La Muralla Roja | Travel Wishlist

I love the feeling of a clean slate that the New Year brings. A chance to take stock, see where the past year has washed you up, and set a new course for the year ahead.

And, pf course, January is the perfect time of year to start creating a wishlist of destinations to visit (or dream about visiting!) in the next twelve months.

Firmly on 2017’s travel wishlist is this amazing architetural gem, La Muralla Roja – literally translated as The Red Wall in Spanish – perched high on the rocky coastline of Alicante in southeastern spain.

A bit of a hidden gem – in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be on many a tourist agenda, rather than because of its subtlety! – La Muralla Roja juts upwards from the craggy shore of Calpe, a small coastal town dominated by the rocky outcrop of mini-Gibraltar look-a-like Peñón de Ifach.

Designed in 1973 by Barcelona born architect Ricardo Bofill, the building is an ambitious housing project with 50+ apartments contained within the bastille-like outer walls, all painted in various shades of red to contrast with the surrounding landscape.

An imposing fortress softened by pyschedilic pastel coloured walls, Bofill’s constructivist design was influenced by Moorish fortifications and traditional Kasbah design, with high, solid built walls, and small windows protecting the inner sanctuary of the citadel-like interior.

Inside is a Seventies dream of labryinthine, Escher-style staircases, connecting walkways, patio areas, and a communal pool, all painted in soft pinks, indigo, violet and sky blue. The colourful interior is designed in turn to contrast with, or merge into, the sky and ocean.

Each step within the building unveils a new vista of kaleidoscopic colour and geometric angles – heightened by the harsh linear shadows cast by the blazing Mediterranean sun and interspersed with dazzling glimpses of the sparkling sea below.

Definitely a dreamy minimalist idyll perfect for shrugging off any vestiges of winter gloom!

Images courtesy of ricardobofill.com.

What dream destinations are on your wishlist this year? I’d love to hear about the secret finds you’re longing to jet away to in the comments below!