The Pleasures of Costa Living… also for Antonio Banderas
Last week we reported that Spain was ranked a commendably high 14th in the latest Expat Insider survey, which focused on people’s happiness with a variety of factors related to their country of residence and personal life abroad.
Expanding on those results… the country ranked even higher in various sub-categories, including 10th in both personal happiness and health and wellbeing. The report’s authors noted that one of the top-three reasons for expatriates moving to the country was a “better quality of life”, with potential benefits including “climate and weather”, “general living standards” and “cost of living”, as well as “ease of settling in” and “family life”.
In fact, Spain resoundingly outpaced the global average in all key factors related to expatriate living, from leisure activities and health care to finding friends and a friendly attitude towards families with friends.
Then there’s the cuisine…
The advantages of a Mediterranean diet (as we are fortunate to be able to enjoy here on the Costa del Sol) have been highlighted once again in a new study on brain imaging published in Neurology (the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology). The researchers found that over a three-year period – from the age of 73 to 76 – adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduction in the inevitable loss of brain volume that occurs with age.
The diet has also attracted eulogies on the far side of the world. Deakin University researchers in Australia concluded that a diet rich in whole-grains, legumes, fresh fruit and vegetables, olive oil and nuts could help people suffering from severe depression.
Professor Felice Jacka, director of Deakin Food and Mood Centre, said the Mediterranean diet had been credited with improving cardiovascular health, reducing the risk of diabetes and increasing longevity. "We already know that diet has a very potent impact on the biological aspects of our body that affect depression risks," she said. "The immune system, brain plasticity and gut microbiota seem to be central not just to our physical health, but also our mental health.”
Meanwhile, one person who has just got happier and happier since being born on the Costa del Sol in 1960 is Antonio Banderas. According to an article in the Sur daily newspaper, Banderas has decorated his penthouse apartment in Málaga with verses written by friend and poet Manuel Alcántara. They are well worth reading to appreciate what his home city means to the Hollywood actor.
“A la sombra de una barca / me quiero tumbar un día / echarme todo a la espalda / y soñar con la alegría”.
“In the shade of a small boat / I want to lie down one day / put everything behind me / and dream about being happy”.
Unfortunately, added Banderas (who is close to tallying up his 100th film), his intensive work schedule doesn’t currently allow him to rest a great deal.
The rest of us can, hopefully, and there are few more stunning places to do so in the heart of the Coast than this five-bedroom home in Casasola (Guadalmina Baja, Marbella), just 700 metres from the sea in a secure gated community and priced at an excellent €2,250,000.
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