# Made The Move



## The Quilt (Aug 19, 2015)

Hi All,
I've been an observer of this site for the past few years on and off. For years my wife and I had wanted to emigrate to Spain having been here numerous times on holiday as well as other countries. I didn't become a member here because there were so many opinions it was hard to judge what was what. The only way I decided was to make the move and see how things went.

Well that's what we did,and I decided to wait one year before coming on here to say how things went. One year turned into two before I'm finally getting round to it.

We're still here enjoying the life here and hopefully will be for many years to come.I took early retirement,sold my house,bought a smaller one,which I now rent out. We didn't buy here,we rent long-term. This option suits us as if it goes belly up we just move back to our house in Ireland. I am in receipt of a pension which we can survive on happily.

We took a chance and it has worked out for us so far,my pension,my house to fall back on in some form of repatriation make life for us easier and less stressful. People are very curious about jobs etc. well the best option is to assume there are none,and if you need one to survive here, I certainly wouldn't take that gamble. Having said that, I do know people who have got jobs, some only seasonal.

So, I'm here now on this forum and if I can help or advise anyone in any way, I will. I am on here as a person who has made the move, to try to be positive to any questions and to be truthful.

Looking forward to getting involved and posting. Thanks for having me.


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## Keithtoon (May 7, 2015)

Hola,
Welcome! yes this is a great site. I hope to move to Spain in approx 3yrs, @63.
this site has been so good for building up knowledge to help in the progress of the said move. Having people like you adding to it makes it more addictive, it becomes a "I must read every morning thing"

Keith


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

How about replying to this thread?
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ng-spain/842289-moving-consuming-my-life.html


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## Cliffdale (Jul 16, 2015)

Hola Quilt.

I joined this forum as I am in the process of buying in spain....(somewhere)!
We are looking for an apartment in a community complex, near beaches and plenty of restaurants.

We plan to stay around 6 months of the year, probably every other month. My Mrs doesn't want to break the ties in the uk so we will have 2 homes like you.

We are struggling to come to a decision where to go! We are looking at the Canaries, mainly for the winter weather. 

We are also looking at La Zenia / Torrevieja areas but still open to suggestions! Not isolated spots and definitely not barmy English youth resorts!

Where did you finally buy?

I'm interested in chatting to people to help make up my mind!

Clif


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Cliffdale said:


> Hola Quilt.
> 
> I joined this forum as I am in the process of buying in spain....(somewhere)!
> We are looking for an apartment in a community complex, near beaches and plenty of restaurants.
> ...


I'm a resident on the smallest of the larger Canary Islands. shout if you need questions answered.


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## Cliffdale (Jul 16, 2015)

Hepa

Yes thanks. We have written before.

I would be looking at Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura (in preferential order). Mainly for the connection low cost flights to Bristol and Exeter.

So for I have been recommended to look at places in Las Palmas, Adeje and also there are plenty of reasonable priced apartments in Caleta de Fuste. 

I have a couple of trips planned in September, then I will turn my attention to La Zenia.

The trips are for looking around the areas and seeing what is available for long term rents.

I definitely will try before I buy!

Thanks for the offer of help.

Cliff


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## The Quilt (Aug 19, 2015)

Cliffdale said:


> Hola Quilt.
> 
> I joined this forum as I am in the process of buying in spain....(somewhere)!
> We are looking for an apartment in a community complex, near beaches and plenty of restaurants.
> ...


 We didn't buy Clif we decided to rent long term as this suits us better, there are a lot of headaches and stresses with owning a property sometimes I understand. We seriously considered buying though and may still do someday.

We considered the La Zenia/Torrevieja area one time so we rented a friends apartment for three weeks to see if we could get a feel for the place. All I can say is it definitely wasn't for us and I would recommend you check it out as we did before you come to any decision about where to go.

We both decided that the Costa Del Sol area was where we wanted to be after visiting many parts of Spain. Then after considering many areas on the CDS we decided that Benalmadena Costa was where to plant ourselves.


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

The Quilt said:


> We didn't buy Clif we decided to rent long term as this suits us better, there are a lot of headaches and stresses with owning a property sometimes I understand. We seriously considered buying though and may still do someday.
> 
> We considered the La Zenia/Torrevieja area one time so we rented a friends apartment for three weeks to see if we could get a feel for the place. All I can say is it definitely wasn't for us and I would recommend you check it out as we did before you come to any decision about where to go.
> 
> We both decided that the Costa Del Sol area was where we wanted to be after visiting many parts of Spain. Then after considering many areas on the CDS we decided that Benalmadena Costa was where to plant ourselves.


Hi, we have also been looking around La Zenia/Torrevieja area. We in July - only for 7 days - but we were so busy looking at different areas that it was hard to judge. Would you mind telling me the negatives that made you not choose La Zenia/Torrevieja as opposed to the positives you must have found with Belamadenia.

Many thanks.


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## The Quilt (Aug 19, 2015)

sdj101 said:


> Hi, we have also been looking around La Zenia/Torrevieja area. We in July - only for 7 days - but we were so busy looking at different areas that it was hard to judge. Would you mind telling me the negatives that made you not choose La Zenia/Torrevieja as opposed to the positives you must have found with Belamadenia.
> 
> Many thanks.


 You know the way that sometimes you get a feel for a place and sometimes you don't,well I think that's how it went for us. I did find La Zenia very spread out and hard to get around,the bus service wasn't brilliant and at that particular time there seemed to be a lot of petty crime,I don't want to offend anyone living there as it also had good points.

There's no doubt it's got lovely beaches,surrounding areas and it is probably a little cheaper than CDS. Some of the things that made me choose Benalmadena was it's proximity to other areas such as Torremolinos,Fuengirola,Marbella and Malaga to name a few. I love how it's still busy enough during the winter and Ithink it is just a good place to live. Hope this helps in some way.


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

Thank you for taking the trouble to respond. I know what you mean about the feeling - interesting comments about La Zenia area. We had seen reports of crime in Villamartin but when we made further enquiries, it did not seem to be any better or worse than other areas. We don't want to of down as far as CDS as my son won't fly so would need to drive with his family and that would just add to the long journey by road!!


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## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Hi we're off to stay in Playa Flamenca for winter right on top of La Zenia. Booked a holiday rental for winter. Been there many times. It is a good place for starting off I think. And seems to be central to everything. We wish to be near Murcia or Alicante Airport as they fly direct from our local airport. Also know people there. Not sure if that will be the area we choose to live yet though? But la Zenia has one amazing shopping centre...and a Primark so home from home really, just with sunshine. But I will let you know how it is to be there longer term. Soon.


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

Tammydog said:


> Hi we're off to stay in Playa Flamenca for winter right on top of La Zenia. Booked a holiday rental for winter. Been there many times. It is a good place for starting off I think. And seems to be central to everything. We wish to be near Murcia or Alicante Airport as they fly direct from our local airport. Also know people there. Not sure if that will be the area we choose to live yet though? But la Zenia has one amazing shopping centre...and a Primark so home from home really, just with sunshine. But I will let you know how it is to be there longer term. Soon.


Thank you Tammydog. I will be very interested in hearing about your long stay in Playa Flamenca which is another area we liked. We are the same with airports as we live in Devon so Alicante and Murcia flights are easy to get from Exeter or Bristol. If we are lucky enough to sell our house in UK we shall be out again hunting in the winter so I will give you a shout and you can update me!!!:fingerscrossed:


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## Tammydog (Mar 7, 2015)

Good luck. We're in Dorset so not far from you. We will keep in touch


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

Tammydog said:


> Good luck. We're in Dorset so not far from you. We will keep in touch


Great. Have fun when you go over to Spain. We are off to US for a month in September. We owned a large vacation home in Florida until April this year when we sold up. Need to go shopping though!!!


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