VEJER DE LA FRONTERA

Vejer de la Frontera is the archetypal Andalucian white village – set in a particularly dramatic setting on a hilltop with panoramic views across the plains to the coast 10km away. These views are best savoured from the promenade which wraps around the front of the town – and a place where you will find all the old male residents sitting on the wall, chatting. You can return a few hours later and find them still there, not having moved an inch.

After you climb up the steep road into Vejer you reach the beautiful Plaza de España, a picture postcard-pretty square with a fountain as its centrepiece, palm trees and cafes around the edge and steep backstreets of perfectly preserved white houses leading off in every direction.

The castellated old town is entered through the arch – Arco de la Villa – and life appears to have changed little here over the decades. Sunday morning still sees the entire population parading through the streets en famille after church. Shops are discreet and everything is kept in pristeen, gleamingly white condition.

The village is officially a Historical Artistic Monument of National Importance. And with that kind of accolade, as you might expect property prices are no longer as charmingly old-fashioned here as the way of life. Most apartments or townhouses for sale have been stylishly converted and command prices of 300,000 euros and up.

However, there is a stylish new development of townhouses called La Noria, a five-minute drive from the centre of town, where prices start at around 230,000 euros.