S P A I N I&I I S L A N D S

Please Click on the underlined text below here to navigate up and down the page for information on each area.

Benalmadena - Torremolinos - Puerto Banus - Cadiz - Barcelona - Madrid - Pontevedra - Murcia -

Fuerteventura - Gran Canaria - Tenerife - Mallorca

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Benalmadena

(Click to got back up the page)

The coastal area with many hotels, beaches and the award winning Marina, with excellent port facilities, fantastic nightlife and the fabulous Aquarium.

With the huge number of resident and visiting foreign Tourists to Benalmadena and the Costa del Sol in general, the variety of types of restaurants is enormous. There are many English, Scottish and Irish pubs, most of which have live big screen sporting events. You have the choice of all nationality restaurants, including, Chinese, Italian, Dutch, Lebanese, etc. There are also plenty opportunities to try out the local dishes and the best place to go is along the beach or to the Marina and visit a "Chiringuito" (Beach Bar) where fresh fish dishes are served up with a wonderful chilled wine or a refreshing glass of sangria.

One of the best places on the Costa del Sol for nightlife is Benalmadena, with so many different types of bars, clubs, restaurants that there is always something to suit all tastes. From the latest Clubland sounds with top D.J.'s to swish sophistication and the live jazz, or salsa dancing till dawn, the Marina Port has it all.


Torremolinos

(Click to got back up the page)

Over the years, Torremolinos has evolved as an attractive and appealing resort, noted for its clean sandy beaches, wide choice of hotels and restaurants and unparalleled variety of entertainment, activities and nightlife available. At the height of summer, the resort has a great appeal for the younger set, with a reputation for its hectic nightlife. Out of season, however, it takes on a different character. Now practically a suburb of Málaga, the atmosphere is much more Spanish, especially at weekends, with an air of friendliness and welcome.


Cadiz

(Click to got back up the page)

Cadiz stands on a peninsula jutting out into a bay, and is almost entirely surrounded by water. Named Gadir by the Phoencians, who founded their trading post in 1100 BC, it was later controlled by the Carthaginians, until it became a thriving Roman port. It sank into oblivion under the Visigoths and Moors, but attained great splendour in the early 16th century as a launching point for the journey to the newly discovered lands of America. Cadiz was later raided by Sir Francis Drake, in the struggle to gain control of trade with the New World, and managed to withstand a siege by Napoleon's army. In the early 19th century Cadiz became the bastion of Spain's anti-monarchist, liberal movement, as a result of which the country's first Constitution was declared here in 1812.


Pontevedra

(Click to got back up the page)

Pontevedra, city (1990 pop. 70,356), capital of Pontevedra prov., NW Spain, in Galicia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Lérez River. It is a major fishing port. Clothing, leather goods, and fertilizers are made, and farm products are traded. Among its many old structures are the Gothic Church of Santa María, the picturesque ruins of a 14th-century convent, and a Roman bridge. The city may have been Columbus's birthplace. His ship, the Santa Maria, was built there.

Murcia

(Click to got back up the page)

The Murcian littoral offers on the one hand unprotected shores with wild seas and on the other small coves with calm, placid waters. Sand-dunes, beaches, salt-water lagoons, mud-flats... the Murcia coastline includes numerous places of unquestionable interest to the naturalist. Not surprisingly many of these have been declared Protected Natural Areas, spots where even in our times you can find autoctonous species of flora and fauna, such as the Sabina mora, an autoctonous tree variety, or the fartet, a tiny, unique species of fish.

The region of Murcia falls historically and geographically into a number of districts which agglutinate the 45 townships making up this uniprovincial autonomous community, all of which in turn depend on Murcia, the regional capital.


Fuerteventura

(Click to got back up the page)

Fuerteventura is the longest Island in the archipelago at 98km north to south and the second-largest Canary Island after Tenerife. The unforgiving barren and arid interior of the island shares much with it's African neighbours of Morroco and the Western Sahara including sparse rainfall, rocky-desert landscapes (the temperature of these rocks can reach 67°C on a hot day!) and simple flat-roofed white-washed villages.

Fuerteventura is perhaps most famous for it's beaches, with over 50km of stunning white and golden sand. Despite Tourism being a relatively recent phenomenon on the island, there is a well developed infrastructure with Golf Courses, a Zoo, a Water Park and numerous Marine Excursions. If you fancy something a bit more active, the Island offers great Surfing, Windsurfing and Kite Surfing as well as Big Game Fishing and Diving.

If you just want to take it easy, then those miles of white sandy beaches make the perfect getaway, even in peak season you should be able to find a relatively secluded spot for yourself.


Gran Canaria

(Click to got back up the page)

The paradise island of Gran Canaria is located in the Atlantic Ocean, 130 miles from the African coast. It is the third largest of the Canary Islands and has Fuerteventura and Tenerife as it neighbours. Las Palmas, situated in the north east of the island is its capital.

From the cooler north to the sunnier south, this perfect holiday island has everything the most discerning traveller could wish for; the great diversity of climate, flora and fauna has led to this island being dubbed "The Miniature Continent". Where else can one find acres of sand dunes with a backdrop of verdant mountains within easy reach of some of the best hotels, clubs, bars and cafés in Europe?

Gran Canaria has a lot to offer the tourist. The south is the most popular containing such delights as Puerto de Mogán (a picturesque village also known as Little Venice), Puerto Rico, Maspalomas and the famous Playa del Ingles. But with its spectacular views and landscapes, make sure you don't miss the rugged west coast and island's interior.


Tenerife

(Click to got back up the page)

The largest and highest island in the archipelago, Tenerife towers over its neighbours, with the 3718m (12198ft) Pico del Teide surging from its heart. Its barren east coast contrasts starkly with the lush northwest, and the rocky north seems worlds away from the playgrounds of the southwest.

If you can prise yourself from the beaches, you'll uncover an island of surprising geographic and sociographic diversity, where Spanish traditions dominate and the only other people you'll likely encounter are the locals.


Puerto Banus

(Click to got back up the page)

While Marbella is seen by many as Europe's get-away spot for the rich and famous, Puerto Banus is just as desirable a destination - not just for the famous but also for holidaymakers ranging from high-flying business men and women to families just looking for a relaxing time away, with plenty of sunshine.

Puerto Banus is a relatively recent travel destination however, as it has only opened it's doors to the general holidaymaker in the last 10 years or so; previous to that it was a very exclusive spot, known only to the locals and filmstars!

Puerto Banus is only a few kilometres west of Marbella, and being under the Municipality of Marbella shares many characteristics of the Costa del Sol's most well known resort. Famous for it's picturesque marina filled with multi-million dollar yachts, Puerto Banus also boasts a beach that stretches for one kilometre - the golden sands are a major attraction to this town that was once a traditional Spanish fishing village decades ago.

As with any resort associated with the rich and famous, Puerto Banus has more than it's fair share of pubs, clubs, restaurants, world-class shopping and casino facilities. Designer names can be found on all the main streets, but if you prefer to browse smaller, more traditional Spanish shops and boutiques then there are plenty of these too.  Notably the premier Spanish department store El Corte Ingles with it's five stories, and the Marina Banus Shopping Centre are two of the most popular locations that shoppers head for.  Alternatively, a visit to the weekly market held in the bullring each Saturday morning is a great way to buy both local products and holiday souvenirs!


Barcelona

(Click to got back up the page)

After a makeover lasting more than two decades, Barcelona has transformed itself into one of the most dynamic and stylish cities in the world. Summer is serious party time, but year-round the city sizzles - it's always on the biting edge of architecture, food, fashion, style, music and good times.

The buildings, especially the work of the eccentric genius Gaudí, will blow you away. The art, with significant collections by Picasso and Miró, will make you clammy all over. The people, with their exuberance, their creative spirit, their persistent egalitarianism, will fascinate you.


Madrid

(Click to got back up the page)

This is Spain's headiest city, where the revelling lasts long into the night and life is seized with the teeth and both hands. Strangers quickly become friends, passion blooms in an instant, and visitors are swiftly addicted to the city's charms.

Madrid may not have the Roman origins that get city historians hot and bothered, and it may be a comparative parvenu, selected from rural obscurity to become the capital only in the second half of the 16th century, but it oozes an ebullience that rarely fails to move.


Mallorca

(Click to got back up the page)

In 1950 the first charter flight landed on a small airstrip on Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands (3640 sq km). The number of annual visitors today hovers around 10 million – most in search of the three S's: Sun, Sand and Sea, and swamping the local island populace of some 781, 600 people (nearly half of whom live in the capital, Palma de Mallorca).

However, there's much more to Mallorca than the beach. Palma de Mallorca (or simply Palma) is the main centre and a charming stop. The northwest coast, dominated by the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range, is a beautiful region of olive groves, pine forests and ochre villages, with a spectacularly rugged coastline.