Moraira

Moraira, known as the “St Tropez of Spain”, is a small upmarket coastal town backed by mountains with quaint streets and avenues of palm trees.

Moraira began life as a fishing village and is now the chosen destination for expat retirees to Spain. One third of the 10,000 population are British. It is still a relatively small town, which is protected by local council law against high-rise development.  The pine trees that surround the town are also protected.

The Castillo de Moraira is an eighteenth century fort, which was built to protect the village from attacks by Barbary pirates.  It adds a touch character to the place.  There is also a watch tower high on the hill in the background, this is a solid building and the watchman used a rope ladder to climb to the top and look out for pirates.  Not a job for the faint hearted!

The beach is lovely with pale sand and clear water, it is busy even now at the end of October.  At the other end of the promenade there is an impressive marina, full of boats, with a club and restaurant.

Good quality restaurants are everywhere, plenty of white table linen here!  People are still eating lunch late into the afternoon, I would think this is a very popular passtime for permanent residents.

The old part of town is pretty with little squares with cafes.  The old church was built between 1875 and 1878 and according to the guide has some beautiful mosaics inside.

Moraira has a great feel to it and is definitely a cut above.  The main industry is tourism and I am not sure there is enough real life going on for us.  It also seems that there are an awful lot of places where dogs are not allowed.