# Opinions on Costa Calida



## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

HI there

we are thinking of moving out to Spain to live in a few years time, we will buy a few years in advance of moving. I have done so e digging and Costa Calida seems to tick the boxes of , not too pricey, not too busyand has a decent expat community. Would people agree with this ? Obviously, we will spend a fair bit of time over there looking around, but I'd appreciate any one with opinions on nice places/places to avoid etc...
Thx


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Well the Costa Calida stretches from El Mójon , near Alicante down to past Águilas & I assume from your 'decent expat community' you must be looking up the Alicante end as once you come past San Javier , apart from Mazarron/Puerto de Mazarron , the expat community doesn't really exist. 
Not pricey, yes there's 000's of bargains to be had. Busy , no except in main tourist areas in the summer & carnival times. Back in the 'good times' you'd see a few people in some places in the autumn/winter, but these days you've a hard job to find a soul in some areas.

Most of the foreign expats down this way tend to live scattered about in the country side & on the outskirts of towns.
The weather is excellent all year round with not much rain; especially where I am in Lorca. Nearer the coast the temperature/humidity is ideal but we suffer here from excessively high summer temperatures c40º, & humidity.


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

Thx Gus, I did see places in Camposol, Bolnuevo and Puerto Mazarron that seemed nice (looking for 3 bed + with pool). Are there any other towns that you think fit the bill that I should take a look ?


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Not with a notable expat community down this way. You'd have to go up above San Javier & all along towards La Manga way.


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

Thanks Gus


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

Have donene a lot of research and particularly like some of the cortijos near Lorca and Purias and the rural settings. Are there key differences in build quality between these and the established golf resort type villas ?. You mentioned you were down that way, if you don't mind me asking, what swung you towards that area as opposed to the community type areas ?.

We're over in April on a recon mission, may use Paco House agents as they seem to have a good portfolio of these properties, any others you know of you'd recommend ?

Apologies again for all the questions but impartiality is tough to find.
thx


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

reggieblue said:


> Have donene a lot of research and particularly like some of the cortijos near Lorca and Purias and the rural settings. Are there key differences in build quality between these and the established golf resort type villas ?.


Cortijo's are country style houses/residences. Generally built using local materials, local builders and labour and tend more towards being rustic residences. Properties on purpose built golf resorts will be architect designed using modern building methods and standard of finish.

That's a 'general' differentiation between the two styles and my opinion on how they would differ. I do hope someone else more knowledgeable than I am about building styles, particularly of Cortijo's comes along and expands on this as I'd like to know more about this myself.

In my opinion it would be wrong to think that Cortijo's are inferior because of this. They have a charm in and of themselves and many can still be well constructed. Conversely, professionally constructed properties can often be of shoddy build quality and use inferior materials.

The only real way of knowing the differences is to visit and view as many properties as you can and get a feel for what is being offered for what price and what you are actually getting for your money. Only that way can you get a true feel of the different property styles and their perceived value for money.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Most of the newer builds around here are constructed by small local builders & are of good quality but normally still constructed as though they are 'weekend'/ 'summer houses. I.e.the normal reinforced concrete floors & pillars & infilled with 10cm (4") ladrillos. This obviously doesn't lend itself to keeping the heat in the property in winter.
Over the last few years most properties being constructed, especially for the Spanish, are of the same concrete construction but the wall infills are normally specified as the 33cm (13") thick wall ladrillos & foam sprayed insulation on the outer walls & roof , before tiles go on. If they can't run to the additional expense of the 13" ones & use the smaller, then they'll spray both interior & exterior walswith the insulating foam. This is then plastered as normal inside & out. It's an extremely efficient way of insulating & not that expensive.
Any of the much older cortijos you look at , i.e. 50 + years are likely to have been built of 'adobe' bricks , similar to 'cob in the UK . A highly efficient form of keeping cold out heat in , in winter & reverse in summer.
I know of 'Paco house' & knew a lady who worked with him under its former name, 'sun-marine casas'.
I've actually looked at the site before for someone else from on here who was looking. 
There are plenty on there & at good prices & ,unfortunately, many that I looked at are still there from a couple of years ago. 
Be aware that there may be some on their that were sold long ago , although I see that in a few cases reference is made to that fact & it is shown only for reference purposes, i.e. that you can have an identical one built .
Quite a few of the new houses on there are built by a local firm that I had dealings with & the quality/finish is excellent.
As to difference in quality between golf course & individual/small build , I'd only say that I've never seen a horrendous individual build, whereas I've seen some dubious & rough stuff being constructed on golf urbanisations.
We settled upon here after looking in Almeria & one, distance to airport as at that time Almeria airport had flights only into Birmingham , although during the 'good times' they had excellent flights to most UK airports & as we are equidistant from Almeria/Alicante it was ideal.Now Almeria is back to what it was originally & Alicante, or Murcia-San Javier is /are the only airports with a choice of flights. In reality it is mainly Alicante.
The second consideration was that I didn't want to be surrounded by huge amounts of expats, preferring a Spanish area. 
I'm on the south side of Lorca, only a few minutes from Purias, & can be in Águilas (nearest beach , excellent ) in 20 minutes. the beauty of Águilas is that even in the height of summer it is relatively quite being a Spanish area still without many tourist hotels & the holiday makers are Spanish 2nd home owners form the North.
Our property is an old (very) cortijo & is a registered finca. built mainly out of adobe bricks , including all the animal enclosures, & retains heat in winter & is relatively cool in summer.
We've lived here nearly 12 years & are only a few kms from the town .

I do know someone who runs her own estate agency but will pm you the link as, although I've had dealings with her, I've never used her personally . To be honest I'd forgotten what the site was called so had to ring her this a.m. She said if you email what you are actually looking for she'll get back to you.


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

Thanks to you both for your insights, I think I am going to split the week in April and spend a few days with the golf resort guys showing us around and see if I can find one of these cortijo residences for the rest to get a good comparison.

Again really appreciate your opinions from the inside

Reg


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Hi,

I just thought I'd pass on a few thoughts as my flat is in the outskirts of Aguilas.

1. How good is your Spanish? If you're not fluent then work on it. The majority of the residents in the area only speak Spanish and whilst the self serve shopping has much improved over the years we've been there , there are other times when it is essential to know what you need to say in Spanish e.g. if you have to go the Centro di Salud or get new tyres on the car. 

2. One of the joys of Aguilas is that there are few Brits around, most of the time, but there are other nationalities such as the French, the Germans and the Austrians. One of my greatest pleasures is to pop down to the Post Office, have a chat there in Spanish and then stop off at a seaside café to pass the time of day with my French friends and then perhaps pop up to the market and meet some of my "other nationality" friends who brush up their English with me.
Three languages in half an hour, yes 

3. Aguilas has 3 beaches, not just the one, so make sure you find them as you can get a good tan on a windy day by choosing the right beach.

4. The weather on the coast is much more temperate than that further inland. During the winter it is particularly noticeable, once you are out of the town. I have not known Aguilas to get frost, only floods, but even at Los Arejos, near the first E15 motorway junction for Aguilas, they do. It is worse on the road to and in Lorca as the land is much higher.

5. When checking out a private build, around Lorca, ask if it is built to withstand an earthquake. Lorca was badly affected a couple of years back. I remember smiling wrily at my Austrian friend telling me, before the quake, that his house at Calabardina, had those measures in place. Obviously these properties cost more than some of the others, but.....

6. Camposol has been badly affected by sudden structural collapses. This has been well documented on UK TV, so check out the repeats or the internet. The plus side is that it is has a really good Chinese shop and an actual Indian restaurant (very rare on the continent imo). There is also a really good vet who speaks English, her second opinion was the correct diagnosis of my dog's ongoing problem.

7. Have you thought of looking at Vera Playa? It's about 25km from Aguilas towards Almeria and has a wonderful flat beach, Some of the houses which are just off the pedestrian Esplanade are now quite reasonable. There are always a significant number of Brits around too with the overall requirement to speak Spanish well reduced.

Sorry it's become quite a long post.


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

Wonderfully insightful post !

I speak a fair bit and am comfortable but will be looking to get to fluent and get my wife to a self sufficient standard. I am aware of the Lorca earthquake, does anyone known if the seismic fault extends outside the centre of lorca and are other towns affected by it ?

Also I was not aware of the climate difference between the coast and a few kms inland during winter. As this woukd be a year round property, i was surprised by how winter could be that different,

I'll take a look at Vera Playa..
thanks again for your time on this post
Reg


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

ccm47 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I just thought I'd pass on a few thoughts as my flat is in the outskirts of Aguilas.
> 
> ...


What you write about Camposol is scaremongering-do you live there? if so you should know that structural problems from years ago, are confined to a small number of houses, and those affected had their problems sorted;such negative statements are damaging to those who live there and wish to sell their properties. Programmes such as "Homes from Hell" were hugely dramatised and exaggerated.Every urbanisation in both Spain and UK have had their problems.
To the OP, i'd say-come and look round, and you'll see fantastic properties at excellent prices.


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

You're welcome.

Lorca was the epicentre I think. Mainly the buildings fell in the old town centre but there were cracks in buildings elsewhere in the town. However even in Aguilas some of the buildings shook, including ours, but no more than it did when I was in a 6 storey office block in Poole, on the 5th floor. Neither were damaged. I believe earthquakes are less likely to strike in exactly the same place twice but I do know that there is some type of fault line around there.

The coastal effect truly is noticeable, and Aguilas itself does seem to be in a really sheltered area which is probably why it is so successful in growing year round salad produce, and was even before the polytunnels provided their environment. Further inland they don't grow as much. We also notice a difference between the first tunnel from Aguilas on the E15 and the other side, regularly 2 degrees lower which is then maintained up to Murcia.


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

extranjero said:


> What you write about Camposol is scaremongering-do you live there? if so you should know that structural problems from years ago, are confined to a small number of houses, and those affected had their problems sorted;such negative statements are damaging to those who live there and wish to sell their properties. Programmes such as "Homes from Hell" were hugely dramatised and exaggerated.Every urbanisation in both Spain and UK have had their problems.
> To the OP, i'd say-come and look round, and you'll see fantastic properties at excellent prices.


I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I'm glad the problems have been sorted. As I stated my flat is in Aguilas, and the building snags were just that e.g. tiles in the swimming pool not fully waterproofed, nothing on the scale of what was shown on the TV for us all to see. We did think about Camposol when we were thinking of getting a larger property, and the very fact that the properties were cheaper than elsewhere actually put us off as we expected there to be a sting in the tail somewhere if only in inflated insurance premiums. Once again my apologies.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

ccm47 said:


> I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I'm glad the problems have been sorted. As I stated my flat is in Aguilas, and the building snags were just that e.g. tiles in the swimming pool not fully waterproofed, nothing on the scale of what was shown on the TV for us all to see. We did think about Camposol when we were thinking of getting a larger property, and the very fact that the properties were cheaper than elsewhere actually put us off as we expected there to be a sting in the tail somewhere if only in inflated insurance premiums. Once again my apologies.


Thanks
Actually , my insurance premiums are very reasonable!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

As regards to earthquakes all house have to be constructed to withstand earthquakes & the regulations have been in force for many years. that's what the 'concrete skeleton is that is infilled with ladrillos.The majority that fell down in lorca were older properties. 
The real problem wasn't the size of the 'quake but its proximity to the surface. barely 1km down. This is why many of the older apartment blocks suffered structural damage , necessitating their demolition, even though they had been built to the correct quake regulations& withstood the actual earthquake.
The regulations for buildings have now all been upgraded to take this into accoount with the concrete support pillars going from 30cm to 45cm.
The only block that did actually collapse had been built 10 years previously & the builder had apparently used incorrect concrete specifications & steelwork.

Unfortunately the actual 'fault' line stretches from Italy right across into Spain & across the Iberian peninsular into the Atlantic. It could & has happened anywhere along the line.

Vera Playa I'd be wary of after the 'Gota Fria' of September 2012. It was bad up here but unless you know exactly where the low levels are down there then you could end up buying trouble. The devastation in & around the area was horrendous.
Anyone with reasonable common-sense can see when driving along that huge amounts are built on , around & in front of ,flood plains.When you stand & look inland at the curve of the hills, it doesn't take an expert to realise that you are where all the water is going to end up on its way to the sea ! Another clue would be that across the road their are lagoons of water , even in the summer, with flocks of ducks ??
As you can see Spain has many earthquakes.









There have been 3 today & there were 7 yesterday, & 57 in last 10 days,.


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

Wonderful info, thanks for this info


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

reggieblue said:


> I'll take a look at Vera Playa..


Vera Playa is definitely worth taking a look at. I have a flat just up the road from Vera playa in Garrucha and it's a very nice part of Spain. Almeria is the driest and has the most sun hours of any place in Europe. You could also take a look at Mojaca (which has a thriving expat community and quite varied properties) just up the road from Garrucha and a little further along the coast Carboneras which I think is lovely.

Vera is about 45 mins to an hour drive from Almeria Airport, about a 2 hour drive from Murcia San Javier Aiport and about 2.5-3 hours drive from Alicante Airport.


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## reggieblue (Jan 16, 2014)

I'll look at them, thanks for the thoughts


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