The drive from Benidorm to Guadalest, or to give it its full title El Castell de Guadalest, is less than 30 minutes.
Despite its proximity to Benidorm’s strip, complete with Brit-run bars called The Crown and The Red Lion, Guadalest couldn’t be more Spanish if it tried.
Punters pass through white-wash winding streets slowly, taking in the history of this mountainous outpost in the Marina Baixa region of Alicante.
British holidaymaker Lorraine Wheeldon, who was visiting Guadalest on a day trip with members of her family, told Express.co.uk that the town is certainly distinct from its neighbour on the coast.
“No, it’s gorgeous”, she said, adding that it was “beautiful, lovely [and] very picturesque”, in the high-altitude town.
However, the visitor, that didn’t want to be pictured, added she “had been to Benidorm”. But she said that rather than holidaying near the “English Square”, she and her family spent their time in the more fashionable part of town.
She told this website: “We stay in the Old Town, so it’s totally different. So we visit and we go in the Old Town and it’s lovely.”
In Guadalest, despite its rural charm and popularity with visitors, a few properties can be snapped up at reasonable prices.
This website found several properties for sale for around €90,000, which works out just over £75,000.
However, local estate agent Federico Nunez warned British prospective buyers to be wary of “fake” listings, designed to lure you in.
He explained: “It is easy to understand. You call to a real estate agency, ‘I have interest in this property’… [the agency replies] ‘now this one has sold but we have another property, come to our office… to see similar properties’. But the similar properties is maybe €150,000.
“We’ve these fake properties, you make a contact – people interested to buy.”
