# Buying and Living in the Duquesa area, Costa Del Sol



## sim2kuk (Oct 13, 2015)

Afternoon all,

I am visiting the Duquesa area this weekend to look at an apartment (2 or 3 bed) to buy as a holiday home.

I was wondering what are the advantages and disadvantages to living in Duquesa? Are there any urbanisations I should look to buy in, or any that I should discount? Any tips on where I should look and what I should look out for? 

This will be for myself, my other half and our 3 year old to visit regularly during the year, and we don't plan to rent it out.

Many thanks,

Simon

EDIT: Apologies if this is in the wrong area of the forum or doesn't count as Expat!


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## titania (Jan 3, 2013)

Hi,

I can't yet tell you about which urbanizations are best buys, but otherwise I can give you the following information, as I have been living a few miles from Duquesa since July.

With a car, the area is ideally situated for shopping for a family.

- To the South, you have Gibraltar if you need duty-free tobacco and alcohol.

- Up the Spanish hill north of Gibraltar, you have a huge commercial area called "Los Barrios" with Carrefour, Lidl, Bricor, Leroy-Merlin, pet supplies, Worten, Chinese bazaar, and so many others I haven't yet had the time to explore all of the area.

- There's another huge Chinese bazaar a little before the above area, not far off the A-7 and it's well supplied and about 20% cheaper than the one in the commercial park.

- I'm told there is a newly opened Iceland thereabouts, but haven't had time to find out where it is.

- Up to the North East going in the direction of Malaga on the A-7, go slow at the roundabouts and you have:

- Eroski, Dia and Chinese shop, next to one another, Eroski being stocked with good English (and foreign) food selection. On top of the complex, you have Marlows restaurant for fish and chips - may I say just as good as in Gib, but a d... sight cheaper.

- Further on, the little town of Sabinillas, where, on the whole, the restaurants are not that good and quite expensive, save for a few places held by Brits. The beach is nice there. The local pharmacist I wouldn't ever buy again from - they couldn't calculate the number of boxes of the medicine prescribed by my doctor - the chief pharmacist had to do it on a piece of paper like a nine-year old. There's a good private doctor who speaks English but he's expensive.

- Just exiting Sabinillas, there's a huge Chinese shop (with slightly different and more "beachy" goods) from the two others mentioned above , and Lidl, next to one another. Not far there's a good veterinarian practice and a smallish garden center.

- Further on the A-7, you have Mercadona and Aldi, next to the cheapest petrol station of the area. 

- Detour a little to get to Estepona, after having driven on the sea front towards the North-East, you have another Carrefour, a bit smaller than the one in Los Barrios, but again with a good selection of foreign goods. The fish there is extremely fresh, bought from the boats. You can get good bargains in its summer furniture if you go there regularly. The Chinese shop not far from there is average.

- Back on the A-7 towards Cancelada, there's a French Bricorama, which will have quite different goods to Leroy or Bricor. A bit complicated to get there, but good bargains.

- Carry on towards Puerto Banus and Marbella. Be careful to stay on the A-7, not the AP-7 where you'll get charged toll and isn't anywhere near the interesting shops. In Puerto Banus, you have the Corte Inglés and a SuperCor. Corte Inglés has a lot of the luxury goods, many on discounted prices. I found SuperCor expensive but with a good choice of foreign food. Find the Puerto Banus port and park not too far, and go watch the Ferraris and Bentleys with your children - that'll give them motivation to study at school to become as rich as these people. I once saw a guy jump in his Ferrari to drive less than 300 yards to buy a packet of cigarettes and come back! Watch the boats! Don't eat near the Port, too expensive, but you'll find cheap places in town, and you'll be watching the Mercs, the Porsches... 

- Further towards Marbella on the A-7, take the Ojen exit and find the Cañada shopping center, allegedly the best and largest in Spain. Huge, it will take a day to do all the shops. Another Carrefour in there, Leroy-Merlin, FNAC, H&M, Marks & Sparks, everything. Plus plenty of beautiful cars in the parking area, including chauffeured limos.

- Further still on the A-7 towards Malaga, the usual Lidls and Aldis, where you can find what's missing in your assortment of one Lidl in another Lidl, as each has got its way of dealing with arrival of goods and different client types.

- Getting towards Málaga, you'll find the only IKEA of the area - but enquire about opening days because when I went, it was closed, no reason mentioned, no bank holiday (everything else was opened).

That's as far as I have been for my shopping and there's much more to explore I'm sure. But honestly, after having lived in Tenerife and experienced a desert of good shopping there, I am so happy to be able to get everything - it's almost bliss.

EXCEPT....

African cockroaches... as big as my thumb, flying through the windows, and getting in through any small crack in the walls or doors. And you can't close windows when it's 38°C.

The area is infested with them, not just where I live, but Sabinillas town and surroundings. I would suppose Duquesa being a port, you will encounter them. If I were you, I'd enquire with local people what is the situation there. At the moment, they're hiding, but the infestation lasted from the moment I arrived in mid-July until about ten days ago. I thought I knew enough about pesticides - trust me, I tried everything including the industrial stuff - Not in your life!!!!

I'm told the next seasonal invasion will be in November. I bought some real strong stuff in Italy to deal with them, and I'll let you all know how it goes. At any rate, I'm going to move, hopefully soon before they invade again, to an area where another city might be a bit keener to deal with this problem (plus I have some problems with the landlord anyway).

So good luck with your buy in Duquesa - mind the roaches


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

A very informative post, well done!!


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## PicklesDP (Jul 17, 2015)

The down side is that you are quite a distance from Malaga. This means you have quite a drive and tolls to pay to get to your appartment. Most people want to be closer to the airport. 

I would not recommend gib airport unless you find a great price. Flights are generally more expensive and fog and wind can stop you landing at Gib or stop you taking off. Meaning you get coached to and from Malaga. Car hire is also usually cheaper from Malaga. 

On the good side being this far west, it is less built up and I think it has a more homely atmosphere. Less nightlife but Less drunk tourists, less trouble. The beaches are quieter. As described above there are plenty of shops nearby to meet your needs. 

I have friends that live on the golf development. It is a steep hill but it is nice to walk down to the port for the evening. The build quality is OK on their development, kind of average. I would say that average build quality is less than average build quality in UK, but the price in Spain is hugely cheaper.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

PicklesDP said:


> The down side is that you are quite a distance from Malaga. This means you have quite a drive and tolls to pay to get to your appartment. Most people want to be closer to the airport.
> 
> I would not recommend gib airport unless you find a great price. Flights are generally more expensive and fog and wind can stop you landing at Gib or stop you taking off. Meaning you get coached to and from Malaga. Car hire is also usually cheaper from Malaga.
> 
> ...


The whole Sabinillas/Manilva/Duquesa stretch seems very built up to me, at least the area along the coast/A7. Friends who live in the area seem to like it, there is a very large British immigrant community and there seems plenty to do, loads of local voluntary associations and clubs. 
I agree about Gib airport. When I used to make regular fights it was always touch and go as to whether we'd depart from there or Malaga. I don't think the budget airlines make arrangements to coach people to Malaga, do they? One dreadful stormy night my flight was diverted to Malaga and we were put on a coach. The EasyJet flight scheduled to leave at more or less the same time was also cancelled but no arrangements were made for passengers. Some passengers bought the few remaining tickets on the BA flight but others were just left stranded. I remember a woman with two toddlers, distraught as she had no idea what to do or where to go.
This was in February about five years go and I don't think there was another EasyJet flight for several days.
Isn't there an airport at Jerez?


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