Our Area - The Costa Blanca
A perfect location, area or region is a very subjective issue. We all have different ideals, priorities and criteria. All we can suggest is that you start here in the area of Spain we ultimately chose after many years of travel & exploration. Most of our area is within 10mins of the A7/E15 Autovia (Motorway) which extends from Gibraltar to Calais. We are about 1hours drive from both Alicante & Spain’s ‘Third City’ – Valencia with their respective rich cultural offerings and attractions, and international airports.
Our local key industry – apart from tourism, property and other associated enterprises – remains agriculture. Writing this I can see from my office window: terraced vineyards, lemon, pomegranate, walnut & fig trees, orange, almond and olive groves. In common with many other towns and villages in our area, our twin town of Teulada has two ‘Co-operativos’, harvesting, producing and selling local wine & olive oil produced from the fruits gathered from within my view here.
All our local towns and villages have their respective market days. Each celebrates its own week of ‘Fiesta’ and the ‘Running of the Bulls’ through the narrow streets. REAL, TRADITIONAL SPAIN AND FIRST CLASS BEACHES, RESTAURANTS & SERVICES, ALL WITHIN TEN MINUTES DRIVE??? That’s why we chose this area and why we think you should too!
There are many cheaper areas within the Costa Blanca and along the other costas but if you put quality and value above cheapness, you need not look any further.
ALTEA
Once an important Phoenician port. Since the1950’s Altea has been re-colonized by artists. Altea is dominated by its blue tiled domed church at the summit of the old town area. A largely unspoilt coastal town with one of the largest open markets (Tuesday) and an abundance of everything except hotels! Altea is ideal for ‘Culture vultures’ as, apartfrom the wealth of fine shops and restaurants, there are many pottery and art galleries, a new fine arts university and a major concert hall, all to be explored and enjoyed.
CALPE
Probably the most (but moderately) high-rise of our local resorts and, although Calpe offers a good selection of hotels, this resort has been largely overlooked by the package holiday visitors. At the top of the town is the original old town with steep, narrow passages & townhouses adorned with antique tiled pictures. From here, you can venture down the shop-lined main street to the waterfront where a superb palm-lined promenade and one of the Costa Blanca’s finest golden beaches leads you to the harbour/marina. The magnificent Peñon d’Ifach (A huge 1000ft+) rock of limestone forms a dramatic backdrop. Here you will find Calpe’s best selection of restaurants; a range of fish and shellfish restaurants to rival those of Brittany face the harbour which, just hours before, had provided your meal, whilst the main area of restaurants have a choice of regional Spanish or international cuisine.
MORAIRA
Regarded by many as the jewel in the Costa Blanca crown; Moraira was a tiny fishing village where a verdant valley of vineyards lead from the mountains to the Mediterranean. The vineyards stubbornly remain along with much of the original village charm. There are no more than a handful of very low-profile hotels and the town is populated by a truly cosmopolitan mix of villa owners or renters who are well served by every convenience and facility that could be reasonably demanded. High rise in Moraira means four storeys & the town is a beguiling mix of the quaint, original village & low-rise development, which includes many fine shops & restaurants from the local to the exclusive, covering the cuisine of almost twenty countries! Nightlife in Moraira generally means dining (sometimes with live music) and promenading along the waterfront. However, this may not be ideal for teenage entertainment!
JAVEA
Probably the most ‘complete’ costal town of our area, Javea is basically three areas and characters: the Pueblo (old village/town), the Puerto (Port) & the Arenal (sandy beach, hence: – arena). The Pueblo is also the main commercial centre of Javea which includes many dignified traditional buildings such as the fortified Gothic church of San Bartolome and the old covered market, as well as the open market (Thursday), the main post office, the Notario & most of the banks etc. The port combines marina and fishing harbour with its daily fish market and spectacular fishermen’s church which had a timber ceiling resembling a boat hull. This area, once again, has its own fine selection of shops, cafes and restaurants which links this to the Arenal with its fine, sandy, palm shaded beaches & long promenade with a multitude of waterfront restaurants & bars, boutiques and many other facilities. Something for all generations!
DENIA
Separated from Javea by the Sierra Montgo National Park and the highly regarded La Sella golf course. Denia remains probably the most Spanish of our coastal towns. Its almost colonial air is the legacy of the 19th century raisin trading era. The main features of Denia are the castle and 17th Century church, the large marina & harbour (with a ferry link to the Balearic Isles), extensive, sandy beaches and the tree-lined strand (Marques de Campo) with its many pavement cafes and fine range of restaurants.
INLAND VILLAGES
Within 15minutes of the coastal resorts, we are blessed with many charming, traditionally Spanish villages, nestling within the many mountains (Sierras) that surround us, and cradled in the valleys that thread between them. The hearts of these villages and the lifestyle of the inhabitants, remain largely unchanged over the centuries & this wonderful area provides us with a relatively cool and calm refuge from the peak weeks of the summer. Each village has its own character with the usually elevated church square as its focal point. The villages, in common with the coastal towns, have their weekly market day and their annual fiesta week. The commercial pressures of the newcomers (Extranjeros) is more than matched by agriculture and other traditional industries – wine, olive oil & honey based products are produced in many villages. Some also produce traditional pottery, basket & cane products and there are three traditional guitar makers in the area. If it appeals to you, our local bullring is in Ondara.
Flanking the valleys, the terraces (of Moorish origin) of the mountain slopes provide a fertile resource, not only for vineyards and orange groves but also to sustain olive, almond, walnut, lemon, grapefruit, pomegranate & cherry trees. Cane is harvested locally and rice is grown in the irrigated fields of l’Albufera. Elche (1hr drive from Javea) is home to Europe’s largest palm plantation – believed to have been planted by the Phoenicians in 4th century BC. Some of our inland villages are pictured on the left.