One of the fastest growing cities in Spain, VILLAS IN ALICANTE lies on the east coast of Spain directly on the Mediterranean Sea with the Costa Almeria to the south and the Costa Dorada to the north. It has about 340,000 inhabitants and an average year round temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius with an average high ranging from between 16.8 degrees Celsius in January and 30.6 degrees Celsius in August. The city is known for its miles of beautiful sandy beaches and lovely weather, helping Alicante attracts thousands of tourists every year to its shores.

Valencian and Spanish are the two official languages spoken in Alicante, although with English or German you will get by almost everywhere too for most of the year. With an airport which outranks its Valencian counterpart, Alicante Airport is among the busiest airports in Spain after Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Malaga and Madrid. Alicante is a strongly fortified city with a spacious harbour running regular ferry services to the Balearic Islands and Algeria.

Alicante has a lot of interesting historical facts spanning over the years, even political, from the fact that since September 17th 2008, Sonia Castedo has been the Mayor of Alicante and the first woman ever to occupy this position. Castedo was born in 1971 and was elected for the post following the resignation of Luis Diaz Alperi. Being a minor capital during the early 20th century, Alicante enjoyed the benefit of Spain's neutrality during World War I.

Alicante also has many notable features. Situated on Mount Benacantil, sitting high above and overlooking the city and port, is the Santa Barbara castle. Named after Saint Barbara and one of the biggest mediaeval fortresses of Spain, the castle is a major landmark of the city, sitting proudly above the centre of Alicante. The Castle of Santa Barbara has origins dating back to the 9th century and while La Toreta, the tower if translated into English, is the oldest part standing of the castle, some of the lower walls were reconstructed much later in the 18th century. Over the years on the slopes of the mountain, Roman, Iberian and Bronze Age artefacts have been found.

There is so much that can be taught and learned about the Castle of Santa Barbara from the time of Muslim control of the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th century, the castle being captured by the Castilian forces on the 4th of December, 1248 to the French squadron bombarding the castle in 1691 and finally to being opened to the public in 1963. With such fine beaches and beautiful VILLAS IN ALICANTE, instead of just reading about it or looking it up online, why not take in a bit of sun and sea and visit such marvellous sights first hand in a beautiful city?

Author's Bio: 

Porsche is an avid traveller throughout the holiday region of Spain. She loves writing about all of those special hideaways we all would love to find so keep reading about all of her travels and things to do in this lovely country. At present she is travelling and writing for Akilar.com and telling you just why you should book your dream Spain Holiday Rentals home from the Owners Direct.