# relocating to Spain



## stockyfan (Apr 7, 2018)

Hallo,
I hope you can pass on you best advise please?
I am 67yrs old, my wife is 55yrs old, and we are both retired Police officers.

In 2004 we emigrated from the UK to the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus where we now live. We do have a holiday home in Cheshire which we visit about four times a year.

The reason I am writing this post is we are thinking of relocating to Spain, I have done some research but have no Idea where to begin to look? 

Initially we would rent long term; if we settle down we may purchase a property. We made a big mistake not renting in Cyprus. 

We would ideally like a rural property as we have several cats to accommodate. I play golf (a lot) my better half rides horses. We have a budget of 800/1000 Euros a month but that amount is flexible if we see a nice property.

We have no children so education is not an issue
;
Here are some of our requirements:
A three bed property ideally with a garden would suit us, with or without a pool; we have a pool here which I maintain. The obvious necessities would be close (within an hour’s drive) of an airport.

Decent road links, mains electric and water, access to internet, fairly close within driving distance of shops/restaurants, hospital and a bank. 

We intend to fly to the UK in October then fly to Spain to look around, we could also consider coming over in May, we are back in the UK from the 21st/4th June depending on flight availability?

We do own our property here in Cyprus and have had it valued, it’s in a desirable location and very marketable. 

The language: We do not speak Spanish but we know it’s best to try or at least learn the basics, over here everyone speaks English and the Turkish language is really difficult to learn.

We have no idea of the cost of living in Spain compared to here or the UK, but once again I can research that. 

If anyone can suggest any areas/provinces to live I do have Google earth to look at them.

Any advice you can offer would be very much appreciated.


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## Hepa (Apr 2, 2018)

We chose the Canary Islands, lower cost of living and a warmer climate were some of the attractions. The down side is that being on a similar latitude to Florida and Suez, it is a 4 hour 15 minute flight to the U.K.


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## Rodolfo (Feb 20, 2018)

Have a look at the area very slightly North of Jijona. It's within an hour of Alicante airport, about 20 mins to Bonalba Golf course and there is horse riding about 15 minutes away. At nearly 3000 ft it's very pleasant in summer. Can get cold in February though. Pm me if interested.


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## Moyra (Aug 10, 2014)

Hi we all promote the area we live in, so look at Arboleas it's a small town made up of 30 villages, but we have many perks from our Town Hall. What i would like to let you know is that some remote areas do not have mains sewage a few houses we looked at had a bucket in the bathroom for used toilet paper as the pipes to the "septic tank" were very narrow and the paper would block them. Just something to keep in mind.


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## stockyfan (Apr 7, 2018)

Thank you very much for your replies, much appreciated. The more information we are armed with the more we can decide where is best for us.


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

Consider the Valencia area. It has it's own international airport and you also have Castellon to the North and Alicante to the South, both within 90 minutes. 
Golf courses and stables are both present in the area and an abundance of dwellings that match your requirements. 
As previously advised, many of these are not on mains drainage as is our house, but we have had no problems with blockages and neither has it needed emptying in the four years we have lived here.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

When I was looking the first consideration was temperature; summer and winter. I didn't want and snow or similar in winter and thought the anything over 35C would be unbearable. I wasn't right in that I didn't allow for acclimatisation. I now don't consider it gets hot until 40ºC, and I won't put shorts on until the temperature is well above 25ºC. 

Cold & snow have become worse than I thought and after going to London in January for my grandson's birthday and being snowed in - I now don't go to the UK between December and March. 

If you live in Turkey I guess you know how hot you can stand; The "Costa de la Luz" goes from the Portuguese border to the furthest point south in Spain and I call it "El Paraiso se llama Chiclana" 

You have to consider inland or beach type areas an whether you want to be more Spanish than most or not 

Just my thoughts 

Davexf


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

Mijas in Malaga, is a beautiful place to live, with lots going on. Definitely worth a look.


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

25 mins from the airport...international community. Great restaurants. Nice beaches.


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## stockyfan (Apr 7, 2018)

Thanks again for your replies, someone did say this forum was a mind of information, they were right.


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Be careful, if your wife likes hacking the flies can be so bad that going out in summer is only an option at first light. Fly sprays are of little use. Most good riding schools have fly curtains at every entrance and around the indoor schools. The further south you go, the worse the problem.
Look on horse and hound, forum ,overseas and then seek Spain for more detail.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

ccm47 said:


> Be careful, if your wife likes hacking the flies can be so bad that going out in summer is only an option at first light. Fly sprays are of little use. Most good riding schools have fly curtains at every entrance and around the indoor schools. The further south you go, the worse the problem.
> Look on horse and hound, forum ,overseas and then seek Spain for more detail.


 I used to ride occasionally and never came across this problem on the Costa de la Luz (extreme south west). Maybe the refreshing Atlantic breezes keep the flies away?


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Alcalaina, you have indeed been lucky. This is an article on Western Nile virus brought to Spain by flies https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/tbed.12742.

In 2011 my Austrian friends were keeping 2 Spanish horses on livery in Murcia province. Those horses had to receive thrice daily medication throughout the summer because another variety of fly had attacked them so badly. My friends could not face the idea of a repeat summer and so paid for them to go to live at their home on the Austro- Hungarian border. The facilities in Murcia were immaculate, droppings picked up within seconds and the horses not only showered but hoovered on a daily basis.


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## NightFlower (Apr 17, 2018)

danboy20 said:


> Mijas in Malaga, is a beautiful place to live, with lots going on. Definitely worth a look.


I would also recommend this place


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## Gregorians (Oct 18, 2017)

Hi *stockyfan* and welcome.

There's no shortage of beautiful places to live in Spain, though as others have suggested, start making a checklist of what really matters to you both and the extent to which you're willing to adapt / compromise.

e.g.

- Good international transport links
- Access to good health care - hopefully not important now, but may be one day
- Your willingness to integrate with a community (is it important to be around people who prefer to communicate in English)
etc.

Many Brit expats gravitate towards Andalucia and while I've been to many lovely parts of the region, it wouldn't be my first choice for living there full time (sorry, hope I haven't offended anyone who loves it).

Personally, I made the decision to move here because I love many aspects of Spanish culture. The weather is naturally a major plus for most of the year. But I've intentionally tried to not be near other Brit expats. I don't dislike them, it's just I didn't move from the UK to spend time around other Brits.

Best of luck with your plans.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Gregorians said:


> Many Brit expats gravitate towards Andalucia and while I've been to many lovely parts of the region, it wouldn't be my first choice for living there full time (sorry, hope I haven't offended anyone who loves it).
> 
> Personally, I made the decision to move here because I love many aspects of Spanish culture. The weather is naturally a major plus for most of the year. But I've intentionally tried to not be near other Brit expats. I don't dislike them, it's just I didn't move from the UK to spend time around other Brits.


Andalucia is a big place, bigger than Scotland, and in much of the region there are very few British immigrants. Even on the Costa del Sol there are districts where you will rarely hear an English voice. In the town where I live, 35km from the beautiful Costa de la Luz, there are less than twenty Brits.

I'm glad they are there. My social life is about 50/50 Spanish/English. No matter how good your Spanish is, there are some occasions when you appreciate being able to relax and converse in your own mother tongue, especially when it comes to the subtleties of humour!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Gregorians said:


> Hi *stockyfan* and welcome.
> 
> There's no shortage of beautiful places to live in Spain, though as others have suggested, start making a checklist of what really matters to you both and the extent to which you're willing to adapt / compromise.
> 
> ...


Like Alcalaina, I'd like to put in a word for Andalucia. 
I don't live there and personally I don't want to, but I do know it's a very large region made up of quite different areas which just cannot all be lumped together. 
There are areas that have a very large expat/ immigrant population and that could be German, Scandinavian, British, Polish.... Algerian, Moroccan... And others that quite simply don't. 
In some areas there are large _urbanizaciones_ with houses that are all the same, in other areas there are _urbanizaciones_ where everyone builds whatever house they want, but there's a community pool and others are only 15 houses each with an individual pool.
In some areas you have British shops, pubs and fish and chips. In others there's not a pint glass to be seen for miles.
There's a lot of Andalucia and a lot that hasn't been conquered by foreigners even though it's true that there are areas where you begin to wonder if you are really in Spain at all.


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## stockyfan (Apr 7, 2018)

Hi Everybody.

I really appreciate the replies and the time you have taken to reply. As you can imagine yet another move abroad can be daunting, my better half is quite apprehensive about the move, learning a new language, health, cost of living, Etc.

We have friends who live in the Malaga region and love every moment. We are fairly certain listening to advise on this forum and my own research we will begin to look in or around Malaga. 

If anyone can point me in the direction of an estate agent who can offer advise where to look and take us under their wing so to speak we would be very grateful.

We plan to visit Spain in October for a scouting mission, we intend to spend at least four days looking around and getting a feel for the area. 

We have a budget of around 1000 euros a month initially to rent but can go higher for a place we really like. Not sure what we can rent for that amount? We are willing to integrate obviously, something quite rural would suit us (and our 8 cats) 

I would like to be somewhere near a golf course, riding for my lovely wife Bev.

Once again thank you for your help.


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## cermignano (Feb 9, 2017)

There are a lot of lovely whitewashed pueblos. But some of them have very very steep streets.If that is a problem, you may need to find out about flatter places


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

stockyfan said:


> We have a budget of around 1000 euros a month initially to rent but can go higher for a place we really like. Not sure what we can rent for that amount? We are willing to integrate obviously, something quite rural would suit us (and our 8 cats)


I don't think the money will be a problem, but 8 cats might well be.

For info about where to see ads of places to rent look at the FAQ's sticky


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## Gregorians (Oct 18, 2017)

stockyfan said:


> We have friends who live in the Malaga region and love every moment. We are fairly certain listening to advise on this forum and my own research we will begin to look in or around Malaga.
> 
> If anyone can point me in the direction of an estate agent who can offer advise where to look and take us under their wing so to speak we would be very grateful.
> 
> We plan to visit Spain in October for a scouting mission, we intend to spend at least four days looking around and getting a feel for the area.


Why not just ask your friends around Malaga for recommendations of who to speak to?

English estate agents will tell you what you want to hear but rip you off. But at least it'll be in your native language.

It's a great idea that you're coming on a scouting mission, but four days??

[editing with the benefit of grumpy hindsight]

*stockyfan* I'm not sure what your motives are for moving to Spain, but I wish you well.

There are two types of people who move here, and this is said without making any judgment.

There are those who think Spain is a nice warm country and would prefer it to be UK on sea. They make no effort to integrate with any local culture, nor to learn the language(s). Again, I make no judgment, as if you've worked hard all your life and simply want to retire somewhere nice and warm, why not?

Then there are those who move to Spain because it's Spain. They may arrive with no language skills and find everything very different to the UK. But that doesn't matter a jot. It's about lapping up the culture around you, with time learning the language etc.

Personally, I think those in the second category will get much more out of the place than a warmer climate. But I've met plenty of expats in the first category and am sure they have a great life.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

stockyfan said:


> Hi Everybody.
> 
> I really appreciate the replies and the time you have taken to reply. As you can imagine yet another move abroad can be daunting, my better half is quite apprehensive about the move, learning a new language, health, cost of living, Etc.
> 
> ...



I’m going to make a bit of a generalized comment now but , don’t let an agent take you under their wings, most simply want to make money not be friends. Come over, speak to many different agents get a feel for who you feel comfortable with but always with the caveat buyer beware or In this case renter beware.

Welcome to Spain, it’s a great place if you put the work in


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