but equally large majorities say they are opposed to significant cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, student loans and other education programs.

Second, Democrats aren’t entirely unified behind Clinton’s strategy, which is why the President spent much of his meeting in the Cabinet Room last week appealing for more discipline.

Some strains were already evident in the closed-door session, participants said. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) urged Clinton to give the Republicans no quarter, but Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said: “It’s not enough to complain; we need to say where we go from here.”

Third, and most important, the Republicans may not cooperate. “Democrats have no standing to say anything about what we are doing in the House and the Senate,” House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) said last week. Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) often disagree with each other, but they agree on one point: They don’t want Clinton to win credit for their hard work in fashioning a leaner federal budget. So they may be tempted to pass a budget bill of their own design and dare Clinton to veto it this fall.

That would lead to a messy confrontation that could require the federal government to halt routine operations until a solution is found.

“I don’t think anyone comes out a winner” in an impasse like that, Panetta said. “I don’t think the President wins; I don’t think Republicans or Democrats win.”