Costa Del Sol
Costa Del Sol
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What attracts us to the Costa Del Sol
As cosmopolitan a stretch of golden sand as you’re ever going to find in the world, the Costa del Sol is 100 miles of pure pleasure and consistent favourite with British property hunters.
It averages 2,900 hours of sunshine each year compared to, for example, Bournemouth with 1,700. The sea breeze slightly takes the edge off the summer temperatures, keeping highs at around 30ºC compared to 36ºC just a little way inland.
The Costa del Sol stretches from Nerja in the east all the way to Gibraltar in the west. It includes the flashy and upmarket resorts of Marbella, Puerto Banús and Estepona, plus the more family orientated resorts of Torremolinos and Fuengirola.
The hills overlooking the beaches are thronged with multi-million euro villas owned by the Russian and Asian mega-rich but also more affordable apartments. To keep them – and anyone else – amused the Costa del Sol is also home to some of the world’s best golf courses, such as Real Sotogrande and Valderrama, and the best marinas too.
The biggest city and busiest airport is Malaga, right in the middle of the Costa. It’s a busy port city, but dramatically smartened up these days with the Picasso Museum. The Botanical gardens was planted by an Englishwoman in the 1850s – we’ve loved this area for a long time.
The people of every nation come to live on the Costa del Sol – 137 nations in the last census – so it is a real international melting pot. That means that despite high unemployment in Spain, British people can find work within the international community. You will have no problem finding an English-speaking estate agent, lawyer and surveyor; then once you live there an English doctor, vet, hairdresser, property manager, café owner... and friends.
The modern tourist trade was invented in the Costa del Sol and in the 1950s Torremolinos was the height of sophistication where you could rub shoulders with the likes of Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Although this coast has been in and out of fashion, it has certain innate qualities that always keep us coming back.
Even better, in the boom years before the financial crisis the authorities set about knocking down the worst high-rise hotels built in the 1960s and 70s and replacing them with attractive and classy low-rise developments. These days the beaches are superbly maintained and the promenades filled with top-quality fish restaurants along with the waterparks and nightclubs.