A few years ago most people in Britain would have been hard pushed to place the Cape Verde Islands on a map, but now this archipelago is listed as one of the top 20 locations to buy property abroad this year, interest in this former Portuguese colony is growing rapidly especially with the property developers.

Cape Verde has been billed as the next hot tourist destination above the likes of the French Riviera, Costa del Sol and Tuscany. Situated just off the west coast of Senegal, the Cape Verde Islands have the highest standard of living in West Africa and when Cape Verde’s Prime Minister suggested that the Islands be given a “special status” relationship with the European Union it was clear to many that the Cape Verde archipelago may be joining the likes of the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira in shifting itself economically and culturally towards Europe.

The property boom that the Cape Verde islands is starting to experience looks set to last for a while. Cape Verde is the closest tropical islands to Europe and is blessed with year round sunshine, stunning white beaches, exotic landscapes and a friendly and happy local populace. With the opening of an international airport on Cape Verdes capital city of Praia on Santiago island the current seven hour flight from London via Lisbon will become a direct flight of little over five hours encouraging more and more people to the area.

The interest in Cape Verde is definitely hotting up with many people agreeing that the islands are where the Canaries were 20 years ago and the property market is booming. With 9 islands to choose from (Santa Luzia being a national park with no residents at present) the average property is selling for around