Reviews
Wot a scorcher!
The Mar Menor region of southern Spain is renowned as one of the most therapeutic and relaxing holiday destinations in Europe.
Armed with his Spanish O-Level (Grade C) Peter Barron finds out if the reputation is deserved
PEPE, the man down the
tennis club, threw his
arms in the air in exasperation
and looked at
me as if I was crazy. "El
mundo entero sabe que Espana es
caliente," he exclaimed, with half a
smile, half a scowl on his leathery,
tanned face. "The whole world
knows that Spain is hot."
Not the type to want to sit around
the beach all day, I'd been trying to
book a tennis court at the local club
in Los Alcazares, just as I had on
nearly every day of the holiday.
It had developed into a farcical
daily linguistic battle with Pepe,
whose English was about as good as
my rusty Spanish.
On this particular day, he'd offered
me "cinco" - five o'clock in the afternoon
- knowing full well I'd told
him on previous days that it would
be too hot for a mere Englishman to
cope with.
"No, no, caliente, caliente," I'd appealed,
pointing at the sun, and asking
for eight the following morning
when it would be cool. That was the
point at which he'd become exasperated
and, in the end, I gave up and ordered
"dos cervezas por favour" instead,
for my wife and myself.
Yes, as, apparently, the whole
world knows, Spain certainly is hot.
The average temperature on Mar
Menor, for June, July, August and
September, is 21 degrees centigrade,
although it was regularly higher
than 30 while we were there at the
end of July.
But one of the attractions of this
part of Spain is that, unless you're
running around in the midday sun
trying to be Rafael Nadal, the heat
is bearable because of the pleasant
breeze coming in off the Mar Menor.
It's the best of both worlds - hot
enough to get a good tan but not
overwhelming or inescapable.
Apart from the obvious benefits of
the climate, the Mar Menor itself is
the other main reason for heading to
this part of the world, via a two-anda-
half-hour flight from Newcastle to
Murcia. It is actually a salt water lagoon
- the largest in Europe - tucked
in beside the Mediterranean, and
that's what makes it so uniquely
appealing.
THERE are no tides and the
water around the various
beaches gets no deeper than
seven metres, making it ideal for
young families. The high content of
salt, magnesium, calcium, sodium,
bromine, iodine and fluoride is also
said to make the Mar Menor a firstclass
stress-buster, as well as effective
therapy for arthritis, rheumatism
and tendonitis.
Thankfully, I don't yet suffer from
any of the last three, but I can certainly
vouch for the relaxing qualities
of a leisurely dip in the lagoon.
Early evening is the best time to go,
with the sun relenting, inspiring
views across to the hills and the La
Manga strip, and the water the temperature
of a nicely heated swimming
pool.
Indeed, it's the first holiday destination
I can remember, including
the south of France, when my wife
and four children didn't have to be
coaxed in to brave the first, cold
plunge in the sea.
We stayed in Los Alcazares, a developing,
well-equipped resort, with
good beaches - mostly protected by
jelly fish nets - loads of bars and
restaurants, supermarkets and a
good balance of Spanish and English
cultures. For those who want a taste
of home, fish, chips and mushy peas
are easy to find, but the old town retains
enough traditional Spanish
charm to satisfy tourists who want
to leave England well behind with a
plate of paella and a jug of sangria.
The locals seem to have an obsession
with small dogs and sitting out
until late playing open-air dominoes.
Every Tuesday, there is a bustling
market, brimful of characters and
bargains, but it's thirsty work.
On the downside, there is still
quite a lot of building taking place,
with its inevitable teething problems.
The resort is sufficiently
spread out to make car rental highly
desirable but, be warned, finding
a car parking space anywhere near
a beach is a nightmare.
For a change of scenery, we thoroughly
enjoyed a half-hour ferry trip
across the lagoon to La Manga. The
ferry can be boarded in Los Alcazares
itself, but we chose to drive
the 15 minutes or so north to Santiago
de la Ribera, for one of the regular
sailings across to the Port of
Tomas Maestre. Just a short walk
from the port is a fantastic grassfringed
beach, with the most tranquil,
crystal-clear water imaginable.
ON another day, we headed
south on the coast road for 20
minutes or so and came
across Cabo De Palos, which is just
outside the lagoon boundaries and,
therefore, offers a change of pace as
far as the sea is concerned. In place
of the stillness of the salt lake are
the crashing waves of the Mediterranean,
providing an exhilarating
contrast and bags of fun.
As we always do at the end of our
holidays, we went round the table,
asking for marks out of ten. Our tenday
stay in Los Alcazares scored an
average of eight with our family of
six.
"It would have been ten if you'd
stayed at home," said 13-year-old
Jack, who thinks he's funny.
We came back well rested, well
tanned and we'd be happy to go
again. The weather is superb, the lagoon
of Mar Menor is wonderfully
relaxing, eating out is good value for
money and there's plenty to do and
see - even if you can't persuade Pepe
to give you an early tennis court.
10:02am Saturday 8th December 2007
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