BEING such a wonderful country to have a vacation and living in, Spain is such an ideal place to stay in spring. Spring is the time when all floras – be they shrubs, plants or huge trees – bloom and produce varied colors of flowers. There are lots of fauna species unique to Spain alone and staying here even for just a month is a sure haven for botanists. And not only that, each place in Spain has its own unique fauna. For example, the fauna in the Garabandal mountain range and Granada are different from those found in the Pyrenees. The climate is the determining factor actually. Even if they are all located high above sea levels, the Garabandals and Granada are relatively drier areas as compared to the Pyrenees which snow almost all year round. Overseas in the Spanish territory of Tenerife off the coast of the Horn of Africa, there are also several unique flora species found in the dormant volcano Mt. Teide which look so adorable during springtime. It is also this same reason that Spain has the most number of flora species in the whole Iberian Peninsula and in the rest of the European mainland. One good example is the 200 kilometers of Mediterranean coastline which enjoys a very temperate climate all year round even in the middle of winter. There are a total of 8,000 plant species here in Spain, including the ones inhabiting the Balearic and Canary archipelagoes which comprise, among others, the hot tourist destinations Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Some of the more popular species here where tourists and expats can easily see are poplar, beech, elm, chestnut, oak, juniper, pine and evergreens. There are also unique fauna species found here in Spain such as wild dogs and birds which share the same name, canaries.

In the economic arena, Spain fashions its own after the one in the United Kingdom. Like the United Kingdom, it has its own lifetime mortgage. So if you are coming from New York and you have just retired from the service, it’s high time to jump to this opportunity. Imagine living in the United States for 62 years. You must be craving for someplace else to be living in retirement. Spain can offer you that. So come aboard here in Spain during spring and you will never find any dull second in here. People are conversational; they know and can speak fluent English. About the lifetime mortgage thing, there are lots of financial institutions here which offer that kind of scheme because it is one method to lure in expats such as Americans in coming here. It’s actually called reverse mortgage in the United States. Here they call it lifetime mortgage because they want the buyers of this loan to enjoy the rest of their lives living in Spain hassle-free. In a lifetime mortgage scheme, you don’t have to pay anything. All the dues will be paid only after you pass away. Now that’s something to look forward to, isn’t it?

SPAIN is one of the hottest destinations in Europe today whether it be spring, summer or winter. Even during Valentines Day, Spain can still be a tempting place to stay for lovers young and old alike – from couples who are still trying to discern whether they click or not to those who are already in their engagement stage to newlyweds with no children yet and to those who are tagging toddlers along to couples who have just retired at 40 and to those geriatric grandfathers and grandmothers. The demographic of lovers who are touring Spain this Thursday is really wide and this can have a remarkable effect on the tourism economy of the country.

Tour around Spain and there are lots of good spots available for couples. If you are a couple who has just started a new life at 40 after a backbreaking job of 20 years in New York, then retire here in Spain and what a great way to start a new life then settling down in the country starting on Valentine’s Day. If you plan to stay in Madrid and settle down in a condo unit, then you may want to enroll in a Spanish course for three semesters. Anyway, you can already have a dedicated time for that since you both are already retired from work. There are three stages of a typical Spanish language course – basic, intermediate and advanced. In the basic course, you are instructed to write an essay in Spanish and recite it in front. The length of the essay progresses as the course wears on. Once you have graduated from the advanced course already, you are already eligible to teach Spanish back in your home city of New York.

For those couples at 40 who still want to live a more active life in the literal sense, then how about taking some flamenco dancing lessons in Barcelona for the women and take a shot at bull riding for the men. On the other hand, if the two of you are art enthusiasts, you may want to go to Salamanca. Aside from being considered as the most Americanized city in Spain, Salamanca also houses a wide array of galleries of the most beautiful paintings done by the Spaniards from the past to the contemporary ones. Salamanca has even been the production set of a Hollywood movie in 2007, Vantage Point.

If both of you are already turning 66 and all of your children have their respective families back home in the United States, then settling down in Garabandal is definitely an option to start on Valentines Day. Garabandal is a very picturesque and windy place with nothing to see but rolling hills. It can be colder here during winter though but not as cold as it is in the Pyrenees. Besides, Garabandal is a holy site for the Roman Catholics because one of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary took place here. So be here and get to know some foreigners around the world who are all religious.