# Altea ~ Moraira ~ Javea ~ Denia ~ lliber~ Jalon valley.. etc



## Goldeneye

To those living in these areas could you 'showcase your town' and share with us your reasons for choosing to live where you do.

What were your experiences when you moved, how did you go about settling in...

How did you find dealing with the local council, getting services in your name etc..

What activities and hobbies do you do or took up...

What are some of your favourite social activities you do, your favourite restaurants, bars etc...

Thanks


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## Goldeneye

..
Anyone out there who would care to tell us what is it about the Costa Blanca that made you decide to settle here???

Would love to hear about life in the area


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## djfwells

In all honestly, I stuck a pin in a map of the whole of Spain.
48 Hours later I was on a plane to the Costa Blanca (Jalon Valley) and ended up buying 3 plots of land in Lliber. I fell in love with the area straight away. I was 31 years old at the time and that was 8 years ago. The fact that I have stayed put since then should hopefully speak for itself.


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## fergie

Hi There,
We are ex UK nationals, I'm a pensioner, my husband has a pension, and will work in Hk for a few months each year part-time, as he finishes work in HK full time in May this year. So no worries for us about unemployment here. I would be a bit concerned if we had to look for work here as that is very difficult for anybody, due to recession in spain and High unemployment.
We bought our first holiday home in Spain while we were both In UK and working in UK, but it was further south in Murcia were it is quite flat and arid compared to where we live now in Javea. We always planned to have a bigger home in Spain when we retired, big enough to accommodate family in in the UK when they holiday with us.
We liked this area as soon as we drove north from where we used to live, Green trees, mountains, such a beautiful area. We had already checked out the weather etc locally, and it is a good climate, and air quality is brilliant and clean, I can see stars at night which I couldn't see in HK at all. Also if you are prone to any arthritic condition it is far healthier and better to be here than in England or HK, as it is damp there, my joints don't hurt as much, and the swelling in my husbands fingers reduces when he is here more often.
Javea has a beautiful beach,Kept very clean called the Arenal, sometimes the waves are good enough for surfing, lots of people have boats near here. All along the beach there are restaurants, and many in the town and just out of town on the Jesus Poble rd, lots to choose from.
Javea also has a port area, with more shops and restaurants
Javea has a Historic town centre, with lots of interesting shops, pretty streets, out of the historic town there are lots of Supermarkets, with great local fresh foods in season.
Social activities--- lots to get involved in, golf just up the road from us, playing bridge, getting involved in charity work,many people cycle, and there are running clubs, involvement in Am. Dram/singing societies, many restaurants to wine and dine with friends. I love to do oil/acrylic painting and there is plenty of beautiful scenery to paint round here, we live in the Montgo area-- The Montgo is a big mountain behind our house, I will paint it one day.
When moving here we came from Hk, and although all our furniture had previously been bought in the Uk, then in Hk for four years, then shipped here, we had a mass of red tape and paperwork to get it here, we employed a gestor to help us with that. They wanted to charge a large tax just to get our furniture here and said it could be impounded, luckily I had photo's of it in our UK house before we went to HK, and also most of the original UK receipts, in the end it was sorted and I got my furniture delivered.
As we already had NIE, which we registered for when we bought out house in Murcia 2004, we didn't need to get that again, and we transferred our padron form St. Javia in Murcia, to Javea at the council offices.
Because we had been resident on and off using our holiday home, and I was moving here to oversee work which needed doing on our house,- so more permanently, I was able to get my full residencia last September, as we have been residents and paid taxes for both our houses etc the first house for nearly 8yrs, and this one for 3 yrs. Our solicitor sorts out our taxes for us. A gestor helped with the residencia by taking us to the police registration place in Denia. My husband will be working part time from Hk, after May this year, so will apply for his residencia early next year.
Although I am turned 60, and have a small NHS pension, as I worked all my life for the NHS. I do not receive the Uk state pension until July this year, because Uk is changing its retirement age in stages, which also means I am not entitled to any Spanish State Health care, as I have also lived out of Uk for 4 yrs in HK before coming here, but we do have private health Insurance. 
The health care might effect you differently, depending how long you have been in Canada for.
If you are a British national,law abiding, then you may have similar 'steps' of red tape to fulfil,and there is lots believe me, but it is worth it in the end, Spain and its lovely people make it worthwhile, plus if I can learn Spanish at my age then there is hope for anyone else.


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## xabiaxica

we came here by accident more or less - my husband was meeting someone here who had a business idea over 12 years ago, so we all came over for a holiday


nothing ever came of the business idea but we kept coming back to the area for holidays & eventually we came to live here


over 8 years later we're still here - moved around the town a bit, but we're still in the same town


it's home


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## Goldeneye

Thank you for your responses, we're looking forward to our visit to the region. In-laws retired to Tenerife and lived there for 18years, where as we do love Tenerife and know it really well we feel (for us) it's too isolated as we love to travel and look forward to many mini adventures._ (Hop in the car and see where we end up) ! _

The Algarve didn't feel right for us, neither did CDS, we're hoping that the Costa Blanca ticks the boxes.. _(what boxes we have no idea)_ lol... Just looking for a 'feeling' that yup this 'feels' right.
When we moved to Canada, nothing felt like it could be home until we got to Vancouver Island and were travelling down the highway towards Victoria. Years later we find ourselves isolated between Vancouver and Calgary with no particular reason for being here any more, we considered a moved back to Victoria but in the end after last years driving tour of Spain and Portugal decided we want to be back in Europe but probably not England.

Will be combining a week in Barcelona, a mini circle drive Malaga up to Cordoba, Seville, Jerez, Ronda... With a few days in Valencia. We then will spend most of our remaing time staying in B&B's outside the main towns near Altea, Moraira and lliber. We want to get a feel for the communities in the area rather than the 'holiday resorts' Does that make sense?


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## jules 123

I don't live in Denia permanently but have spent a lot of time there and love the fact that entertainment can be found at all hours - family entertainment and street life til midnight followed by music venues and bars from midnight til 5 or 6 am. I also love walking around the Montgo on a clear Spring day amongst the masses of wild flowers. I could go on but in the past have been accused of sounding like an estate agent.


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## toast

*Santa Pola , Alicante*

Santa Pola South of r Alicante is nice, is a small town, with the airport at 15 km, fishing village, so good fish, fruit markets, and if you need "noise" Alicante is just at 15 minutes drive...
ideal to walk, nice "paseo", very quiet in winter, bussy in summer but not packed.



Goldeneye said:


> To those living in these areas could you 'showcase your town' and share with us your reasons for choosing to live where you do.
> 
> What were your experiences when you moved, how did you go about settling in...
> 
> How did you find dealing with the local council, getting services in your name etc..
> 
> What activities and hobbies do you do or took up...
> 
> What are some of your favourite social activities you do, your favourite restaurants, bars etc...
> 
> Thanks


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## Stravinsky

Goldeneye said:


> Thank you for your responses, we're looking forward to our visit to the region. In-laws retired to Tenerife and lived there for 18years, where as we do love Tenerife and know it really well we feel (for us) it's too isolated as we love to travel and look forward to many mini adventures._ (Hop in the car and see where we end up) ! _
> 
> The Algarve didn't feel right for us, neither did CDS, we're hoping that the Costa Blanca ticks the boxes.. _(what boxes we have no idea)_ lol... Just looking for a 'feeling' that yup this 'feels' right.
> When we moved to Canada, nothing felt like it could be home until we got to Vancouver Island and were travelling down the highway towards Victoria. Years later we find ourselves isolated between Vancouver and Calgary with no particular reason for being here any more, we considered a moved back to Victoria but in the end after last years driving tour of Spain and Portugal decided we want to be back in Europe but probably not England.
> 
> Will be combining a week in Barcelona, a mini circle drive Malaga up to Cordoba, Seville, Jerez, Ronda... With a few days in Valencia. We then will spend most of our remaing time staying in B&B's outside the main towns near Altea, Moraira and lliber. We want to get a feel for the communities in the area rather than the 'holiday resorts' Does that make sense?



In your heading though you missed out a few places that might be of interest

Strangely in the CB North when we were researching and visiting we started out in the South of the area. Basing ourselves in Benidorm we visited Altea, Moraira, Javea, Denia, Jalon Valley, Pedregeur, Pego and had almost given up to be honest.

Please dont shoot me down, those who live there, but I found the areas surrounding Alicante not to my liking. Its very barren in areas and I didnt like the landscape. I dont particularly like Alicante as a city either, but that may be my inexperience of the place showing.

Altea was lovely and we looked at an old house up on the top near the church, but decided it would be too touristy in the summer. We also looked at Altea Hills, and I am so glad we didnt go there!

Moraira seemed as if it was closed. We were visiting out of season, and it was often very quiet and not a lot seemed to be going on. I'm sure there is, but we didnt see it 

I like the Port area of Javea and we did have a good look around there. It doesnt really suit us to be honest. I do go there quite regularly and I like it, but I couldnt see myself living there. The other end is very busy in the summer as well.

Denia ... again I like the town very much and we almost bought a place up by the beach but pulled out because (a) it was quite a walk from the town and (b) I think it would have become a bit crowded with building

Pedregeur and Pego I didnt like as a place to live, but the house in the Jalon Valley we saw I am to some extent sad we didnt follow though with. It was top of our budget and needed a lot of finishing work done to it. The Jalon Valley though is maybe somewhere you should have a look at, its a lovely area.

We chose here because its close to the coast (6 kms), only an hour to Valencia Airport, hour and a quarter to Alicante, it has blue flag beaches, in half an hour I can be in national parks and beautiful inland countryside, and Gandia is quite close where there is always a lot going on. Oliva .... well, some like it some dont but it's an Agricultural town historically and has three distinct areas, old town, playa and the main centre

I find the landscape and countryside here really beautiful and dont regret moving here. We can be in Gandia, Denia, Javea, Jalon and even Xative relatively quickly yet where we are we have peace and quiet as well.

Good luck anyway, but dont discount the little villages around here


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## Nigeljay

I'm not sure I understand Stravinsky dismissing Moraira as closed in the winter ( an oft repeated if uninformed view) and then choosing a quiet, rural ( in the sense of amenities and "high life") area like Jalon. However each to their own. We have our place in Moraira and we love it. Moraira is a compact, unspoiled town with no high rise and strict planning regulations. Like many coastal resorts it's buzzing in the summer and is quieter in the Winter. There is plenty to occupy us all year round. In any event Denia, Javea, Calpe and Altea are all a short drive away, especially since Moraira is central for those towns.

The beaches are bigger in Calpe, Denia and Javea but the smaller beaches and coves in Moraira and along the Benissa costa are more to my taste and certainly more photogenic.

If you want pretty and unspoiled and coastal come to Moraira ( or the Cab La Nao area of Javea). Otherwise for larger towns choose the others. By the way I'll admit I'm biased.


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## Goldeneye

Nigeljay said:


> We have our place in Moraira and we love it. Moraira is a compact, unspoiled town with no high rise and strict planning regulations. Like many coastal resorts it's buzzing in the summer and is quieter in the Winter. There is plenty to occupy us all year round. In any event Denia, Javea, Calpe and Altea are all a short drive away, especially since Moraira is central for those towns.
> 
> The beaches are bigger in Calpe, Denia and Javea but the smaller beaches and coves in Moraira and along the Benissa costa are more to my taste and certainly more photogenic.
> 
> If you want pretty and unspoiled and coastal come to Moraira ( or the Cab La Nao area of Javea). Otherwise for larger towns choose the others. By the way I'll admit I'm biased.


Thanks for you comments, we've been doing a lot of reading and I do like the sound of Altea and Moraira although we're probably more interested in living 'within 20 minutes drive' of the area.

Our only concern is that we don't want to end up finding out that in winter there is a mass exodus and be surrounded by a bunch of empty properties and ghost town! 

Stravinsky Thanks for you comments, we did consider Oliva but I must say I dismissed it after reading that many properties in the Oliva area are 2nd homes the majority being owned by people from Madrid that come in the summer.. We'll definitely head up there and mooch around from our base in Lliber/jalon valley.


Really looking forward to our visit, I am still doing some number crunching trying to work out how much we will need to live on etc.. We are early 50's and being that we've spent most of our lives being self employed we don't have the luxury of a work pension.. 

.


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## Nigeljay

In response to your second question on why the Costa Blanca, we like long sunny days but also a green leafy environment. Arid landscapes are not our preference. However lots of sunny dry weather tends to go with arid as evidenced by many parts of southern Spain. The northern Costa Blanca has pine covered hills and greenery and yet has a great deal of sun. It suited us fine.


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## djfwells

I'm based in Lliber, drop me a PM if you could use a coffee and a few pointers some time.


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## Stravinsky

Nigeljay said:


> I'm not sure I understand Stravinsky dismissing Moraira as closed in the winter ( an oft repeated if uninformed view) and then choosing a quiet, rural ( in the sense of amenities and "high life") area like Jalon. However each to their own. We have our place in Moraira and we love it. Moraira is a compact, unspoiled town with no high rise and strict planning regulations. Like many coastal resorts it's buzzing in the summer and is quieter in the Winter. There is plenty to occupy us all year round. In any event Denia, Javea, Calpe and Altea are all a short drive away, especially since Moraira is central for those towns.
> 
> The beaches are bigger in Calpe, Denia and Javea but the smaller beaches and coves in Moraira and along the Benissa costa are more to my taste and certainly more photogenic.
> 
> If you want pretty and unspoiled and coastal come to Moraira ( or the Cab La Nao area of Javea). Otherwise for larger towns choose the others. By the way I'll admit I'm biased.


I didn't dismiss Moraira (read my comment again), *nor* did I choose Jalon


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## Stravinsky

Goldeneye said:


> Stravinsky Thanks for you comments, we did consider Oliva but I must say I dismissed it after reading that many properties in the Oliva area are 2nd homes the majority being owned by people from Madrid that come in the summer..
> 
> .


I'm afraid you have been grossly misinformed. Oliva is a very lively place all year round. Holiday homes tend to be down on the playa as opposed in the main town. Gandia, a short distance away is a thriving town with lots going on all the time.

OLIVA SITE


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## Goldeneye

djfwells said:


> I'm based in Lliber, drop me a PM if you could use a coffee and a few pointers some time.


We will be sure to do that, thanks for the offer... 
The reason we are planning on staying in B &B's is to hear the owners stories of why they chose the area they are in.. It will be great to get some pointers 




Stravinsky said:


> I'm afraid you have been grossly misinformed. Oliva is a very lively place all year round. Holiday homes tend to be down on the playa as opposed in the main town. Gandia, a short distance away is a thriving town with lots going on all the time.
> 
> OLIVA SITE


Thanks for the link and correction, we'll be adding a couple of nights stay in the Oliva area.. ...Which alas means I'll have to drop one night from our planned week in Barcelona & one from our driving tour around Cordoba, Seville, Jerez & the Pueblos Blancos _(not planning on living there) _ 
.


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## Nigeljay

Stravinsky said:
 

> I didn't dismiss Moraira (read my comment again), nor did I choose Jalon


Sorry Stravinsky. Did read it again and you clearly did not choose Jalon. I'm still not certain where you did choose but there are indicators that suggest Oliva or nearby. By the way, on the road out of Oliva to Denia when we travelled it last November, there were many strange ladies not selling fruit.( and I mean many, in excess of a dozen). Is this usual?


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## jules 123

Nigeljay said:


> Sorry Stravinsky. Did read it again and you clearly did not choose Jalon. I'm still not certain where you did choose but there are indicators that suggest Oliva or nearby. By the way, on the road out of Oliva to Denia when we travelled it last November, there were many strange ladies not selling fruit.( and I mean many, in excess of a dozen). Is this usual?


Yes, those ladies seem to be a permanent fixture of the N332.


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## Stravinsky

Nigeljay said:


> Sorry Stravinsky. Did read it again and you clearly did not choose Jalon. I'm still not certain where you did choose but there are indicators that suggest Oliva or nearby. By the way, on the road out of Oliva to Denia when we travelled it last November, there were many strange ladies not selling fruit.( and I mean many, in excess of a dozen). Is this usual?


As Jules said, they are a fixture


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## PinkPanther

I spent 2 months in the town next to Altea - called Albir - 6 years ago to become a personal trainer. I loved the small town atmosphere and knowing so many people. I would love to go back to that area, perhaps for a year, if it were possible to teach English there!


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## lisajchilds

Hi,

We actually move to Moraira this October. We bought our house last year and are renting it out this summer, but then we'll be full-time in Spain.

Why Moraira?
We started at Valencia but didn't want to live in a city, we looked within a 45min drive radius of Valencia, but didn't like anywhere.

We then figured it's easier and cheaper for us and other people to fly to Alicante, so we kept drifting south until we got to Moraira.

We really liked Moraira, very clean, well kept town, nice beaches, seemed to have a nice friendly community. We too were scared that it 'closes for winter'. So we then looked at Altea...Not good! Lovely old town, great place to visit for a day in the summer, but not a good place to live, and split in half by the motorway. We had a property hunting visit in December 2010 in Altea and decided to pop over to Moraira to see how quiet it was. We were very pleasantly surprised to find it quite busy and bustling. 

So that was it, Moraira isn't dead in winter! Quieter, more focused around eating out at the weekend rather than every day of the week, but we won'e be able to afford to eat out 7 days a week, so that's no problem to us!!

Hope this helps a little, and maybe we'll see you out there from October!!


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## MPRollinson

Nigeljay said:


> I'm not sure I understand Stravinsky dismissing Moraira as closed in the winter ( an oft repeated if uninformed view) and then choosing a quiet, rural ( in the sense of amenities and "high life") area like Jalon. However each to their own. We have our place in Moraira and we love it. Moraira is a compact, unspoiled town with no high rise and strict planning regulations. Like many coastal resorts it's buzzing in the summer and is quieter in the Winter. There is plenty to occupy us all year round. In any event Denia, Javea, Calpe and Altea are all a short drive away, especially since Moraira is central for those towns.
> 
> The beaches are bigger in Calpe, Denia and Javea but the smaller beaches and coves in Moraira and along the Benissa costa are more to my taste and certainly more photogenic.
> 
> If you want pretty and unspoiled and coastal come to Moraira ( or the Cab La Nao area of Javea). Otherwise for larger towns choose the others. By the way I'll admit I'm biased.


I am seeking all the information I can lay my hands on regarding what life is really like for a recently arrived expat from the UK.

I am retired and having promised myself for many years a move to Spain am now actively looking at property in the Jalon Valley (which I read is beautiful).

Is there anyone who has moved recently and might be able to tell me of their experiences please?

Many thanks

Martyn Rollinson


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## mariabc

We are in the process of moving to Spain and leaving Canada. Not sure yet exactly where we want to settle, but we also like the look of Javea. Goldeneye, do you find the winters here never ending?


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## caromac

Goldeneye said:


> We will be sure to do that, thanks for the offer...
> The reason we are planning on staying in B &B's is to hear the owners stories of why they chose the area they are in.. It will be great to get some pointers
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the link and correction, we'll be adding a couple of nights stay in the Oliva area.. ...Which alas means I'll have to drop one night from our planned week in Barcelona & one from our driving tour around Cordoba, Seville, Jerez & the Pueblos Blancos _(not planning on living there) _
> .


The area around Oliva and Gandia is lovely. It is where we set up home and just love it. It is definitely worth a look. Enjoy your search - exciting times!


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