Costa del Azahar

Costa del Azahar translates from Spanish as the Orange Blossom Coast, which is the name given to the stretch of Spanish coast encompassing to the province of Castellón. The explanation for this name is that this is, indeed and along with Valencia province, the land of orange trees, which you will find here in plentiful orchards as soon as you stray inland from the coast. Another likely cause for this naming convention is that this is one of the last pieces of Spain’s Southern Coast to have been positioned as an international touristic target for the sun and beach loving visitor, with the obvious disadvantage that all the catchier names had already been taken. As happens almost everywhere in South Spain, you will only find first class beaches wherever you go in Costa del Azahar. The coastal towns south of Castellón de la Plana are in general in a lower degree of touristic development than those of the north, and this means as well a higher presence of Spanish residents. In the north, you will find the more developed towns of Oropesa del Mar, Peñíscola, Benicarló and Vinaroz, with Peñíscola getting in our opinion the first prize in terms of beauty and historical interest. All of them are excellent options if you want to lead a relaxed and trouble-free life in the real Spain. But anywhere that you choose to settle in, you will enjoy 320 days of sunshine a year, with average temperatures around 30º in summer and not lower than 14º in winter. No matter where you go in Costa del Azahar, you can also be sure to find an excellent cuisine, which specializes in combining together the best products of the sea with the vegetables of the fine orchards in Valencia and Castellón. Rice based dishes such as paellas, arròs a banda, arròs del senyoret or arròs negre are sure bets whenever you dine out. For desert, for sure you can try the magnificent oranges as they are or mixed with vanilla ice-cream as Valencianet. This is certainly a piece of Spain that the crowds of international visitors are only slowly discovering, so although you will find small expat communities of Britons, French, Germans and Belgians in the coastal towns that make up Costa del Azahar, you cannot expect at all the level of globalization reached in Mallorca or in the Costa del Sol. You will be lucky if you can find an Irish Pub in this area, and you can certainly forget about substituting your morning toasted baguette with olive oil, Iberic ham and tomato for a full English breakfast. This might be an inconvenience at first if for you it is important to have a strong community of friends from your own culture in your new life in Spain. However, this is also an opportunity to hone your Spanish language skills and to mingle and try to make friends with the local native community. And, sure enough, for the property investor, the relatively lower degree of development of Costa del Azahar means that this is a region where, if you are patient and do your proper research through MiMove affiliated agencies, you are likely to strike a very good deal. A caveat would be that in this area it is not unheard of that real estate agencies charge property buyers a commission for every sale, so you should ask your agent about terms and conditions before booking a viewing. Even then, the overall cost of living here is also lower than in other areas of Spain, so budget limitations may no longer be an excuse to reinvent yourself and build a new life under the sun.