VILLAJOYOSA

Ancient Villajoyosa, 'the jeweled town', with its Roman and Moorish origins, started modern life as a fishing village, protected by encircling walls and huddled round its massive and beautiful Gothic church. The old quarter, with its brightly colored houses in blue and green and ochre, is still the heart of what has become a popular holiday town, with a long sandy beach and everything for the modern visitor, including the ethnographic museum and the Costa Blanca's main casino. Villajoyosa is at its most exuberant in July, when the week-long Moros y Cristianos festival takes place, one of the regions most rumbustious. Splendidly costumed as Moors, Christians, pirates and slave girls, locals re-enact key events, including the sacking of the town's castle by the dastardly pirate Zala Arraez in 1538.