Before we started researching areas, as possible places to buy a property and relocate to, I don’t think we’d heard of Medina Sidonia before. However, the name resonated with us, creating visions of Moroccan medinas. Deep in the south west of Andalucia, the town is one of the region’s many pueblos blancos, where you can step back in time and immerse yourself in its history. Its Roman, Moorish and medieval heritage is palpable – walking the whitewashed and cobbled streets, the buildings transport you back to another world. It is thought to be one of the oldest cities in Europe, and certainly, its historical monuments, ancient walls and arches, its castle, and Roman remains such as sewers or the Roman road suggest a city which has survived the ages. Arab influence is strong, with narrow, cobbled streets, whitewashed houses, and picturesque squares, lined with orange trees. I’m not sure if we ever imagined ourselves so far south in Andalucia, in an area we didn’t know at all, but sometimes decisions are made for you…

(Map : Google Maps)

The first house we viewed when we arrived in Andalucia was in Medina Sidonia. It was pretty high up on our list and we booked ourselves into this hotel for a couple of nights to acquaint ourselves with the town. First impressions were great – high up on a hill, with views all the way down to the coast at Chiclana de la Frontera. It was a hot August morning when we arrived, and the white town, clinging to the hillside, did look incredibly pretty. First impressions of the house were also great – renovated to our taste and with commanding views across the countryside, as it was quite high up in the town. However, when we really drilled down into, for a variety of reasons, we decided not to pursue this house – land either side of it led us to think that one day, we could be living in quite a hemmed in location if properties were built to the side. It was just a little too far out of town, once we’d got our bearings. And although it was beautifully renovated, we realised that it was perhaps smaller than we wanted. So, a house down, but our first impressions of Medina Sidonia grew.

What we loved about Medina Sidonia, were the contrasting architectural style. The honey coloured city walls, with steps going up the side into the oldest part of the town, were just beautiful, especially in the late afternoon sunlight. Very Moorish/Arabic with their turrets and arches. And then the beautiful white washed houses, with their traditional black wrought ironwork at the windows and balconies, and big heavy doors. One house in particular had really caught our eye on the estate agent’s website, but we knew that this was a pipe dream, rather than anything realistic. It was huge, situated right on the corner of the magnificent Plaza de Espana, with orange trees right outside the front door, and ripe for an amazing renovation. But, it was just too big a dream and would have taken far more money than we had to turn it into a home,

However, we were very taken with the town, and some weeks later, we’d found ourselves an apartment where we based ourselves for just over a month. This enabled us to get to know Medina – and the surrounding countryside and coastline – a whole lot better. And, to realise that as beautiful it is, the town wasn’t quite right for us to make the big move to, and call it home. We felt that, after experiencing it, it was a little more isolated than we wanted and we knew that come summer time, it would be completely overrun with tourists. Unsurprisingly, because it is beautiful, and we had after all, visited as tourists ourselves, but we knew that such a seasonal influx of people would ultimately do our heads in. So, we enjoyed our time there as very temporary residents, glad to have made a decision.

But it is a pueblo blanco that has made a big impression on us. It will always make think of hot weather – we were there in October and it was still so, so warm. The orange trees were full of fruit, the sky was blue for most of the time we were there, and because we were high up, we saw some of the most beautiful sunsets. It was great to have a base after a couple of months on the road, and we feel really privileged that we were able to experience this lovely town on a bit of a more permanent basis.