Lying only 100 kilometres west off the coast of Morocco, the island of Fuerteventura benefits from gold sandy beaches thanks to the easterly winds that carry sand from the Sahara desert.  The island itself is volcanic, rising up out of the Atlantic millions of years ago, and its prehistoric origins can be seen today in the ancient majestic volcanoes that make the island’s skyline so memorable.  Even today there are shrines at the bases of some of the magnificent dormant volcanoes, paying homage to previous civilizations.

Fuerteventura is known as “the windy island”, and has a great reputation for being mecca for wind and kite surfers.  However, not that many people know that it is also a great place to go and learn to surf.  The rugged island offers numerous surf spots around its coastline, whether for beginners or experts.  These surf spots are surrounded by some of the most stunning natural scenery.  The Spanish government declared huge sections of land as protected national parks.  So on your way to your next surf session, you will be surrounded by sweeping volcanic planes that are akin to a Martian terrain and simply take your breath away.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d left Europe for Africa whilst holidaying on Fuerteventura, what with the great weather and the infamous sand dunes.  However, Fuerteventura retains its Spanish and European flavour with the mixture of holiday and homemakers that just keep coming back for more.  The island’s towns of Corralejo, Puerto del Rosario, Caleta de Fustes and Jandia provide great locations to eat out, go shopping or entertain the kids.  And then of course there is the nightlife.

The Spanish know how to party, so if you want a night out then look no further.  The secret to Fuerteventura’s nightlife is that everything happens later.  Siestas are a national pastime as is dining late into the evening.  What with the warm nights, it is a pleasure to celebrate another great day over sangria and tapas, before exploring the winding streets of Corralejo and choosing a location for your fiesta that will go on into the small hours of the morning.

So the question is: what are you waiting for?  With flight times only 4 hours from the UK and Ireland, and no visa required for Europeans, Fuerteventura is a great holiday destination for those who want not only sunshine, but a chance to experience something a little bit more exotic close to home.

surfholidays.com offer week long packages in June & July this summer with 4 star accommodation, plus 5 days of surf, transfer to the best beaches on the island, all equipment and return airport transfers for €404 per person.

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This recent economic downturn has had one great side-effect of those looking for Villa holidays in the see-and-be-seen capital of the Costa del Sol, it has meant that many operators have lowered their prices in order to attract customers to their holiday rentals; this of course means a better deal for anyone searching for a Villa for their holidays.

One of the best established Marbella holiday letting companies is Espana Breaks, which offers a wide selection of accommodation in the Marbella area. One good example would be the four-bedroom Villa Daniel, which offers excellent accommodation with manicured gardens, its own swimming pool and even ornate fishponds.

There is a large covered under leading to double patio doors, which allow you into the lounge area, which offers a large flat screen TV as well has British channels. There is also a very comfortable and large dining room area. There is one master bedroom and three comfortable twin bedrooms on two floors.

Another company in the area is Marbella Holiday Villa, which has a fine range of varied villas available to suit all requirements and budgets. If location is an important factor for you then it is hard to resist Villa Marbesa located only 150 m from the Mediterranean and the world renowned Nikki Beach with its wealth of beachside eateries.

This is a one story building located in one of the towns most exclusive areas. It is very private with extremely attractive tropical gardens. The villa has two bedrooms capable of accommodating up to 6 people; there is an impressive lounge with a good selection of quality furnishings as well as TV with satellite channels. There is also a well-equipped and sunny kitchen area.

Villa Carlos is offered by Premier Holidays as an attractive option ideally placed within easy walk of the ever popular upmarket Puerto Banus area, ideally located just one minute off the beach. Inside you will find the very best leather furnishings as well as tables made from marble, there is of course the air conditioning throughout the entire Villa.

There are four bedrooms available, the master suite has not one, but two, terraced areas as well as a high-end marble clad bathroom. The other three bedrooms are on a separate floor, one of which leads directly out onto the pool deck via patio doors.

This is a very private and gated accommodation with a 10m long pool with dramatic Roman steps, as well as sun terrace as well as a covered patio area with built-in barbecue facilities for an idyllic evening’s entertainment.

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On a holiday in Tenerife you must make a trip to Mount Tiede and the surrounding Nature Park. The landscape was used in the film ‘One Million Years B.C (1966)’ and the famous poster of Raquel Welch in her cave-woman get-up was taken in this area. It is clear to see why it was used as the background to the Prehistorical epic. One notable thing to do on a Tenerife holiday is to head up the mountain after night-fall. Being above the clouds watching countless shooting stars go by is something that I can’t recommend enough.

Of course Tenerife is synonymous with sun, sea, sand and Sangria. So visit the amazing volcanic beach of Los Gigantes in the south of Tenerife and relax. If your after a little bit more culture then hop over Mount Teide to the north where you will be greeted with incredible greenery and join the locals in one of their almost weekly fiestas.

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The new Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado, is located in the prestigious area called “The Golden Triangle of Art” with the Museo del Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofia Museum at its vertices and the recent addition of the new CaixaForum nearby.

The new hotel contains 54 beautiful rooms, created by the famed Spanish design duo Sandra Taruella and Isabel Lopez, which have been designed as a celebration of individuality, with playful elements of photography and modern aesthetics and colour selection. The rooms are both beautiful to look at and delightful to live in, with big, lush bathrooms and high-tech amenities including free high speed internet.

The hotel’s spa, has been created using a minimalist design and offers a variety of treatments, combined with a host of facilities including an indoor pool, steam room and a relaxation and fitness area.

The hotel’s new restaurant and grill, “The Cask”, is expected to become one of the Spanish capital’s most popular restaurants, with its Lounge Bar offering a large selection of cocktails and Spanish tapas with a modern twist, and the Whisky Bar which serves more than 20 of the best single malts.

As the headquarters for public administration and the home of the Spanish royal family, as well as playing an important role in both the banking industry and within business, Madrid provides an important centre for culture and business. This makes the Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado, with its perfect location and flexible, ultra-modern conference area which can be divided into three separate boardrooms or combined with a bar area to increase the size, ideal for business travellers and cultural tourists alike.

More information about Madrid hotels or to book click here.

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Out of the “best of the rest” my favourite has to be Costa Tropical. Situated around the coast of Granada the area is not as highly developed as some of the other “Costas” and offers some wonderful isolated beaches in the many coves along the rocky landscape.

Another beautiful resort is the Costa Verde, translated as Green Coast. As the name suggests the resort is covered in a lush green landscape and offer lots of spectacular views and scenery and some of the best golden sandy beaches you will find anywhere.

Costa Blanca is slightly more well known than the two previously mentioned resorts, but is still an excellent destination for a great beach holiday. The Costa Blanca benefits from some great scenery along its varied landscape and has some really interesting little towns just inland.

There is a lot of choice when it comes to cheap holidays to Spain, but spending a little bit of time looking into some of the quieter resorts is well worth it and you may find somewhere that suits your needs perfectly. These three resorts are most definitely my favourites but there are a number of others to choose from which also have lots to offer. So when you’re booking your next Spanish holiday why not consider one of the lesser known resorts.

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Need a kick start into the new year? Escape the winter bugs and shake off the excesses of the festive season with a yoga and juice fasting retreat in Spain.

Kaliyoga, one of Spain’s leading health holiday venues, is running a New Year’s Good Intentions Juice Fasting Yoga Retreat in January from 17th until the 23rd.

The perfect antidote to a busy and fragmented life, this retreat is a wonderful opportunity to renew and refresh from the inside out. The retreat will nourish your body with delicious and all natural juices that support optimal health. The benefits of yoga have been proven for centuries – it will revitalise and strengthen body and mind.

The strength of the programme at Kaliyoga lies in the team of inspirational, friendly and experienced professionals who are passionate about making healthy living easy and fun. This creates an authentic family atmosphere that is genuinely unique. This is not a corporate soulless spa – this is a warm, friendly and relaxed environment.

Based near Orgiva in Andalucia, Kaliyoga is owned and run by Jonathan and Rosie Miles.

Jonathan Miles, owner of Kaliyoga, says “Juice fasting is the oldest and safest method of removing unwanted weight and toxins. If you were looking for a way to put your New Year’s good intentions into practice, then Kaliyoga is a safe bet in a lovely location with winter sun, blue Andalucian skies and a trusted team of exceptionally talented professionals.”

Guests at Kaliyoga can enjoy yoga, massage, healthy and delicious food, holistic therapies, meditation, colonic cleansing, organic vegetable juices, swimming, saunas and jacuzzis. Return home renewed from the inside out.

Prices from approximately £900 (easyjet flights to Malaga and transfers not included).

Contact enquiry@kaliyoga.com or +44(0)1373 81466 to book or visit www.kaliyoga.com for further information. Kaliyoga run retreats all year round.

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One of the best options if you’ve ever felt like this, is an all inclusive holiday package. This way you know exactly what you’re paying and that everything is sorted before you go. You also know exactly what you’re getting for your money of course. In Alcudia there is a fantastic resort which provides just this sort of holiday to people. The facilities are wonderful and varied enough to cater for most tastes, and you can include flight, hotel, meals and use of some or all of the facilities that are available there.

The Hotel Bellevue is situated beside the Esperanza lake and consists of 17 separate buildings. It has almost the feel of a village with it’s self contained complex that offers amenities and activities within it’s own extensive grounds. The Beach is a mere 900m away, and Facilities include seven swimming pools, sun terraces, poolside bars, buffet restaurant, pizzeria, café, snack bar, pub, supermarket, tennis, squash and basketball courts, a five-aside football pitch, crazy golf, ten pin bowling, go-karts, funfair, and various day and evening entertainments. When you opt for the all Inclusive options, your meals, any snacks that you want, and drinks are all included within the price. If you are there when the are open you will also have use of the two kids world clubs that operate from May to October.

Obviously any excursions outside the complex will still need to be paid for separately but within the complex there is so much available that it’s perfectly possible to enjoy a holiday here without ever leaving the complex although to not visit the wonderful beaches nearby with their wonderful golden sands and blue sea, would be a shame.

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Baqueira-Beret offers some of the best above the treeline bowl skiing in the Pyrenees and is just a short transfer from Toulouse in the picturesque Aran valley. Named after the nearby villages of Baqueira and Beret, the ski holiday resort offers good skiing for all abilities though intermediate skiers will find themselves most at home here. There are 86 kilometres of marked pistes consisting of four greens, 25 blues, 20 reds and four blacks. If you’re only just off the nursery slopes you may find some of the blues more challenging than usual.

The ski resort of Formigal is located at the heart of the Spanish Pyrenean Mountains in the region of Aragon. It’s a lively purpose-built resort suitable for beginners, intermediate skiers and families. You don’t come here to rub shoulders with the rich and famous but it’s a friendly and relaxed resort with good facilities and some great ski deals are available at lower prices than some of the other skiing resorts of the Alps.

For sun and snow your choice for skiing holidays in Spain has to be the Sierra. The ski area is called Sol y Nieve, which translates as “sun and snow” and you really can get this in Europe’s most southerly ski resort, any further and you would fall into the Mediterranean, just 60 miles inland from the Costa Tropical, and a 20-mile day trip from historic Granada and its World Heritage Sites. It’s the best known and best equipped of all the Spanish ski resorts with 48 pistes covering 70 kilometres. You won’t find another resort where you can ski in the morning then play golf in the sunshine or relax on a Mediterranean beach in the afternoon.

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Trampolin Hills Golf Resort SL, a company that sold hundreds of properties to British and Irish purchasers without having planning permission in place, has been forced into administration leaving 2,500 unfinished homes.

Antonio Guillen, a Spanish lawyer with DWF in Manchester who is advising British and Irish purchasers on the insolvency of several Spanish developers, says the company has been put into what is known in Spain as “compulsory administration”, which implies that the procedure has been started on the request of one of the creditors. It could also mean the company directors are personally liable. Two administrators have already been appointed to manage the company’s affairs.

He says: “Trampolin Hills has recently become known for the irregularities in its residential development in the area of Campos del Río, Murcia, especially since it appears that the company started to sell off-plan units without having all the necessary permits in place.”

It has also been alleged that most of the bank guarantees provided were issued by non-authorised insurance companies.

“Anyone who has purchased a property off-plan from Trampolin Hills or owns a property that has not been fully finished needs to inform the administrators and the court before 2 December to ensure they are included in the final list of creditors. They will need to supply any documents that can help to prove the payments made, such as purchase contracts, payment orders and bank statements.”

“They should also check whether they have been supplied with a bank guarantee. A guarantee is compulsory under Spanish law, although not all developers comply, and will ensure that if the property is not finished, a guarantor, usually a bank, will refund the money they have paid plus interest. It could mean the difference between them losing all their money and getting a refund.”

“Ideally purchasers should contact a lawyer versed in Spanish insolvency law who will ensure they have all the right paperwork and are properly represented in the administration procedure, as well as contemplating alternative solutions such as enforcing the bank guarantee where this has been provided.”

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As in many countries, hotels are rated by the national government on a scale of one to five stars, determined by the amenities provided, such as private, en-suite toilets, lifts, dining rooms, and air-conditioning. One and two stars denote that the hotel is inexpensive and has fewer amenities than a three-star hotel, which will be moderately priced. Four stars are reserved for first-class hotels, and a five-star hotel is deluxe. Hotels that serve only breakfast are classified as ‘residencia’.

‘Pensiones’ and ‘fondas’ are boarding houses.  They generally require guests to take their meals there and rooms often have a shared bath. A ‘hostal’ is a budget inn, with few amenities.

Apartments are available in many areas. These are a good option for someone staying in one place for a month or more. The local newspapers and university bulletin boards are good places to find listings for sublets or short-term leases.

‘Paradores Nacionales’ are the castles, convents, palaces, and historic buildings that have been converted into deluxe hotels; there are now more than 85 of them throughout Spain. The Paradore de Granada, for example, is a converted convent from the 15th-century that is located within the grounds of the Alhambra and is one of the most expensive and sought-after paradores in Spain. As paradores are popular, it is important to make reservations well in advance.

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