HOLIDAY AREAS & ATTRACTIONS IN SPAIN YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO MISS

The Costa Blanca and Costa Cálida offer some of the most attractive and increasingly popular holiday destinations and attractions in Europe. This is largely due to the area's natural beauty, exceptional climate, breathtaking scenery and beaches as well as many leisure entertainment facilities.

OPI Rentals offers a range of holiday properties to rent from 1 to 4 bedroom apartments or villas all tastefully furnished, fully equipped and located close to local attractions and amenities.

HOLIDAY AREAS ON THE COSTA BLANCA AND COSTA CALIDA IN SPAIN

Alicante - Tourist Attraction

Alicante (Spanish) or Alacant (Valencian) is capital of the province of Alicante, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port and one of the fastest-growing cities in Spain. The city has regular ferry services to the Balearic Islands and Algeria, and an international airport is nearby. The city is strongly fortified, with a spacious harbour. Amongst the most notable features of the city are its main castle, the Castle of Santa Bárbara, which sits high above the city, and its port, which has become the subject of bitter controversy in the city as residents battle to keep it from being changed into an industrial estate.

The most important festival, the Bonfires of Saint John, takes place during the summer solstice. This is followed a week later by seven nights of firework and pyrotechnic contests between companies on the urban beach Playa del Postiguet. Another well-known festival is Moros y Cristianos in Altozano or San Blas district. Overall, the city boasts a year-round nightlife, helped by tourists, fun-loving residents, and a large student population of the University of Alicante. The nightlife social scene tends to shift to nearby Playa de San Juan (St. John's Beach) during the summer months.

Altea - Tourist Attraction

Altea is a Valencian town and located in the province of Alicante, north of Benidorm on the Costa Blanca. At present, the economy of Altea is based on tourism, which started to grow in the 1950s because of its good weather, beaches and the beauty of its labyrinthine streets with whitewashed house-fronts. Altea is protected on the north by the bluffs of the Serra Bernia, creating an especially mild microclimate. Its seafront esplanade is planted with palms.

One of its places of tourist interest is the church of La Mare de Déu del Consol ("Our Lady of Solace"), easily identifiable by its picturesque blue and white domes, tiled with glazed ceramics.

Benidorm - Tourist Attraction

Benidorm is a Valencian coastal town and located in the province of Alicante in Spain. According to the 2004 census, Benidorm has a permanent population of 64,956 inhabitants, ranking as the fifth most populous town in the Alicante province, although the population exceeds half a million in the summer, since it is one of the most important holiday resorts in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Manhattan of Spain" due to the unique skyline formed by its numerous tall hotels and apartment buildings, quite unlike anything else on the Costa Blanca. Benidorm itself is dwarfed nearby by its 1406m tall Puig Campana, one of the most impressive mountains of the Costa Blanca.

Benidorm has three major beaches: Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas; all of them have a blue flag, the maximum quality standard recognised by the European Union. The Gran Hotel Bali, a 4-star hotel located in this city since 2002, is a 186 meters tall building which stood as the tallest skyskraper in Spain for five years, until it was surpassed by the CTBA towers in Madrid.

Benidorm boasts several family-oriented theme parks, including Terra Mítica and Terra Natura which are located just inland from the city at the foot of the mountain, and Aqualandia and Mundomar which are located on the outskirts of the city on the Levante side.

Calpe - Tourist Attraction

Calpe (or Calp in Valencian) is a coastal town located in the province of Alicante. The town is located 67 km from the city of Alicante, lying at the foot of the Natural Park of Peñón de Ifach, (Ifach Rock). Many Iberian, Roman and Arab archeological sites exist in the town, due to its strategic coastal location. Some of the most important monuments in Calpe are the ruins of Los baños de la Reina, (the queen's baths), the flooded salt flats, a bird sanctuary for migratory birds, its Gothic Catholic church and the tower of La Peça, dating from the 18th century.

Denia - Tourist Attraction

Denia is located at the northern point of the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante halfway between Alicante and Valencia. There is evidence of human habitation in the area since prehistoric times and there are significant Iberian ruins on the hillsides nearby. A partial ruin of a fortress stands right in the middle of the town. The Moors originally built the fortress, and the French, who occupied the city for four years during the War of the Spanish Succession, re-built it in the early 19th century.

The ferry to Ibiza and the other Balearic Islands departs from Denia. It also serves as a terminus of a picturesque metre gauge railway line through the mountains from Alicante (popularly known as the Limón Express), run by FGV. Several times a year, the town of Denia is full of festivities. The popular fiesta Fallas is celebrated each March. Huge paper mache statues, called fallas are set up throughout the town, and then set ablaze.

July brings the popular Bous a la Mar or Bulls at the Sea, the highlight of this week long festival is watching bulls run down the main street Marques de Campo, only to be chased into the Mediterranean sea by those daring enough to enter a makeshift bull ring with them.

Elche - Tourist Attraction

Elche (in Spanish) or Elx (in Valencian) is a city located in the Alicante province which, in turn, is a part of the Valencian Community in Spain. Part of the municipality is coastal but the main city is some 15 km (9.5 miles) from the Mediterranean Sea. The economy of Elx is based, in large part, on the footwear industry, with over 1,000 shoe factories, being one of the most important footwear industries in Spain and the rest of Europe.

Elx is surrounded by date palms, going back to their planting by Muslims in the 10th century. This is now on the World Heritage list and protected by them. The Priest's Garden is one of the highlights of the town along with the cool semi-tropical park. A great place for a short break.

Javea - Tourist Attraction

Javea (in Spanish) or Xàbia (in Valencian) is a coastal town located in the province of Alicante. Situated behind a wide bay and sheltered between two rocky headlands, the town has become a very popular small seaside resort and market town. Flat agricultural land stretches for miles inland, cut by small streams and used primarily for growing citrus & olive trees. The Natural Park of Montgo was declared in 1987, dominated by the 753 m peak of Montgo, the second-highest peak so close to the sea in the whole Mediterranean. The park stretches across the area of La Plana to the Cape of Saint Antoni.

The town's market day is on Thursdays, except when there is a local or national holiday. There are also three main fiestas: the Fogueres de San Juan (June) are pagan in origin, commemorating the arrival of the summer solstice, and are widespread throughout the Valencian Community, the Moros y Cristianos (July) parades, noisy and colourful, take place in the port area and celebrate the defeat of the Moors by Christian forces in the 13th Century, and the Nuestra Señora de Loreto (September) with the bull-running on the harbour walls and a firework display.

A large range of sports and hobby activities are catered for in the area, including cycling, diving, fishing, golf, horse-riding, mountain-biking, photography, bowls, sailing, trekking; there are many shops & rental centres that serve these pursuits.

La Manga - Tourist Attraction

La Manga del Mar Menor (The Sleeve of the Minor Sea) is a resort town in Murcia, Spain. The La Manga Strip is a strip of land 21 km long and 300 metres wide (average) which separates the Mediterranean Sea from the Mar Menor (Small Sea). It also has many hotels, shops, bars, clubs and restaurants. One of the most popular areas with young adults is the Zoco area. La Manga has more than 40 km of Blue Flag beaches which attract a lot of water sports enthusiasts. The nearest airport is San Javier (MJV).

Murcia - Tourist Attraction

Murcia is a city and municipality on the river Segura in southeastern Spain and the capital of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia. Murcia is built nearly in the centre of a low-lying fertile plain, known as the huerta or orchard or vinyard of Murcia, which includes the valleys of the Segura and its right-hand tributary the Guadalentín or river Sangonera, and is surrounded by mountains. Despite the proximity of the sea, the climate is subject to great variations: the summer heat is severe, while frosts are occasionally experienced in the capital during the winter.

The Cathedral of the Diocese of Cartagena (based in Murcia) was built between 1394 and 1465 in Castilian Gothic style. Its tower was completed in 1792 and it shows a mixture of styles. The first two stories were built in Renaissance style (1521-1546) and the third one is Baroque. The bell pavilion has Rococo and Neoclassical influences. The main façade (1736-1754) is considered a masterpiece of the Spanish Baroque style. Other noteworthy buildings in the square in front of the Cathedral (Plaza Cardenal Belluga) are the colourful Bishop's Palace (18th century) and a controversial extension to the town hall by Rafael Moneo.

The Glorieta, next to the Segura River, has traditionally been the center of the town. This a pleasant landscaped square, built in the 18th century. The ayuntamiento (city hall) is located here. Pedestrian areas cover most of the old town, centered around Platería and Trapería Streets. Trapería goes from the Cathedral to the Plaza de Santo Domingo, the former market square. Located in Trapería is the Casino, a social club erected in 1847, with a sumptuous interior that includes a Moorish-style patio inspired by the Alhambra royal rooms.

Torrevieja - Tourist Attraction

Torrevieja (in Spanish) or Torrevella (in Valencian) is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante. Torrevieja was originally a salt-mining and fishing village as it is located between the sea and two large salt lakes (Las Salinas), which give Torrevieja a healthy micro climate. Until 1802, Torrevieja existed only as an ancient guard tower, which gave the town its name (Torre Vieja means Old Tower). But in 1803, Charles IV authorized the movement of the salt mines from La Mata to the town itself and allowed the construction of dwellings there.

The world-famous Habanera festival for choral groups is held every August, when the city population expands roughly tenfold, like many other towns along the Costa Blanca.