Julie and I came to live in Andalucia in 1999. Our first property was in Los Flamencos in the beautiful village of Puerto de la Duquesa on the Costa del Sol.
It was not long before we discovered that, opposite our front door, was a Roman cemetery and, only 200 metres away, the remains of a Roman fish salting factory and town on the outskirts of the neighbouring fishing village, Castillo de la Duquesa. Ancient history was on our doorstep and not buried that deep either.
Never ones to stay still, it was not long before we started to explore inland Costa del Sol and discovered a wealth of history, stunning white villages dating back to the Muslim occupation, castles perched on rocky buttresses and, as we explored further into Andalucia, monumental cities with a rich past. We walked in shady woods and along craggy ridges in the National Parks, appreciating the magnificent scenery, often without seeing another soul. We came across the native wildlife, rabbits, foxes, ibex and deer and found some of the best bird watching areas in Europe. Our picture shows us on the top of Torrecilla in the Parque de Sierra Nieves in Malaga province, the highest mountain in the range. Julie was determined to do that climb on one of her significant birthdays.
Without realising it, we had developed a passion for Andalucia and a desire to tell people about it. Our first magazine was called Andalucia Life and soon became a favourite read on the Costa del Sol. At the same time we were writing articles about the places we had seen and our experiences. We took thousands of photographs and even found the time to write a few books.
Life moves on and we sold Andalucia Life magazine but continued our travels in Andalucia. The articles and images mounted up. In 2015 we decided that we should create another site, Visit-Andalucia.com, that would be the best travel platform in Andalucia and appeal to residents, visitors and armchair travellers alike. Something, be it history, culture, recipes, extreme sports or travelogues, for everybody with an interest in Andalucia. In 2021 we won the ‘Best Travel Platform in Spain’ Prestige Award.
Visit-Andalucia.com is ever evolving with new articles, videos and images.
It provides us with a nice monthly income but unfortunately, Julie and I are also evolving, getting older. I am retired and Julie is due to retire in 2023.
Visit Andalucia is at a stage where it is eminently suitable for development by an existing business or an entrepreneur who can see the huge potential the website offers. Click here to find out more.
What will we do? We will continue our travels, continue writing articles and taking photographs, perhaps finish a couple more books that we have put on the back burner. We have more mountains to climb, more vistas to see - who knows where our future lies.
© Visit-Andalucia 2015 - 2023
