BEST PLACE IN SPAIN

“I never tire of Javea,” insists local businesswoman Jennifer Cunningham. “I can sit on a terrace and gaze at the sea day after day. It’s wonderful at sunrise and sunset, spectacular, but it’s when the bay twinkles in the moonlight that Javea is at its most beautiful.

“Sitting with a coffee or a glass of wine and watching the world go by is one of my pleasures in life. Even in early March you can enjoy the warm sunshine on your face, look out over at Montgo, and see waterskiers in the bay.”

She insists that the town, where she has lived for over three decades, occupies a special corner of Spain with its ‘very own microclimate’.

“It’s a wonderful place to live and while it has changed a lot since I arrived, it has the old town with a marvellous market that still retains the feeling of the fishing village it once was.”

This however, is pushed to the limit during the summer when tens of thousands of Spanish swoop on Javea.

“Those of us who live here year round breathe a sigh of relief when September 1 comes and the multitudes go home.

But in truth, the tourists are needed to keep the local businesses, the shops and restaurants alive,” explains Jennifer.

Despite the pandemic not as many businesses closed as Jennifer feared and Javea is now thriving again. “There are new apartments going up everywhere,” she continues. “Little teeny patches of scrubland suddenly get snapped up and then there’s an apartment block.

“This isn’t always a good thing. Parking is a huge problem in Javea even outside the summer months but in peak tourist season, it’s impossible.”

She believes the town should introduce a ‘park and ride’ type system so visitors can leave their cars outside and catch a bus in.

“It’s hard seeing the town I know change so much and I wish there was more thought going into its development,” she admits. But on the whole the love affair with the town she first encountered on a holiday in the 1980s con-

Golden Find

A PAIR of snorkelers found 53 gold coins off La Cala Barraca, just beneath Portitxol Island, two years ago.

Local archaeologists reportedly ‘cried’ as one of Europe’s largest finds of Roman-era gold put their little bay in the history books (Portixtol comes tinues.

She recalls the snap decision she made to move to Javea all those years ago.

“Here I was on holiday having a lovely time and I did everything you shouldn’t really do when making important life decisions. Just like that I saw a property I loved and put down a deposit, then went back and sold up in the UK,” she laughs. “I was ruled by my heart and not my head and that isn’t something that I would normally do. But if you asked me if I would do it all again I’d say yes, I absolutely love Javea and feel very safe here. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

Jennifer Cunningham runs one of the most successful expat businesses in Spain, a giant insurance business, which began with one small office in Javea and has now grown to seven branches across the Costa Blanca and one in Lanzarote. For more information please visit www.jennifercunningham.net