There seems to be a surfeit of articles relating the joys and pleasures of the 'mythical' land of nectar and honey known as 'the real Spain' on various blog and article promoting web sites these days.
The definition of 'real Spain' depends on your point of view, I guess. If you think that cheap booze, Irish theme pubs, all day English breakfasts and scantily clad people, either cooking on the beach whilst recovering from last night's "falling down drunk" hangover, represents your image of what Spain is all about, then that's your slant on things and you are entitled to it, however wrong it may be.
Take Almeria, (and as many would say -PLEASE!)
Costa de Almeria is known by the locals as the Costa Plastico! This is due to the vast tracts of land along the coast given over to ‘forced’ growing of various crops under shabby looking polythene ‘greenhouses’.
Kilometre after kilometre of the coastline is given over to these enormous poly tunnels, many of which are derelict, or contain no discernible life form, (even the odd tomato plant is absent!).
They require no permission to erect and have no obvious controls applied to their size or their siting.
The desert is interminable. Mile after mile dry dusty scree, (which of course, apart from the reliabilty of ‘the daily sun’, is ideal for shooting bleak westerns, and why Sergio Leone chose this barren semi-wilderness to make Clint Eastwood’s career.
The desert has the ‘de rigeur’ Spanish golf course, which despite the shortage of water in the region, has lush greens and fairways, lavishly watered by this scarce resource.
It used to have just the occasional outcrop of rock, to break the monotony, but now it is famous for it’s vast tracts of illegally built housing projects, which include Cabo de Gata, where the biggest illegal hotel in Spain was allowed to be built on the beach, and only stopped in it’s tracks by the continued vigilance of GreenPeace.
It bears no comparison to the real Spain of Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba and even Malaga! The modernity of Almeria city has swamped much of any antiquity that ever existed there.
Costa de Almeria should be considered alongside Dubai as the perfect desert holiday - stay, but for as little time as possible! If you prefer the "truly Real Spain", and the richer more traditional flavour of Iberia, you should head further west along the E15 via the much better Costa Tropical, and after strolling around the centre of Malaga, head up the A45 toward Sevilla and the real essence of Andalusia.
Stay awhile in the very real Spanish town of Antequera why don't you?
Try a "great city break in this great Spanish city", with the added flexibility of self-catering, a great city vacation.
If you like fine renaissance architecture, or just superb old buildings in beautiful surroundings, good food, great wine, nice people and the enjoyment of an ideal city break destination, this is where you might just have struck lucky!
A city break in 'RealSpain' in Antequera will open your eyes to what "Real Spain" is really all about!
With it's fabulous and manifold churches, ancient monuments and architecture, the historic city of Antequera, in the province of Malaga, Andalucia (el Andalus), in southern Spain, is truly a hidden gem.
It lies at the crossroads of major highways and train links between Granada - Malaga - Seville - Cordoba and Huelva. It is also on the main AVE high speed train link from Malaga to Madrid, and indeed, this makes the centre of Madrid, a mere 2 hours travelling time away.
Antequera an ideal city break destination with it's proximity to some of Spain's most prominent historical cites, along with it's own abundance of romantic links in to Spain's fascinating past.
Take for example it's many ancient and splendid churches, cathedrals and convents. These, along with the Dolmenes, (or pre-historic caves), the 'El Torcal Montagnes' (dramatic mountains with astounding antediluvian rock formations as well as incredible vistas of the Costa Del Sol over 40 kilometres distant), make the city a place to visit time and time again.
Antequera, as well as being one of the best kept towns in Andalucia, is also one of Spain's best kept secrets!
As Washington Irving was once said to have remarked - "A visit to this historical Andalucían town is a journey almost 5,000 years back through time, beginning with the Bronze Age and the original native Iberians".
With it's ancient burial mounds, Roman baths, Moorish Fortress, Gothic churches, Renaissance fountains and baroque bell towers, Antequera is indubitably a truly fascinating and remarkable city.
Driving from Malaga, and the nearest international airport along the A45 autovia, your first glimpses of Antequera and 'The Indian rock' evoke feelings that cannot be explained. Maybe the fact that Antequera is not just another typical white Spanish medieval town begins to permeate the senses.
The towering spires of the many ancient churches and the walls and towers of the great Moorish Alcazaba dominate the town, whilst sprawling across the valleys below are rich farmlands and olive groves watered by the Guadalhorce River.
Antequera is a step back in time, and yet it's blend of modernity is there to be seen.
For thousands of years this has been one of Andalucía's most productive areas, and a leading provider of olives, asparagus and cereal crops. In summer, its fields are abundant with yellow sunflowers
The town and ferile valley are overlooked by an enormous peak called La Peña de los Enamorados, or "The Lovers' Leap".
The name derives from the well known local legend about a doomed love affair between a young Christian lad from Antequera and a beautiful Moorish lass from Archidona nearby.
Legend has it that "they were pursued to the top of the cliff by Moorish soldiers, where, rather than forsake their love, for each other, they chose to fling themselves to their deaths into the chasm hundreds of metres below".
On a lighter note, the feature is known by many of the expat locals as the 'Indian Rock', because of it's resemblance to the face in profile of a North American native.
Well worth a visit for a day, week or even longer if you are a golfer. Antequera hosts one of the best Golf courses in the region, along with it's own 4 star hotel.
If you prefer something more flexible and a lot less costly, try Casa Cuatro at http://www.realspainbreaks.com
There are very few self catering properties advertised that are ACTUALLY in the city. Most are in the outlying villages and 'new towns' (Villanuevas), which means, as well as a car being a must, much of the character of "the real Spain" is absent, not to mention the choice of sights, sounds, shopping and entertainment.
So, if your interests go beyond holiday breaks in the sun, and the lure of a better life draws you, inland Spain offers a great choice of lifestyles, particularly if you are looking beyond holidays at retirement perhaps?
About the Author:
The author and his wife decided on early retirement in 1997 when New Labour's idea of 'state power' came to pass. With bans on tobacco use in public places, fox hunting, handguns and, a government apparently owning shares in CCTV, they, like many others at the time, felt that this was state control going too far.
Add to this, the myriad of legislation designed to make the life of small business people hell, plus the creation of legions of over-paid 'non-jobs', to monitor the excess of new laws and soak up all the extra stealth tax income.
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