Javea...
Javea (or Xavia) lies at the foot of the Sierra del Montgo,
8 kilometres south of Denia and overlooking one of the most beautiful bays of the Costa Blanca. It is the second largest municipality in the Alicante province, with an area of
about 68 square
kilometres. The town is popular with holidaymaker's, particularly in the spring when the smell of orange
blossom is constantly in the air. As with many other areas on the eastern Spanish coast, the centre of Javea was surrounded by fortifications
to protect against attacks from Barbary Coast pirates.
Today, a few stretches of these fortifications can still be seen and visited.
The old part of the town is made up
of a labyrinth of narrow streets full of limewashed houses, many dating back to the 17th and 18th century. Peculiar to Javea is that many of the older buildings have window and door frames which have been roughly
carved from sandstone blocks. As with Denia, beaches in Javea consist of rocky stretches which border on
cliffs jutting out over the sea or wide beaches with golden sands. It has
several excellent beaches situated along it's 25 kilometres of coastline...
For those who like to be far from the madding crowd, Cape San Martin will appeal. Here you will find numerous bays and coves relatively deserted and even during the peak holiday seasons not too crowded. Property in Javea is quite expensive but if you have the money, some of the villa designs are quite spectacular and worth every penny you will spend.
Unfortunately, at the moment there are problems with this area and these are mentioned below. If you are looking to purchase property in Javea or this part of the Northern Costa Blanca you need to be aware of the 1994 Urban Development Activity Act. This has been reported extensively in the UK media and is a method of forcing Spanish property owners to hand over their land at ludicrously low prices and/or contribute huge sums of money to the development of the area. At the time of writing, Javea is the area most affected but it seems likely that the EU Commission will be concerned and Spain is not eager to do anything that will deprive it of the vast sums of money it receives to develop its infrastructure and modernise its cities.
Learn the Language...
Learning to speak Spanish will give you tremendous advantages...
It will also give you pride and confidence so even before you get here try to
learn the basics. There are several methods, some claim to be fast but
that all depends on you, not the course, so choose what's best for you.
Our useful links page carries a couple you might consider as a starting
point.
Spanish PDQ is from Linguaphone and is a fun, holiday-style course aimed at beginners wanting to
learn basic Spanish. It uses proven teaching methods and has a strong focus on
essential vocabulary, so you will quickly be able to handle a wide variety of
everyday situations. At less than £30 it's a bargain.
Learn to speak, read and write Spanish to an elementary level.
Learn 500 essential Spanish words and phrases.
Perfect your accent by listening to native Spanish speakers.
Focus on the vocabulary that you need.