On the second day of announcements leading up to its congress in January, the Flemish nationalist party N-VA unveiled a radical plan for Brussels yesterday, which would strip the capital of its status as a full region. There would be just two regions left under the N-VA’s plan – Flanders and...

The city of Antwerp has banned the possession and use of fireworks in public places over the next three months. In normal circumstances, setting off fireworks and firecrackers, as well as lighting fires, are banned in public places at all times. The new Antwerp regulation goes further, banning the...

There are many reasons to visit Amsterdam: the canals, the bustling city life, the parks and the many museums, including the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum. The latter reopened in April 2013, after almost 10 years of renovation. It’s in the borough known as Amsterdam-South, which is a great area to...

If it’s family fun you are in search of, look no further than the Halloween Festival at the Museum of Fantastic Art and Witches’ Walk at Maison Pelgrims in Saint-Gilles. As well as creepy treats and a scavenger hunt on Thursday evening, there’s a Witches’ Walk through the neighbourhood with kids (...

The property market in Brussels, both commercial and residential, has shaken off the 2008 credit crunch and is showing signs of recovery, believes Rod Scrivener, head of valuations at the Belgian office of property firm Jones Lang Lasalle. Belgium, Scrivener, from the UK, has spent the past 23...

Belgium is number eight in the Lonely Planet guidebook’s top 10 list of “2014’s most unmissable destinations”. Described as “Europe’s underrated gem,” it is noted for its picturesque cities – Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent – as well as food and drink, countryside, coast and culture. The forthcoming...

The Red Star Line Museum, which opened on 28 September on Antwerp’s waterfront, has clocked 26,586 visitors so far, and many of its guided tours are fully booked until the end of the year. The museum recounts the history of the Red Star Line shipping company, which took emigrants from across Europe...

The Flemish nationalist party N-VA announced this week that a tax cut would be incorporated into the party’s manifesto at the party congress early next year. Party president Bart De Wever, also the mayor of Antwerp, said that he wants to cut the average tax rate to 40%, following the next election...

Yvan Mayeur, head of the Brussels social aid agency CPAS, has defended the €192,000 salary paid to Pascale Peraita, director of SamuSocial, the non-profit set up to look after the city's homeless. Last week it was revealed that financial inspectors sent in by public works minister Brigitte Grouwels...

Demolition work being carried out on a site at the corner of Rue Royale and Treurenberg in central Brussels has uncovered traces of the city walls dating from the 13th century, according to historian and Brussels member of parliament Paul De Ridder. The demolition site backs onto the house of the...