About the Villa
The Villa is only 1 year old and is situated in the awe inspiring countryside of the Velez Blanco valley. It is in a very quiet and peaceul setting but is not isolated being only a few minutes from the market town of Velez Rubio and the smaller historical town of Velez Blanco, both of which have an extensive choice of cafes bars and restaurants.
The Villa sits in its own plot of around 1 acre with mature olive trees and a private swimming pool. It has glorious views across the valley and nature lovers will appreciate sitting on the balcony and watching all sorts of wildlife which often includes owls & eagles soaring overhead.
The official website for the Los Velez area is well worth looking at it can be found at losvelezturismo.org
Les Velez
Within 5 minutes drive are the towns of Velez Rubio and Velez Blanco both of which have bars, restaurants and shopping.
Velez Rubio is a market town in a picturesque setting, surrounded by sierras, olive groves and fields of wheat.
There is a museum situated within a beautiful 18th century hospital which has a fascinating exhibit of artifacts and ceramics dating from prehistoric to Moorish times, including a section on the ancient cave paintings in this area.
The main monument of note in the town is the magnificent Baroque Church of La Encarnación. Built in the 18th century, this has an imposing carved facade. Inside, the main altar has a superbly detailed, 20-metre-high carved wood retablo.
Even more spectacular than this, though, are the prehistoric cave paintings of the Cueva de los Letreros, 3km out of town.
It is a reasonable treck to get there but worth it as you will be able to see surprisingly fresh looking red and brown sketches of human figures, birds, animals, astronomical signs and indalos which have been dated to around 4000 BC and are amongst the oldest representations of people and animals in the world.
Further paintings at La Cueva del Gabar, to the north of Vélez Blanco, are in a still better state of preservation but you can only visit here with a guide who will provide you with a rope and ladder to get you up the sheer rock face which is one of the reasons, of course, why they have survived more or less intact.
Velez Blanco is a beautiful historic town with a 16th century castle at its centre. The castle is currently undergoing a long restoration as most of its contents were stripped out during the 20th century and currently reside in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. There is also a spa fountain in the town from which each resident can collect upto 25 litres of spring water each day. There is a spectacular panoramic view from Velez Blanco down the valley.
Out and about
A car is essential and a hire car to and from the airport is the best way to get there. The main airports at Alicante, Murcia and Almeria are all around 90 minutes away. The villa is only 10 minutes from the virtually empty Murcia / Granada motorway.
There are numerous beaches and resorts within easy reach with the closest being Aguilas within 50 minutes and the large stretches of beaches at Vera, Garrucha and Mojacar all within an hours drive to the south with Cartogena and La Manga easily accessible to the north.
For skiers, the resort at Sierra Nevada which is around 2 hours drive, caters specifically for sun and ski winter breaks by providing ski passes that do not have to be used on consecutive days. It now has extensive snow making facilities and a greatly extended ski season.
This area of Spain is rapidly challenging to be the new golf capital of Europe with many new courses including the fantastic Desert Springs course within an hours drive.