HAVE you seen the movie The Holiday? It was all about a holiday swap during Christmas season between one woman in LA and another one in Hereford. The holiday swap plot in that movie is so simple yet it actually has its non-fiction equivalents and they really exist online. Actually, holiday swaps have already been common long before the birth of the World Wide Web in 1995 but they are more popular today thanks to the Internet. In fact, holiday swaps are commonly offered in such big online travel agencies as Expedia or Travelocity.

Here in Torremolinos in particular, most of those who adhere to holiday exchanges or swaps are divided into groups – the retired expat community of England and the gays from Northern Europe. Let’s say that you are a firefighter from London who has just retired and you intend to go to Torremolinos on a holiday swap. The guy from Torremolinos need not have a visa to come here in London because even though there is a channel that separates Britain from the rest of the European mainland, Torremolinos in Spain still belongs to Europe. One gay coming from Berlin may want to stay in Torremolinos because there are lots of gay and nudist resorts there. It is in this regard that a new Eurostar route straight from Berlin to Torremolinos. That’s really amazing.

For foreigners who are visiting Torremolinos, let’s talk about where you can stay once you have arrived here. The rent for vacation homes here usually runs to about 700 Euros a month. It is already complete with all amenities such as its own cable television with LCD monitor, HD DVD player with subwoofer, high speed wireless Internet connection, its own heater and the good old-fashioned fireplace, its own air conditioning unit, its own alarm system connected to an alarm company of course, and its own swimming pool complete with a barbecue grill. Of course, there are even a few vacation villas here complete with a panic room and then there are others which are so-called disabled-friendly.

Once you have chosen the vacation villa to stay, it is now time to sit back, relax and enjoy the food here in Torremolinos. Of course, a typical Torremolinos diet strictly adheres to seafood because Torremolinos is located in the Mediterranean. If you want to stroll around the fishing pier, you can catch the freshest catch and that is delicious. You can then haul off your prize and go back to your vacation home and grill it with olive oil. Aside from having that delicious taste and yummy aroma, olive oil is the healthiest cooking oil in the world because of its low fat content.

Also in Torremolinos, it definitely is good news for the construction industry despite the current mortgage crisis in the United States. There was an increase of 35.5 percent in construction of various structures and real estate developments in 2007 as compared to 2006.