# british expats in and around Barcelona/Valencia



## gilaray (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm considering spending much more time in Spain. I love Barcelona/Valencia and the surrounding areas and was wondering if there are any british expat communities in these areas
I know there are huge concentrations of expats in the costa blanca/costa del sol but these areas dont appeal.
I have a working knowledge of spanish and would like to use it. At the same time I do realise that it can be quite isolating to live somewhere that has purely a spanish population as integration can be difficult even if you speak the lingo
Any ideas/suggestions would be welcomed


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## andmac (Nov 9, 2010)

Hi,

Welcome. We live on the Catalonia / Valencia border. There are 3 towns along the coast here in the bay. There is a small expat community here. Most expats we have met have been in bars and restaurants. You do need Spanish here, but that is fine.

The largest community of foreigners here are the French! So speaking French helps too as not many of them speak Spanish.

All said and done, it is a very Spanish area which is great for us.


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## gilaray (Aug 20, 2011)

andmac said:


> Hi,
> 
> Welcome. We live on the Catalonia / Valencia border. There are 3 towns along the coast here in the bay. There is a small expat community here. Most expats we have met have been in bars and restaurants. You do need Spanish here, but that is fine.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your reply
What are the names of the towns you mention?
Also here in England I like to keep busy with voluntary work ( I work for the Citizens advice bureau) I also like to play tennis and do yoga
What opportunites are there to do these sort of things in Spain? I would hate to just sit on my bottom all day doing nothing except enjoy the sun!!!


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## andmac (Nov 9, 2010)

Hi, we have Vinarós and Benicarló as the main "working" towns and Peñíscola where we are as a tourist destination. We live in the countryside outside town.

There are loads of activities here. In Peñíscola it is seasonal but Benicarló has a sports centre etc which is open all year.

There seems to be endless scope for voluntary work here from dog rescue to charity shops.

There is not a huge expat community but there are british bars and most campsites have a British community in the winter.


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## barca (Aug 18, 2011)

gilaray said:


> I'm considering spending much more time in Spain. I love Barcelona/Valencia and the surrounding areas and was wondering if there are any british expat communities in these areas
> I know there are huge concentrations of expats in the costa blanca/costa del sol but these areas dont appeal.
> I have a working knowledge of spanish and would like to use it. At the same time I do realise that it can be quite isolating to live somewhere that has purely a spanish population as integration can be difficult even if you speak the lingo
> Any ideas/suggestions would be welcomed



Hi. I can't speak for Valencia but here in Barcelona there are of course British expats but they are not concentrated in any particular areas. In many places close to Barcelona like for example San Cugat, Caselldefels and Sitges you'll also find British expats. There is also a British school in Castellfedels. I am sure you would find more than enough English speakers in any of these places (even if they are not necessarily all British).
You mention tennis in a later post and thats a very popular sport here, and joining one of the many clubs will introduce you to many new friends!


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