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Published: March 15th 2014
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We spent a few days on the Costa Blanca last week. Our expectations were pretty low and we expected crowds of ex-pats and an absolute dearth of Spanish life and culture. There was actually much more of a balance than we had expected.
We visited four different towns and enjoyed aspects of all of them. It might be a bit different in the summer when you can't move for sunburnt Brits in their Union Flag shorts, but maybe this image isn't a true reflection of these places.
Los Montesinos Tucked a few miles inland from Torrevieja, Los Montesinos was our base for this trip. Thanks so much to Dave and Margaret for their hospitality. A few degrees warmer and we really would have been tempted into their apartment block's rooftop swimming pool! Montesinos is a lovely little town where we walked into the
campo (the barren countryside), admired and smelt the orange and lemon groves, drank coffee in the sunny square and looked out over the blue and pink salt lakes. There is a good blend of Spanish and ex-pat bars which was nice to see, and there are even two Indian restaurants but we didn't get to
sample their wares!!
Torrevieja The main town in the region is Torrevieja with its long beaches, numerous ex-pats and international restaurants. We didn't really like it as it's not "Spanish" enough for us, but a stroll along the promenade was nice and we did find a bar in which we were the only non-Spanish people. For us though, the main reason for our visit was the
Museo de Mar y de la Sal where we boarded a Spanish submarine. It was really interesting and we still find it hard to imagine how submariners actually live like that. We also visited a customs boat and various exhibits at the harbour side. It's a great spot to pass an hour or so and we highly recommend it.
Guardamar Just up the coast we explored Guardamar. The winter has not been kind to the beach there and the sea is dangerously close to encroaching on some of the seafront houses. No doubt plans are afoot to import some sand and sort it out. Despite this it was lovely to wander along the sand all the way across town. At the far end we were delighted to see a
palmerie where we followed the well
maintained paths through the palm trees.
Santa Pola Further up the coast we followed the road which bisected the salt lakes. It was amazing to see the huge white piles fairly close to the road. Maybe if we return we will visit the Salt Museum to find out a little more about the local industry. Instead we parked up near the seafront in Santa Pola and had a nice walk along the promenade. Lunch was fabulous too!
Ok, so there are Irish bars and English breakfasts galore if you look for them, but for us the Costa Blanca seemed to offer a nice mix for ex-pats who want a bit of home comfort, a bit of Spanish culture, and a lot of value for money.
You can read more about Torrevieja at
This Is Spain.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Costa Blanca
A roof top pool sounds grand. The point of going to Spain is to enjoy the Spanish culture so doubt we would have liked the Torrevieja. We'd like to see the submarine. Keep those blogs coming.