CALPE DIEM
Sick of boozy Benidorm but still hankering for some Costa Blanca sunshine? MARTIN WELLS says Calpe, only 20 miles north, could be just what you’re looking for
IN THE 13th century, Barbary pirates captured hundreds of inhabitants of the quiet Spanish coastal village of Calpe and held them hostage in Algiers for five years.
Visiting Calpe now, you sometimes get the impression that the locals are getting their own back.
In mid-February, when the unfeasibly warm sun draws the crowds out onto the paseo to sip a coffee or two and discuss their plans for the day in a succession of chic little bistros, it’s rare to hear Spanish spoken.
Instead, a confusing Tower of Babel of languages gives this bustling and quietly cultural resort a wonderfully cosmopolitan air.
But while many here are strangers and may well be facing the prospect of five years or more away from home, they’ve not been kidnapped, just lured away by the promise of a balmy climate, easy living and an escape from the bone-numbing grind of another northern European winter.
Popular with Germans, Dutch, Scandinavians and especially Belgians – many of whom live here all year round – Calpe also draws thousands of British people here to enjoy the relative peace of the post-summer period.
Some have discovered it while they’re billeted in Benidorm, a half-hour’s drive due south down the coast; others come precisely because it’s actually a far cry from the neon-lit strip and the lapdancing fleshpots of its noisy neighbour.
In reality, though, while the two communities share the same stretch of Costa Blanca coastline and its generous climate, they could be worlds apart. Where Benidorm thrives by offering a cheap and cheerful British ‘experience’, Calpe’s success stems from its ability to weave a wonderful and affordable beachfront vibe into the fabric of a working, authentic – and historic – Spanish town.
Located around a triangular headland that gives the town’s two main, beautiful beaches an easterly and southerly aspect, Calpe is dominated by the Gibraltar-like rock, the Penon de Ifac, at the tip of the triangle.
From its days as a Roman harbour and then, in the 1300s, as a base for the Admiral to the Crown of Aragon, Calpe has spread out steadily further and further inland to become that relative rarity on the Costa Blanca – a working town that has managed to embrace and protect its history while, at the same time, offer cultural, culinary and leisure delights to tempt even the fussiest of Europe’s holidaymakers.
We spent a week here in February, shortly after the last of the winter storms had whipped the
Mediterranean into an uncharacteristic frenzy.
On the paseos – the immaculate boardwalks that fringe the beaches – you could see where the once-ina-generation weather had ripped up the wooden planks and flooded shops and cafés.
With characteristic speed, though, the Spanish had repaired the damage and reopened their businesses within days.
At the chic bodegas and restaurants (slightly more chic to the north of the rock than the south),
Europe’s retirees and families with pre-school children took advantage of the out-of-season offers, sipping lattes and Danish pastries at a fraction of what they would pay back home. And when they’d had their elevenses, they’d sit and watch their children (or grandchildren) paddle or swim in the still-warm azure waters.
Calpe is rightly famous for the quality of its seafood restaurants and you can enjoy a paella as authentic as any cooked in the home of the dish, Valencia, an easy hour-and-a-half drive to the north.
Call us mean, if you like, but we preferred to hunt down the real bargains and found a lovely community kitchen on the edge of the old town to the south that
offered a three-course menu del dia for a remarkable €6 a head, including a litre of chilled red wine!
Afterwards, why not stay in this quarter and have a stroll around the narrow streets of the old town with its mix of chic little boutiques, quirky museums, magnificent old churches and stylish bars and restaurants?
While it’s easy to relax and explore Calpe by foot (don’t miss the flamingos on the salt lake just behind the main drag), part of its appeal lies in its proximity to some of Spain’s other delights.
The public transport system here is excellent and if you can’t resist the temptations of Benidorm, then it’s only a short bus ride away. Bear in mind that this much-maligned city is one of the greenest in Europe, and its old town to the south will make you forget that the strip joints and the happy hour bars are just a 10-minute walk away.
On your way to Benidorm, though, pause to have a look at the gem that is Altea, Calpe’s near neighbour.
Its seafront can hold its own with anything the French Riviera has to offer but at prices you don’t need to be a movie star to afford.
And if, like us, you have your own transport, then a drive a few miles inland will unearth that much-fabled but seldom seen phenomenon – ‘real Spain’.
A quarter of an hour north of Calpe, into the hills along the N-332, you’ll find Xaló nestling in a valley so beautiful and lush that you’ll wonder why it isn’t more popular.
On Saturday mornings, the rambla – the dry river bed running through the town – is occupied by a fantastic market. Part car-boot sale, part craft fair, part art exhibition, it is dominated by local tradesfolk selling their wares.
A morning spent here will inevitably lead you to the Bodegas Xalo, a visitor centre and well-stocked wine shop selling the local speciality, the white and red Mistelas.
On the day we visited we heard only Spanish spoken and the town was suspiciously free of north European pensioners.
Maybe the Algerian pirates never made it this far all those years ago.