Breathtaking sea views: Villa in small gated community with pool. Quiet area.

About Shona

Hi, I'm Sheila, and with my husband, owner of La Rijana in Almunecar. We have 3 ‘children’, the eldest two work in finance in London and the youngest in data analysis in Amsterdam.

Why Shona chose Velilla-Taramay

We first bought a villa in Spain about 20 years ago; we had lived in Peru and so spoke an amount of Spanish, and were looking for a holiday home in the sun, just a short flight from the UK, in a Spanish speaking area, where we could take our 3 young children. The southern coast of Spain was the obvious answer – it’s not called the ‘Costa del Sol’ for nothing! However we didn't want to be involved in the British invasion along the coast west of Malaga. We soon decided on a villa just outside the village of Canillas de Aceituno, 50 minutes east of Malaga. It was perfect: in a beautiful setting; with its own pool and far enough away from neighbours not to have to worry about the noise the children made as they played in the pool all day long. We could also ramble over the hillsides, through orange groves and vineyards, visit the local farm and trek to nearby streams for a dip. The traditional whitewashed village of Canillas, just 2 minutes away, was full of charm and character, and the people there very friendly. Not only that, but the coast was just half an hour away, so we could still go down to the sea, water park, horse riding, go-carting etc and had lots of shops, supermarkets and restaurants available should we need them. We called the villa ‘Bajo La Maroma’ (beneath Maroma) as it sits beneath Mount Maroma, the highest in that part of Spain. I’m happy to say, that we still own the villa and it too is available for holidaymakers when we and the family can’t use it. (See property 703736 on this site.) However, as the children grew into teenagers, we realised that they’d soon be wanting a busier environment: the buzz of the coast with shops, bars, music and restaurants beckoned.

What makes this House unique

We looked around and found a new development of 14 houses in an amazing location overlooking the ocean, at Almunecar on the Costa Tropical, just an hour away. We found that the town was very Spanish and popular with locals from Granada and the surrounding areas. Again we were trying to experience the real Spain and not the British version of it. The house we chose had been designed by one of the architects and was perfect: amazingly, despite being just 2 minutes out of town, it was fabulously tranquil and had incredible mountain as well as sea views – we felt therefore that we had the best of both worlds. It was also exciting to be so close to Granada, the last city of the Moors, full of Moorish influence, and particularly well known for the Alhambra Palace. Not only that, but the ski slopes of the Sierra Nevada were easily reached, making it possible for Dad and the boys to go off skiing for the day leaving Mum and young daughter to relax and soak up the coastal sun. We feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to live, if only temporarily, in Andalucia and we invite you to share that experience by spending some time at either Bajo La Maroma, in the hills, or La Rijana, on the coast.