Welcome to Murcia:
Geography:
Murcia is located in the south eastern corner of Spain covering 11,000 sq km has 45 municipalities with one million inhabitants located between the Valencian region to the north and Andalucian region to the west on the Mediterranean sea and has a saltwater lagoon called the Mar Menor with excellent beaches.
Climate:
The climate is dry and hot in Summer and mild in winter with temperatures varying from 11 degrees in winter to 40 degrees in summer with an average of 18 degrees and Murcia has 320 days per year of sunshine, the most in Spain.
Language:
The standard language is Castellon Spanish as taught in UK schools but English is spoken widely in the region.
Getting there:
The region is serviced well with two international airports based at Corvera near to Murcia city and Alicante which is a one hour drive.
Getting around :
The region of Murcia has an excellent network of motorways and main roads linking all the major town and cities and relatively cheap car hire and the highspeed rail links have improved dramatically in recent years and there is a superb bus service to almost everywhere in Spain and taxi’s are readily available.
Standard of living:
The cost of living in Murcia is now comparable to that of the UK in many respects but eating out and fresh food are still exceptionally good value in Murcia.
Golf Courses:
The region of Murcia is blessed with a selection of 16 superb courses suitable for all standards of golfer designed by many of the world’s best golf course designers such as Jack Nicklaus, Dean Putman, Dave Thomas , Seve Ballesteros and Manuel Pinero to name a few and offer a variety of golfing experiences such as the typical resort style with lakes, large bunkers and undulating greens to those based on more of a desert style with rocks and waste areas.
The oldest courses in the region are the North, South and West courses on the La Manga Resort under the shadow of the superb 5* Hotel Principe Felipe and host to numerous celebrity and professional golf tournaments for many years.
The well documented Jack Nicklaus trail of golf courses including El Valle, Hacienda Riquelme, La Torre and Saurines de La Torre are located close to the RM-19 Autovia de la Mar Menor motorway and offer a mixture of resort and desert style golf.
Situated close to the Mar Menor beaches are the superb courses of Roda, which is one of the best manicured courses in Murcia and located close to the Hotel 525 which offers play and stay packages and La Serena which boasts 16 holes with water and just inland the resort style course at Mar Menor located next to the 5* Hotel Caleia.
Further to the south of the region are the courses of Lorca, Hacienda del Alamo and Alhama which is the Jack Nicklaus signature course and located on the outskirts of Murcia city is the beautiful Altorreal golf course which offers in many ways an English style golf experience.
Hotels and Accommodation:
Murcia is not only a tourist destination but a residential area for many other nationalities that have made this region their home so there are an abundance of apartments and villa’s available for rent in addition to the excellent 4* & 5* hotels such as the Hotel Felipe Principe, Hotel Caleia, Hotel Double Tree Hilton, Hotel 525 and Hotel Puerto Juan Montiel located close to the golf courses in the area and offering golf packages on a stay and play basis.
On a similar theme the Residences at Mar Menor and the Roda Golf Apartments offer apartment style accommodation for those with a slightly smaller budget or those that prefer a more relaxed style holiday and again offer stay and play packages.
Things to do for non-golfers or on rest days:
For the non-golfers in your group or for your rest days away from the golf course in Murcia and Cartagena the region has cities of great historical significance but also well served by commercial shopping centres such as Thader, Nueva Condomina, Dos Mares and Espacio Mediterraneo and the beaches on the Mediterranean Sea and Mar Menor are second to none while inland are national parks and mountains where you can find wild boar.
Bookings and Reservations:
Michael Probert of Costa Blanca Green Fee Services has lived and worked in this region of Spain since 2004 and is the author of a published book called ‘Golfing Guide to Murcia’ and runs a successful golf agency business and can cater for all your golfing needs here in Murcia and enquiries and bookings can be made by visiting the web-site at www.costa-blanca-greenfees.com or e-mail to info@costa-blanca-greenfees.com or by telephone on (00 34) 966704752 or (00 34) 661345931.
