COSTA Calida in the Mediterranean shoreline of Spain has the country´s hottest climate range. In fact, in the middle of summer, it reaches temperatures of about 36 degrees Celsius. Consequently, this region, in the province of Murcia, which is only about 25 kilometers long, has become an ideal and popular holiday for tourists seeking winter sun. During the winter, temperatures here remain around 18 degrees Celsius or so, which is actually the average temperature during summer as well. It is in fact so hot here that you can skinny dip in the middle of the night and admire the glowing planktons all around you.

I came here with three other Filipinos and we experienced something different. It really was an exhilarating experience as we come from a tropical country and naturally, we wanted to find somewhere that isn´t too cold during the winter. We opted for Costa Calida because we know that the temperature here is very hot by European standards. Many people travel to mainland Spain during the summer and the majority of them are either British or Scandinavian tourists, whereas the people of the Philippines and other tropical countries including those in Africa would rather go to Costa Calida. This is the only place along the Mediterranean stretch in Spain which is “friendly” to Asians, so to speak.

The rest of the group in our excursion tour who came from Germany and France went to Palma del Mallorca. Only the four of us from the Philipines chose Costa Calida. We ended up staying here for more than a month because we liked it so much. What´s more, the food was excellent: it´s a mix of Mediterranean seafood and the best lamb in town as well as the odd glass of delicious Spanish sherry. And the Mediterranean seafood is sautéed in olive oil, said to be the healthiest cooking oil in the world because of its relatively low fat content.

When we first arrived here, we rented a vacation home for us all which was already complete with a grill where we cook the seafood that we buy directly from the fishermen. I was amazed at first with the Spanish people and really admired them because they never refrigerate sea catch. Instead, they want it to be directly cooked. That´s why there´s an abundance of restaurants here in Costa Calida where customers can directly order lobsters and fishes from the aquarium and just let the chefs cook them in whatever sauce or marinade you want. Service is really personalized. That is how the Calida tourism industry has managed to flourish throughout the decades since the time of Francisco Franco.