To many of us who holiday in Spain, it is a land of sun, sea, sand and sangria and siestas on hot afternoons. No wonder it not only remains a favourite holiday destination, with over 6 million of us visiting every year, but it is also the most popular location with the British for buying a foreign home. There is some quarter of a million British subjects living in Spain, mostly on the Mediterranean coast. And some 1 million properties are owned by foreigners.
There is 1317 miles of coastline with over 700 miles of this along the Med to the south and east and over 600 on the Atlantic to the west. In addition to mainland Spain there are the Balearic Islands – such as Minorca and Majorca – as well as the Canaries. Flights are relatively cheap and there are plenty of airports. The climate is good all year round with 300-320 days of sun a year over the Mediterranean coasts and the islands. And the property prices are cheap compared with Britain, the warm weather means you can save on heating and heavy clothing.
But Spain is more than just beaches and holiday resorts and there are arguments for living slightly away from the tourist hotspots if you want to make more of a permanent home there. For a start prices are cheaper without the tourist mark up and you will also get to now a bit more of the real Spain.
Spain is still a patchwork of separate 'counties' stitched together just a few centuries ago. Its system of regional governments recognises this historical need for local autonomy. Catalonia and the Costa Brava are very different from Andalucia and the Costa del Sol. The seven Canary Islands are actually 2 regions. The Balearics are also very different from each other.