ESTA WARNING

American authorities are warning travellers over rogue websites offering assistance with Esta (Electronic System for Travel Authorization), the online travel permit that will be compulsory for those visiting the USA from January 12. The free service is available only at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov, but official-looking sites with names such as www.esta.us and www.travelauthorization.org are charging unwitting travellers as much as to $250 (£162) for their application. “These websites are not endorsed by or affiliated in any way with the US government,” says the American embassy in London.

MORE SKI RESORTS OPEN EARLY

Record-breaking snowfalls in the Alps and the Pyrenees have allowed yet more ski stations to open early in what is shaping up to be the best start to the season in years. In France, Alpe d’Huez, Val Thorens, Tignes and Val d’Isère are open for business, and lifts are open in the Austrian resorts of Obergurgl, Lech and St Anton. Resorts in Switzerland are reporting up to 12 times the normal snow depth, and in Andorra, conditions are described as “near perfect”.

BLACK BOXES FOR ROMAN NAGS

Authorities in Rome are planning to install black boxes on the Eternal City’s horse-drawn carriages after a horse died on the job last week. “We will adopt pedometers as a sort of taxi meter that will also work as a black box,” said the city’s environment chief, Fabio De Lillo. “They will tell us how many hours a horse has worked and whether the obligatory breaks have been respected.”

SPAIN’S CONCRETE CURTAIN

The unfettered building boom in Spain has left more than a quarter of the country’s Mediterranean coast under concrete, according to a report published by the Spanish environment ministry. “We have created a cement wall along the coast that is empty most of the year,” said Carolina de Carvalho, a researcher at the government’s institute for sustainable development. The survey shows that 27.5% of the coastline is built up, with the figure rising to 50% in Huelva, on the Atlantic southwest, and in Valencia.

LA MANGA IN TROUBLE

La Manga Club, in Spain, a favourite with footballers’ wives, has gone into voluntary insolvency with debts of £80m. The flashy Spanish resort – once the choice of the Rooneys and David Beckham – is still taking bookings, and tour operators have been at pains to reassure customers that “it remains business as usual”.

Times recommends

• New York's top 10 new hotels
• A Scottish monastery retreat
• Welcome back to Rwanda