Football fever
If you are worried about missing the football when you move to Spain then don’t fear – the Spaniards are as passionate about the sport as the British. In fact, futbol is rather like a religion, and the good news is tickets are far cheaper than they are in the UK, with average prices of between €20-€35 to see a game in La Liga – the Spanish equivalent of the Premiership. However, getting hold of tickets for the big games is no easy task.
The country’s most famous and successful football club is Real Madrid, who have won nine European championships and were recently announced the world’s richest football club for the third year running. David Beckham, Raul, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo, have all graced the hallowed turf at The Bernabéu Stadium, over recent years. In Catalonia they may have something to say about this, though. FC Barcelona have won six European championships and claimed 18 Spanish league titles.
Their 120,000 capacity stadium, the Nou Camp, is the largest in Europe and past and present stars include Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov,
Rivaldo, and Thierry Henry. The highlight of the football season in Spain is when these two teams meet in La Liga. The fact they are Spain’s ‘big two’ teams adds extra spice, as does the nationalist Spain v Catalonia element.
However, for Madrid residents, there is another match which comes pretty close. The Real Madrid v Atlético Madrid derby divides the city in two, and although it has been a rare occurence in recent years, if Atlético clinch a famous victory there are wild celebrations throughout the city. Pretty much wherever you are in Spain you will have a local team to support. Other big names in the world of Spanish football include Athletic de Bilbao, who only sign players native to one of the seven Basque provinces; Sevilla, who despite not being one of the big two still attract a crowd of 55,000 at every game; Real Betis, also from the Seville region; Galician rivals Celta Vigo and Deportivo La Coruna; Racing Santander; RCD Mallorca; Real Sociedad, from the Basque city of San Sebastián; Real Zaragoza; and Valencia CF.
Glorious golf
Spain is often referred to a the ‘Golf Mecca of Europe’ and is home to many world-class golf courses. The warm climate in much of the country ensures keen golfers can play all year
round, so if you are thinking of investing in a buy-to-let property choose somewhere close to plenty of good golf courses and you will be able to receive rental income for 12 months of the year, rather than six.From Andalucia to Catalonia, Spain has courses to suit all abilities and budgets. Many resorts have a golf course as their centrepiece, some even have three or four. These offer a wealth of property opportunities and many include a variety of other leisure and entertainment facilities such as restaurants, bars, tennis courts, spas and equestrian centres.
On the Costa del Sol alone there are over 30 golf courses and more than 60 in the province of Andalucia as a whole, many of which host world-class tournaments. The most famous course in this area is Valderrama, in San Roque, which hosted the Ryder Cup in 1997, and is the only golf club to have hosted this tournament outside the USA and Britain. The
course was designed in 1974 by Robert Trent Jones, Sr and is said to be the number one golf course in Europe. Other famous courses in this region include Torrequebrada, so tough it’s often called ‘the Beast’, Monte Mayor which is located in the Andalucian hills and has magnifi cent views of the Mediterranean, Gibraltar and North Africa, and San Roque, where you’ll fi nd the Seve Ballesteros golf academy and an equestrian centre run by Captain Mark Phillips.
Head to Almería for the opportunity to play golf in Europe’s only desert. The Valle del Este and Desert Springs courses are designed around a dramatic landscape and are also close to the region’s beaches.
The Murcia region is another golfi ng paradise. La Manga is one of the greatest golf resorts in the world, with not one but three courses, and has played host to fi ve Spanish Opens. The Costa Blanca, Costa Azahar and Costa Dorada also have a number of good courses dotted between the popular tourist resorts.
There are some top-class courses in other parts of Spain as well, away from the well-known holiday resorts. Catalonia has several exceptional courses including the PGA Golf de Catalunya near Girona, and the Emporda Golf Club with an excellent course designed by top American golf architect Robert Van
Hagge. Many golfers also head to the Basque
country, where the most well-known course is
probably the challenging San Sebastián Golf Club,
designed by Pierre Hirigoyen.
Snow fun
Spain may not be the fi rst place you think of as a ski destination but it has some superb resorts from north to south. There are 36 ski resorts in the whole of Spain, and chalets and apartments are much cheaper than they are in resorts in other parts of the world. As many are also in easy reach of beaches, historic cities and other tourists attractions, investing in a property close to the slopes could prove to be very worthwhile and will mean you will be able to profi t from rental income for 12 months of the year.
Spain’s largest ski resorts are in the Pyrenees, and there are 16 in this area alone. The largest is Baqueira-Beret in the Val d’Aran, which attracts a lot of celebrities. It is a favourite haunt of the Spanish royal family, and Victoria Beckham also visited the resort a couple of years ago – the pictures of her in designer skiwear were featured in many of the tabloid
newspapers at the time.
Many of the ski resorts in the Pyrenees offer activities throughout the year, including hiking, climbing, and rafting, so there is always plenty to do. More popular with expats is the ski resort in the Sierra Nevadas, in southern Spain. It is within easy reach of the Costa del Sol, Costa Calida and Costa de Almería and is the most southerly ski resort in Europe, but its high altitude means it is cold enough for snow in the winter. The resort is within the Sierra Nevada Natural Park and only 32 kilometres from the historic city of Granada. The Alpujarras are at the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, and you will find quite a large expat community here, driven by the lower property prices. This is also the best place to buy if you are hoping for year-round rentals, as there is very little to do in the resort itself outside the ski season. Buying in this area means you are also close to Granada and the beaches, but are still within easy reach of the mountains when the snow starts to fall.
Paradise for windsurfers
If you love being by the sea but want to do something a bit more active than simply lay on the beach, there are lots of windsurfi ng centres and schools throughout Spain. Tarifa, in Cádiz, is said to be the best place to indulge in this sport, not only in Spain, but perhaps in the whole of Europe, if not the world.
The reason it is so popular is because of its strong reliable winds – you are very unlikely to have two consecutive days without wind – which explains why it attracts the highest concentration of windsurfers in the whole of Spain. It isn’t known as ‘the windy city’ for nothing! The fact it is perched on the southern tip of Spain, just a few miles across the Straits of Gibraltar, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, means it is famous for its two prevailing winds.
Strong side shore winds, make the experience safe and easy for beginners, as well as the more advanced. The 35 kilometre beach is dotted with windsurfing schools and places where you can hire equipment, although if you are planning on moving here it might be worthwhile investing in your own!
Kitesurfi ng is also getting pretty big in this area, once again due to the perfect wind conditions.
Horse play
For horse-lovers there’s nothing more enjoyable than riding through the beautiful Spanish countryside on horseback, and where better to do this than Andalucia, with its rich,
equestrian history? The beautiful Andalucian horses are famous throughout Europe and the region also offers some excellent riding terrain, from cork forests to mountain trekking, through river beds and across sandy plains, far away from the busy tourist areas. There are lots of places in the region where you can hire horses, these include farms, riding schools,and small stables, or of course, if you buy a property with plenty of land you can keep your own. The town of Jerez, is famous for its annual horse fair, as well as its sherry. The event is held during the first week of May and dates from the 13th century. It features some of the world’s fi nest horses and riders, who compete in endurance trials, coach driving, and dressage competitions.