MORAIRA Costa Blanca Spain

Moraira is a bustling coastal village, situated on the costa blanca off the beaten track of the A7 Motorway about an hour's drive from Alicante airport. We have also driven from Valencia airport just for a change. There is an inland road to Teulada and Benissa and a coast road, the N332 to Calpe. (more about Calpe and its famous rock later on). Originally, the village comprised of only a group of fishermen's cottages,now a small town centered on the Moraira-Teulada urbanizations and has so many lovely bars, shops, hundreds of restaurants and state of the art nautical services. The population increases from around May to October with visitors from throughout Europe who occupy their own and rental villas. Many city living Spanish have their holiday homes in Moraira, that tells you something! The surroundings are hilly mounds of tiered villas, secret winding roads with fantastic scenery and sandy coves below. The area has a cosmopolitan residency of English, Swiss, German and French oh, and of course, Spanish! Its impossible to do all the exploring in one holiday, most people who go always return again, and its by word of mouth that Moraira and the surroundng area has been revealed.

The fact that there are excellent high view points along this part of the coast meant that the Spanish used to build their watch towers, like castle turrets, along the hill tops to watch out for the invading Moors from North Africa who frequently made raids to mainland Spain.

There is a museum in one such turret, they call it a castle, on the seafront of the main part of Moraira town. Sometimes in July/August, when the festivals are on, they project films on its walls. The fiestas are amazing. Cuban musicians arrive and a big platform is raised on the seafront. Acrobats, dancers and fireworks provide excellent free entertainment in the evenings and the atmosphere is both elegant and decadent at the same time!

Crafts stalls, artists and 'new age' crystal and candle stalls snake through the pedestrian winding roads that make up Moraira from early evening each night. Wood crafts, leather crafts and quality gifts are everywhere and the stalls look so inviting with their warm lights, smells of candles and insense and friendly 'laid back' people. Its so nice to walk around drinking in the artistic atmosphere. The streets smell of jasmine and oleander, a constantly fragrant breeze blown sweetly through the town by the sea air.

This bustling vibrant and mentally nutritious part of the town leads on to the relatively serene area of the Marina. The music and dancing gives way to the gentle slap of the waves on the hulls of the many beautiful yachts and cruisers, punctuated by the chirrup sound of hidden and hardly seen Cicada beetle and the ting tinging of the many mast lashed wires. As you walk around the perimeter wall you can see all the lights reflecting in the calm deep water and hear the more gentle sounds of the very up-market Yacht club across the pool of water that berths over 600 boats. There are bars and snack restaurants on the town side of the Marina and they are illuminated elegantly by hidden green lights in the palm trees and hibiscus bushes. Just writing about it puts me in a mellow frame of mind. Such is the magic of Moriara. Mmm glad to be going back there soon. More to follow, so much more!
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