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With a job (covering cricket) that follows the sun, I have spent the past 20 years inadvertently searching for the best beach in the world. Somewhere that had everything. A pretty cove that had reliable weather and iridescent, safe, crystal-clear sea and powdery sand, which had some shade but was not overlooked by apartment blocks or overrun by hawkers, or lads on jet skis, or people in general, where you could sidle barefoot into a simple, airy caf selling interesting food and local wine and later stroll along the beach to the headland to watch the sun go down.

I have tried all the obvious places: France (too crowded), Italy (too expensive), South Africa (too many sharks), Australia (too many Australians), Greece, the Caribbean, Portugal (all boring food), mainland Spain (too man-made), New Zealand (iffy weather), Thailand (too touristy), Sri Lanka (too hot), Cornwall (too cold.) I could go on. And then a blissfully easy drive from Ibiza airport, I found it. Within five minutes of leaving the airport you are driving alongside low, bush-clad hills and glinting salt lakes with few other cars, and within 10 minutes you are parking under conveniently located wooden awnings and emerging through tall trees on to a beautiful curving swathe of sand lapped by calm blue water. This is Playa des Salinas.

It was quiet at 10am. The sun loungers with little parasols were mostly unoccupied (the day doesn't really kick into life in Ibiza until midday at the earliest), there were a few kids paddling with their dads and several couples stretched out, but otherwise the place felt private and a bit of a discovery. The air was already warm, a gentle breeze with a hint of citrus wafted across the beach. It had a very laidback atmosphere. A casually dressed waiter from the nearby chiringuito sidled between the sunbathers offering coffee and snacks but without heavy persuasion. There was no one pestering you to buy anything.

The beach sloped gently into beautifully warm, clean water; within 20 metres it was waist deep. A bit further out the view across the bay and round the low, rocky headland was idyllic. At the back of the beach, merging with the trees, is an open-sided restaurant of timber construction: the Jockey Club. I have never eaten such delicious food in an informal beach environment before.

We had chillied calamari and an amazing tuna and mango salad which was incredibly fresh and zingy and washed down with sangria. I have been back twice since and the food is always light and truly scrumptious - just what you want during a shady break from the beach. The restaurant is also a superb spot for people watching as the younger contingent gradually materialises after a heady night to be revitalised by some low-level, cool beats from the resident DJ.

Even when it is quite crowded, the Playa des Salinas has a relaxed vibe. You will not see or hear a car, jet ski or tattooed Aston Villa supporter. Just kindred spirits drinking in the warm air and gazing out at the glistening sea. It's a happy place.

OK, a word of warning. The music, unobtrusive at lunchtime, does increase in volume as the afternoon wears on though it's never overpowering. It gets busy about threeish, so it might be the moment to stroll beyond the beach across rocky outcrops, through trees and past little coves of frolicking families, round the headland to El Cavallet, a longer beach backed by dunes with very calm water and a divine open-plan restaurant with white leather sofas, incredibly delicious salads and great cocktails. Although it is regarded as Ibiza's gay beach, it doesn't feel like it. Anything goes.

We stayed at the Hostal Salinas, five minutes' walk from Salinas beach. There are many smart hotels on the island, ranging from luxurious spas to rustic converted fincas, but most are pricey, and none is quite so convenient.

This is a low-level building partly hidden behind a wall that describes itself as a boutique hotel. If that is a euphemism for small and more expensive than it looks, that would be right. But in fact it is perfect. For about 150 you get a comfortable, adequate room, an airy breakfast caf, a stylish outdoor bar with cushioned seating areas arranged around small palm trees and, perhaps best of all, excellent local knowledge from the English couple running it. With all that Playa des Salinas has to offer, you could spend several blissful days here: it would be that unique thing, an excellent holiday barely 10 minutes from an international airport (which you can't hear or see).

But the great thing about Ibiza is its variety and accessibility you can get everywhere within about half an hour. Fifteen minutes to the west is the sweet, secluded Cala d'Hort, a small sandy beach looking out at a huge monolith in the sea Es Boldado where local families mingle with the odd tourist and you can sit at wooden tables with your feet in the sand and eat good tapas. A little further round to the west is the gorgeous Cala Comte, a slightly rockier beach attracting a younger crowd stretched out on pockets of sand or eating in a round, open-sided clifftop bar with spectacular views of the sun going down.

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Ibiza without the cars, jet skis and tattoos

With a job (covering cricket) that follows the sun, I have spent the past 20 years inadvertently searching for the best beach in the world. Somewhere that had everything. A pretty cove that had reliable weather and iridescent, safe, crystal-clear sea and powdery sand, which had some shade but was not overlooked by apartment blocks or overrun by hawkers, or lads on jet skis, or people in general, where you could sidle barefoot into a simple, airy caf selling interesting food and local wine and later stroll along the beach to the headland to watch the sun go down.

I have tried all the obvious places: France (too crowded), Italy (too expensive), South Africa (too many sharks), Australia (too many Australians), Greece, the Caribbean, Portugal (all boring food), mainland Spain (too man-made), New Zealand (iffy weather), Thailand (too touristy), Sri Lanka (too hot), Cornwall (too cold.) I could go on. And then a blissfully easy drive from Ibiza airport, I found it. Within five minutes of leaving the airport you are driving alongside low, bush-clad hills and glinting salt lakes with few other cars, and within 10 minutes you are parking under conveniently located wooden awnings and emerging through tall trees on to a beautiful curving swathe of sand lapped by calm blue water. This is Playa des Salinas.

It was quiet at 10am. The sun loungers with little parasols were mostly unoccupied (the day doesn't really kick into life in Ibiza until midday at the earliest), there were a few kids paddling with their dads and several couples stretched out, but otherwise the place felt private and a bit of a discovery. The air was already warm, a gentle breeze with a hint of citrus wafted across the beach. It had a very laidback atmosphere. A casually dressed waiter from the nearby chiringuito sidled between the sunbathers offering coffee and snacks but without heavy persuasion. There was no one pestering you to buy anything.

The beach sloped gently into beautifully warm, clean water; within 20 metres it was waist deep. A bit further out the view across the bay and round the low, rocky headland was idyllic. At the back of the beach, merging with the trees, is an open-sided restaurant of timber construction: the Jockey Club. I have never eaten such delicious food in an informal beach environment before.

We had chillied calamari and an amazing tuna and mango salad which was incredibly fresh and zingy and washed down with sangria. I have been back twice since and the food is always light and truly scrumptious - just what you want during a shady break from the beach. The restaurant is also a superb spot for people watching as the younger contingent gradually materialises after a heady night to be revitalised by some low-level, cool beats from the resident DJ.

Even when it is quite crowded, the Playa des Salinas has a relaxed vibe. You will not see or hear a car, jet ski or tattooed Aston Villa supporter. Just kindred spirits drinking in the warm air and gazing out at the glistening sea. It's a happy place.

OK, a word of warning. The music, unobtrusive at lunchtime, does increase in volume as the afternoon wears on though it's never overpowering. It gets busy about threeish, so it might be the moment to stroll beyond the beach across rocky outcrops, through trees and past little coves of frolicking families, round the headland to El Cavallet, a longer beach backed by dunes with very calm water and a divine open-plan restaurant with white leather sofas, incredibly delicious salads and great cocktails. Although it is regarded as Ibiza's gay beach, it doesn't feel like it. Anything goes.

We stayed at the Hostal Salinas, five minutes' walk from Salinas beach. There are many smart hotels on the island, ranging from luxurious spas to rustic converted fincas, but most are pricey, and none is quite so convenient.

This is a low-level building partly hidden behind a wall that describes itself as a boutique hotel. If that is a euphemism for small and more expensive than it looks, that would be right. But in fact it is perfect. For about 150 you get a comfortable, adequate room, an airy breakfast caf, a stylish outdoor bar with cushioned seating areas arranged around small palm trees and, perhaps best of all, excellent local knowledge from the English couple running it. With all that Playa des Salinas has to offer, you could spend several blissful days here: it would be that unique thing, an excellent holiday barely 10 minutes from an international airport (which you can't hear or see).

But the great thing about Ibiza is its variety and accessibility you can get everywhere within about half an hour. Fifteen minutes to the west is the sweet, secluded Cala d'Hort, a small sandy beach looking out at a huge monolith in the sea Es Boldado where local families mingle with the odd tourist and you can sit at wooden tables with your feet in the sand and eat good tapas. A little further round to the west is the gorgeous Cala Comte, a slightly rockier beach attracting a younger crowd stretched out on pockets of sand or eating in a round, open-sided clifftop bar with spectacular views of the sun going down.

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Ibiza without the cars, jet skis and tattooes

The Spanish archipelago has a reputation as a party destination, but the cost of living there is soaring for the thousands of Britons who call it home.

According to the latest figures from the Spanish National Statistics Institute, the Balearic islands of Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera are now home to almost 24,000 Brits.

But the cost of living has been climbing gradually in recent years. In Spain as a whole as in most large European countries inflation has taken its toll while wages have stagnated. A fall in the sterling to euro exchange rate has also affected expats, while Spain's well-publicised economic troubles mean the banks are reluctant to lend for personal or professional borrowing.

In the Balearics, where many goods are imported from the mainland and therefore more expensive the situation is even worse, with the popularity of the island pushing up property prices.

Expats Justine and Bruce Knox, who are based in Mallorca, own and run Knox Design. The islands are comparable to a city like London or Paris [in terms of price], said Justine. But I am sure there is still a small percentage of people who dont realise how much the islands have changed and still expect them to be a cheap destination."

Bruce agrees that expat life in the Balearics is expensive. Mallorca actually produces very little so we are really reliant on importing goods and that increases the price, he said.

Many expats on the islands choose to start their own businesses, but when it comes to getting financial advice, they are frustrated by the Balearic banks. A poll by Just Landed at the beginning of the year found that two-thirds of expats polled 64 per cent said that they do not trust local banks at all. They quoted "unfair" charges on their Spanish accounts as a cause for concern, while language can also be a major barrier especially as locals speak Catalan, not Spain's primary language, Castilian.

Its important that expats hoping to start businesses here have good financial, legal and business advice, said Telegraph Expat blogger Anna Nicholas. Social Security is pretty crippling here, and the bureaucracy can be exhausting.

But success stories can inspire potential expat business owners. Providing you are offering the right product and service to the right target market, it is an excellent place to run a business, said Justine. I do always recommend that, despite the potential to target English-speaking holidaymakers, it is still absolutely vital to be able to speak Spanish.

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Life's no party for expats in the Balearics

By Jennifer Clark

GENEVA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Under the lights of the Geneva motor show in March, Europe's top auto executives boasted about the new features of their latest models and tried to out-hype their rivals.

The next morning, in a hotel conference room just across the way from Geneva's convention centre, the same executives all sat down to work out how to fix their huge overcapacity problem.

At a board meeting of the European automaker's lobby group ACEA, the bosses of Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW, Peugeot, Renault, Fiat and Opel decided it was time to discuss the elephant in the room: plant closures.

"Their fear was of an all-out price war," said a source who was briefed about the meeting but declined to be named. "The negative fallout from that would be terrible."

The hard truth is that after more than four years of falling demand and profits, Europe's carmakers have yet to restructure or consolidate. Many factories are running at partial capacity - analysts estimate automakers have cut some 3 million cars, or 20 percent, from their production lines - and still producers struggle to sell their wares.

At the Geneva meeting, ACEA President Sergio Marchionne pressed members to call on Brussels for political cover to start shutting down factories.

"Closures should be co-ordinated at EU level," the Fiat and Chrysler boss told them, according to the person briefed on the meeting, to get around "a game of chicken" played by the producers where the first company to close plants would take the brunt of the cost and leave the rest to benefit.

A GAME OF CHICKEN

Europe's carmakers survived the initial economic downturn in 2009 by turning to national governments for help.

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INSIGHT - In Europe, carmakers talk plant closures

MILTON KEYNES, England, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

SEAT has presented its Ibiza CUPRA Concept at a recent Volkswagen Group media event that signals the start of the Beijing International Motor Show. The Ibiza CUPRA was showcased as a close-to-production concept car that heralds a new generation of the iconic CUPRA model.

The Ibiza CUPRA shows the SEAT DNA in its most concentrated form: amazing performance, the latest technology and comprehensive equipment clad in an emotional design that has been consistently developed. With its compact form, the Ibiza CUPRA Concept is a sports car for every day, combining agile driving fun with a high degree of functionality. The series-production model of the new Ibiza CUPRA will arrive towards the end of 2012.

With its 132 kW / 180 hp engine, seven-speed DSG transmission with shift paddles, XDS electronic differential lock and high-performance brakes, the Ibiza CUPRA Concept aims to showcase high technological competence.

James Muir, Chairmanof SEAT, said: "With its new, powerfully accentuated design, its innovative technologies, upgraded interior and further improved quality, the new Ibiza CUPRA Concept clearly shows how our brand is continuing to develop.

"Emotional design and refined dynamics guarantee driving fun on every single kilometre. We are presenting the Ibiza CUPRA Concept at the Beijing Motor Show because this compact athlete will be an important element in the development of our brand in this key market."

The first generation of the Ibiza CUPRA took to the streets in 1996. Since then the dynamic CUPRA models have developed to become an icon of the SEAT brand. The Ibiza CUPRA Concept shows how the next chapter of this success story will be written.

Dr. Matthias Rabe, Vice-President for Research and Development at SEAT, said: "Immediate and linear acceleration, with agile handling, good traction and responsive brakes are the key ingredients for what the CUPRA name represents.

"The new Ibiza CUPRA Concept is a perfect example of how we at SEAT are adapting the latest Volkswagen Group technology to create a unique and highly rewarding package."

The concept car's LED daytime running lights trace the line of the headlamps to deliver a unique light signature, as do the LED rear lights. Technically, the bi-xenon headlamps provide illumination, while cornering lights are integrated into the large fog lamps.

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SEAT Reveals Ibiza CUPRA Concept