Jenny Southan retreats to the rolling foothills of Alicante to enjoy some sun and solitude.

A crescendo of hollow-sounding bells woke me from my late afternoon post-Cava nap. The sun was streaming through the open door of my wooden cabin, and outside I could see the rocking chair on my porch moving slightly in the warm summer breeze.

Getting up to investigate the noise, I discovered that in the valley below was an enormous flock of sheep moving across the fields. There was no shepherd or sheep dog in sight, and yet they seemed to know exactly where they were going – hundreds of them all leaping over a ditch into an olive grove, and then running to catch up with their companions. Each was wearing a bell around its neck, the clanging and gentle bleating creating a special kind of music in the otherwise silent Spanish countryside.

More than 13 million UK tourists visit Spain every year – according to the Office of National Statistics, it’s our favourite holiday destination and the most popular place to relocate, with about 800,000 British expats living here. While many head for the Costa del Sol or Costa Blanca, I sought out a more bucolic retreat away from the crowded beaches.

I landed at Alicante airport, a quick hop from London with Easyjet, and picked up a hire car from Sixt. In less than an hour, a network of empty, winding roads took me through sunbaked pastures and sleepy villages to La Escondida, my home for the next few days.

Set on 200 hectares of pastoral perfection, populated with almond trees and dusty hiking trails, this former 19th-century hunting lodge was opened as a boutique hotel at the end of 2014 by former England and Barcelona football manager Terry Venables. Despite initial plans for a soccer pitch, there are no goalposts in sight. In fact, its ten rooms and two rustic lodges don’t even have TVs – instead you will find welcome scrolls at the end of the bed with instructions on how to meditate, and copies of Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now.

Terry’s wife, Yvette, says that at first they wanted to open a sports academy on the grounds but instead settled on a simple hideaway for people to recharge in. The pair spend a considerable amount of time here and happily interact with guests – the beautiful game, no doubt, being a common topic of conversation.

Football, I confess, is low on my list of interests. Morning runs followed by cool swims, on the other hand, rank much higher. There was so much space and quiet that the only time I saw other people was at meal times. Reading by the pool in the heat, the only time I was disturbed was by a waiter delivering iced water and strawberries.

One afternoon, a local tried to persuade me to go paragliding off a nearby hilltop, but I wasn’t in the mood for an adrenalin rush. However, feeling guilty about spending so much time doing nothing, I opted for what I thought would be the less perilous activity of horse riding. Staff at reception can book activities in advance but need a couple of days’ notice – spa treatments, golf, hunting, mountain biking, tennis and archery are all available.

A 30-minute drive to some stables and it wasn’t long until I found myself mounted high on the back of a grumpy horse who didn’t like beginners. Two motorway bridges later and a trek through steep forest trails, on which my steed was determined to drag me through low-lying branches and spiky bushes, my nerves were shredded. I tried to tell the guy on the horse in front that I wanted to go back to “mi casa” but he didn’t seem to understand. That’ll teach me for not speaking the lingo.

La Escondida, it turns out, really is quite remote. There are no nearby restaurants to try in the evening – when I drove to a local cerveceria late one afternoon, I found the entire village shuttered. Only the door to the church was open, the faint waft of candle smoke and incense lingering in the darkness. Gin and tonics back on your veranda are no hardship, however.

Alcoy is one of the bigger towns, 20 minutes away, and somewhere you can seek out a hearty bocadillo de tortilla (baguette stuffed with Spanish omelette). If you are content to stay put, the hotel’s chef serves up good-quality modern European cuisine, with the likes of salmon en croute, tuna tartar and confit of lamb featuring on the menu.

Venture a little further and you can take a day trip to the town of Elche, one hour away, and home to the magnificent El Huerta del Cura botanic gardens (jardin.huertodelcura.com). The UNESCO-protected palm grove has rock gardens, ponds with turtles, flowering cacti and wandering peacocks, but the highlight is the 165-year-old Imperial palm. Balanced on a single trunk, it is crowned with an additional seven “child” trees that have grown as offshoots rising 17 metres up to the sky.

Down on the coast, 20 minutes away, near the Dunes of Pinet, is a curious windswept strip of beach with semi-derelict concrete residences fronted by shady archways. Stroll along the water’s edge and you’ll come across the bustling restaurant at Hostal Maruja (hostalmaruja.com). A quirky pitstop on your way back to the airport, you can share a rich and tasty paella served in a huge black pan for little more than €10. Of course, you can get sausage, egg and chips too, but that’s okay – Brexit or not, Spain is the closest place we have to a second home.

  • La Escondida is open year-round except for the first three weeks of January; room rates in October start from e215 per night. For more information visit hotelescondida.com
  • Car hire from Alicante airport with Sixt starts from £64 a day. sixt.co.uk