We were looking for warm places to retire and since my wife is a British citizen and her family is still in England we chose Spain because it offered the amenities of a first world country with a low cost of living and a good climate. Our only requirements were a sea view and access to an airport so we could fly to England for visits. We chose our particular area because it is the only part of Spain where the mountains come down to the sea so instead of having to be near the seafront and all of the crowds that go with the territory we could be further inland and still get the view we desired. As you can see from some of the pictures I post we are 600 meters from the beach but 90 meters above sea level. Here is a picture of the beginning of the street my house is on. It actually zig-zags right and left 6 more times, each time a little steeper, before it gets to our house
The houses are stacked as you go up so instead of being blocked by whatever is in front of you each level gets their own nice view. Here is how that looks from a different angle:
The third busiest airport in Spain is less than an hour away so this area met all of our requirements.