Murcia is known as the garden of Europe but soon will be a golfing Mecca!

5 Star Luxury Golf Resorts by Polaris World

Already served by two airports (Murcia San Javier and Alicante), Murcia's new airport at Corver, due to be completed in 2008 will double the flight availability which will help to cater for the ever increasing demand for flights to Murcia.

All the top class Golf Resorts seen to the left will have lots of properties which will be available for holiday rentals and also For Sale.

Murcia Direct's aim is to bring Owners and their clients together with the minimum of fuss and expense.

Apart from Golf Murcia produces first-rate fresh produce all year round. It's a cooking enthusiast's dream, for as every good cook knows, you just can't go wrong with top-quality ingredients.
It's not just the fleshy artichokes, the unbeatable, tangy tomatoes and the juicy citrus fruits fresh from the surrounding orange and lemon groves, but the succulent sea-food, freshly caught in the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor. Grey mullet roe is a regional speciality. The goat's cheeses and local bread are also mouth-wateringly good..

A trip to any of the fabulous markets is an adventure in itself. The wine, too, is something special, if less well known than, say, Rioja. But the discerning palate will soon make discoveries such as the excellent wines made in the Jumilla area from the little known but delicious petit verdot grape.
This sprightly red wine is only one among many to be savoured.

The good all year round climate and the extrovert Mediterranean character of the people make the fiestas an unforgettable experience. Easter in Murcia is an explosion of beauty. The processions express the local character, their generosity, their love and their faith. Spectators of the processions are rewarded with confectionaries and sweets, yet another example of the generosity of the people. Spring Feast begins on Easter Sunday and there are a number of fiestas to choose from.

However one in particular that has been declared a
National Tourist Interest is the “Bando de la Huerta"
.”

Visitors enjoy the traditional performances and see the old houses and customs of the Huerta, recreated by the “peñas”. This festival is an explosion of life in which the whole of the city and the Huerta takes part climaxing in the actual day of the Bando. The September Fair or “Romería” is extremely well attended, as well as historical. It commemorates the solemn coronation of the Virgin and is one of the most important holidays in Murcia.

Beach Lover?

The property prospector needs to be aware of more than golfing and gourmandising. Some of the best diving in Europe is to be experienced off Cabo de Palos; some of the best climbing is only an hour away in the glorious national park of the Sierra Espuña. You want to ramble - help yourself (and no one will mind if you pick the occasional orange or two to refresh yourself. Just don't denude the entire orange grove!).

More seriously, there are modern medical facilities throughout the region and, important for the villa owner whose family may spend long stretches of time in their Spanish home, four international schools.
Developments are springing up all over the region, subject to strict planning and quality controls. Density is low and new resorts are carefully kept apart. Even so, the region is undergoing massive investment.

Polaris World alone is developing 40 million square metres, with all resorts surrounding golf courses. Prices right now are modest but seem destined to rise as the quality of Murcia becomes better known. And as tourism continues to grow, the opportunities for rental income grow too.
Murcia and the Costa Calida are firmly on the map, perhaps the last major region of Spain to yield its secrets. And not before time.

Essential things to know about the region:

The region of Murcia covers an area of 11,317 sq km, with a population of 1.2 million - that's just 108 people per sq km. Murcia has 18 hospitals, four international schools and three universities. Murcia University was founded more than 700 years ago, making it one of the oldest in Europe.

The town of Caravaca de la Cruz in the north-west has been declared by the Vatican as one of the world's Holy Cities, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santa Toribio de Liebana, thus giving Spain three out of five.
Although the region is well served by rivers, notably the Segura which flows through Murcia City, irrigation of the vast huerta, or plain, is boosted by water diverted from the River Tajo.

Murcia's spectacular Holy Week celebrations are followed the next week by the extraordinary festival of the Entierro de la Sardina, in which an enormous effigy of a sardine is paraded through the streets of Murcia City in a Rio-style Carnival and ritually burned for good luck.