Spain is enthusiastically going green, with regulations for new-build property and developers keen to go above and beyond to give buyers a clean conscience.

It’s only the palest hue at the moment, but there are signs that the Costa Blanca is being tinged with green. Ecological awareness is big news in Britain, of course, and new homes throughout the United Kingdom are packed full of energy-saving and environment-conscious devices.

Santa Claus is only a minor distraction to Spanish children; the real fun starts when the Three Kings arrive in January

The hangover may have faded, but the shock of New Year reality has kicked in: no more Festive Season and nothing to look forward to until an inevitably cold and wet Easter somewhere in the distant future.

That may be the case in Britain, but things are different in Spain, where the big celebration hasn’t even kicked off yet. Yes, the Spanish are increasingly embracing the Christmas festival; yes, they party like mad at New Year. But the focus here is on January 6th. We know it as Epiphany; they have given it the earthier, cheerier and much more party-friendly epithet of Los Reyes – The Three Kings.

You know how it is: you learn a language at school (or at uni, in my case), you rarely visit the country and then one fine day you find yourself in a bar in Seville asking for two toilets (servicios) instead of two beers (cervezas).

Now whilst I enjoy making good-looking young barmen laugh, I actually prefer to have them laughing with me rather than at me. In that moment, I made a mental note to investigate refresher courses in Spanish to avoid further humiliation should I bump into, say, Gael Garcia Bernal. This goal would go on the same list as writing a novel and climbing Macchu Picchu (accompanied by llamas).

Ferries to Bilbao provide a chance for everyone to spot playful porpoises, dolphins and whales, and a vital source of information for scientists studying our best-loved marine mammals

The cinema is due to open at 11:30 but there's a long queue by 11:15. Doors open and two hundred people file in. The show is free and key to understanding the bigger show that nature is putting on in the wide blue spaces of the Bay of Biscay. We are on the P&O ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao. In summer this is routed along the edge of the Bay's continental shelf and the long hours of daylight give an excellent opportunity to see whales and dolphins in their natural environment.

Can we help ski-mad Felicity Marsh find a dream home in the sun that is also close to the slopes of Sierra Nevada?

Dear Property Clinic,

I’m absolutely in love with the skiing in Spain, which for me combines the best of snow with the best culture and people in the world. It’s about time that I stopped wasting money on two or more months’ accommodation rental every year and put down some roots in the country. My preferred location would be near Sierra Nevada, hopefully below the snow line so that I can enjoy warm evenings or days in the sun if I want a break from the slopes. My budget is around €230,000.

Felicity Marsh, Belfast

The thought of emigrating had never seriously crossed Mike and Annemarie Shaw Roberts’ minds, until they saw a Spanish business advertised for sale in The Sunday Times one dull winter morning.

 “We are very impulsive people, we often do things on a whim,” explains Mike, of the Shaw Roberts’ sudden decision to leave the UK. “We had never thought of moving to Spain until we saw an ad for a business in Spain. But it was a very dreary February day and we started thinking what are we doing in this country? Look what we can get for our money over there.”

Kellie Ragan, 30, moved from London to Ibiza earlier this year with her children Stephanie, six, and Jack, three, to launch Sol den Serra, a restaurant, lounge and beach club.

Turning 30 is always a big birthday, but I had extra reason to celebrate when my twenties ended earlier this year. My father gave me the best present possible – a restaurant business in Ibiza.

I had absolutely no experience of running a restaurant. At the time, I was living in London working long hours in the City for a Dutch bank. But I separated from my husband last year and it was hard working in the City and being a single mother. I wanted to bring up my children in a totally different environment and Ibiza was the obvious destination. My grandparents and parents have lived on the island for many years and my three brothers live there part-time. I even spent five years of my own childhood living in Ibiza.

Natasha Mason couldn’t wait to learn Spanish so that she could escape her job as an English teacher in Madrid. That was before she fell in love with her new career.

Five years ago, Natasha Mason moved to Madrid with only one thing on her mind: to learn Spanish as quickly as possible. “Without it, I knew my only real option for work was teaching English,” she says. “And no way was I going to be an English teacher. I couldn’t imagine anything worse. So I was determined to learn Spanish and get a real job as soon as I could.

Designers Nona von Haeften and husband Wolf Siegfried Wagner are dedicated to creating beautiful homes on Mallorca, including this brand-new finca with that traditional touch.

 
Some ten years ago, German interior designer Nona von Haeften and her husband Wolf Siegfried Wagner, a stage designer, paid their first visit to Mallorca. The couple had been looking for a holiday house for some time, but convinced that Mallorca had long since been ruined by mass tourism, they had never visited the island. One day, an old friend who had a house in Mallorca and knew the island well persuaded them to make a visit in order to inspect an old finca that she knew was for sale in the eastern part of the island. Although highly sceptical, Nona and Wolf agreed to fly down from their home in Hamburg for a short visit. It was a classic case of love at first sight and just three weeks after their arrival, the finca, together with a sizeable plot of surrounding farmland, was theirs.

Scientists are only just beginning to understand the ecological importance of traditional droving paths, while shepherds are just glad of the benefits to their animals.

A ribbon of tarmac reaches across a golden prairie, empty all the way to the dark and distant hills. The vista is devoid of detail but for a lonely village, huddled around a crumbling castle at the end of a long dirt road. It looks lost, adrift like a small boat on the sea. This is Castile, the bleak and uncompromising Land of Castles – silent and simmering in the hard light of the late summer, and as motionless as a painting. Big country, big sky; nothing much to stop for here.