PLANNING TO GO

Festivals, cultural events and sports competitions crowd the Spanish calendar. Even small villages have at least one traditional fiesta, lasting a week or more, when parades, bullfights and fireworks replace work. Many rural and coastal towns celebrate the harvest or fishing catch with a gastronomic fair where local produce can be sampled. Music, dance, drama and festivals are held in the major cities throughout the year. The country’s favourite outdoor sports culminate in several national championships. The property seeker, however, has to put these events to one side. Attractive they may well be, but a more focused approach is required, as the seasons magnify or hide some of Spain’s more interesting characteristics.

Spring

Life in Spain moves outdoors with the arrival of Spring. Cafes fill with people. The countryside is at its best as wild flowers bloom before the onset of the summer heat. Water flows to crops, giving a green look to a sometimes barren landscape. This is a good time to look at property. Everything is fresh and clean. The summer crowds are absent.

Summer

August is Spain’s big holiday season. Big cities empty as Spaniards flock to the coast or to the mountains to escape the searing heat of the interior. Their numbers are swelled by millions of foreign tourists. Entertainment and eating only take place in the cool of the evening, when temperatures drop. In the late summer fiestas are everywhere. But it is hot, it is stifling and there are too many people. Some do go to look at property, but it is an exhausting business.

Autumn

After the heat of summer, before the rainy season, the countryside, roads and property have a dirty, unwashed, and unattractive appearance as a thin film of dust covers the landscape.

Towards the end of this quarter the rain arrives, sometimes heavy torrential rain. The northern tourist resorts practically close down. But the harvesting of crops continues, with grape and wine production taking over as the main cultural and agricultural activity. The hunting season begins.

Winter

It is always said that winter is a good time to view property. The other side of the coin is seen as urbanisations empty, many restaurants close, and coastal resorts appear quite desolate. Winter does vary greatly from region to region. In the high mountains, snowfalls bring skiers to the slopes, while in the lower areas, olives, oranges and lemons are being gathered. The cold of Madrid contrasts with the warmth of the Canaries’ high tourist season. Christmas is a special time for family reunions, giving presents, sharing food and attending religious celebrations. The first rays of spring are eagerly awaited.

DECIDING WHERE TO GO

Northern Europeans, when considering Spain, tend to favour living near, or just a few kilometres from, the sea. Consequently, in order to describe the country, we will divide Spain into coastal areas.

• Northern Spain, running from west to east, and facing the Atlantic Ocean, comprises the six comunidades of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra and La Rioja.
• Eastern Spain comprises Aragon which faces the Pyrenees, and running from north to south Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia, all of which face the eastern Mediterranean embrace well known places such as the Costa Brava, the Costa Dorada, the Costa Azahar and the universally acknowledged Costa Blanca.
• Southern Spain comprises of only one comunidade, the largest and best known, Andalucia, which faces in two directions: the Costa del Sol bordering the Mediterranean and the Costa de la Luz facing the Atlantic Ocean.
• In the heart of the country central Spain comprises the four comunidades of Madrid, Castilla-la-Mancha, Extremadura, and Castilla y Leon.
• Spain’s islands comprise of the popular Balearics in the east Mediterranean and the Canaries set to the south-west in the warm waters of the Atlantic.