Sarah chases Matt at the go-kart circuit

Motor racing at the Valencia street circuit

A quick final entry about the holiday in Spain.

One of the things that really surprised me was the level of sporting provision in Spain.

We were staying in a tiny village in the hills about an hour south west of Valencia in the Costa Blanca region.

And yet, in this tiny village (one restaurant) there was an open air municipal swimming pool (with, conveniently, a bar).

But our village wasn’t alone. We took a great drive into the mountains and stopped at another village piscina. The level of municipal care is staggering.

Down the road from our village was a bigger town – not the prettiest. But that had a sports centre that included an indoor pool; a floodlit five a side football pitch; three floodlit tennis courts, one with terraced seating.

The number of cyclists using the roads and the hills for training was also noticeable. It looked good for road race training.

With such facilities perhaps it’s not surprising that Spain is enjoying a sporting renaissance: winners of the Euro Cup 2008; Rafael Nadal became Wimbledon champion; Spaniard Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France; and this was followed up by Spaniard Samuel Sanchezwinning gold at the Olympics in the men’s road race. Clearly, Spain are doing a lot right at the moment. And I suspect it’s partly down to the level of civic facilities on offer.

Anyway, we took part in our own bit of sport, with a thrash round one of the local go-kart tracks. Go-karts are always thrilling. While my son Matt has driven karts before, this was daughter Sarah’s first blast. And good for her, she gave it a good go too, seeing off a rival on the final lap.

Meanwhile Matt and I took the opportunity to visit the Spanish Formula 3 race at the brilliant Valencia street circuit around the dock area midway through our fortnight. It will be the venue for the Grand Prix of Europe later this month.

We caught the incident-packed second round, which was won by Germ