The euro-to-pound exchange rate is at the best it's been for British travelers since late 2008, as the euro crisis goes from really bad to even worse.

As Greece slides towards almost-certain exit from the European single currency, and with Spanish unemployment at an all-time high, Spain has rarely been as cheap to visit as it is now. Not only can British visitors to Spain get more euro for their pound, but prices in Spain have been static or falling as the country wrestles with mass unemployment.

The British pound is doing especially well right now, but all major currencies are strong against the euro. The Australian dollar peaked a few months ago, but it is still 60% stronger versus the euro than it was in January 2009. The US dollar is doing better than it has since the start of the year, and is stronger than it has been for most of the past year.

See current exchange rates here: Euro Converter

See also: Cheap Travel Tips for Spain

Icelandic singer Bjork has canceled her appearances at this year's Primavera Sound festivals, according to a press release from the festival organizers.

Citing medical problems, Bjork has canceled a number of concerts this summer, including her shows at the Primavera Sound events in Barcelona and Porto.

The cancelation is especially bad for the Porto event, which is holding its first festival this year. Smaller than the Barcelona event, with cheaper tickets, it was relying heavily on Bjork to bring in an audience.

The Primavera Sound organizers have promised to reimburse any ticket holders for whom Bjork's appearance was a key motivation in attending the festival. More information about cancelations will  be found at the Primavera Sound website when it is available. Read more: Bjork Cancels Primavera Appearances.

But it isn't all bad news, as there are some excellent festival line-ups this year in Spain and Portugal. The best, in my opinion, is the Optimus Alive festival in Lisbon in July. Radiohead, The Cure and The Stones Roses are headlining, and with tickets for under 100 euros, that's a little over 30 each for some of the biggest acts on the festival circuit this year.

Further Reading

• Rock Festivals in Portugal 2012
• Rock Festivals in Spain in 2012

As I said in a blog post a few days ago, Morocco is safe in 2012, despite problems in other parts of the Arab world. In fact, Morocco was never really hit by the Arab Spring. Some moderate protests were followed quickly by reforms from the Moroccan king.  But many people are still fearful of visiting anywhere where they speak Arabic.

For the rest of us, that means less tourists in the popular destinations in Morocco, making it easier to city hop without the best-value hotels all being filled up and evoking less of a feeling that you're in a DisneyWorld of foreign tourists.

Quite simply, there's never been a better time to visit Morocco from Spain.

So, how best to get to Morocco? Flight connections are actually deteriorating between Morocco and Spain. easyJet no longer flies between the two countries, and Ryanair still has a route on their site, but doesn't seem to have any flights scheduled.

But with just 14km of water between Morocco and Spain, a ferry is a great way to cross between the two countries. So which ferry route is the quickest? Which is the most frequent? Which drops you off at the best place in Morocco? Find out in my comparison of the Best Ferries from Spain to Morocco.

An article in The Times (that's the British newspaper, or 'The Times of London' as they call it in the US), has named its '50 greatest bars on earth' and two of the bars are in Barcelona, Spain.

I'm glad The Times restricted themselves to just the bars on Earth. I mean, which bar on our planet can compete with one that serves the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster? But what of the article's selection from this world? Specifically, its Barcelona choices?

Lists such as these always need to be taken with a pinch of salt, particularly as it is likely that half the research was done using Google and not by drinking in the bars themselves. But, as it happens, I have been to both of the bars in Barcelona that they've included. So let's take a look at their choices.

One of the bars, the imaginatively titled Dry Martini, described by The Times as having "antique brands of gin and vermouth lovingly displayed", is sponsored by Bacardi. The bar specializes in three drinks - the martini, the mojito and the G&T. Each drink description on its menu is written by a poet rather than a mixologist and is high on metaphors, low on what is actually in your drink.

If you ask for a mojito at Dry Martini, the classic Cuban cocktail, it is served with Bacardi, rather than Havana Club. Order a dry martini or a gin and tonic and it is served with Bacardi-owned Bombay Sapphire, the over-marketed gin responsible for many people's aversion to the spirit. If you don't like Bombay, you won't want it here, and if you do like it, you probably own a bottle, so why would you want to pay 10 euros for a cocktail made with it?

The other entry on The Times' list is much, much better: Ohla Boutique Bar at the Ohla Hotel. I happened to sit myself at their bar just after they opened for the day, so I was treated to a ringside view of Max and Guiseppe's cocktail preparation. Ohla strikes the perfect balance between classic and inventive cocktails, taking time-honored standards and giving them a pretension-free twist. A bijou with tequila in the place of gin, a number of variations on the negroni and a spectacular unshaken-and-unstirred martini are just a few examples. See pictures of Max's amazing mixology: Cocktails at Ohla Bar in Barcelona.

The guys at Ohla's also know how to make a mean gin and tonic. In fact, this bar made my list of the Best Gin and Tonic Bars in Spain.

See also: The Times' Great Bars on Earth (pdf)