Photos of Calpe, Costa Blanca. Calpe Old Town and the Saturday market.

All these photos were taken in mid November and show you more of the fine beaches, harbour, Calpe old town and residential areas. Calpe combines quiet residential streets with private villas and beachfront and town centre apartments. Click on the link if you want to see a specific urbanization.

Arenal beach and Calpe port Levante beach, Basetes harbour, Manzanera and Puerto Blanco Calpe old town and Saturday market

Urbanizations: Las Adelfas, Borumbot, Calpe Park, La Canuta Colina del Sol, Cucarres, Estacion, Oltamar La Manzanera, Maryvilla Rafol, Empedrola, La Cometa, Cuxarret Gran Sol, Imperial Park, Carrio, Costeres, Marisol Park La Vallesa, Colari, Los Almendros, Ortenbach, Enchinent Basetes, Casanova

Calle Puchal with the fishermen's houses and access on foot. The narrow Calpe Old Town streets are decorated with potted plants and decked out with flags and streamers on fiesta days. Calpe originally consisted of the walled old town around the church and an a single street (now Avenida Gabriel Miró) leading down to the sea. It has traditionally been a fishing village with the fishing boats sheltering under the Peñon de Ifach until the harbour was built. Only part of the original wall remains around the church square but the medieval old town plan can be seen in Calpe's narrow, shady and winding streets.

The old townhouses are still occupied and are surprisingly roomy considering their small frontages. They're designed to keep out the sun so they're quite dark inside although many of them do have a roof terrace, often with good sea views. Parking can be a problem but most of the Calpe old town residents have everything that they need on their doorstep such as bakeries, shops, newsagents, restaurants etc. making the area a small world in itself. It also benefits from the weekly Saturday street market that provides every kind of fresh produce. enlarge

Cannons recovered from the sea beside Calpe Rock. They are thought to be British and no doubt there is some interesting unknown history explaining how they got there. They've been mounted on carriages and are now on display beside the old town wall under the Church Square. A new trend is for older unsound properties to be removed completely and new town houses built in their place that respect the traditional style. This works very well and makes these properties much more liveable apart from smartening up the town. enlarge

The "Torreon de la Peca". The Calpe old town wall built to defend the residents against the frequent attacks by North African pirates that continued until the 17th century. Only part of the wall remains along with a watchtower towards the port and another overlooking the Mascarat pass. This part of the wall incorporates the excellent "La Plaza" Swiss restaurant with private apartments that we currently have for sale as of this writing. You can see part of it on the left of the picture and find more information if you click on the "Calpe property for sale" link at the foot of this page. Sorry for the quick change of subject, but it's a good property. enlarge

Another view of the wall with Calpe church tower in the background. The path leads up to the Plaza de la Villa with some good restaurants located here such as the Calambache (very good Argentinian steaks), Los Dos Canones, La Plaza (Swiss) and the Campanari (pizzas and home baked bread). Where possible, the town hall, under the active and creative leadership of the mayor, Javier Morato, is introducing small parks and squares in calpe Old Town along with Mediterranean wall paintings that respect the traditional style. enlarge

Calpe church entrance facing the Plaza de la Villa with a decorative mosaic donated by a Calpe resident. Calpe church is not as large as those of Altea or Benissa but it has a good following and is the focus of the Fiesta de Carmen (July 16th) honouring the Virgin and commemorating fishermen lost at sea, the Virgen de las Nieves (August 5th) with an offering of flowers and the Santisimo Cristo del Sudor patron saint of Calpe since 1682 that combines with the Moros and Cristianos Fiesta. Spain has more public holidays than any other country in Europe and a town like Calpe takes public holidays, regional Valencia, Calpe, Alicante, Altean holidays and local Calpe holidays. The town has an active British Christian Fellowship located in the Perlamar building on Avenida Gabriel Miró. enlarge

Wall paintings at the entrance to Calle Santisimo Cristo leading into Calpe old town. The town houses are being renovated or rebuilt respecting the traditional style like the one on the left and trees are being planted in squares around the town. In the picture they are new orange trees (bitter seville marmalade oranges to stop you picking them) in a new square near the cultural centre. enlarge

The old town square, "Plaza de la Villa", is located at the top of the town in front of the church. The cobbles have been re layed and the attractive cast iron Castilian steetlamps renewed. Small pedestrian streets lead off this square and are worth exploring on an evening out with a visit to one of the well known townhouse restaurants such as El Santo or Calambache (both Argentinian). enlarge

Calpe Saturday morning market fruit and vegetable stall. The market runs for about 1 km along Avenida del Norte and sells everything that fits in a shopping bag. One thing that you'll notice if you come to live on the Costa Blanca and join the many people who shop in the street markets, is that the produce is perfectly fresh and of excellent quality. What isn't produced locally often comes from the Murcia area of Spain, that has turned into one of Europe's main sources year round fresh vegetables. enlarge

Every kind of fruit and vegetable is available with plenty of peppers, onions, tomatoes and garlic that are a big feature of the Mediterranean cuisine. A speciality that is grown locally is the Nispero fruit from Callosa d'en Sarria that is somewhere between a plum and a nectarine. Each Costa Blanca town has it's market day on a different day of the week so that the stall holders can travel from one town to the next each day. Some of them also visit the mountain villages and their vans provide most of the shopping needs in these remote areas. enlarge

Saturday shoppers in Calpe. If half of Calpe market is devoted to fruit and vegetables, the other half sells everything from clothes, to household goods to furnishings, cloth, toys, music and most things that you might need. The market is very popular with locals and foreign residents alike and starts early on Saturday morning, finishing around 1.30pm. The local bars and restaurants are full of Saturday shoppers and there is not much parking space left in the north of the town. enlarge

This stall sells all the hardware you need to prepare a paella, including the pans of different sizes, the special gas rings and even the gas pipes and gas bottle connectors. Paellas are traditionally prepared out of doors in summer kitchens that range from a setup of bricks in simple rustic fincas to elaborate tiled roofed "paella houses" with fitted appliances and a table can that can seat all the family and friends in comfort. enlarge

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