# Moving to Torre del Mar - MAYBE



## bassman101 (Jun 28, 2016)

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Been living in Spain for nearly 7 years now. Lived in mountain villages, remote areas, even a cave house and currently in Granada city. Its soooo hot here. Never lived on the coast. Full-on resorts are a no-no but I've been to Torre del Mar many years ago, before moving to Spain and remember it simply as a town with a beach and some tourism. I am a musician and want to play. I can communicate in Spanish but, embarrassingly, despite being here so long, am far from fluent.

Any advice on life there would be great. Myself and my partner will be driving over to have a look soon - its less than 90 mins from Granada and as we were in Nerja last week, hopefully a good 10 degrees cooler.

Thanks in advance


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

bassman101 said:


> Hi, I'm new to the forum. Been living in Spain for nearly 7 years now. Lived in mountain villages, remote areas, even a cave house and currently in Granada city. Its soooo hot here. Never lived on the coast. Full-on resorts are a no-no but I've been to Torre del Mar many years ago, before moving to Spain and remember it simply as a town with a beach and some tourism. I am a musician and want to play. I can communicate in Spanish but, embarrassingly, despite being here so long, am far from fluent.
> 
> Any advice on life there would be great. Myself and my partner will be driving over to have a look soon - its less than 90 mins from Granada and as we were in Nerja last week, hopefully a good 10 degrees cooler.
> 
> Thanks in advance


I know nothing about Torre del Mar, but if "full on resorts are a no-no" why limit yourself to the south of Spain? Of course there are many less than full on costal towns in the south, but the north is there too


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

You are right about the summer temperatures being much cooler than Granada (and the winter ones are warmer too)!

To save typing it all out again, here's a link to a thread with some information I posted for someone else who was enquiring about Torre del Mar.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/993682-torre-del-mar.html


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## bassman101 (Jun 28, 2016)

Many thanks, that's great Lynn


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## therese1 (Jan 28, 2016)

Bassman I passed through Torre del mar last week as I was meeting property agents in Velez Malaga. It seems much less touristic than the other side of Malaga, but its still a resort obviously.
Did you consider Velez, as its only a couple of mikes from Torre DM


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## therese1 (Jan 28, 2016)

Lynn R said:


> You are right about the summer temperatures being much cooler than Granada (and the winter ones are warmer too)!
> 
> To save typing it all out again, here's a link to a thread with some information I posted for someone else who was enquiring about Torre del Mar.
> 
> http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/993682-torre-del-mar.html


Lynn I just clocked your location, wish I'd picked your brains before my most recent adventure. I was in old part of velez and liked it a lot although the houses needed a lot of work. Really liked the ambience, are there many expats there? Doesn't seem as many as at Gandia/Oliva.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

therese1 said:


> Lynn I just clocked your location, wish I'd picked your brains before my most recent adventure. I was in old part of velez and liked it a lot although the houses needed a lot of work. Really liked the ambience, are there many expats there? Doesn't seem as many as at Gandia/Oliva.


I live in the old part of Vélez myself, and we love it here. Property is very cheap, but as you say, many of the cheap ones need a lot of work. Not always, though, a British couple bought a 3 bed house with a roof terrace and fabulous views not far from us last year which had been totally reformed in very contemporary style, for €90,000.

The official population figures for Vélez-Málaga (which include Torre del Mar and the outlying villages too as they are all part of the same municipality) show the non-Spanish population to be under 10% and the British are just a small part of that. There are a few around (I know of less than 50 in Vélez itself) but also German, Danish, Belgian, Swedish, Norwegian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Morroccan, etc. within those figures. 

http://212.227.102.53/navegador_web_diputacionmalaga/fichas/1/29094.pdf

Apart from kebab/pizza outlets, of which there are a few now, Vélez itself doesn't have any non-Spanish bars or restaurants, although there are plenty in Torre del Mar. There isn't a lot of English spoken in offices, shops, etc. so it would be more of a struggle for anyone who didn't speak Spanish to get by here than it would in other places.


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## therese1 (Jan 28, 2016)

Lynn R said:


> I live in the old part of Vélez myself, and we love it here. Property is very cheap, but as you say, many of the cheap ones need a lot of work. Not always, though, a British couple bought a 3 bed house with a roof terrace and fabulous views not far from us last year which had been totally reformed in very contemporary style, for €90,000.
> 
> The official population figures for Vélez-Málaga (which include Torre del Mar and the outlying villages too as they are all part of the same municipality) show the non-Spanish population to be under 10% and the British are just a small part of that. There are a few around (I know of less than 50 in Vélez itself) but also German, Danish, Belgian, Swedish, Norwegian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Morroccan, etc. within those figures.
> 
> ...


Best meals were in Econvento and Bohemia. Did I miss anywhere? Are there any hotels, I really didn't come across any in Velez.
Thanks for the info anyway. I will do another trip if the agent comes up with more potential. He told me that a huge project in old town has just completed and they have sold some buildings for conversion to bars etc. So more properties becoming available.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

therese1 said:


> Best meals were in Econvento and Bohemia. Did I miss anywhere? Are there any hotels, I really didn't come across any in Velez.
> Thanks for the info anyway. I will do another trip if the agent comes up with more potential. He told me that a huge project in old town has just completed and they have sold some buildings for conversion to bars etc. So more properties becoming available.


Restaurants - La Posada del Conde, on the opposite side of the Plaza del Carmen from El Convento, El Caserio de Las Monjas on the same street as Bohemia, La Sastreria in the Plaza de la Constitución and La Gamba Dorada in the town centre (just off Calle Reñidero next to the taxi rank) are also good.

Yes there are some hotels in Vélez, not many. The boutique Hotel Palacio Blanco which featured in a TV show, Build a New Life in the Country (it was converted and set up by an English couple but they sold up about 3 years ago and a Dutch couple run it now), the Hotel Dila in the town centre and the Hotel Avenida at the south end of town on the main road (the latter two are clean and functional but have no character). There are also some very nice tourist apartments in the converted ancestral family home of the owners, La Casa de Las Titas (some of my girlfriends are coming for a visit in September and I have booked them in there) and a good B&B high up in the old town near the Fortaleza if you can cope with the hills, Casa Africana. You can find all of them on booking.com.

I don't know which agents you have contacted but Essential Properties, based in Torre del Mar, probably has the biggest selection of properties in the old town. They have sold more properties up here than any other agents I know of, duriing the 13 years I've had my house (although I didn't buy from them).


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## therese1 (Jan 28, 2016)

Thanks. Lots of useful stuff to check out on next visit.
I did manage a few days in Casa Africano. And I spent a day with an agent from Essential Property. He seems like a good contact so I will keep an eye on their stuff. Also another guy who is based in Velez did have quite a few properties on his books. I had gone to look at properties in Malaga but kind of tagged Velez on, but really I preferred it there so will probably do another trip in its own right.


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## owdoggy (Jul 23, 2008)

bassman101 said:


> Hi, I'm new to the forum. Been living in Spain for nearly 7 years now. Lived in mountain villages, remote areas, even a cave house and currently in Granada city. Its soooo hot here. Never lived on the coast. Full-on resorts are a no-no but I've been to Torre del Mar many years ago, before moving to Spain and remember it simply as a town with a beach and some tourism. I am a musician and want to play. I can communicate in Spanish but, embarrassingly, despite being here so long, am far from fluent.
> 
> Any advice on life there would be great. Myself and my partner will be driving over to have a look soon - its less than 90 mins from Granada and as we were in Nerja last week, hopefully a good 10 degrees cooler.
> 
> Thanks in advance


Lew me ole bucket'o'snot, how the hell are you?

Getting a bit toasty huh?



Doggy


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## bassman101 (Jun 28, 2016)

Ha ha yep - as fit as two short planks. 

Yes, fab place to live but just too bloomin' hot here in the Summer.


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