Brits lucky enough to find themselves on the Costa del Sol during the coming week can enjoy the Feria de San Miguel Arcangel festival.

Gracing the streets of Torremolinos during the final week of September, the five-day festival contains a series of events and competitions which lead up to the climactic street celebration.

Honouring its patron saint San Miguel, the western Costa del Sol town hosts an array of sporting activities, from karate competitions to swimming races, over the course of the week.

But for those who prefer to sit back and soak up the atmosphere, musical events ranging from rap to rock music can be enjoyed by the thousands who line the streets for the festival.

For the week the Costa del Sol resort becomes the city that never sleeps, with the daytime town centre events leading into night-time festivities at the fairground.

The highlight, however, may be the insight into traditional Spanish life given by a procession of pilgrims on horseback, where decorated floats are pulled along to the patron saint’s chapel in picturesque hillside area Los Pinares.

Other towns in the region also enjoy vibrant San Miguel festivals, but the Torremolinos event offers particular charms for locals and tourists in the town

Leading budget airline Ryanair has announced further flights to run between Britain and Spain.

Coming against ever-increasing demand from holidaymakers and UK ex-pats heading for the sun-swept peninsula, Ryanair announced an extension to flight schedules to and from the country, with particular emphasis on Valencia.

The Mediterranean city is already served from London, East Midlands and Liverpool airports, with Ryanair passengers arriving in Valencia lucky to find the airport only seven kilometres from the beautiful city centre.

Valencia provides pleasurable holidays and the promise of a new life for many British property seekers, with the Costa Valenciana lying in a sunny south-eastern location and offering both vibrant street festivals and great beach days.

Competition for Spanish flights has been upped by Ryanair’s proposed extensions, with other airlines also jostling to provide great UK to Spain flight deals, leaving many routes available at increasingly competitive prices.

Experts from the Airport Operators Association (AOA) have claimed that regional airports and low cost airlines have together provided a great recipe for frequent travel.

Civil Aviation Authority figures showed that travel from regional airports has grown to nearly 100 million in 2006, a 42 per cent rise on the previous year.

Meanwhile travellers from London airports continued to expand in number, but with an increase of only three per cent over the same period.

Chris Goater, head of media and public affairs at the AOA, claimed that "regional airports have grown faster in proportion to traditional big airports, which traditionally were Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester".

Mr Goater highlighted the attraction of the growing regional airports to low cost airlines, which he claimed "want to run off smaller airports and try to use the advantages of doing that. The two have gone hand in hand…the airports have grown with the low cost airlines".

With the boom in UK regional airports and in low cost air travel, easily reachable and ever-popular destinations like Spain have benefited greatly.

Airlines like Monarch and Jet2 have expanded their Spanish focus to fly out from a variety of airlines in the north of England, while well-established low-cost leaders Easyjet and Ryanair continue to run multiple routes between Britain and Spain.

Benidorm, the famous Costa Valenciana resort, is set to be given a boost when spotlighted by a BBC holiday program.

The venue is already well-known to many British holidaymakers but budding UK travellers and property-seekers in Spain will be given further insights into why the area is so appealing.

While largely famed for its sun-baked beaches and popularity with UK tourists, the Benidorm episode of popular BBC holiday show Wish You Were Here will focus on the more refined and unexplored areas of the coastal resort.

TV comedian Ricky Tomlinson will be hosting the show, taking audiences down alley-ways and into less-known corners to explore top restaurants, interesting nights out and historical attractions that may attract those seeking a holiday off the beaten track.

Royle Family star Tomlinson is a natural choice for the role, owning a house in the area and declaring a love for Benidorm and the Costa Valenciana.

So travellers thinking they have seen and done Benidorm may be in for a surprise when the BBC show hits screens, with many likely to fall in love with the area in the same way as its host has.

Newspaper the Daily Telegraph has identified Spain as the unrivalled first-choice for UK travellers or home-seekers abroad, with most making a ‘lifestyle’ choice by opting for the country.

Claiming that summer travel to Spain equates to one British traveller for every second of every day, the Telegraph’s ‘Find a Second home in Spain – quickly’ advice showed that 30 per cent of UK holiday homes were in Iberia.

Reasons highlighted for the choice were on one hand to do with the lifestyle – beach appeal hitting hard after the rainy UK summer – and on the other related to the continued regeneration of attractive coastline resorts.

Carrying out a region-by-region analysis, the Costa del Sol was given a positive review, with improvements to the area occurring as "Marbella’s new mayor restores its reputation and cleans up the planning process".

Also rating highly was the Costa del Azahar region on the east coast of Spain, with the appeal of the zone identified in its retention of traditional village life.

The quiet but developing region is claimed to be home to only 1,000 Britons to date, making it a great location for those wishing to enjoy the Spanish sun and alongside it an unspoilt, traditional way of life.

More Brits are moving to Spain than ever before, according to increased demand at removals company Cotswold Carriers.

Homesworldwide.co.uk said that the removal company had registered a continued rise in customers looking to ship possessions over for a new life in Spain.

Also noted was the relative lack of possessions taken, with British investors in Spain preferring to take only a few familiar items, ready to start mostly afresh.

Having started removals to Spain in 1984, the market for Iberian relocation has grown dramatically for the company, outstripping services demanded for other European locations.

Bill Cooper, managing director of Cotswold Carriers, was reported to say: "I think the attraction for Spain is the sunny climate and the easy way of life; for the younger family person there is work available and the chance to start a new life."

Wisened from years of experience, Mr Cooper offered advice on making the move to Spain an even better one: "Having some favourite furniture or ornaments with you can stop you from feeling so far from home and help to ease the transition to your new life."

Spanish cuisine is set to whet the appetites of yet more travellers as Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow tours the country with cook Mario Balati for a new cookery programme on American network PBS.

Paltrow will be opening up the delicacies of Spanish cuisine to audiences in the US and the UK, but the vegetarian actress will have to miss out on tasting the famed jamon iberico for herself.

The salty cured ham, made from the black Iberian pig with its unique acorn-based diet, is something Paltrow is disappointed she will miss, but the Oscar-winner is lucky that Spanish cuisine holds a diverse range of charms.

Touring around the country in search of great regional dishes, she and Mario Balati will be able to taste the fresh fish, fruit and vegetables at the heart of many Iberian dishes, with the star’s strict diet taking only eggs, dairy, caffeine and meat other than fish out of her reach.

Audiences will be granted new insights into Spanish cookery by the show, which plans to uncover a range of unknown local delicacies, looking to inform potential visitors of the wealth of must-try dishes beyond the more well-known Tapas and Paella.

With or without jamon iberico, Paltrow will not be the first celebrity to fall in love with Spanish cuisine, after famous names like Stella McCartney, Sadie Frost and Kate Moss have frequented the Trasierra restaurant-lodge in Sierra Morena, founded by Londoner Charlotte Scott.

Spain is one of many countries enjoying ever-increasing accessibility thanks to cheap flights, but family travel is claimed to have been given the biggest boost.

Holiday break organiser Takethefamily.com said that the expansion of cheap flights has made European travel much more family-friendly, with parents no longer needing to pack the kids into the car in order to save money.

Not only have prices improved the family outlook, but the expansion of flight schedules from regional airports has also made it easier to get from home to the flight, without needing to drag children through London or elsewhere.

A spokesperson for Takethefamily.com said that cheap flights had "opened up many of the local airports, which is far more attractive to families.

"Shorter transfer times, both at home and at your destination, are most certainly preferred where young children are concerned."

Destinations like Spain are made easily accessible by frequent and reasonably-priced flights from multiple UK locations, making things simpler for families either taking an Iberian holiday or investing in a new home in the country.

Monarch airlines flies to an array of Spanish destinations from UK airports in Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester and London, while Jet 2 takes off for the Iberian peninsula from Edinburgh, Leeds-Bradford, Blackpool and Belfast, making Spain easier than ever for UK travellers and investors.

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