Being close to Benidorm and beautiful, this Moorish town is now mostly devoid of Spaniards but the slowly ascending journey up the mountain, past the reservoir, with the always in view white tower perched on a rock, is something I still recall six years on. Located up in the mountains, 25km in from the Costa Blanca coast, El Castell de Guadalest is for me, visually and location-wise, the best part of Alicante Province. It’s an artistic type of place recognised for its cultural heritage whose small population of 200 or so now mostly comprises of artists, art galleries and restaurants. So there’s enough to see in the town, not least the castle and the stunning views. But the journey up and the views down define my memory of Guadalest.

www.guadalest.es
Avenida de Alicante, s/n, 03517, Castell de Guadalest, Alicante, Spain
+34 965 88 52 98
Google map: bit.ly/KWQIkl

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Wonderful family place with plenty of safe beaches, few hotels and no big apartment blocks but great restaurants. Beautiful villas to rent.
Perfect picturesque place.

Between Alicante and Valencia, each about one hour away.
www.everythingmoraira.com/

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I am recommending a way to find Budget Accommodation in Spain.

The economy in Spain has been hit very hard and now one in six Spanish are unemployed. The result of this is that many Spanish have had to move back in with their parents in order to save costs.

This means that this summer there are a lot more properties available on the rental market.

How does this benefit you? Property owners need to rent their properties out in order to pay their mortgage. Consequently now is a great time to book a self-catering apartment or villa in Alicante or on the Costa Blanca.

Villa and apartment owners advertise their weekly rate, but they would rather take a reduced rate than not fill their apartment or villa at all.

So if you know where you would like to stay in Alicante or on the Costa Blanca then I recommend contacting the property owners directly and negotiating with them.

There are several ways to contact the owners directly. A number of owners now advertise on www.ebay.co.uk. Another website is www.ownersdirect.co.uk which lists a huge number of properties for rent in Spain and allows you to contact the apartment or villa owner directly so that you can negotiate with them.

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This is not the sort of place you will come upon by accident - unless you get lost. Run by German born Arnold and his English wife Helen, this is a tiny, relatively new winery in the Xalon Valley in the Alicante region of Spain.

Although grapes have been grown in the region since Roman times, the Bodega del Garroferal was only set up in 2002 when the pair relocated to Spain from South Africa. They offer a small range of delicious wines - three reds, three whites and one rose. Try Rhapsody, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend mix with depth and complexity. The grapes are grown just across the road from the bodega and, after handpicking, are fermented in open topped tanks.

Helen offers a sumptuous range of tapas to complement an arranged wine tasting and then you can play with the family cats and chickens.

www.peterarnoldwines.com/

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