The Costa Blanca is known for its scenery and beaches.
Photo credit: encyclopediatraveler.blogspot.com
As The Six Monthers, planning ahead is critical to adhering to our plan to live in a new country every six months. Our list of countries where we most wish to call home for one of these semi-annual stays is a list we put together a year ago as we daydreamed and brainstormed about where we most wanted to live.
Image credit: infocostablanca.com
As you might imagine with our Croatia trip coming up, their country has been on our minds a lot. Croatia was already on our list for 2015. However, we may want to make our home there even sooner. We had anticipated would happen. We expected to update and revise our list as unforeseen factors arise and we would need to prioritize accordingly.
The Costa Blanca is rugged and beautiful.
Photo credit: wikicommons.org
That having been said, Spain is still our next destination country. Many have asked us where in Spain we would like to settle. We met backpackers in Glasgow who were visiting from Madrid, and they were eager to sell the virtues of their home city. Barcelona has been well-represented among Spanish cities that people speak highly about. There are so many great cities in Spain that merit our attention, including Seville, Granada, Málaga, and Valencia, the only Spanish city I have visited. All of these celebrated spots add to the irresistible appeal of Spain, and we need to plan where to live in order to budget for our transportation, housing and living expenses.
Torrevieja beach
Photo credit: villarenters.com
So we decided our next home will be in Torrevieja. This young city on the Costa Brava lies in the southernmost part of the province of Alicante. A small town for many years Torrevieja, or Old Tower, has doubled in size from 50,000 to over 100,000 people since 2007 including a strong contingent of British, Germans and Scandinavians, many of whom live there all the year round. This rapid growth in popularity has made tourism the leading industry in the area. The Alicante Airport is now the sixth busiest airport in Spain behind Madrid, Barcelona, Mallorca, Canary Islands, and Ibiza. Less than half the population is Spanish, although so many Spaniards from Madrid have built second homes in Torrevieja that the city has earned the nickname La Playa de Madrid, or Madrid Beach.
I look forward to sharing much more about Spain in the months ahead as we weather the second half of winter along the Mediterranean shore. Average temperatures in January and February are typically near 15°C (60°F). I think if I am going to go skiing this year, it better be while I am here in Scotland.
Applecore 