Lepe is tucked away in the province of Huelva, just across from the Portuguese border.

Like many towns in the area, its economy relied on fishing.

However a switch to strawberry farming in the late 1970s has made it the wealthiest village in the region.

Lepe strawberries are exported throughout Europe. 

And that’s not all. It produces some pretty impressive wines too – in fact Chaucer mentions the wines of Lepe in The Canterbury Tales. 

As it’s so close to Portugal, a break in Lepe also means you can hop across the border and explore the Algarve.

If you prefer to stay put, there are wide, sandy beaches that aren’t crowded and fantastic bird watching and nature trails.

Interestingly, there is also a Lepe beach and country park in Hampshire in the UK.

Curiously, there are several Spanish colloquial expressions that mention Lepe but for some unknown reason they are not complimentary.’

‘Niño Lepe’ is said to mean ‘a dumb little kid’ while ‘ser mas tanto que Lepe’ implies that someone is ‘less than intelligent’.

And to give someone a ‘Lepe’ is to smack someone in the forehead.

For these and other eclectic Spanish quotes, google A Brat by Any Other Name by David Bowles

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