# Newbie wanting to move to Spain



## flashdizzy (Mar 21, 2015)

Hi all.
My husband and I (a young 60 me and hubby 52) are wanting to relocate to Spain but am unsure as to the best area to be looking at. He will probably retire but I have an on-line business that I want to continue with and will need to fly back to UK East Midlands, a couple of times a month.
Could anyone suggest an area for us to be looking at. We don't really want to be in a tourist area but would like to be near some bars and shops and relatively near to an airport. An area where Brits have settled would also be nice.
Thank you in advance for any help.


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

flashdizzy said:


> Hi all.
> My husband and I (a young 60 me and hubby 52) are wanting to relocate to Spain but am unsure as to the best area to be looking at. He will probably retire but I have an on-line business that I want to continue with and will need to fly back to UK East Midlands, a couple of times a month.
> Could anyone suggest an area for us to be looking at. We don't really want to be in a tourist area but would like to be near some bars and shops and relatively near to an airport. An area where Brits have settled would also be nice.
> Thank you in advance for any help.


Hi welcome !

We live just inland of Alicante city , its quite well located for the Airport and just a short drive to the City and coast , we have a small community of expats in our village, but its not over run buy them !

Are you looking for a property with a reasonable size plot , or would you prefer to be on an urbanisation , with a small plot and close neighbours ?

Alicante is well situated centrally on the Costa Blanca , making it easy to travel the north and south in the region 

feel free to ask if you have more interest in our area and I will try my best to help !!

Tony Agost Alicante


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Before you start worrying about properties, you need to make sure that the airport you are choosing to be near has the right flights, to the right destination, at the right prices. For us, Malaga was the best. But that was for Gatwick in the UK. 

Once you've done that, you need to make a few fact finding trips, to find the type of area and what it has to offer, then maybe rent for a while and get an idea of your surroundings

Jo xxx


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## flashdizzy (Mar 21, 2015)

Thank you for your replies. Our aim is to rent while we look around for a property suitable for us. We have 2 dogs so we would need a property suitable for animals but don't want to be isolated. I need to look into the flights to East Mids now that I have some ideas as I had been looking at Murcia previously. A village area sounds lovely. Do you need to be fluent in Spanish. Thank you so much for your help and advice


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

jojo said:


> Before you start worrying about properties, you need to make sure that the airport you are choosing to be near has the right flights, to the right destination, at the right prices. For us, Malaga was the best. But that was for Gatwick in the UK.
> 
> Once you've done that, you need to make a few fact finding trips, to find the type of area and what it has to offer, then maybe rent for a while and get an idea of your surroundings
> 
> Jo xxx


I agree Jo,

best to find out all the facts first , as to regards to renting it is a good idea if you can afford to , but I personally feel , now is also a good time to buy we have seen people from the UK recently move to our small village , and that hasn't happened for years !

that is telling me people are taking advantage of the good exchange rate and extra low property prices 

I think things are starting to sell again , which is good ! but there are only so many bargains to be had and waiting too long ( although sensible ) could mean paying a higher price for a similar property later .

But that is just my own opinion, based on what I have seen locally , could be totally different in another area !

Tony


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

flashdizzy said:


> Thank you for your replies. Our aim is to rent while we look around for a property suitable for us. We have 2 dogs so we would need a property suitable for animals but don't want to be isolated. I need to look into the flights to East Mids now that I have some ideas as I had been looking at Murcia previously. A village area sounds lovely. Do you need to be fluent in Spanish. Thank you so much for your help and advice


No you don't need to be fluent in Spanish , I am not for sure , It dose help if you are willing to try though !

In saying that I know some people that can hardly speak a word , but they still get by !


Cheers Tony


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

tonymar said:


> I agree Jo,
> 
> best to find out all the facts first , as to regards to renting it is a good idea if you can afford to , but I personally feel , now is also a good time to buy we have seen people from the UK recently to our small village , and that hasn't happened for years !
> 
> ...



Regardless of property prices, if you're new to a country or an area and dont know much about it, then its best to rent first. Buying and selling is a very costly and still a fairly slow business in Spain, even if prices are moving in the right direction again, altho thats still debatable. Agents of course will tell you otherwise, but then they have a vested interest.

Jo xxx


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

jojo said:


> Regardless of property prices, if you're new to a country or an area and dont know much about it, then its best to rent first. Buying and selling is a very costly and still a fairly slow business in Spain, even if prices are moving in the right direction again, altho thats still debatable. Agents of course will tell you otherwise, but then they have a vested interest.
> 
> Jo xxx


Yes Jo

It is best to rent first ,

We couldn't afford to 12 years ago, as there was very little property available in our price bracket , and prices were going up on a weekly basis !

Now is a little different , and it is best to rent first if you can afford to !

Cheers Tony Agost Alñicante


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## Tezz (Mar 21, 2015)

Most important will be your Airport then you make your decision around that. There are many lovely villages all over Spain you will be spoiled for choice. Would you prefer to be in the mountains/ seaside/ lake/river/hot/cooler/ town/city etc.
Like above i would recommend a rental as what you think you want may change ( you may want a country property with loads of land but find it is a lot to handle, feel isolated or the other way round). Always make sure when buying that all the paperwork is in order, check personally at the townhall for future pos intrusions and get a survey done.
I speak fluent spanish but know many that do not. Its not essential but i would highly advise you to learn the basics out of respect for your new home if you struggle with languages. I have lived both on the costa blanca, costa del sol (inland) and traveled extensively throughout Spain and Portugal. There are some breath taking places and wonderful people to meet. Wish you all the best on your new journey and when you have the answers if you like pm me and i will suggest a few places that match what you are looking for. Good luck = )


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## flashdizzy (Mar 21, 2015)

Thank you for the info. Yes I agree I wouldn't want to move to another country without being able to speak a work of the language. A lot to think about here. Many thanks. Jayne


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

When I first started flying to Barcelona 10 or so years ago, I could fly using Thompson from Coventry. When they stopped, I had a year or so using Easyjet from Birmingham. After a year or two, Easyjet stopped flying from Birmingham, so then it was driving up to East Midlands. Then Ryanair took over the route for a while. When they stopped, the nearest direct flight was from Bristol, two hours drive away. After a couple of years flights started to come back to Birmingham.

I think the moral of this tale is, don't rely on the cheap airlines to keep their routes the same for long.


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## flashdizzy (Mar 21, 2015)

Ooh that's a worry. Perhaps we are best to look at the larger airline routes and anything we can get cheaper will be a bonus. Thank you for highlighting that for me. Jayne


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Helenameva said:


> When I first started flying to Barcelona 10 or so years ago, I could fly using Thompson from Coventry. When they stopped, I had a year or so using Easyjet from Birmingham. After a year or two, Easyjet stopped flying from Birmingham, so then it was driving up to East Midlands. Then Ryanair took over the route for a while. When they stopped, the nearest direct flight was from Bristol, two hours drive away. After a couple of years flights started to come back to Birmingham.
> 
> I think the moral of this tale is, don't rely on the cheap airlines to keep their routes the same for long.


The same thing happened with Granada Airport when Ryanair pulled all their flights out of there, and people who had bought property in that area were faced with a much longer journey to Malaga or Almeria, so I believe it's best to be within easy reach of a large airport in Spain with a wide choice of carriers.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

We found Malaga was good, but then it is a major airport and so is Gatwick at the other end. We had the choice of 4 different airlines all offering cheap and frequent flights. One did pull out, but it was replaced.

My husband (he commuted for work) used to book a whole load of flights every few months and because he had become a "frequent flyer", he was able to move and change flights at no extra cost

Jo xxx


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> The same thing happened with Granada Airport when Ryanair pulled all their flights out of there, and people who had bought property in that area were faced with a much longer journey to Malaga or Almeria, so I believe it's best to be within easy reach of a large airport in Spain with a wide choice of carriers.


w.r.t. Granada - we now have BA from London City and pricewise, since luggage is included plus refreshments, etc. and GRX is much nearer that AGP it works out as cheap as, if not cheaper than, driving all the way to Málaga.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> w.r.t. Granada - we now have BA from London City and pricewise, since luggage is included plus refreshments, etc. and GRX is much nearer that AGP it works out as cheap as, if not cheaper than, driving all the way to Málaga.


Which is wonderful if you happen to want to travel to London, but wouldn't be of much use to me wanting to go to Manchester - getting to Manchester from London City either involves a connecting flight most likely costing as much as the Granada-London one, or a lengthy journey taking longer than the international flight.

The advantage of the larger airports is that there are flights available to most areas of the UK.

Mind you I wish BA still operated the Malaga-Manchester route (or rather their subsidiary GB Airways did) as we used to use that in preference to other airlines.


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## A-Knight (Aug 13, 2014)

I agree, if you're going to be returning every month you'll want to make sure you'll have easy access to an Airport that has the flights you'll need. 
You shouldn't worry about language, most people I encounter have moderately good English. Plus, it's really easy to pick up on the language if you're interested in learning it. 

All The Best, A. Knight.


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## Tezz (Mar 21, 2015)

I know they stopped the flights from Norwich - Malaga a few years ago, that said Malaga does seem to be the most reliable airport with most flights. Also if you are in that area worst case scenario you could be based between Granada, Gibraltar and Jerez. Not ideal if a flight was cancelled but not the end of the world. Costa del sol or inland there all apx 1.5hr drive if your bang in the middle.
If you like to travel you have Portugal and Morocco just down the ' road' if you fancy a weekend away = )


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Tezz said:


> I know they stopped the flights from Norwich - Malaga a few years ago, that said Malaga does seem to be the most reliable airport with most flights. Also if you are in that area worst case scenario you could be based between Granada, Gibraltar and Jerez. Not ideal if a flight was cancelled but not the end of the world. Costa del sol or inland there all apx 1.5hr drive if your bang in the middle.
> If you like to travel you have Portugal and Morocco just down the ' road' if you fancy a weekend away = )


Málaga is an awful airport. It is a 5 hour round trip for us. Wait ages for baggage, then the dodgems on the A7 to get to the A45.

Granada (45 mins away) is much better, small airport, check-in only 20 mins before take-off. On arrival arrive and you are leaving the car-park within 15 minutes of landing (Málaga, you would still be walking to the car). Granada has BA to London City, very convenient with good transport links unlike poxy Stansted.


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