COSTA Blanca is that 300 kilometer stretch of Mediterranean coastline in Spain. In spring, you will find lots of flowers in the beaches blossoming and it’s wonderful to blend the sight of that to the serene Mediterranean coastline. Right now all over the world, it is spring break. Spring break is a one week off from college. The particular duration is dependent on which college you are in. Georgetown may have its spring break the week before Holy Week or Johns Hopkins may have its spring break as early as Valentine’s Day. A university in Toronto may have its spring break three weeks before summer. So whatever time of the season your spring break is, Costa Blanca in Spain is the newest tourism sensation right now.

In fact, Air Canada, the country’s flag carrier, has arranged for more direct flights to Alicante airport because latest buzz has it that private universities and colleges in Montreal and Quebec have banded together to form student package flights to Costa Blanca as a way of prizing students who have been included in the top ten in the licensure examinations of any field – whether in geodetic engineering, electronics and communications engineering, agriculture, economics, broadcasting, journalism, filmmaking, nursing and others.

Of course, the gem of Costa Blanca where Canadian students will visit this spring is Peñon de Ifach, that rock overlooking the whole Costa Blanca. Peñon de Ifach has a population of 300 varied plants and animals. In fact, many birds from elsewhere troop here but you need not worry about the onset of bird flu since Spain is very strict in monitoring alien birds in its territory here in the Iberian Peninsula. If you are that adventurous, then you can dare climb Peñon de Ifach so you can have a spectacular view of Costa Blanca from the top of the rock which is preserved both as a Spanish national heritage and as a UNESCO World Heritage.

Aside from a Mediterranean diet, one delicacy you can have here in Costa Blanca is coffee. There are lots of small-scale cafes especially around the beaches here in Costa Blanca whether they’re conventional or nudist beaches. But in the nudist beaches, these small-scale enterprises are located just outside the beach property. Yet there are also luxury cafes inside the nudist beach and if you’re a Spaniard taking up a hospitality course, try being employed here. You’ll really be delighted.

IF you want to have a grand vacation in Costa Blanca and buy a house there to eventually settle down for the rest of your life, now is certainly the time to do it whether you are Spaniard, European or not. Today is the time to cooperate. The world is at the brink of an economic meltdown and earlier today, we in Europe have proved our resoluteness because we are the only markets which have not collapsed – from FTSE to CAC 40 to the DAX.

Spending and bailing out money is really the key to save the economy. You can certainly save in the best of times but by not keeping your money right now, you can help save the economy of the world. Let’s say for example that you are a guy from Toronto and you would like to have a holiday swap from someone from Costa Blanca. The first thing you do is get a visa. Then you have to book your flight and hotel stay in Costa Blanca. You usually do that via Travelocity or Expedia, two of the best online-based travel agencies in the world which have global reaches. Even if you do get discounts which you certainly do especially if the package available is bundled i.e. flight and hotel, you will still spend. You are already helping the economy of Spain (if you are boarding a Spanish carrier) or Canada (if you are boarding a Canadian airline direct to Costa Blanca).

If there are no direct flights available, you usually get off in Madrid. In Madrid, you board a connecting flight to Costa Blancaa. There are Iberian-based airlines for this but since the Spanish commercial aviation industry is deregulated, there is one Irish-based airline, Ryanair, which is in business because there are also many Irish tourists going to Costa Blanca. If you board a Ryanair flight from Madrid to Costa Blanca, you are also helping the economy of Ireland. Once you’re in Costa Blanca, you will surely be staying either in a hotel or in a vacation villa if you’re not on a holiday swap. You will be helping the economy of Spain for that once again.

But even if you’re staying in your friend’s house and especially if your vacation is pretty long, you may want to hone your Spanish-speaking skills especially if you come from the French-speaking side of Canada. So you may want to enroll in a crash course in Spanish speaking for about two weeks at a Spanish language acquisition school in Costa Blanca. That simply means you will be again pouring money for the Spanish economy. After you’ve honed your Spanish speaking skills, later you may want to stroll around the fishing village and converse with the local fishermen. You may want to buy the freshest grouper or redfish catch from the Med and when you do that, you are again helping the Spanish economy.

As beautifully set and as relaxing they may be, beach holidays can have a tendency to be a little boring - you’ve done the walks, read the glossy magazines, read them again…What else can you do? Be inspired and try something new!

Holidays are a great opportunity to try something you wouldn’t or couldn’t at home - a new and exciting sport for example or a treat, especially for you - say a spa treatment or a massage. Unfortunately however, these sports and treats don’t appeal to all. Not everyone likes sport and even if they do, levels vary and so you may not be grouped with your friends or family. Not everyone likes spas and furthermore, they can be a little expensive for those struggling to pay their annual holiday. We would like to suggest a few things you can do all together, as a group, which would make everyone happy…

1) Walk! It shouldn’t be far (some people may get tired quicker than others) and should dfinately include a few “goals” along the way. These could be a nice place en route for lunch or some special tourist attrcations you’d love to see. As long as they are things to look forward to when the legs begin to ache, you’ll have enjoyable day!

2) (for language learners only) Go the cinema! You are taking yourself away from the tourists and integrating yourself into the Costa Blancan culture - cinema is, as it is everywhere, a very popular past time around here! The selection of films will be different from those you get at home and a night at the “flicks” will certainly relax you after a day’s sightseeing. It is also cheap and family friendly. If you don’t have the language skills to enjoy a foreign film, watch out for international film festivals coming to the area - there’s always subtitles! - or better yet, enrol yourself in a language course and make yourself capable of enjoying a whole new world of movies (after all, films are always better in their original language!)

3) Try your luck in a Casino! You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy the “Juegos de Casino” of Spain, you just have to be prepared to apply yourself and find enjoyment in the glamorous atmosphere. Before leaving for your holiday destination, you can practise in your local casino or, better still, online. It is in these internet casinos that you will be able to develop your skills and go on to impress your friends and family when you reach the real tables on holiday!