Longing for sun on this the shortest day of the year? Irish people who choose to winter under blue skies talk to Róisín Ingle in Gran Canaria.

'I just heard it's going to be a dreadful winter in Ireland, absolutely brutal, burst pipes weather," smiles retired farmer Paddy Foley, sipping a café con leche in the lobby of his winter home, the Hotel Princess, Playa del Inglés. "When I hear things like that, I'm even more glad to be here."

Outside the skies are blue, the sun is shining and the winter holidaymakers are stretched out around the hotel swimming pool despite the intermittent clouds and the slight bluster in the air. The temperature is in the mid-20s but, wearing slacks and a short-sleeved shirt, Foley claims it's not yet hot enough to sunbathe and can't understand the Germans and the Finns who take to the sunbeds whatever the weather. "I suppose they are only here for two weeks, most of them, so they have to make the best of it," he muses.

Paddy is here for a longer spell. Five years ago he sold his farm in Dungarvan, Co Waterford and, like many retired Irish people, now lives on the island of Gran Canaria, from October to May. The hotel staff greet him like an old friend. He knows them all by name. "They treat me very well here," he says.

He has been taking holidays on the island since 1975. "I like the place and people well; there are an awful lot of Irish here, there is great music in the bars. You have company here all the time because the holidaymakers come at the same time each year and you get to know them," he says. The days follow a regular routine. He is up and out of his room on the second floor by 9am. He has breakfast from the buffet downstairs, reads his local Dungarvan paper or a national one and then he sits out by the pool taking the sun when he feels it's warm enough. Each evening he takes an hour-long stroll around Playa del Inglés which he loves, with its Irish bars decorated with leprechauns and shamrocks and GAA flags.

He would be "bored senseless", though, without his books. Half of one of his suitcases is filled with the John McGahern and Michael Crichton novels he never leaves Ireland without. Traces of his Irishness can be found in the room, such as a large box of Barry's tea ("the Spanish can't make tea for nuts").

Paddy is unmarried and in his 70s, and when he sold the farm friends thought that he might buy an apartment, but the hotel life is what he always wanted to experience.

"I'd be isolated in an apartment; here there are people around all the time," he says. "And anyway if I had an apartment all of Dungarvan would want to come and stay. All the fair-weather friends. No, this suits me fine."

Further down the coast from Playa del Inglés, in Puerto Rico, an apartment complex called Porto Novo is bursting with Irish people who have bought places here where they while away the winter months. While Puerto Rico features apartments sloping up steeply into the hills - "there's more steps here than in Riverdance," quips one Irish local - this apartment complex is at harbour level, which residents say is the key to its popularity.

Maura and Michael Murphy from Castlebar, Co Mayo bought in March last year but have been holidaying here since the 1980s. They have renovated their bright one-bedroom apartment so that there is more room for visitors, of which there is a steady stream. While they love the Spanish food, their freezer is packed with Irish steaks and sausages and rashers - "I brought over the full quota, 20kg of meat," says Maura - for those days when they want to cook a meal that reminds them of home. And satellite TV means they can watch events such as George Best's funeral from the comfort of their bright, cosy sitting room.

"What I tell people when they come here for the winter for the first time is that they have to remember that they live here now and they are not just on holiday," says Maura, suntanned and smiling as several of her Irish friends, mostly retired couples who also live in the complex, sip wine outside on her large terrace. "That means you get up every day and you do your washing and your ironing and your shopping. We go out to eat a lot but we stay home entertaining too. If you behaved as though you were on a holiday you would be worn out in no time."

The couple say they've noticed that Irish people are buying property here in increasing numbers. "We know of six apartments that were bought by Irish people in the space of a year in this complex alone," says John. Up on the terrace, the afternoon sun glints on the Mayo Crystal wine glasses as Irene Eakin from Bangor, Co Down explains the appeal of the island.

"We chose to buy here because of the short flight, the great climate and the fact that after a while you know everyone; the social life is wonderful."

"It's a healthy climate. I have asthma so it's very good for me," smiles her husband John, who plays golf three times a week and loves going on long walks. In this Irish enclave of Puerto Rico, Christmas Day is just as much an event as it is at home. There's a smoked salmon and champagne brunch by the pool, a German resident makes Irish stew and then the crowd goes home for a siesta.

"A few years ago it was hard to get all the trimmings for the dinner but now you can get everything, even Brussels sprouts," says Irene, unsure of whether that's a blessing or a curse. "We were at home last year for Christmas, my first one at home for 25 years, and while we enjoyed it we swore we would never do it again. We are so active here but at home we just lay about and watched television and it was so cold."

Ita Sheils from Mitford, Co Donegal has owned the Puerto Rico apartment she shares with husband Seamus for five years, but has been coming to the island for more than 20 years.

"I was blown away the first time I came. I fell in love with the place," she says. "January and February in particular are very easy to take here." Like everyone else, she misses her friends and family when she's away but says there is great camaraderie and community spirit among the Irish here.

There's a caveat, though: "You can only do this at a certain age," says Ita. "You'd go mad with boredom in your 40s but it's the right time now. I swim daily, I walk daily and the beach is just across the road.

"At home you spend a lot of the time trying to keep warm and there is a bit of what I would call existing when you reach a certain age. It's different here. It feels like you are really living."