# mijas to live



## karenangell (Feb 6, 2011)

Does anyone know if mijas is a nice town to maybe settle intially, and is the crime rate ok there, and what about schools etc, I seem to be put off by nerja which was our original choice, but we have been to mijas a couple of years ago, and it seemed nice, but as for living not sure.

many thanks


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Myself I would choose Benalmadena Pueblo, as its a nice place & is much easier to access the coast/motorway/shops etc.


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## stevelin (Apr 25, 2009)

Depends what you want but have a look at Alhaurin de la Torre its the other side of the mountain to Mijas but a lovely modern town with good links to everything. Mijas can get very busy in the summer with holiday makers


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## karenangell (Feb 6, 2011)

Ok thanks for the replies, my husband is still set on going to nerja in september, we went there for a holiday in december 2010 for xmas and new year for two weeks, we did like it, and my husband was really taken. Wondering where the best place to settle is, as we are coming over to try it out for a year in september, we have financial back up, and are living off of my husbands income from his business in england, which he would still keep going, whilst we are out in spain. We have always come to spain, since the last five years. We also have a five year old son, so will have to consider we would prefere an area where obviously there are good schools and things to do. We have been to the western side of spain, ie gib, estepona, and marbella, san pedro, fuengirola, torremolinos. bella madena, they were all lovely and we have always been in the december period, and it was very nice weather like our summers or springs at home. Never been whilst in the hottest time in the summer, although have been to all canaries and balearics in summer well hot. Anyway if someone could just give us an idea if nerjas ok for family life, we loved it on holiday, but living is completly different

many thanks


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

If you're talking about Mijas Pueblo in my opinion, its very pretty, very "Spanish looking" but horrendously touristy, which makes it expensive and busy. Mijas Costa (on the seafront further down the mountain) has a lot of expats and there are one or two on here who live there. Not as pretty, but easier to live day to day. Benalmadena Pueblo is probably better, not as busy, lots of brits. Alhaurin de la Torre is lovely, its a predominantly Spanish town, modern and quite affluent. or then theres Alhaurin el grande, which has more expats, has a more Spanish look, but is struggling in the recession.

You need to go and have a look!

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Crime is on the rise all along the Costas and is the inevitable concomitant of high levels of joblessness.

Muggings and breakins are common - in any gathering you will find people who have been the victims of property crime.

But.....in many cases they have themselves to blame. That may sound harsh but two examples: a friend carried with her in her handbag not only her credit and debit cards but a slip of paper with their pin numbers and the code/password to access her bank account. So when she casually left her bag on a chair in a crowded cafe and it was stolen, within half an hour her account had been emptied of over 1000 euros.

We took the dog out for a shorter walk than usual as we wanted to watch a football match. We didn't set the alarm, didn't put down the metal shutters, left the keys in the back door. The only thing we didn't do was to leave a note on the gate saying 'Gone out..come in!' We returned to find the thieves in the house - they fled, luckily taking only 170 euros and my IPod .

Many thefts come down to carelessness or sheer stupidity (I think our case comes into that category). Wherever there is a difficult economic situation there will be high levels of crime and sadly Spain is no exception.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

karenangell said:


> Does anyone know if mijas is a nice town to maybe settle intially, and is the crime rate ok there, and what about schools etc, I seem to be put off by nerja which was our original choice, but we have been to mijas a couple of years ago, and it seemed nice, but as for living not sure.
> 
> many thanks


What put you off Nerja, and would Mijas be different in that aspect?


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## karenangell (Feb 6, 2011)

Hi 
Well i read on anthor forum, from someone who lived there, that they hated it saying that its quite touristy, and they didnt like the dog poo all over the pavements. HONESTLY! thought that was not a really good reason to completely say you hated somewhere and thats what they said, there are a lot of conflicting opionions about different towns and villages, and i thought that the crime rate was less than the uk in most towns and villages, but from what ive been reading its sounds the opposite.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

karenangell said:


> Hi
> Well i read on anthor forum, from someone who lived there, that they hated it saying that its quite touristy, and they didnt like the dog poo all over the pavements. HONESTLY! thought that was not a really good reason to completely say you hated somewhere and thats what they said, there are a lot of conflicting opionions about different towns and villages, and i thought that the crime rate was less than the uk in most towns and villages, but from what ive been reading its sounds the opposite.


Go and have a look, see what you think - we're all different!

jo xxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

karenangell said:


> Hi
> Well i read on anthor forum, from someone who lived there, that they hated it saying that its quite touristy, and they didnt like the dog poo all over the pavements. HONESTLY! thought that was not a really good reason to completely say you hated somewhere and thats what they said, there are a lot of conflicting opionions about different towns and villages, and i thought that the crime rate was less than the uk in most towns and villages, but from what ive been reading its sounds the opposite.


I can believe the dog poo story. You should do a dog poo search on this forum. Hundreds of posts have been made on the subject. 

However areas can change a lot in just a couple of miles and everyone's needs and tastes are different. As Jo says you need to make several trips over to look around and live the life a bit, not take a holiday.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

karenangell said:


> Hi
> Well i read on anthor forum, from someone who lived there, that they hated it saying that its quite touristy, and they didnt like the dog poo all over the pavements. HONESTLY! thought that was not a really good reason to completely say you hated somewhere and thats what they said, there are a lot of conflicting opionions about different towns and villages, *and i thought that the crime rate was less than the uk in most towns and villages, but from what ive been reading its sounds the opposite.*




People tend to generalise. Crime overall in Spain is increasing - what else can one expect with unemployment at such high levels? - but it will inevitably be higher in some areas than others, just as in the UK.

It also depends on the type of crime you're referring to. Bag thefts and burglaries are common around here but the most important type of crime -mafia-linked prostitution, drugs and protection racketing - won't directly affect most British immigrants. Four years ago there was an assassination of an Irish gangster seemingly by a Russian hit squad - a neat professional job, two bullets to the head from AK 47s. That took place within sight of our house in a most respectable middle-class area of a small village. Did it bother residents? Yes and no. It didn't affect them directly - as far as I know none of our neighbours is involved in the Russian, Bulgarian or Irish mafias -but it made people aware that bad things can happen anywhere.

As for dogs....barking dogs and poo on pavements are ubiquitous in Spain, it seems. 
Whilst admitting that dog crap everywhere is disgusting - our dog rarely craps in public places, never on pavements and we always pick up - it bothers me less than unswept streets, potholes in roads, no street lighting, large numbers of people offering to work in our garden for hourly rates I'd be ashamed to pay.

You really need to spend time in many parts of Spain to see which suits you best. Being on holiday no way prepares you for a final move. I'd been visiting the Czech Republic for over forty years before moving there but actually living there, doing the usual daily things, came as a shock.

No-one can really advise anyone as to where they should live...you have to suck it and see Non-touristy areas are very pleasant - our village attracts mainly Spanish summer vistors from Madrid with a growing number of French. But then you will have to become fluent in Spanish very rapidly.

Everywhere has its pluses and minuses.


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## FamilyInSpain (Jun 30, 2011)

We have lived in different parts of Spain and the Spanish islands for over 20 years. We have lived in Mijas, just outside the pueblo for 3 years now and absoloutely love it.
We have a 4yr old daughter and a 7 year old spn who both go to school in the village. They love it and are both already totally bilingual.
BTW I am not going to argue any negative opinions that people may have of this area as I have made my own decision after many years of travelling.
Happy to answer any specific questions you may have about living in Mijas.
BTW we tried living East of Malaga and found it very limited, especially for the children, in the winter months!
Good luck in whatever you decide!
Lisa Sadleir


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## karenangell (Feb 6, 2011)

yes very true and thanks for the feedback will do


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## minty75 (May 10, 2011)

karenangell said:


> yes very true and thanks for the feedback will do


Hi Karen, 

I live about a mile outside Mijas Pueblo. I have a 2 and a 4 year old, the 2 year old is going to a lovely nursery in the centre of town and my 4 year old entered the main Spanish school here. Both have had no problems fitting straight in to Spanish School, but I think at their ages it is not a big problem. 

I like Mijas a lot it is easy to get down to Fuengirola for food shopping etc and only 30 minutes out of Marbella. Mijas does get very touristy in the summer though, but I can't say that concerns us much just one of those things of living in a nice town. 

If you do decide to move to Mijas or you have any other questions, do not hesitate to ask.


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## robberto (Mar 24, 2012)

FamilyInSpain said:


> We have lived in different parts of Spain and the Spanish islands for over 20 years. We have lived in Mijas, just outside the pueblo for 3 years now and absoloutely love it.
> We have a 4yr old daughter and a 7 year old spn who both go to school in the village. They love it and are both already totally bilingual.
> BTW I am not going to argue any negative opinions that people may have of this area as I have made my own decision after many years of travelling.
> Happy to answer any specific questions you may have about living in Mijas.
> ...


Hi
Glad to hear you are enjoying life in Spain. I am considering a move over possibly to Mijas with my wife and three children all under eight. If you dont mind I will now fire some of my own questions at you!

Does Mijas Pueblo also have a secondary school? 

How have you found the primary school bearing in mind we are the sort of parents that value outside activity and learning as much as the formal classroom based teaching. Also your thoughts on the general kind of feel the school has.

We are also very much into our sports, biking, football and generally being active. Would you say the Mijas area is good for all this?

I have read some negative stories regarding soaring crime and just wandered if you would say there is any truth in these?

Many thanks
Rob


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

The people who live in mijas do you actually live in mijas or the urbanisations around it. mijas is one place in the west that tempts us but theres very little property in the actual village for sale.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We live in the campo between Frigiliana and Torrox and Nerja is our main town although we now use Torrox costa and El Ingenio for our main shopping as they are more convenient. Living in Nerja during the summer months will be very busy, crowded with tourists and to be honest as we don't live in Nerja we try to avoid it during the summer months. My parents live just north of Nerja near the Capistrano urbanisation and absolutely love it. Obviously nobody here can 'tell' you where is best for you as we don't know you. You have to decide. But we deliberately chose East of Malaga because we found it on the whole quieter and less touristy overall. Much of where we live still retains so much of what we all love about Spain, but of course, that doesn't mean that such places don't exist elsewhere. Of course they do. The dog poo situation in Nerja is definitely better than it was a year ago with the Spanish themselves beginning to hate it in the streets. Heavy fines are now being imposed for owners who allow their dogs to mess without cleaning up. If you can manage it, my advice would be to spend a month here, two weeks in Mijas and two weeks in Nerja and with your reason for being here this time not being so much a holiday but fact finding, I'm sure you will decide which offers the best for you and your family.


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