# What's it like living in Malaga



## izzy182

Hi all

Just want to know what's it like living in Malaga. I have a young family and are planning to move to Malaga soon. We think it might be cheaper and possibly better opportunity to get jobs there than say Marbella. We gonna do fact finding trip there this summer. Just want some of your opinion.

What are the beaches like near there, price of renting a house etc etc...

Cheers
Izzy


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## jojo

izzy182 said:


> Hi all
> 
> Just want to know what's it like living in Malaga. I have a young family and are planning to move to Malaga soon. We think it might be cheaper and possibly better opportunity to get jobs there than say Marbella. We gonna do fact finding trip there this summer. Just want some of your opinion.
> 
> What are the beaches like near there, price of renting a house etc etc...
> 
> Cheers
> Izzy


Málaga is a very big place, I live in Málaga province, Alhaurin de la torre. I love it, its close to Málaga playa, Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Benalmadena. All these are very touristy but nice sandy beaches. Its also close to the countryside. Do a google search on properties in those areas. Rental prices have dropped in the last year, so there are some good deals around. Prices do get cheaper the further inland you go

As for jobs, I heard on the news today that unemployment is now officially running at 20% So its not good. I guess it depends what your professions are and how your spanish is. Málaga does have a technology park which maybe worth a try of you're IT professionals. 

Property and the cost of living is cheaper here than Marbella, but I suspect pay is less too - altho I dont think the job situation is any different in either area

Jo xxx


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## Guest

Malaga city itself is very expensive to live in (we've got friends that live right in the middle). To work there you'd need to be fluent in Spanish too.

I do find it funny that the first question you ask is what the beach is like when you're considering moving, bringing a young family and looking for jobs!


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## thrax

Well, basically you won't find any work that a Spaniard could do unless you are fluent in Spanish. Buying a bar would be like placing a bet for 150,000 euros on me winning the grand national. There are always good beaches to be found along the whole of the costas so no problems there. Your best bet imo is to start up your own business supplying something nobody else does. And that won't be easy either. If, after your fact finding trip, you are still keen (and I plan to move to Spain in a couple of months, but I am lucky to have a monthly income via a pension) then you will ideally need enough money to last comfortably for a year, have somewhere to return ome to if it doesn't work out, and stay optimistic.


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## thrax

I forgot to say that I think Malaga is a wonderful city and we visit quite often (whenever we are in the south of Spain, in fact). When I used to go to Spain for hols back in the 70s I'm afraid I have to confess that like so many others I thought Malaga was just an airport. It is fabulously rich in culture and history and now that they have completed a lot of renovation work, it is a quite beautiful city. But it ain't cheap...


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## jojo

The trouble with M´laga is its so spread out and big. I'm ashame3d to admit that I have only been into the city centre a couple of times. Yes its lovely and full of Spanish charm, but I never seem to go there much. I go to plenty of places on the outskirts, plaza mayor, the airport, commercial centres.... In fact my town of Alhaurin de la torre is locally known as Málagas bedroom, cos so many people live here and commute to various parts of it and it is considered to be part of Málaga city. But we're nowhere near the centre and theres plenty of green space between

Jo xxx


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## Guest

We're the same Jo, it's such a great city but getting there are parking put us right off visiting. We were there on Saturday and it's got such a fantastic vibe and thousands of bars/restaurants so we should go there more. Having said that, cost us 12€ for four hours parking... thankfully it's cheap to eat and drink!!!


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## jojo

ShinyAndy said:


> We're the same Jo, it's such a great city but getting there are parking put us right off visiting. We were there on Saturday and it's got such a fantastic vibe and thousands of bars/restaurants so we should go there more. Having said that, cost us 12€ for four hours parking... thankfully it's cheap to eat and drink!!!



Apparently the way to do it is to go to Plaza Mayor on the outskirts, park there for free and catch the train which takes you right into the centre of Málaga and is only 4€ return and I think it runs til the small hours??!!!!!!!!

Jo xxx


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## Guest

Hmm.. indeed that's what we were intending to do. However it's a 20+ minute walk from the station to their place in the centre and they seemed to think the last train was around 11:30 so next to useless  I think in future I need to persuade them to pick us up from Plaza Mayor and then we crash at theirs


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## izzy182

Hi all,

Thanks for your reply. What are the public transport like in Malaga? JoJo, how far do you live from Malaga? Does it have a good mix of Spanish and English people there or other nationalites? what are the schools like? How far are the beaches from where you are? Is it too much touristy.

Thanks 
Izzy


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## jojo

izzy182 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Thanks for your reply. What are the public transport like in Malaga? JoJo, how far do you live from Malaga? Does it have a good mix of Spanish and English people there or other nationalites? what are the schools like? How far are the beaches from where you are? Is it too much touristy.
> 
> Thanks
> Izzy


I dont use public transport, but by all accounts its clean, efficient and reasonably priced.

Malaga is a big place. There are several of the Málaga industrial estates and a couple of the big shopping centres about 10 mins drive away from me, the main centre of Málaga is probably about half an hour away. Our town is probably 70% spanish, 15% english and 15% others. The town up the road, Alhaurin El Grande is smaller but has a huge ammount of British. The schools are ok. Some have too many British in them and they're rather a rowdy bunch and the Spanish kids dont like them. You have to send your kids to the school nearest to where you live, so you dont really get a choice. 

As for the beaches, they're about a 15 + drive and in the summer its really hard to park. There are masses of seafront hotels, bars, souvenir shops and holiday makers. There are beach activities and its usually heaving in the summer. I've found a quieter bit thats mainly spanish, but my kids hate going to the beach, the sand, the heat, so we rarely go there. 

What you need to do is come over and have a look

Jo xxx


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## izzy182

Hi All,

What's Malaga's port area like? Are there any good Indian Restaurant in this area or in Malaga's surrounding area. A must!!!!

Does Malaga have shopping centres like we have here e.g Trafford Centre. Are the supermarkets open 24 hours?

Do most homes in general have any kind of central heating?


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## jojo

izzy182 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> What's Malaga's port area like? Are there any good Indian Restaurant in this area or in Malaga's surrounding area. A must!!!!
> 
> Does Malaga have shopping centres like we have here e.g Trafford Centre. Are the supermarkets open 24 hours?
> 
> Do most homes in general have any kind of central heating?


I very rarely go into Málaga city or the port! I dont know about indian restaurants there. I'm sure there are lots of restaurants, bars, cafés etc indian???? I dont know. I know there are a couple of indians in Alhaurin El Grande and theres one in my town, Alhaurin de la torre. There used to be one in Plaza Mayor, which is a big shopping centre on the outskirts of the city, but it closed. There are several big shopping centres in the Málaga province and I think theres a fairly big one in Málaga itself. 

No, supermarkets arent open 24 hours. Mercadona closes around 9ish, I think Carrefour closes at 10pm. They dont open on sundays - nothing much is open on Sundays. Even the shopping centres close

Jo xxx


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## izzy182

Hi Jo,

How have you found the move to spain? During the winter months in Malaga, do you need the heating on in your homes? 

Also Jo, if unemployed in spain can you claim any benefits i.e jobseekers allowance, housing benefits etc etc? Just thinking of worst case senario. I guess there are plenty of things to do too there, paticulary family oriented activities.

In general do you think Malaga is quiet safe place to live, work and bring up a young family? How do you find the locals?

Thanks Jo

Izzy


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## jojo

izzy182 said:


> Hi Jo,
> 
> How have you found the move to spain? During the winter months in Malaga, do you need the heating on in your homes?
> 
> Also Jo, if unemployed in spain can you claim any benefits i.e jobseekers allowance, housing benefits etc etc? Just thinking of worst case senario. I guess there are plenty of things to do too there, paticulary family oriented activities.
> 
> In general do you think Malaga is quiet safe place to live, work and bring up a young family? How do you find the locals?
> 
> Thanks Jo
> 
> Izzy


Its been difficult! First of all THERE IS NO WORK! I had visions of getting a part time job, bar work, nursing, cleaning etc (not speaking or writing the language fluently restricts me to very few of those jobs anyway)... but even if there are any of those jobs around the Spanish or expats, give them to their family and friends! My husband was gonna try to bring his UK business over here, but hasnt been able to so he commutes to the UK to work. There are no benefits here at all! None, not even your child allowance! Even the Spanish only get anything if they've paid into the system for a considerable length of time and then its only for a couple of years max!

Secondly, My daughter hates it here. We arrived when she was 11 and she's now 13yo and refuses to integrate ort do anything other than sit around indoors reading, playing on computer games or chatting to her "real" friends on MSN etc in the UK. My son at 15 likes it, but heck, neither of them would ever go out with me as a family. They may under duress when their fathers here. Last year we went to the water park a couple of times, but its expensive. Because this is a tourist area there are lots of family things to do, but they are very expensive. Altho theres the beach which is free and of course the pool in the garden, altho my two this year dont seem interested in it 

I can say is that yes, I think its safe - well as safe as anywhere else. My son is going to the multiplex tonight in Plaza Mayor with some mates and I'm not worried about him, altho I probably wouldnt be in the UK either. I'll drop him off and pick him up and he has his mobile. The locals are fine, they get on with there lives and are pleasant enough. 

Sorry if this sounds negative, but actually the reality is that life here goes on much the same as in the UK, washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning, shopping, school run..... Its sunnier and I guess there are more things to do locally, but its a harder country than the UK and living here is no cheaper nor is it easier

Jo xx


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## izzy182

Hi Jo,

Thanks for all your reply's. I appreciate them all negative or positive. We need to be prepared and the more info we have the better it is for us. I was under the impression that if unemployed the system was same as here in UK. On the UK gov website, it does state you can claim these benefits just as same here, well something along these lines.

In your opinion, why do so many brits with young family are still moving out there, when things are difficult at the moment? 

Thanks jo

Izzy


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## jojo

izzy182 said:


> Hi Jo,
> 
> Thanks for all your reply's. I appreciate them all negative or positive. We need to be prepared and the more info we have the better it is for us. I was under the impression that if unemployed the system was same as here in UK. On the UK gov website, it does state you can claim these benefits just as same here, well something along these lines.
> 
> In your opinion, why do so many brits with young family are still moving out there, when things are difficult at the moment?
> 
> Thanks jo
> 
> Izzy


No, you definitely cannot claim anything from anyone when you live in Spain. As I say, you cant even claim child allowance. Mine was stopped when I came here, altho, because my husband works in the UK and currently pays tax and NI there, he can claim it but thats all! 

TBH, the only British families I know that are considering moving out here with young families are those who are going down the commuting route. Other than that, I cant say I've heard of any?? But if they do they need to make sure they have a very good financial buffer and even then if they dont find work before that runs out, then they could be in trouble.

I'm not trying to put you off, but the facts are what they are. There is 20% unemployment here, the construction industry has collapsed, the tourist industry is struggling. Spain is about to undergo what Greece has just undergone? the cost of living here is not much different to the UK and is probably about to go up when they put their VAT equivalent up in a couple of months.

However, you should still come over and do some research and fact finding. See what you think and ask around??

Jo xxx


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## izzy182

Hi Jo,

All your comments have been good for us. We appreciate them all. We are comming over maybe towards end of summer as I can't get any time off till them. We were planning to move next spring but we can wait till things pick up I guess. We would'nt move there untill either one of us has a comfirmed job offer anyway. With all the info and comments on this forum, it is giving us a good idea of what it might be like in Spain.

Thanks

Izzy


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## TSN.IMM

Izzy,

Did you make your move to Malaga? If you did, how is it so far? Your experiences would be very helpful to us. Thnks.


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## leemar14

Hi Jo. Sorry to comment on a very old post but we are looking to move to Alhaurin de la torre and I was wondering what the internet connection is like there as it is vital to my work if we are to move there. Thanks


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