# Up and Coming Cities - Cartagena?



## bobbyperu (Jun 18, 2014)

Hi everyone, first post on this forum after reading it for several years!
I would really value some opinions here. I'm temporarily in Barcelona and am about to hop in the car with my family to look for somewhere more permanent to live and set up a business (probably an English/Spanish language school/ primary school/training company, etc). I speak fluent Spanish and have a few hundred thousand euros to invest after working hard and saving for quite a number of years!
Here is what I am looking for. Any advice on places to check out much appreciated!

1. A town/city that is up and coming, and with potential, rather than already an established expat favourite. This is primarily for business reasons. Every town has a language school already but we what we want to avoid are the ones which already have big, established, language school chains.
2. A reasonably nice, safe place for two kids under five to grow up. Population of 50,000 or over, or at least easily driveable to somewhere like this.
3. The kids will probably go to local schools at least for primary, but it would be good to have options for an international secondary nearby.
4. Preferably a place where the primary schools use Spanish as opposed to Catalan as the medium of instruction. And probably not in the Basque Country or Balearics either - love them but have other reasons for this.
5. Somewhere where we could get a reasonable town house, walkable to shops etc, preferably for around 250k euros.
6. Some other expats would be nice - but not necessarily total 'expatsville'.

Looking at the above we have decided that the Cartagena area would be a place to look at. Mention it to Spanish people and they tend to recoil in horror as it has a reputation for pollution and being a bit 'backward'. But expats and Spanish who have visited more recently seem to think it's improving rapidly. Any opinions on Cartagena? And then, what about other suggestions? I know there are lots and lots of lovely places in Spain but, as I mention, it needs to be an up and coming place, preferably.
Many thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.


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## scubamike (Jan 2, 2011)

I live close to Cartagena and visit the city regularly The city is fast becoming a frequently visited cruise terminal The main shopping area has recently been pedestrianised I have not heard of or experienced any pollution and I have visited alot of cities in Spain including Barcelona and in my opinion Cartagena is one of the most underrated cities


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