Session times
A welcome cocktail will be held on Wednesday 22 November at 18h00.
Thursday 23 November 2006
11h00 - 18h30, followed by a gala dinner
Friday 24 November 2006
09h30 - 14h00, followed by a closing lunch

Participation fees
1450 Euros for non WAN members
1200 Euros for newspapers belonging to WAN member associations
980 Euros for Company/WAN/WEF/INMA members
Fees include: Conference attendance, luncheons, coffee breaks and the gala dinner.

Conference languages
Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in English, French, German, Spanish and Russian. Other languages can be provided if a minimum of 10 delegates request them.


Accompanying Persons Tour

Thursday, 23 November: Afternoon Sightseeing Tour

Departure from hotel: 15h00

Back at hotel: 18h00

Bus tour (with several stops) to see the most important landmarks of Madrid, including: Royal Palace; Paseo del Arte; Plaza de España; Grand Vía; Paseo Castellana; Ventas Bullring; National Library; Alcalá Gate; Plaza de Cibeles; Opera House; Calle Mayor; Plaza de la Villa; Plaza Mayor; Puerta del Sol; Parque del Retiro; Modern Madrid (skyscrapers and Santiago Bernabéu football stadium).



Friday, 24 November, morning: El Escorial and Valley of the Fallen

Departure from hotel: 8h30

Back at hotel: 14h30

Philip II was one of history's most religious and powerful monarchs and the great granite monastery that he had constructed is an enduring testament to his character.  It is one of the most gigantic yet simple architectural monuments on the Iberian Peninsula.

Philip built the monastery in the village of San Lorenzo de El Escorial to commemorate Spain's crushing victory over the French at Saint-Quentin in 1557, and as a final resting place for his all-powerful father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.  He filled the place with treasures as he ruled the largest empire the world has ever seen, knowing all the while that a marble coffin awaited him in the pantheon deep below.  The monastery was completed just in time for Philip to die there.

Inside the Escorial is the Panteón de los Reyes (Royal Pantheon) which contains the body of every king since Charles I save three.  The rulers' bodies lie in 26 sumptuous marble and bronze sarcophagi that line the walls (three of which are empty, awaiting future rulers).  There is also a beautiful library which houses 50,000 rare manuscripts and ancient books.  Paintings by Velázquez, El Greco, David, Ribera, Tintoretto, Rubens and other masters are displayed in the Museos Nuevos (New Museums).

The Valley of the Fallen is a massive monument to the victory of fascism over democracy built at the end of the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.  It is now relegated to a rallying point for the extreme right. A lovely pine forest leads up to a massive basilica carved out of a solid granite mountain. Topped with a cross nearly 500 ft high (accessible by elevator), the basilica holds the tombs of both General Franco and José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist Spanish Falange.  It was built with the forced labor of postwar Republican prisoners and dedicated, disingenuously, to all who died in the three-year conflict.

Price for accompanying person: 200 euros (includes 2 excursions, welcome cocktail and gala dinner)