For decades Spain has attracted big names from the world of literature, music, cinema, politics and sport. They have sought sun and seclusion. Success in showbiz or the arts has led many an author, musician, actor or footballer to buy a home in Spain. Many fell in love with the country and never returned to the UK.
For others it provides a hideaway. A peaceful setting from which to get inspiration for the next record or book. A pool to sit by where you can read your lines for the next part in a Hollywood blockbuster.
When so called ‘A listers’ move to Spain they hope it will go unnoticed by the press and the glossy magazines. But it never does.
However, there are many people in the public eye who do manage to live some of the year in Spain and be largely anonymous.
Canary Islands
Now that is difficult when you are a big fella. My friend of many years, musician Rick Wakeman, cannot help be noticed anywhere. A man who is even more famous outside of the UK than he is in it; Rick has fans all over the world. And if you bump into Rick, you’ll know about it. He stands out in a crowd.
Today he escapes to his Canary Island bolthole. Tenerife to be precise. An ideal winter holiday location with warm weather all year long.
He says: “If i get a musical block, I try to get to my place in Tenerife and, pretty soon, my creative juices begin to flow again.”
Tenerife runs in the family with Rick. He says: “My parents came here regularly in the 1970′s and loved the place. I first came here in the 80′s to play in a golf tournament. I liked what I saw and vowed to return. Tenerife has everything I want. Great weather, food and golf. It is such a diverse place.”
The man who is so often credited with bringing progressive rock to a mainstream audience in the 1970′s, bought a pad in Tenerife in the 90′s. The four bedroom town house is on a complex just a minutes walk from the seafront.
Rick says: “I turned one of the bedrooms into a music room. Just the one keyboard in there and lots and lots of manuscript paper.”
Rick Wakeman
Of course Tenerife does attract tourists by the thousand so Rick gets recognised plenty.
It is inevitable, therefore, that a walk around Tenerife can turn into a succession of autographs and reminiscing about the days when the band ‘Yes’, of which Rick was a formative member, were the band when it came to progressive rock.
Rick says: “I’m always bumping into fans, which is nice. They are smashing people who love their music. I get to Tenerife for about ten weeks of the year but I want to be there more often.
“I play golf, I go for a lunch up in the hills on a Sunday; there’s no shortage of things to do to relax. I like a good night out in Tenerife. I go to eat at Molino Blanco in San Eugenio.
“Don’t laugh, but I have been to the Medieval night in San Miguel 42 times.”
Well, he did write the musical masterpiece ‘The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.’
Palma, Majorca
Suzi Quatro is certainly a rocker. I well recall being a teenager and drooling as she performed on TV in her tight fitting leather outfit.
She too gets away from it all to Spain and, like Rick, favours an island retreat. In her case it is the perennially popular holiday hotspot of Majorca. She has had a home there for around twenty years. But she hasn’t opted for a massive sprawling villa.
She says: “It is a small place for two people. We have big homes in England and Germany so a small place here is perfect. We get to relax, take in the sun, go to the restaurants and, of course, shop. I like to go to Palmaor Portals Nous for that.”
The designer shops of Puerto Portals attract all the stars. Many of whom arrive on their yachts just to shop at the beautiful harbour.
Rock Chic, Suzi Quatro
Suzi has spent decades touring Europe and beyond. It is a gruelling schedule, so when she gets to Majorca, all Suzi wants to do is relax
She confirms: “It is a place for us to unwind. My children have been coming here since they were young and we have come to feel very at home here. Majorca is very pretty and safe. I like to swim, sunbathe and read.
“My ideal day here is to get up early, go for a jog around 7am. Then off to the port to buy my English newspaper and have my coffee while doing the crossword. Then i will go to the grocer and pick up a few things.
“I sunbathe in the afternoon while playing Yahtzee and then have a swim. In the evening we go for a nice meal and have a couple of glasses of wine. Watch a movie and then bed.”
She has played concerts all over Spain, including in bull rings, and loves Barcelona. But Majorca feels like home, at least for some of the year.
She says: “For me Majorca means an escape. Peace and quiet. The best thing is that Majorca is so easy to get to, so no jet lag. I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.”
Palafrugell, Costa Brava
I have met numerous writers who go to Spain to write their next bestseller. One of my favourite authors loves Spain so much he has lived in the country for more than twenty years.
Llfranc and Palafrugell are beautiful locations on the Costa Brava, near the charming town of Begur.
Here we are in the area made famous by Salvador Dali. The flamboyant surreal artist had homes on the Costa Brava and even organised the burial of his own body under the entrance of a museum dedicated to him at Figures.
If you are in my age group the chances are that you have read the novels of Tom Sharpe.
Books such as The Throwback, Porterhouse Blue, Blott on the Landscape and the Wilt series of books live long in the memory. Many of his books are loud, often vulgar and so funny they make your ribs ache.
Born in 1928 he puts his longevity down to having nothing to do with hospitals or doctors in the UK. He points to American research that says that Spain has the best health care in Europe. Despite spending much of his life chomping on big cigars and drinking gin, Tom Sharpe has outlived many of his contemporaries.
A bay near Begur
He has an alternative view of life in Spain. He has said: “I don’t want to learn the language. I don’t want to understand what they are talking about on the bus, or know how much meat costs. Do you? I have learnt that the language of the body can get you through.”
I am surprised that Sharpe’s satirical and cutting humour appeals to the Spanish. Indeed his books sell in vast quantities in the country. It surprises me because the Spanish love slapstick humour.
When Rowan Atkinson bought a house near me in Spain he thought he’d be getting away from the attention of fans. Then the Mr. Bean loving Spanish electorate went and elected a character double as their Prime Minister. The real ‘Mr.Bean’ had to move on!
Tom Sharpe says: “Had i stayed in England I would be dead by now.”
He bought his seven bedroom villa, overlooking the bay at Llfranc, in 1995. He says: “I paid a little under 300.000 Euros for the place, furniture included. I call myself the porter as, for much of the year, this house is the only one that always has the lights on.”
He spends most of the year in Spain, apart from his wife, who prefers to live in Cambridge. But he doesn’t mind the solitude. In my experience, that is what most authors want when trying to write their latest tome.
Understandably at his age he doesn’t get around as freely as he used to, but he still tries to get out for his daily intake of restorative gin. It is odd that, although countless millions of people in the UK have read his books (or seen the films based on them); Tom Sharpe would not be recognised there.
In Catalonia he is constantly recognised and asked for autographs and to pose for pictures. The Spanish love the man and his books.
There are many places to rent for holidaymakers along this idyllic stretch of coastline in Catalonia.
Girona
Not a million miles away from Tom lives a man who only gets recognised by Brits. And then chiefly only by those who read The Times.
Political journalist, and former MP, Matthew Parris wrote a book about how he came to purchase a castle like home in Catalonia. His family knew the area well going back many years and Matthew has loved the countryside of Catalonia since he was a young man.
The ever affable Matthew bought the Masia, which has gothic features, in 1997 in conjunction with members of his family. The property dates back to 1559. When Matthew found it was up for sale, it had not been lived in for around forty years.
He says: “When we opened the door we found dereliction The wooden floors were rotten. It was a shambles.”
The Spanish home of Matthew Parris
His father told him that it would prove to be “un pozo sin fondo” (a bottomless pit). But Matthew didn’t let that stop him. He got on with restoring the property to its former glory and that tale is told in his entertaining book, ‘A Castle in Spain.’
Even if Matthew had, like Tom Sharpe, a Spanish fan club; they would never find his country pile. It is far removed from the beautiful Costa Brava, which remains an ideal holiday destination.
Matthew’s home is located in the green and mountainous region in the north west of Catalonia. The Pyrenees are not far away.
Matthew is there often and flies to the grand and wealthy city of Girona in order to cut down on the drive to his beloved home. Girona has a population with the highest average income in Spain. It’s a marvellous city to have close by, as Matthew knows only too well.
He says: “If people ventured away from the Costa Brava beaches they would be amazed at what they would find. For me, simply staying here was always my dream.”
Lecrin Valley
For my part, I live in the pretty Lecrín Valley, south of Granada.
It has attracted some well known figures over the years. A short walk from me, people such as the comedian and author Alexei Sayle and the actor Peter Capaldi (“The Thick of It”), have their own places to which they escape the pressures of work.
I am not surprised that Spain attracts so many stars.
But the only ones I enjoy spending hours looking at are those I see when sat late at night on my roof terrace. Stars that shine so bright and often shoot across the dark sky.
They are the biggest stars in Spain.
Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyboohh/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetbays/ and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nick_ayres/
