# relocating to Costa Del Sol



## greymatter (Jul 27, 2010)

Hi all

I have just joined the forum
We currently live and work in Tenerife but have been thinking about relocating to the mainland for a while now. 
We like that the uk is so much more accessible and cheaper to get to than the canary islands and also that you have proper seasons there, and we like that the uk is only 2 hours away. We have a 6 year old son who goes to spanish school and know that he will adapt easy enough. 
what is the work situation like there, we are both entertainers and my hubby also builds websites, we know that the recession has hit everywhere but can´t really see the costa´s being any worse off than the Canary islands. Also is the tourism pretty much all year round? 

we would be looking at renting somewhere to begin with probably just slightly away from the tourist areas´is it easy to find rental properties?

Apologies for all the questions but just trying to some research first!


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2010)

Tourism is great in August if you can "entertain" the Spanish, Russians, Scandinavians & Arabs. If the Brits on Holiday brigade are your market then you´ll be dissapointed as most go elsewhere nowadays

Unfortunately the last thing the CDS needs is yet another person that does websites, it seems like all the people that ran bars or were builders are now budding web designers

Plethora of properties up for rent and at bargain prices, check out Pisos en alquiler en toda España - Enalquiler.com to give you an idea of what´s about


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## greymatter (Jul 27, 2010)

*relocating to CDS*



ShinyAndy said:


> Tourism is great in August if you can "entertain" the Spanish, Russians, Scandinavians & Arabs. If the Brits on Holiday brigade are your market then you´ll be dissapointed as most go elsewhere nowadays
> 
> Unfortunately the last thing the CDS needs is yet another person that does websites, it seems like all the people that ran bars or were builders are now budding web designers
> 
> ...


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2010)

A small trickle most of the year, better at Easter and in August seemingly the whole of Spain drives down for a month


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## greymatter (Jul 27, 2010)

*relocating to CDS*



ShinyAndy said:


> A small trickle most of the year, better at Easter and in August seemingly the whole of Spain drives down for a month


Thanks again for your replies! sounds pretty tough out there at the moment, although probably no different to where we are, looking forward to coming over in the near future,


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

greymatter said:


> Thanks again for your replies! sounds pretty tough out there at the moment, although probably no different to where we are, looking forward to coming over in the near future,


Given that you need a tourist market all year round to survive, I would suggest that you come over during the winter to assess the possibilities of work. Yes, I agree with Shiny Andy that there is a small trickle of tourists all year round, but the winters are quiet to say the least.


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## greymatter (Jul 27, 2010)

lynn said:


> Given that you need a tourist market all year round to survive, I would suggest that you come over during the winter to assess the possibilities of work. Yes, I agree with Shiny Andy that there is a small trickle of tourists all year round, but the winters are quiet to say the least.


Thanks for your reply Lynn
Its great actually speaking to people that live there as many of the sites I have googled say that there is good tourism all year round on the Costa Del Sol! Clearly this is not the case lol but I guess a trickle is better than none at all

Really fancy the idea of cooler winters and only being a couple of hours from the UK


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2010)

greymatter said:


> only being a couple of hours from the UK


Of course the reality is that when you add on the travelling time each end and inevitable delays that it still takes you a day to get back


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

ShinyAndy said:


> Of course the reality is that when you add on the travelling time each end and inevitable delays that it still takes you a day to get back


Hhhhmm, I left my UK house this morning at 5am and was back home here by 10.45am!! So that wasnt too bad, altho, I know, I know............. it isnt always quite that good!!???!!!

Jo xxx


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2010)

I knew you´d chip in there, yes those do happen but it´s rare!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

ShinyAndy said:


> I knew you´d chip in there, yes those do happen but it´s rare!!



Yes, especially if you fly from Gibraltar!! Two of my seven BA flights from there in the past year have been unable to land because of weather problems. This involves a bus journey to Malaga -involving getting out of the bus at the Gib border after a short trip from the airport, walking through and reboarding. Then a lot of hanging around at Malaga until take-off. Arrival time at Heathrow should have been around 20.10, both times I arrived after 01.30.
I have twice used Malaga recently, once for a BA flight to Heathrow and once for an EasyJet flight to Gatwick. Both were on time. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the EasyJet flight. I had been thoroughly put off EasyJet and other budget flights because of the stag parties that I encountered on my weekly Prague - London flights but it seems you get a better class of passenger on the Gatwick - Malaga run.
I'll stick to BA though as the cost difference is quite often minimal and you can take one piece of luggage free (two Business Class) and I am accumulating nearly 100000 BA air miles!
Plus budget airlines don't do flexible tickets which were essential when I was flying on business. It's an area they should look into.


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## maxdog008 (Aug 4, 2010)

*cooler winters*



greymatter said:


> Thanks for your reply Lynn
> Its great actually speaking to people that live there as many of the sites I have googled say that there is good tourism all year round on the Costa Del Sol! Clearly this is not the case lol but I guess a trickle is better than none at all
> 
> Really fancy the idea of cooler winters and only being a couple of hours from the UK


Hi
many people are returning to the Uk at the moment because of the lack of work and it seems that the Costa Del Sol is not as financially viable for holidays at the moment..... as for cooler winters ......cold and wet is the words I would describe last winter .....if you are financially sound where you are now I would think about postponing your move until things are a little better xx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

maxdog008 said:


> Hi
> many people are returning to the Uk at the moment because of the lack of work and it seems that the Costa Del Sol is not as financially viable for holidays at the moment..... as for cooler winters ......cold and wet is the words I would describe last winter .....if you are financially sound where you are now I would think about postponing your move until things are a little better xx


Last winter was horrendous!! Torrential rain most of the time, floods, landslides, windy, cold, no central heating, drafty house, power cuts every 5 minutes...... from December til April! It wasnt good was it! Do the hot summers make up for it????

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jojo said:


> Last winter was horrendous!! Torrential rain most of the time, floods, landslides, windy, cold, no central heating, drafty house, power cuts every 5 minutes...... from December til April! It wasnt good was it! Do the hot summers make up for it????
> 
> Jo xxx


I don't know tbh:confused2:

but I'm not really here just for the weather


I'm not a great sunbather & have spent more time indoors the past few days than for a long time - the humidity is dreadful at the mo


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## maxdog008 (Aug 4, 2010)

jojo said:


> Last winter was horrendous!! Torrential rain most of the time, floods, landslides, windy, cold, no central heating, drafty house, power cuts every 5 minutes...... from December til April! It wasnt good was it! Do the hot summers make up for it????
> 
> Jo xxx


Yes the summers are fantastic and if you have a good central heating system in your Spanish house it is no worse than the english winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I live in the mountains near Granada and I must say I love it when the snow comes in January and we are moving to the campo this autumn so that should be fun LOL


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> I don't know tbh:confused2:
> 
> but I'm not really here just for the weather
> 
> ...



I'm not a great sunbather either, but the weather was a factor when we moved here, mainly cos its so miserable all year round in the UK, I wanted guaranteed summer weather. Mind you, its really cloudy here today, it could even rain - It would be very welcome too!!!

That said, I wasnt prepared for a spanish winter. If anyone tells you its mild and pleasant here in the winter, they're lying!!! 

Jo xxx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

maxdog008 said:


> Yes the summers are fantastic and if you have a good central heating system in your Spanish house it is no worse than the english winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I live in the mountains near Granada and I must say I love it when the snow comes in January and we are moving to the campo this autumn so that should be fun LOL


I've heard that parts of Granada get huge amounts of snow in the winter, so make sure you've got central heating and that its not too prone to power cuts, you know what its like in the campo lol!!!!!

Jo xxx


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2010)

To be fair the winters previous to the last one were fair and mild, generally temps don´t drop below 10 degrees and generally the sun is out so it feels much warmer


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

ShinyAndy said:


> To be fair the winters previous to the last one were fair and mild, generally temps don´t drop below 10 degrees and generally the sun is out so it feels much warmer


The winter before last wasnt so dramatic weather wise, but I was scraping ice off my windscreen more times than I care to remember and it was bloody cold, I cant remember it going above 10c for months!!!

right, off to the airport to pick up "the old man"!!! YAY!!

Jo xxx


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2010)

You should move somewhere warmer  Only time I got ice/cold was when we went to the Sierra Nevada (ski season year before last was dreadful too, about a weeks worth of snow as it was so warm and mild down here)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

it always makes me laugh/groan when you're talking to people in the UK & they ask you what the weather's like

_cold & wet_ you say

_but you're in SPAIN_ they say

_yes.............._



but the BBC weather says it's 20c & sunny


well trust me - I'm looking out of my window & it's raining - & 20c sounds pretty chilly to me!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

This is only our second summer here so I can't make meaningful comparisons but we've had odd weather here on the coast over the past couple of weeks. I seem to remember that last summer was glorious.....blue skies and sun evrery day from mid-May to the end of October. Today it's very humid and loads of menacing-looking clouds which usually clear away around midday.
And today is the day Michelle Obama passes by our village. Maybe no sun but newly laid road surfaces and a road made out of what was once a campo lane, now a blacktop lined with rather skinny palms and the tatty rondo has had a real makeover. We drove past loads of tough-looking National Police when we took Our Little Azor for his early morning walkies.
This must be costing a fortune...police helicopters have just roared overhead.
Mind you, Jo and OH are visiting us tonight so they too can enjoy the expensive welcome


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

ShinyAndy said:


> You should move somewhere warmer  Only time I got ice/cold was when we went to the Sierra Nevada (ski season year before last was dreadful too, about a weeks worth of snow as it was so warm and mild down here)


We're not that far from you Andy, Alhaurin de la Torre is just along and up a bit!!?? But I guess we're not on the coast and up in the mountiains a bit which makes a difference???

Jo xxx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> This is only our second summer here so I can't make meaningful comparisons but we've had odd weather here on the coast over the past couple of weeks. I seem to remember that last summer was glorious.....blue skies and sun evrery day from mid-May to the end of October. Today it's very humid and loads of menacing-looking clouds which usually clear away around midday.
> And today is the day Michelle Obama passes by our village. Maybe no sun but newly laid road surfaces and a road made out of what was once a campo lane, now a blacktop lined with rather skinny palms and the tatty rondo has had a real makeover. We drove past loads of tough-looking National Police when we took Our Little Azor for his early morning walkies.
> This must be costing a fortune...police helicopters have just roared overhead.
> Mind you, Jo and OH are visiting us tonight so they too can enjoy the expensive welcome


Ah now would Michelles visit be why the airport was on red alert, guardia/national police everywhere, helicopters, roads closed..... What a nightmare down there!! Still, I have my OH here now!

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojo said:


> Ah now would Michelles visit be why the airport was on red alert, guardia/national police everywhere, helicopters, roads closed..... What a nightmare down there!! Still, I have my OH here now!
> 
> Jo xxx



Helicopters constantly circulating, armed and very tough-looking police everywhere...I'm off to the village to buy a stamp to post my Auntie Nellie's 87th birthday card, wonder if I'll be allowed to use the road....


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## greymatter (Jul 27, 2010)

*Costa Del Sol*

wow, seems like you have proper winters over there! when does it start to cool down over there, here it can be hot hot hot until december then and christmas can be glorious too, however we get to the point when we open out curtains in the morning and say ****sunny again!!! so for us it aounds like a nice change although it sounds like you had it bad last year, although we had our fair share of floods and land slides last year too!!

thinking of popping over september time all being well, and taking a tour of the south cost!

do many of the hotels stay open between october and may or is it a case of last one out at the end of october turn out the lights as you go?


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## maxdog008 (Aug 4, 2010)

*Power cuts*



jojo said:


> I've heard that parts of Granada get huge amounts of snow in the winter, so make sure you've got central heating and that its not too prone to power cuts, you know what its like in the campo lol!!!!!
> 
> Jo xxx


LOL thanks for that Jo
Yes i know about the power cuts, thankfully we do not have mains power, solar and a back up generater is what we have with our own water supply so hopefully that will not affect us, we have invested heavily in underfloor heating which will be solar powered with diesel back up.....and failing that we have 500 almond trees that need cutting down LOL xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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