The new terminal 3 has opened at Alicante airport to much hype. It seems that just about every local dignitary had gone to have a look the day before it opened, and there was a dummy run to make sure everything worked ok, and guess what, it didn’t. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to use it on the first day of opening. There were some real stories from people who had used it, no signs, no road markings (not that anyone here takes note of them), and lots of people wandering around in hi-viz jackets directing people when they didn’t actually know what was going on themselves! Since we had to pick someone up from there, we thought that we had better go a little earlier than normal; it looked like the usual 45 minute round trip wasn’t going to happen. There had been some attempt at changing the road signs, and someone had got the ‘dulux’ out and put down some road markings. You still have to go round the same daft roundabout, and then drive past the old terminals, where everything is closed up and has been moved. People where still trying to park there, some succeeding, and facing a long walk to the new terminal. Apparently, there was only one ‘official’ type person wandering around the old part, so advice would be thin on the ground. When we got there it wasn’t as bad as I thought, although the car park was only partially open on each floor. One good thing though, they have put in that marvellous system they have over here to show where the empty spaces are, and how many. If you have never used one of these car parks before, your first thought is wow! Why can’t they do this at home? It works well, a sensor over each parking space with a light, which is red for a full space, and green for an empty one. You can see for miles where the empty spaces are. And this one even has a sign at the end of each row telling you exactly how many spaces there are in that row. The fun stopped there. Signs for getting out of the car park were very few, and there is no actual walkway, so you have to run the gauntlet with the cars. When you find your way out, getting into the terminal is a matter of puffing your chest up and charging into the oncoming mass of people leaving the terminal, he who dares wins. This is because there is only one bridge into the terminal, and everyone goes through it. Once inside it’s not to bad, arrivals downstairs, departures upstairs, there are loads of escalators and moving walkways. Not sure about departures though, two rows of desks opposite each other, so the ends of the queues end up in a mass of confusion in the middle! The gates that the ‘seagulls’ come through, (apparently, this is the local term for ‘guests’, as they fly in, eat all your food, and fly out!) has more of an area for people to stand and watch for friends and family coming out. So, all in all not to bad an experience, though it looks nice, they could have thought a little more about the flow of people through the building. And unlike the first day, there is more than one machine available to pay for your car parking! Two points to note. If you are in a hire car, and forget which space you are in, at least your registration number is printed on the parking ticket. Secondly, the luggage carousels keep breaking down, as there are no trolleys inside, do not be tempted to go outside and get one while you are waiting. You can’t get back past the security! Many people did this and were separated from their luggage, wonder how they got on. Viva Espania!