# thinking!



## lyndylou20 (Jan 14, 2013)

Hello, my hubby and i are thinking of living in Spain, i would appreciate a few suggestions/ advice, on the differant areas,pluses and minuses, should we rent before we decide to buy, best place to look for long term rentals etc. Any comments much appreciated.


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## Navas (Sep 2, 2012)

I know others will jump in, but help us a bit more by saying what sort of area you'd want to live in. City/town/village/rural/coast/inland? Lots of expats/mostly Spanish? 
I think you'll also find most people saying that it's probably not the best time to go to live in Spain if you are looking for a job, because the employment situation there is dire.
If you do a search on the forum, for the kinds of questions you need to ask, you will find similar questions have been asked before. Also I recommend the thread "FAQs and lots of useful info"... you may well find at least some of what you're looking for.


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## lyndylou20 (Jan 14, 2013)

Thank you, i will check faq,s, as we have only ever been on 2 week hol,s, before we are not sure about what we want, not right in busy area,s but not too far away either, maybe 10 min,s drive from coast, with an x.pat community, costa blanca area and around there, villa or bungalow with a pool, pref detached. i will go look at faq,s see what i can come up with, thank,s again.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

lyndylou20 said:


> Thank you, i will check faq,s, as we have only ever been on 2 week hol,s, before we are not sure about what we want, not right in busy area,s but not too far away either, maybe 10 min,s drive from coast, with an x.pat community, costa blanca area and around there, villa or bungalow with a pool, pref detached. i will go look at faq,s see what i can come up with, thank,s again.


Hi, and welcome!

If you are thinking of moving to a foreign country then the only thing that you can possibly do is spend time researching for yourself by visiting the areas that you like. You have given a little indication here as to the type of property you want in the area – but on the Costa Blanca alone there are countless areas that meet that criteria but obviously a lot depends on your situation and whether you will be working on what you will require – house that has a telephone line so you can work from home? As silly as it sounds something as basic as that is not a given and I know along the Costa Blanca there are many areas that are not covered by mains telephone service – or even mains water LOL

If I can ask, without meaning to pry – are you retired and coming across here without seeking an income will you be looking for work?

Spain for a two-week holiday is one thing – warm weather, friendly people, relaxed atmosphere, beautiful ocean, good food and of course compared to the UK for a holidaymaker a reasonably cheap place to be but the truth is when you live here the summers are too hot, the winters are too long, the expat community tend to be (and I am not generalising but the regulars on here will know what I mean) in many areas the most difficult people to get along with and often the full system people in the world, the atmosphere can be far from relaxed and indeed stressful until you get used to the fact that nothing is done today and even emergencies are generally dealt with tomorrow, the day-to-day cost of living is in fact on a par with the UK, work is non-existent and yes the ocean is beautiful and the food is good but for somebody who moves out permanently you do occasionally get a craving for things from home and then end up having to pay silly prices for them!

All I'm saying here is that there is a lot more to living in Spain and falling in love with it when you're on holiday but you will of course get from me and everybody else on this forum genuine good and sound advice but all I will say is that if you are not sure of the area you want to live there it is impossible for people in a forum to give their opinions because opinions are exactly that – opinions, and of course what I might consider to be a beautiful home in a rather lush environment would – to some of our members (mentioning no names Mary of course ) be considered chavvy LOL

I spent a few years working in the UK and travelling to Spain including periods of being here for six months and then one month in the UK and one month here until eventually I found the area that I liked and settled down – then fell in love with the Spaniard and moved to a completely different part of town where I never see an English person LOL

So, the people in this forum will be able to give you advice on areas and answer any questions about specific areas that you have but they will not be able to really assist you in choosing where to live because for that you really need to spend a long period of time visiting various areas and experiencing day-to-day life to get a real feel for what they are like outside of the holiday zones. With regards to general questions about life in Spain, the move and the formalities etc you can find more useful resource on the Internet than this forum.

I hope that I can be of further use to you and I hope you don't see this post is a negative one but if you can give as much information about your personal circumstances as possible – the area is exactly where you have visited for holidays and what you liked about them and what you didn't like about them and of course you're working situation, your budget – because that really does make a difference – the area that I used to live in at a house which to be fair was beautiful but my cost of living was double what it is for a similar house where I now live – simply because it was in an area designed foreigners and therefore everything was inflated price. So if you give as much information as you can then I'm sure that people will be up to chip away with it I give you something useful to go on good luck!


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

forgot to add lol

What is your monthly budget? Are you looking to buy, or rent? Do you have children? If so are they of an age where you can integrate them into a Spanish school or would you need to pay for their private education? What provisions do you have for health care? Are you of retirement age and therefore entitled to an S1 form from the UK government or your working age? If you are, then you may not be aware that the requirements now to become a resident in Spain are not what they used to be – you can't just flash English passport to live here – you need to meet certain criteria such as proving that you have an income and of course proving that you have the means to pay for your health So that you are not a burden on the state. All of these things will not only affect your decision will also play a key role in helping you choose where you live.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

lyndylou20 said:


> Thank you, i will check faq,s, as we have only ever been on 2 week hol,s, before we are not sure about what we want, not right in busy area,s but not too far away either, maybe 10 min,s drive from coast, with an x.pat community, costa blanca area and around there, villa or bungalow with a pool, pref detached. i will go look at faq,s see what i can come up with, thank,s again.


You are extremely lucky. In addition to the wealth of information, that the forum members have to offer, frequently based on personal experience, there is another huge resource in the information available on the net.

I spent 8½ years researching for our eventual "retirement" and this included looking at a number of countries with which we had either familial, language or vactional connections before we moved (over 4 years ago) to where we live now in Spain.

OK so you have already decided that you want Spain. You have a rough idea of where you want to be, but why? Do you have a rough idea of where you don't want to be and why? Do you have sound reasons for the criteria that you have declared above? How essential is the proximity of the coast? the expat community? the Costa Blanca? the pool? the villa or bungalow? but not a flat? an urbanisation with other expats? an urbanisation that is largely holiday homes which are empty for much of the year? local shopping facilities/bars/ etc that are almost totally dependent on tourist and close up 'out of season'? What about climate? have you considered the possibilties of very hot summers and maybe winters that feel as cold (in fact feel colder after you have been acclimatised to months of high temperatures) as the north of Scotland. There are a whole load of questions that you need to really sit down and consider. 

I'm not trying to put you off just to point out that there is a lot more to this 'going expat' idea than liking somewhere for a holiday. The majority of people who choose to come here based on that premise with no more than the very minimum of research are those who have mostly gone back with their tails between their legs, not only with their armada of high hopes blown out of the water but frequently skint after having lost everything and more with an unpaid mortgage and other creditors chasing them.


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## djfwells (Sep 28, 2009)

I've only just put my peice of string away from the last time I answered the exact same question.
Try using the "search" button - its amazing what you can find.


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## JosephUpshaw (Mar 11, 2021)

Why not? Today it is not too complicated to realize this!


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