Several measures are being introduced to improve the safety of the roads in Alicante province, it has emerged.

Newspaper La Verdad reported that 23 new fixed radar speed monitoring cameras will be installed across the region by the end of 2008, increasing current numbers by a third.

In addition, a new traffic office is set to open in the city of Elche later in the year, which will absorb about 40 per cent of the workload from the office in nearby Alicante and improve conditions for motorists in the area, Typically Spanish reports.

The new office will serve the Costa Blanca cities of Elche, Torrevieja and Orihuela.

Francisco Garcia-Caro, provincial chief of the Central Traffic Authority, recently said that the number of road accidents caused by alcohol in Alicante province has decreased in the last 12 months.

Recent statistics state that luxury car sales increased by 16 per cent in the Costa del Sol province of Malaga during 2007, southern Spanish newspaper Sur has reported.

The Costa Blanca could soon be awash with northern Europeans popping over for a blast of winter sun, as the Alicante area was reported to have landed a winter heat-wave.

While British weather has kept to type, Spanish information site ThinkSpain.com claimed that the south eastern tip of the Iberian peninsula – typically one of the hottest – hit a high of 20 degrees C at the weekend.

Flying over to Alicante to enjoy the unexpected sunshine on local beaches is easier than ever for Brits, with low cost airlines providing direct flights from many UK cities – and plenty of ex-pats only using the flights in order to travel home occasionally.

The heat-wave is forecast to continue into next week, claimed ThinkSpain.com, meaning that those lucky enough to live in the Costa Blanca area or to be planning a Christmas break there could be making an unexpected trip to the beach.

The site claimed that beaches in Benidorm and elsewhere have been filled with hopeful sunbathers – many likely to have been British – and even some who decided on a risky winter dip in the sea.

Hotel occupancy rates on the Costa Blanca remain high well outside of peak summer holiday periods, while foreign property purchase in the region is growing ever more popular.