 |
|
|
In other words, nothing like the packaged Spain of high-rise concrete, fake flamenco shows, and fries with everything. No loutish Brits and Germans cluttering the golden beaches (and Green Spain has some of the country’s best). And while there’s no thousand-and-one-nights Moorish architecture, the payoff is an escape from those regiments of bland, look-alike holiday homes. The urbanizations that have swallowed up Spain’s southern coast are refreshingly absent. But here’s the odd thing. “Undiscovered” usually translates into reasonable property prices. Not so in the Basque Country. Deep Pockets With properties priced at $557 to $668 per square foot, the best areas of San Sebastian and Bilbao (the main Basque cities) can’t be called bargains. Prices almost match Madrid’s prime neighborhoods or flashy Andalusian enclaves such as Puerto Banus. That’s top end, though; the Basque Country average is $240 per square foot. Looking at recent figures from Spain’s biggest property valuers, TINSA, even that beats southern sunspots. Malaga province on the Costa del Sol records an average cost of $152 per square foot, the islands of Mallorca and Ibiza $150, and Alicante province on the Costa Blanca $131. Why is the Basque Country so expensive? Well, the region isn’t all seaside and rural greenery. A large sector of the population is employed in industry—cement, paper, metal-bashing—and there’s plenty of wealth around. Another factor is the hilly landscape —not ideal topography for low-cost developments. Strict laws protecting the coastline also keep developers at bay. In San Sebastian,
a 1,074-square-foot apartment in a reasonable location costs $600,000 to
$718,000. But there’s good money to be had from summer rentals. Through
Toc Toc (Calle Easo 16, San Sebastian; tel. (94)343-4140), average price
for double rooms is $312 weekly. An apartment sleeping four in the center
rents for $575 weekly; an apartment for five in the old town for $814.
This Is Border Country But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before I detail the current real estate market, I should give you a feeling for this place., which is worth knowing. There’s something thrilling about border regions. Yes, the Pais Vasco —what Spaniards call the Basque Country—is the stamping ground of ETA terrorists. But I like places with an air of unpredictability. My first stop was Bilbao. Even if you detest modern art (and I’ll never get the point of basketballs floating in a tank of water), it’s criminal to miss the titanium-coated Museo Guggenheim. You’d think a weird silver craft piloted by aliens had landed. The surreal feel is compounded when you see it’s guarded by a mega-sized puppy made of flowers. From Hendaye-Irun on France’s northern border with Spain, the Pais Vasco extends to just beyond Bilbao. But aside from the Guggenheim, Bilbao doesn’t have lots to detain mainstream tourists. I’m all for jobs for the workers, but the city is heavily industrialized. Although spruced up in recent years, it won’t urge you back time and again. Even so, Bilbao
makes a good regional introduction. And vacation-wise, you’ll find the
north as cheap as anywhere else in Spain. Most restaurants offer a three-course
“menu del dia” at lunchtime. Including wine and bread, cost is generally
$9.50 to $18. You won’t get anything fancy, but meals are substantial.
Green Spain specializes in cod, monkfish, and hake in green sauce...game
dishes like venison...wonderful Rioja wines.
Semana Grande isn’t the only time for extravaganzas here. As elsewhere in Spain, fiestas are held at the drop of a red Basque beret. There are fireworks during the Lenten carnival, which also sees the odd tradition of cremating a sardine. Apparently the sardine is paraded through the streets “amidst a crowd of weeping mourners” and then set on fire in front of the Town Hall gardens. People dress in ghostly white sheets to accompany the funeral cortège. Elegant Spain My second stop was to the elegant coastal town of San Sebastian—home to 180,000 people and set around a magnificent horseshoe bay. It’s only 15 miles down the road from France, which may explain the Gallic feel to its squares and balconied townhouses. In the 1920s, it vied for the title of Queen of the Atlantic coast with Biarritz. San Sebastian has three beaches: Ondaretta, shell-shaped La Concha, and Zurriola. All are busy in summer. Most families bring their own sun-beds/chairs and beach parasols, or just flop down on towels. For $9.50 you can rent a plastic chair for the day at Playa Ondaretta, but they looked uncomfortable. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Italian hedonism, but I couldn’t understand why some entrepreneur wasn’t renting proper sun-beds. But people don’t come just for beaches. During Semana Grande there are bullfights, horse-racing, pelota championships, jazz, mariachi bands, and celebrations of Basque music and folklore. I thought it was only England where daft men in Wee Willie Winkie caps bounced about on hobby-horses, but no. After watching a free folklore performance in Plaza Constitucion, I can assure you eccentricity reigns here, too. And so do pinxtos—bar
counters are piled high with them. Known as tapas in other parts of Spain,
these tasty snacks encompass everything from tortilla slices (potato and
onion omelet), fried squid rings, cod-fish croquettes, cured ham, and plump
pink shrimps in bacon overcoats. Typical price for a pinxto and glass of
cava champagne: $2.80.
But if you firmly believe the tourist is king, you’re in for a rude shock. The Basque Country contains some of the surliest individuals I’ve ever come across. (Yes, I know travel writers are supposed to witter about “friendly locals,” but somehow I doubt there’s a Basque phrase for “Have a nice day.”) Honestly, if you owned a dog as grumpy as the woman in the Alsa bus ticket office, you’d get it put down. But that wasn’t the only instance...I bought a property magazine, and never got a thank you. I got into an argument (which I won) with a wretch trying to steal a taxi I’d waited 20 minutes for. And most waiters act as though they’re doing you a favor taking your order. As Spanish-speaking customers were treated with similar brusqueness, I doubt my own “foreignness” was the issue. I’m not suggesting all Basque folk are unfriendly or service with a scowl applies everywhere. I have no complaints about the atmosphere in Restaurante Anastasio (Calle Easo 19). Or the food—I can recommend the langostinos à la plancha (grilled giant shrimp) at $14—served by a happy-looking waitress. But in the main, don’t expect effusiveness. Cantabria—Life’s A Beach West of Bilbao is the Cantabria region. Less intimidating, more easy-going than the Basque Country, it has 177 miles of coastline and 87 fabulous beaches. Some are urban, others are wild. All are of the soft-gold-sand variety. The regional
capital is Santander. Another medium-sized city of 185,000, it’s the main
car ferry route from Plymouth in Britain. Perhaps because they see only
the scruffy port area, few foreigners linger. That’s a shame, because Santander
is an attractive city with some of Spain’s best urban beaches—11 in total.
With this many to choose from, you have a better chance of privacy than
in San Sebastian.
Naturally sea temperatures aren’t as high as along Spain’s Mediterranean coast, but El Sardinero felt warm enough for me—and countless others cooling off with a swim. Unlike in southern Spain, few women remove bikini tops. Signs at the entrance to every beach indicate nudismo (nudity) is a no-no, and radios and dogs are barred, too. Everybody sticks to the rules. Affordable Cantabrian Properties Cantabria has more affordable homes than the Basque Country. For the province, it’s $106 per square foot, but this rises to an average $163 per square foot in Santander. Around Paseo Pereda and El Sardinero neighborhoods, you’re still talking $423 to $507 per square foot for quality apartments with elevators and sea views. On Paseo Pareda, a 1,235-square-foot duplex with three bedrooms and views of the bay is listed for $573,300. At El Sardinero, a 730-square-foot apartment (one bedroom) is $317,000. (Service/maintenance charges average $120 monthly.) Same goes for neighboring Laredo, which has Cantabria’s longest stretch of beach—three golden miles of sand. Certainly for those who bought in 1998, this has provena worthwhile investment. These areas have recorded annual 15% rises for each of the past four years. However, you can find affordable homes in Cantabria’s mountainous and remote beyond. Seinco currently lists a finca (farmhouse) with almost 5,000 square feet of interior space for $65,000. It’s near a village called Polaciones—a two-hour drive from the coast. (By the way, Seinco is the only real estate agency with a good English-speaker I found in all Green Spain.) According to Senor Balbas, habitable country houses for less than $120,000 exist— but they’ll be at least 30 miles from the coast. Five miles from Santander, at Lliencres, he has a 2,100-square-foot house for $348,000. That’s a typical price for a house this size. Contact: Seinco Inmobiliaria (Martinez Balbas), Plaza de la Esperanza 4, 39001 Santander, Spain; tel./fax (34)942-214-142. The Rain In Spain Despite the proverb, Spain’s rain does not fall mainly on the plain. It’s bucketing down all over “Green Spain”…the Pais Vasco, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia. Even in summer, weather is unreliable. Sea mist—thick as fog—often shrouds the Bay of Biscay. One day in San Sebastian, I was grounded by “las tormentas”—cracking thunder, jagged lightning, and enough rain to float Noah’s Ark. If you have only one or two weeks vacation time (and for most north Europeans, vacation time means time bronzing on the beach), it’s understandable why southern Spain seems more appealing. Although northern Spain is cooler than the south, it’s not sweater cold. August’s daytime temperatures nudged over 90° F—hot enough for me. The Village Of The Three Lies I didn’t have much time to explore Cantabria’s interior, but if cobble-stoned Santillana del Mar is representative, there’s lots to go back for. Its 13th-century streets—all bell-towers, cloisters, and golden stone houses—are as lovely as any Tuscan hamlet. The collegiate church is festooned with animal motifs, and numerous palatial facades bear coats of arms and militaristic mottos like un buen morir es honra de la vida (a good death honors life). Santillana has a strange nickname: the “village of the three lies.” Ni es santa, ni llana, ni tiene mar, as it’s put in Spanish—neither sainted, flat, or on the coast. Admittedly it’s not beside the sea, and hills are all around, but the unsaintly tag seems harsh. The original settlement was founded by monks 1,200 years ago—they brought with them the relics of St Juliana, martyred in Rome. The village later became a stopover for pilgrims journeying to Santiago de Compostela and St. James’ shrine. Language Lessons Don’t contemplate
visiting Green Spain without a phrase book. English-speakers are few —it
would be impossible to live here without learning Spanish. And to complicate
matters, the Basque Country has its own language.
Basque has some extremely contrary grammar and a predilection for letters x and z. Just for collectors of useless information, if you want to tell a man “I have seen the house,” you say Ikusi dut etxea. If you’re addressing a woman, you say Ikuis dinat etxea. How the word for beach in Spanish—playa—becomes hondartza in Basque baffles me. And while most signs are bilingual Spanish/Basque, not all are. (Take note that Komunak is the Basque word for toilets!) Bilbao’s Museo Guggenheim is a notable exception, but nothing much else is in English. Where To Lay Your Head NH Villa de Bilbao, Gran Via 87, 48011 Bilbao, Spain; tel. (34)944-416-000; e-mail: nhvilladebilbao@nh-hotels.com. (Doubles cost $95 nightly.) Mercure San
Sebastian, Paseo del Faro 134, 20008 San Sebastian, Spain; tel. (34)943-
210-211. (Doubles cost $151 nightly during Semana Grande. You can also
book through www.accorhotels.com.)
|
RETIRE
OVERSEAS - Learn about the world's six best
places to live or retire. - Live like royalty on $17 a day. Own an exotic
beachfront getaway for $35,000. Or romantic pied-a-terre for under $60,000.
Enjoy fine restaurant dining for $7 per person. Employ a maid or gardener
for $2 a day. Buy comprehensive health insurance for $20 per month. Get
the details in your FREE report now.
