# Looking for a nice area.



## Richard_2btrue (Dec 11, 2012)

Hello, we don't know Spain well as a place to live but we are interested in finding out. We moved to Canada from uk 8 years back but finding the air fares a bit tough now. We don't need work but we are looking for an area with xpat community and modern well planned housing to purchase. We would need good public or private school and be within a couple of hours drive from an airport. Does anyone have any ideas of an area to start looking at or know of other online resources?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Spain is huge - I'm assuming you want the south of Spain??? The best thing to do is make a list of your needs, wishes and then go onto google maps and try to narrow it down a bit. I personally like the costa del sol - but many will tell you they dont, Its all about taste and expectations

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jojo said:


> Spain is huge *- I'm assuming you want the south of Spain*??? The best thing to do is make a list of your needs, wishes and then go onto google maps and try to narrow it down a bit. I personally like the costa del sol - but many will tell you they dont, Its all about taste and expectations
> 
> Jo xxx


why ?? what's wrong with my bit of 'halfway down on the right' Spain?? 


joking aside, jojo's right

Spain is pretty big - there are so many different kinds of landscape, weather etc., that it's pretty impossible to recommend anywhere

do a list of 'must haves', 'wants' & 'would really hates' & maybe we can help


although you are probably looking at coastal for the 'expat & modern housing' bit

you say you need public or private school - that might be a place to start - how old is/are the child/ren?

if over the age of 10 then private International school would be a must - so you'd need to be near one of those....


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Where we live might work for you but it is very very hot in the summer months. Mind you we survived this summer and locals here told us it is the hottest they have ever known. There is an excellent private school called Nova school in Añoreta which is close to Rincon de la Victoria. It is about 25 minutes from Malaga airport. There is a lot of good housing around there but do remember this is Spain and house building isn't necessarily the same as you might be used to!!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ticks all your boxes!


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## Richard_2btrue (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks, Spain is huge, but I'm thinking there aren't too many expat communities. We would be learning spanish so the English contact would be important. Our son is nearly 10 so maybe an international school would be good. I like hiking and wilderness and my wife likes restaurants so semi rural was our choice in canada! 
I have checked out some property web sites but I'm not seeing the kind of developments that I expected. The news is that there are a lot of new properties that are not selling.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Richard_2btrue said:


> Thanks, Spain is huge, but I'm thinking there aren't too many expat communities. We would be learning spanish so the English contact would be important. Our son is nearly 10 so maybe an international school would be good. I like hiking and wilderness and my wife likes restaurants so semi rural was our choice in canada!
> I have checked out some property web sites but I'm not seeing the kind of developments that I expected. The news is that there are a lot of new properties that are not selling.


what are you expecting??

what sort of development are you looking for?


the problem with the 'unsold' developments is that if you were to buy on one of them, the facilities probably wouldn't be 'upkept' - maybe the pool wouldn't have water in it or the grass wouldn't be cut.....urb lights not working because bills not paid....

& I'm being serious here - there are some with only one or two purchasers - & unless they are willing to pay for these facilities by themselves, they simply run to ruin

back to schooling - have a look at this - it's the assoc. of British schools here - it would be the best starting point - where there's a British school there are expats

Welcome to Nabss | Nabss


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

Richard_2btrue said:


> Thanks, Spain is huge, but I'm thinking there aren't too many expat communities. We would be learning spanish so the English contact would be important. Our son is nearly 10 so maybe an international school would be good. I like hiking and wilderness and my wife likes restaurants so semi rural was our choice in canada!
> I have checked out some property web sites but I'm not seeing the kind of developments that I expected. The news is that there are a lot of new properties that are not selling.


A nice balance would be the Jalon Valley, plenty of hiking on trails (or not) and Lady Elizabeth school close by. Plenty of good restaurants in the area. We were there for 5 weeks in late Sept/ Oct.. plus just 20 -25 mins to the coast.

What part of Canada are you in??


...


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

I was reading a blog last week, I thought it might be of interest to you as it has photo's and should give you an idea of the many walks a hiking group in the Costa Blanca / Jalon Valley area..

:ranger: I've just looked through my history and 'finally' found the Blog I was just searching for...

Jan and Paul in Spain 2012

....


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## Richard_2btrue (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks for all the suggestions. The hiking looks great. We are currently in British Columbia, beautiful but air fares have gone up every year since we arrived. 
Developments I expected were resorts maybe built around golf with their own web sitess with lots of info such as property layout plans, local area information etc. 
I see these developments have run into trouble but that's probably a good time to buy in so long as the schooling is not too far.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Richard_2btrue said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions. The hiking looks great. We are currently in British Columbia, beautiful but air fares have gone up every year since we arrived.
> Developments I expected were* resorts maybe built around golf with their own web sitess *with lots of info such as property layout plans, local area information etc.
> I see these developments have run into trouble but that's probably a good time to buy in so long as the schooling is not too far.


this is probably the most famous of those
Polaris World

I have no idea if there are schools anywhere near though


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

Richard_2btrue said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions. The hiking looks great. We are currently in British Columbia, beautiful but air fares have gone up every year since we arrived.
> Developments I expected were resorts maybe built around golf with their own web sitess with lots of info such as property layout plans, local area information etc.
> I see these developments have run into trouble but that's probably a good time to buy in so long as the schooling is not too far.


Living in B.C. ~ Used to live on the Island but in the Kootenays now!

Yup air fares have gone up big time and travel back to the UK takes far too long... 

Over the last two years we have spent over 10 weeks in Spain looking at different areas.. I think the area I mentioned has a nice balance of what you are looking for and easy access to the UK via Alicante or Valencia


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## neilmac (Sep 10, 2008)

While walking the dog the other day - I met Ricardo who had lived until his retirement for 32 years in the UK! Being the season he told me how much he missed 'english' desserts particuarly Xmas pud. Now having been to Icleand (Xabia) a few days previously we had a spare one. He was delighted with both that and the mince pie! Then the very next day he arrived with a huge pumpkin and a chocolate turron. Now that's what I call 'nice'! Hope you find somewhere that you like!


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## Richard_2btrue (Dec 11, 2012)

The Kootenays sounds nice! Lots of people mention Nelson but we havnt made it out that way yet, but would love to go do some hiking and a restaurant!
10 weeks in Spain looking around is plenty of time, have you fixed on anywhere yet that suits you and what are your reasons to moving away from beautiful BC to the midst of the euro crisis?


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