Originally Posted by John & Kath

Or you could come to Ayamonte 10mins to the beach 45 mins to Sevilla 10-15*C cooler in July and August and a whole other country and culture on your doorstep 5mins across the bridge with cheap good quality dining to boot.

Originally Posted by Jur

Hang on, you drive in 45 mins. to Seville??? You Michael Schumacher ??

Originally Posted by John & Kath

From the bridg r/about to Makro/Ikea @ 160kph easy.

Originally Posted by MikeQuigley

Phoenix bar - yes it is Pete.

Yes, it's hot here in July and August and everyone gets out if they can. As someone observed, that's why we will be in Galicia then.

Visiting this place (Seville) from somewhere else (as we have done before, several times) is not the same as living here. Our experience here is much deeper and richer than when we were just day trippers.

Originally Posted by Jur

Please say hi from the cloggies in Ayamonte.

Originally Posted by Jur

I´m glad I don´t rent cars!

Originally Posted by jdr

They are all drunk Brits in Benalmadena an it`s nothing like Spain.

Christ, they've done up the 24-hour Square since I was last there!

Originally Posted by John & Kath

Bacup where I was born have a clog dancing team beat that!

Originally Posted by HBG

Another place another time, I didn`t realise you was only 15.

Originally Posted by John & Kath

Bacup where I was born have a clog dancing team beat that!

Originally Posted by MikeQuigley

This one won't meet your criterion of being 20 mins from the sea, but consider it anyway. We have been living in Seville since September 2009 and just love it. It's got a real character of its own, and boy is it lively! People are friendly and warm. We have got to know Spanish people by doing "intercambio" sessions (alternately speaking English and Spanish) and this has led to some memorable social occasions. I play jazz in a local jam session. My partner learns flute from a young Spanish fellow who also plays in a group doing Irish (yes!) music - and she has started arranging gigs for him. If you want to meet Brits, they are here, but not too many of them. Our local Irish bar is run by a Kiwi. The Maestranza concert hall and its orchestra are world class, and we saw an opera performance last week that could easily have been in London or New York. The beach resorts of Sanlucar de Barremeda, Chipiona and Punta Umbria are not far away. There is a lot of property for sale or rent lying idle and I'm told there are good deals available - we certainly got one on the flat that we rent. If you want to improve your Spanish the language school CLIC here is first-rate. All in all, this place has surpassed our expectations.
Why not come and stay in the city for a few days and look around ?

Originally Posted by HBG

Actually, I will never say anything bad about Benalmadena, it’s where my Spanish journey began, donks ago. We stayed in the Hotel Triton, on the beach side of the coastal highway, when the mountains behind it were still mountains.

When the time was right, I moved to Estepona, then Mijas Costa, but Benalmadena was the place where I fell in love with Spain. I still remember seeing Elizabeth Taylor’s yacht in the harbour that was still being built and she was on it.

24-hours Square was much later, when they concreted up the mountains and moved the coastal highway inland, but I’d still go back tomorrow, but the boss likes it on the Costa Blanca and where I am there are no mountains, just salt lakes and blue flag beaches and hundreds of thousands of people from the UK enjoying themselves.

I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to hear the sound of Bow Bells, but it’s only the woman lying next to me, who was born in Stratford, having a nightmare.