Anna and Alan Nicholas left behind their hectic London life and embraced rural Mallorcan life to the full.

"The first time I went to my local café and ordered a coffee in Catalan, everyone clapped. I felt as much pride that day as if winning a major client account for my business."

 
As I sit on my terrace, happily distracted by the sound of cicadas, raucous frogs and the trickling water of a nearby mountain stream, I have to pinch myself to believe it’s all real.

As Chairman and Managing Director of one of the UK’s largest and most successful family owned hairdressing groups Clive and Tina Barrett lead  extremely busy lives. But as a complete contrast to heading their 18 hairdressing salons spread throughout SW England and the Midlands Clive, Tina and their family head for the Costa del Sol whenever possible.

The Barrett’s had previously used an interior design company owned by Alan Hall in the UK and Spain and decided again to seek Alan’s expert advice. Clive explains. “Alan lives in Marbella now with his wife Kate, who works with Alan, so we visited them at their home and fell in love with it. We commissioned him immediately to undertake our refurbishment asking him to create a style similar to his home that he would be happy living in. We were so confident he would come up with the goods that we just left him to it.”

"As well as being an animal that has its origins in Catalunya, it has similarities with the manner in which Catalans do things – in moderation and without being strident"

IF YOU had to pick a symbol that summed up your nation’s defining traits, the donkey would be an unlikely candidate.

On a gloomy school night at the end of half-term, teacher Rachel McIntyre decided enough was enough...

The moment I decided to change my life came on a gloomy Sunday in February 1999. I'd been working as an English teacher at a comprehensive in Leeds for the past three years and hated every minute of every working day: the dismal 1960s concrete block buildings; the daily battles in the classroom; the atmosphere of defeat in the staff room. I loved teaching, but the job had drained me, physically and emotionally.

It all reached a head that rainy Sunday. Monday morning meant back to school after half-term and I was almost in tears at the thought of it. I knew I'd had enough.

Eva Yerbabuena is bringing ‘the poor little sister of classical dance’ to a world audience – and we can’t get enough of her.

In a field where the purists will stamp on you at the slightest sign that you may be betraying your roots, Eva Yerbabuena is managing to keep everyone happy. But, says the woman who is helping bring flamenco into the modern arena, she never consciously set out to be successful. “You don’t think about success when you’re starting out,” she says. “You want to know what you can achieve as a person.”

As it prepares to host the Americas Cup, Valencia is THE place to buy

Valencia is Spain’s third largest city – a vibrant, friendly place that boasts Europe’s newest cultural and scientific complex, the largest aquarium in Europe, an outstanding fine arts museum and a fabulous new opera house. Local government and EU investment in the city has provided an excellent infrastructure with an expanding metro network and tram system.

Add to this the proliferation of low-cost flights from the UK and you have a very accessible and attractive weekend retreat.

This year the city is in the spotlight as it hosts the Americas Cup, an extended yachting regatta that will result in crowds of visitors and much publicity for Valencia until the end of the summer.

Finca la Fiaca

The relaxed atmosphere of Spain convinced Nikki and Mike Farnan it was time to make the break and move from leafy Cheshire to the picturesque town of Monda in Andalucia. Originally designed by an Argentinian architect for Swiss-Italian clients, their house Finca la Fiaca blends a mix of styles to create a laid back elegance entirely compatible with Nikki's new found appreciation for the spanish attitude of manana.

Home for Farnan and her husband Mike was a former stable block in Cheshire. “The house was huge, with a snooker room and large pool, but we could never use the pool because of the weather. The children had ponies and we generally had a lovely time but we couldn’t get Spain out of our minds,” she says.

Catalunya’s anchovy fishing and curing industries have changed little over the centuries – so we can enjoy them in the way we always have.

The anchovy is a delicacy throughout Spain and the best source of the salted version is the town of L’Escala, at the southern end of the Golf de Roses. Nowadays fishermen may head to sea in diesel-powered trawlers rather than under sail and the anchovy processing businesses are in modern premises, but little else has changed.

Since the 15th century the basic process of curing the finger-sized fish has remained the same, as has the classic Catalan method of eating them – anchovy fillets on pa amb tomaquet. And just as they have for centuries, the raw product comes from the warm waters off the Costa Brava.

When its streets aren’t full of thousands of people fleeing several angry bulls, Pamplona is a pure delight  

Walking is not an uncommon practice in any city; in fact we all do it. Hiking, though, is another matter, and one to make you look twice. Which is what I do when I see a man, a woman and three children, all very obviously in hiking gear and leading two well-laden mules along a Pamplona street.

No one else stops to stare, which makes me think this sort of behaviour must be the norm in this elegant, affluent northern Spanish city. Then I see the scarves tied around the hikers’ necks and, as they pass, the shells decorating their bags.

That explains all: they are pilgrims, walking the Camino de Santiago, and their route from France to the north-western tip of Spain has taken them through the capital of Navarra province.

Tony and Pauline Arnold may be many miles away from their onetime Ascot home, but they have kept the equine theme in light, bright Marbella

It was the climate and light that convinced Tony and Pauline Arnold to move full time to the Costa del Sol. That and the wine! Tony says: “Rioja wines are so much cheaper here that in the UK. We also wanted to live in a part of the world that we love but is still only a short plane journey to England to visit friends and family.”