# Relocating to Spain



## Porker (Feb 26, 2015)

Hi

We are looking to move to Spain with my elderly parents at the end of 2015/early 2016. Primarily looking at the Axarquia region. Ideally we want a village/town that has a health centre, bank, shops etc and is populated, in the main, by locals. Appreciate any feedback on possible locations and any advice to do with relocating (both good and bad).

Many thanks in anticipation

Porker


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

It would appear you need to be very cautious in that region

SOHA - Save Our Homes in Axarquia - Pressure group in Spain fighting to keep their homes : SOHA – Save Our Homes in Axarquia


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

Porker said:


> Hi
> and is populated, in the main, by locals. ).


I guess by local you ,mean Spaniards.

If you and and your parents have pretty good Spanish then OK, if you do not then you are looking for problems. 

I live in a town which can only be described as multinational. That does not mean I must spend any particular amount of my time with any particuar group, but it does give me a choice. 


Also, for the sake of your parents at least, I would suggest you look for somewhere which is not hilly/mountainous.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> It would appear you need to be very cautious in that region
> 
> SOHA - Save Our Homes in Axarquia - Pressure group in Spain fighting to keep their homes : SOHA – Save Our Homes in Axarquia


If the OP wants to live within a village or town, then the problems which affect these poor homeowners won't be an issue. They relate to properties which were built on non-urban land (often with building licences having been issued by local Mayors, and often with backhanders from developers having changed hands, and the properties were later declared illegal by the Junta de Andalucia).

I do think Larryzx's point about choosing a fairly flat area if the parents are elderly is very valid, though. In the Axarquia, only the coastal strip is really flat due to the terrain. There are some flatter areas in Velez (the biggest town in the area) and Benamocarra not far from Velez is also less steep than many other inland villages. There are all the facilities anybody could want in Velez, and I know Benamocarra also has a health centre and a few shops, bars and cafes, although I'm not sure there is a bank. Neither place has a sizeable expatriate community.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Thanks for that Lyn

I too have been looking at the area and it was just that I was cautious when I saw the site for that owners group so thought it best to make the op aware


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Don't reject urbanisations, they might be better for your parents, with mostly ex pats and all amenities there,.
In a small village you might feel isolated, not just physically, if you are not fluent in Spanish, and villages aren't always full of neighbourly people, helping each other, as we are sometimes led to believe.
Will you be looking for work?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

extranjero said:


> Don't reject urbanisations, they might be better for your parents, with mostly ex pats and all amenities there,.
> In a small village you might feel isolated, not just physically, if you are not fluent in Spanish, and villages aren't always full of neighbourly people, helping each other, as we are sometimes led to believe.
> Will you be looking for work?


In La Axarquia, we don't have very large urbanisations with their own shops and other facilities. The urbanisations in this area are really just clusters of houses with maybe a bar/restaurant, and residents have to travel to the nearest town or village to access any other facilities such as shops, banks or medical care, although the majority of the urbanisations are actually built on the outskirts of towns anyway.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I am still trying to visualise, what in fact, an urbanization is, I cannot remember any in England, and nobody seems to know what they are here.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Hepa said:


> I am still trying to visualise, what in fact, an urbanization is, I cannot remember any in England, and nobody seems to know what they are here.


From what I can tell is they can range from being like a village, suburban neighbourhood to a full blown gated community including everything in between.
We live in one, it's a normal neighbourhood type place just out of town.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> Thanks for that Lyn
> 
> I too have been looking at the area and it was just that I was cautious when I saw the site for that owners group so thought it best to make the op aware


Quite right, it is certainly an important issue to be aware of if considering looking for properties in more rural areas (or what were once rural areas, should I say!).


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## Porker (Feb 26, 2015)

We really appreciate all of your replies. Some of the places we have been looking at are Alora, Benamacora, maybe Sayalonga, so if there is anyone who can supply us with some more information on these places it would be a great help. We are not intending to work when we come out, just enjoy the the good life hopefully.

Porker


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

It is a nice area, you only should be careful with the type of property you buy. If it is rural house
be sure to check in what kind of land it is constructed. Urban, non urban or rustic.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Cristian can you explain what you meant when you posted about a new law requiring renters to stay for a year???


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Porker said:


> We really appreciate all of your replies. Some of the places we have been looking at are Alora, Benamacora, maybe Sayalonga, so if there is anyone who can supply us with some more information on these places it would be a great help. We are not intending to work when we come out, just enjoy the the good life hopefully.
> 
> Porker


I can only comment on Benamocarra, but that would seem to fit your needs well. As I said earlier it's less steep and hilly than the majority of villages in the area (certainly Sayalonga is much, much steeper and further from the coast as well, although very pretty). It is only a few minutes by car from Velez-Malaga, the largest town in the area, for all shopping, banking, all the local official offfices you will need to deal with, etc. and less than 15 minutes by car to the coast at Torre del Mar. Because it's at a lower altitude than the villages further inland, the winter temperatures will be a bit higher than further inland too, which is not only more pleasant but means lower heating bills too! There are a few shops and bars in the village itself, and they do have a Health Centre although I don't think it is staffed every day of the week. The main hospital for the whole area, the Hospital Comarcal de La Axarquia, is less than 15 minutes away by car too, as it is situated between Velez and Torre del Mar. There is a local bus service which runs to Velez and Torre del Mar, but there are only a few buses per day, about 4 I think, and none in the evenings so a car will be essential really. I am sure there will be a few British, or at least English speaking, residents there (where aren't there, these days?) but both the village and Velez-Malaga are predominantly Spanish.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Lynn within that general area your hometown definitely sounds like it has a lot to offer. With it being a bigger place is internet better there? Fibre optic- or is that pushing it?


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> Cristian can you explain what you meant when you posted about a new law requiring renters to stay for a year???


Hello
This law only apply for long term rentals. And usually this conditions are used by agency contracts.
Rent law establish that if the tenant leaves the house before the 12 first months,
the owner can keep a month rent.
If the tenant leaves in the first 6 months the owner can even keep two months rent.
Therefore many times 2 months deposit is required.
this is the law, and it is not always applied.
The same law establish that after the first 12 months the owner can claim the use of the house for himself.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> Hello
> This law only apply for long term rentals. And usually this conditions are used by agency contracts.
> Rent law establish that if the tenant leaves the house before the 12 first months,
> the owner can keep a month rent.
> ...


Thank you very much, very helpful


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> Lynn within that general area your hometown definitely sounds like it has a lot to offer. With it being a bigger place is internet better there? Fibre optic- or is that pushing it?


You can get fibre optic broadband (with coax cable into the house from the connection in the street) within Velez itself, from one of two local cable TV companies, and in some, but not all, areas of Torre del Mar, but no further out than that, I'm afraid.

I have a 20 mbps service from one of these companies, Electrovideo TV (the other one is Velevisa), which costs €18 per month inc IVA, a lot cheaper and faster than the wimax broadband we used to have. They also offer 30 mbps and 50 mbps services, although obviously they are more expensive.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

By the way, if anyone is looking for somewhere to stay whilst making a recce of the area, I can highly recommend this place (I have no connection with the business, honest!


Apartment La Casa de Las Titas, Velez, Spain - Booking.com


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> Hello
> This law only apply for long term rentals. And usually this conditions are used by agency contracts.
> Rent law establish that if the tenant leaves the house before the 12 first months,
> the owner can keep a month rent.
> ...


Can you please post a link to where this law is written as I don't know of these changes! I have a number of agents managing my properties and not one of them has mentioned these issues.


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

*Rental law*



snikpoh said:


> Can you please post a link to where this law is written as I don't know of these changes! I have a number of agents managing my properties and not one of them has mentioned these issues.


Rental law

This is in Spanish but can be useful:Nueva ley del alquiler: las claves para inquilino y casero | Economía | Cinco Días

The law says the tenant should stay at least 6 months, after that he has to notify with 30 days or will loose another month.
You can get back you property for your use after 12 months if you need it, and the contracts now are a maximum of 3 years , instead of 5.
All these wa applied together with the need of an energy certificate to rent or to sell.


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## Porker (Feb 26, 2015)

Many thanks for you reply Lynne R, can I ask if you live in Benamacorra?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Porker said:


> Many thanks for you reply Lynne R, can I ask if you live in Benamacorra?


No, I live in Velez-Malaga which is about 3km away.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> Rental law
> 
> This is in Spanish but can be useful:Nueva ley del alquiler: las claves para inquilino y casero | Economía | Cinco Días
> 
> ...


This is not what you said before! 

I know they have the automatic right to renew for up to 3 years now and not 5. I also know that long-term contracts can now be 6 or 12 months.

I did not know that one now needed a CEE to rent a property (this is new to me so I will re-read the law and not some article) also I had not noticed that owners can get their properties back after 12 months.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> This is not what you said before!
> 
> I know they have the automatic right to renew for up to 3 years now and not 5. I also know that long-term contracts can now be 6 or 12 months.
> 
> I did not know that one now needed a CEE to rent a property (this is new to me so I will re-read the law and not some article) also I had not noticed that owners can get their properties back after 12 months.


I knew the first two & the CEE - but I didn't/don't know about the 12 months thing either

no time to read the law atm, maybe over the weekend


maybe CristiandelaTorre could give us a hint as to which chapter & clause it is, to save us some time?


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> This is not what you said before!
> 
> I know they have the automatic right to renew for up to 3 years now and not 5. I also know that long-term contracts can now be 6 or 12 months.
> 
> I did not know that one now needed a CEE to rent a property (this is new to me so I will re-read the law and not some article) also I had not noticed that owners can get their properties back after 12 months.


Is the same as I said. It´s my fault to mix uses and the law itself.
-Long term Contracts are signed for one year minimum. not 6 months.
There is another rental use that is short term, that has a maximum length of 11 months.

-And if the tenant leaves without noticing before 6 months he is penalized with 2 months,
sometimes even if he notice.
-If he leaves before a year without noticing he is penalized with one month. Some contracts
even with notice.

This is applying at most agencies in Madrid, and some in Barcelona. Again the law is there but anything can be arrange.

Now if you read article 11, you can see that if the tenant leaves before 12 months he can be panelized for time is left for the year.

I was trying to explain the law and what is usually done in just one post, please don't criticize me for that.


Sorry for linking some" article" as it a resume of the law by an economic paper I thought it was useful If you prefer the law:

http://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/espana/eh14/otras/Documents/LEY ALQUILER 4.2013.pdf


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> Is the same as I said. It´s my fault to mix uses and the law itself.
> -Long term Contracts are signed for one year minimum. not 6 months.
> There is another rental use that is short term, that has a maximum length of 11 months.
> 
> ...


yes we have a link to the LAU in our FAQs already, of course

it's the reference to the owner taking the property back after 12 months I haven't seen - whereabouts is that?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> Rental law
> 
> This is in Spanish but can be useful:Nueva ley del alquiler: las claves para inquilino y casero | Economía | Cinco Días
> 
> ...


Ahhhh. It's not a new law, but maybe the latest. That's why I was confused. I thought the PP had perhaps pushed through another Real Decreto, or something as they are fond of doing!!
This law is in the FAQ's on the forum as xabiachica has already pointed out.


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

xabiachica said:


> yes we have a link to the LAU in our FAQs already, of course
> 
> it's the reference to the owner taking the property back after 12 months I haven't seen - whereabouts is that?


It´s in article 9, point 3

http://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/espana/eh14/otras/Documents/LEY ALQUILER 4.2013.pdf


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> It´s in article 9, point 3
> 
> http://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/espana/eh14/otras/Documents/LEY%20ALQUILER%204.2013.pdf


but it has always - well, for a very long time, anyway - been the case that an owner can take the property back under those circumstances -* if they, or immediate family need the property to live in *- so that's nothing new

what has changed, is that the tenant seems to have more protection for the first year, whereas in the past, before the 2013 changes to the LAU, the owner could take the property back at any time under those circumstances

that's why I didn't understand what you meant - you seemed to be saying that after a year, the owner could just demand that you leave for no reason, should they choose to


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

xabiachica said:


> but it has always - well, for a very long time, anyway - been the case that an owner can take the property back under those circumstances -* if they, or immediate family need the property to live in *- so that's nothing new
> 
> what has changed, is that the tenant seems to have more protection for the first year, whereas in the past, before the 2013 changes to the LAU, the owner could take the property back at any time under those circumstances
> 
> that's why I didn't understand what you meant - you seemed to be saying that after a year, the owner could just demand that you leave for no reason, should they choose to


I was advising to rent a property before buying a property in a place without knowing the area. And what i said was be aware with the new rental law because you may have to stay one year in one place.
What do you don´t understand? why are saying that my post is not useful? 
Before June 2013 is was nearly impossible to use again your property if the tenant didn't want to, and you had to wait to the end of the five years contract. Now after one year is pretty easy. Big change!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> I was advising to rent a property before buying a property in a place without knowing the area. And what i said was be aware with the new rental law because you may have to stay one year in one place.
> What do you don´t understand? why are saying that my post is not useful?
> Before June 2013 is was nearly impossible to use again your property if the tenant didn't want to, and you had to wait to the end of the five years contract. Now after one year is pretty easy. Big change!!


it's hardly new - it came into effect in June 2013

What I'm saying is, what you said here, in post #21


> You can get back you property for your use after 12 months if you need it


 wasn't quite accurate - since you left out the important part, which is * if they, or immediate family need the property to live in *- they can't just change their minds about letting it, which is what your post seemed to suggest

as I said, before the June 2013 change, the owner could in fact do this under those circumstances at any time - they didn't have to wait a year - so yes a change - but to the advantage of the tenant, not the owner


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

xabiachica said:


> it's hardly new - it came into effect in June 2013
> 
> What I'm saying is, what you said here, in post #21 wasn't quite accurate - since you left out the important part, which is * if they, or immediate family need the property to live in *- they can't just change their minds about letting it, which is what your post seemed to suggest
> 
> as I said, before the June 2013 change, the owner could in fact do this under those circumstances at any time - they didn't have to wait a year - so yes a change - but to the advantage of the tenant, not the owner



If you think so, it´s fine with me. 

Before 2013 it was nearly impossible ("if the tenant did not want to"), you needed to get to an agreement with the tenant or go for trial.
There was only a way, but you had to demonstrate in front of a judge that you or your sons didn´t have any other place to live, or money to rent something. 
Now you can ask to use it and you don´t need to demonstrate anything. For me is a big change that protects owners, and not tenants.
But of course that is what I think.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> If you think so, it´s fine with me.
> 
> Before 2013 it was nearly impossible ("if the tenant did not want to"), you needed to get to an agreement with the tenant or go for trial.
> There was only a way, but you had to demonstrate in front of a judge that you or your sons didn´t have any other place to live, or money to rent something.
> ...



aaahh, so it has to go to trial if the tenant doesnt agree - I wonder how long that would take and how much it would cost...... especially if the tenant does a runner the day before and without paying the rent lol

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CristiandelaTorre said:


> If you think so, it´s fine with me.
> 
> Before 2013 it was nearly impossible ("if the tenant did not want to"), you needed to get to an agreement with the tenant or go for trial.
> There was only a way, but you had to demonstrate in front of a judge that you or your sons didn´t have any other place to live, or money to rent something.
> ...


according to the LAU the owner would still have to do that - they'd still have to prove that they need it in those circumstances, I suggest you re-read the LAU

what you haven't mentioned though, is that if the contract is registered with the land registry, _then _it's much easier for the owner to remove the tenant for non-payment of rent, & very quickly - *that's *the big difference in the June 2013 changes 

of course if it is registered & owner wanted to sell, they'd have to honour the duration of the contract - the tenant would have the right to stay


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## CristiandelaTorre (Feb 26, 2015)

xabiachica said:


> according to the LAU the owner would still have to do that - they'd still have to prove that they need it in those circumstances, I suggest you re-read the LAU
> 
> what you haven't mentioned though, is that if the contract is registered with the land registry, _then _it's much easier for the owner to remove the tenant for non-payment of rent, & very quickly - *that's *the big difference in the June 2013 changes
> 
> of course if it is registered & owner wanted to sell, they'd have to honour the duration of the contract - the tenant would have the right to stay



I´m tired discussing which things I said or which did not mention, 
I will stick to the post matter, not this endless dialogs.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

So, back to the topic ............ and the OPs original question


> Hi
> 
> We are looking to move to Spain with my elderly parents at the end of 2015/early 2016. Primarily looking at the Axarquia region. Ideally we want a village/town that has a health centre, bank, shops etc and is populated, in the main, by locals. Appreciate any feedback on possible locations and any advice to do with relocating (both good and bad).
> 
> ...


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## ABERAFON (Aug 15, 2014)

jojo said:


> So, back to the topic ............ and the OPs original question


Competa is also a nice place with a good mix of Spanish and expats and a working community.


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