Santa Pola...
Santa Pola is 18 kilometers south of Alicante and
13 kilometres from Alicante airport. It has several major construction developments in progress and is popular with
owners of both holiday homes and residents. Previously, the town belonged to Elche and has been its port and trading
centre since Roman times. It is an interesting little town, dotted with watchtowers dating back to the 15th century,
erected to warn against the approach of Barbary pirates.
Santa Pola is built on the shores of a large bay
so
it's not surprising that fishing has always been of great importance to the town. In the waters surrounding the bay
can be found many types of fish making the towns fishermen the primary suppliers to the
best restaurants. The clear blue waters are not only for fish. With several
beautiful beaches, Santa Pola, Lissa, Pinet and Marina, holiday makers and residents
enjoy the golden sands sunbathing and then swimming to cool off.
Off the coast, you have an island known as Isla de Nueva Tarbarca. This is a flat strip of land, barely out of the water but which attracts numerous tourists. To go there you need to take a boat from Torrevieja, Alicante or Guardamar. A round trip (including time on the island) takes about 8 hours and cost around 20€.
One thing which has been noticed by many who visit Santa Pola is the difficulty driving in town, which is quite congested for much of the time. The standard of new building in Santa Pola is very high, with the "main players" in building development fully represented. There is however one company erecting prefabricated buildings whose prices may not be the bargain they appear to be. Santa Pola’s proximity to the airport and Alicante make it particularly popular with those who intend to receive regular visitors or who wish to visit the UK regularly.
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.