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Sal Island Cape Verde – A Brief Guide

The Cape Verde Islands is a name that has been conjured up recently and has been connected with property investment due to the recent activity by property developers on the islands.

Sal (Portuguese for salt) was first discovered in 1460 is part of the northern group of islands called Barlavento. It was initially named Plana or Llana meaning “flat”, which is due to the island being mostly flat. Sal is also the closest Island to West Africa and lies at the east of the Cape Verde archipelago.

The island is not huge, it is around 30km long and 12km wide and has a total area of just 216km. Even still, it has become the gateway for the rest of the archipelago due to its airport that was built in 1939.

Up until the middle of this century, Sal’s main export was Salt. The locals of Boa Vista originally used the island for grazing their animals until they came across the Salt there and decided to export it.

Activities and Sports

As a tourist destination although new and fairly untested, Sal has many things going for it including gorgeous sunshine of which there are 350 days per year. The beaches of Sal and other parts of Cape Verde rival any beaches in world and coupled with the fact that the seas are warm, it is also a great place for water sports enthusiasts.

There are a ton of events and carnivals that take place on Sal every year and are well worth seeing. These include the festival of S. Jose in Palmeira on the 19th March and the municipal celebrations which commemorate the Sal’s communities. The celebrations take place at the Santa Maria Festival of Music and are held on the beach. If you are visiting Sal in March, be sure to check out this festival as it is a wonderful occasion.

Being an island and having such wonderful weather all year round, its no wonder that Sal is a haven for water sports enthusiasts. Santa Maria is the main port of call for the sporty types, and has everything there including a number of instructors who can teach you how windsurf or dive.

If you are looking for something a little more sedate why not try a nice walk or hire a jeep and see the whole of the island?

Sal Property Investment

Sal is also becoming very popular with property investors looking to get a foot on the ladder of the next up and coming property hotspot. With more and more interest from developers and investors alike, Sal and the Cape Verde Islands are sure to become a great place to invest in the next few years.

With 350 days of sunshine each year, it’s a perfect place to invest, especially if you plan on renting the property out as a holiday home. With so much beautiful weather all year round, you are not limited unlike other holiday destinations.

Sal and the Cape Verde Islands in general have been regarded as one of the poorest countries in the world in recent years and this all looks set to change in the next few years due to the property boom that is now starting to increase.

So although Salt may have been Sal’s greatest export over the years, its tourism and property investors that could become their greatest import and could kick start the islands economic growth.

Robert Griggs writes for Homes Abroad Cape Verde who specialize in new developments and resale property for sale on Sal Island and other islands in Cape Verde.

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