# move to costa blanca



## ellieg (Jun 10, 2013)

Hi, can anyone help with advice please?
We are looking to retire to the costa blanca . We intend to rent for a year to see if we want to relocate permanantly.
Can anyone give any advice re which areas would be good to rent please. We are thinking either Torrevieja or Playa Flamenca . Do these communities have a thriving ex pat community ? Also are there any other areas which would be good to settle in , I would be grateful for any advice at all as we don't have a clue where to start !!


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Living in Torrevieja would be my nightmare! So over-rated, it is an awful place to live and the beach is crap. There are so many other small beautiful places around the area to live a 'peaceful' life.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lolito said:


> Living in Torrevieja would be my nightmare! So over-rated, it is an awful place to live and the beach is crap. There are so many other small beautiful places around the area to live a 'peaceful' life.


lots of people love it though

however my late husband went there once....... & forever took a detour around it if in the area again................


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## calpeflyer (Mar 29, 2013)

Calpe !!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

calpeflyer said:


> Calpe !!


oh yeah.... I forgot MY plug

Portada - Portal Turístico de Xàbia - Ayuntamiento de Xàbia


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## rockypointexpat (Nov 7, 2013)

Yes, have to agree with Calpe beautiful beach and recommend climbing up Penon de Ifach !


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

ellieg said:


> Hi, can anyone help with advice please?
> We are looking to retire to the costa blanca . We intend to rent for a year to see if we want to relocate permanantly.
> Can anyone give any advice re which areas would be good to rent please. We are thinking either Torrevieja or Playa Flamenca . Do these communities have a thriving ex pat community ? Also are there any other areas which would be good to settle in , I would be grateful for any advice at all as we don't have a clue where to start !!


Torrevieja is certainly a thriving expat community. You could live there and never speak Spanish, never see Spanish tv, and never eat Spanish food. It's heaving in the summer. I find it very difficult to cope with, but plenty of people are really happy there  I think there are quite a few similar places along the coast. As Loloito said, there are lots of places that have a more mixed population, where you might actually notice that you're in Spain and which are much prettier imo... Guardamar is just up the coast and is totally different to Torrevieja.


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## deedee76 (Nov 1, 2013)

ellieg said:


> Hi, can anyone help with advice please?
> We are looking to retire to the costa blanca . We intend to rent for a year to see if we want to relocate permanantly.
> Can anyone give any advice re which areas would be good to rent please. We are thinking either Torrevieja or Playa Flamenca . Do these communities have a thriving ex pat community ? Also are there any other areas which would be good to settle in , I would be grateful for any advice at all as we don't have a clue where to start !!


hiya my m.i.l lives in aguas nuevas area of torrevieja its actually closer to la mata beach than torrevieja beach and its much nicer than torrevieja beach which does get busy in the summer..and it has lots of expats but lots of other nationalitys to nice quiet area were she lives ,we also like la siesta but not as many expats there. 
we looking at the moment to get some ideas on prices, areas and we viewed a few with a local agent then went back to each later to check out the area .a few places that have bad reviews are torrettas and villa martin having checking them out myself i have to agree ,but your best to go over and have a look around as everyones opionions differ .were still un decided and i think the more info we get from this site ,we may also rent for 12 months first before buying ..good luck


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Calpe, Altea, Denia, Oliva, Javea or even Gandia and villages around them I would recommend. However, if what you want is to be 'like in England' but with the sun, then maybe Benidorm or Torrevieja.


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## caromac (Nov 16, 2008)

Lolito said:


> Calpe, Altea, Denia, Oliva, Javea or even Gandia and villages around them I would recommend. However, if what you want is to be 'like in England' but with the sun, then maybe Benidorm or Torrevieja.


Nice to see Gandia mentioned - we are just in the mountains behind on the Alicante / Valencia regional border. 

There is a lesser expat community up this way but as you say the villages behind Denia, Xabia, have quite a thriving 'britpack'. Nice for a visit..................


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Marxuquera is good too. lol!


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## basbelle (Sep 28, 2013)

My fiancé and I were originally looking into Torrevieja as well but were adamantly advised against it. 
I keep looking at/around Moraira because I think I've developed a liking to it (for its history, architecture & proximity to the sea & Xabia/Javea yet being just a little more cost effective than other areas nearby & even the tiniest bit closer to the Alicante airport) but I DO NOT know from experience, I'm just following what I've researched online. 
I would be curious about the expat community in this area too.


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## ellieg (Jun 10, 2013)

Really? Can you give me advice as to where please , we quite like the look of Playa Flamenca , can you suggest any where else that would be nice to relocate to ?


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## ellieg (Jun 10, 2013)

I must say everyone is being really helpful so thank you all. I have been learning Spanish for a couple of years and can find my way around . We both love the Spanish food also . I don't particularly want to live in "little Britain" however we would like to be somewhere where we can integrate and join in the social side of life . We both like to play golf and enjoy walking , cycling . I don't think we would enjoy living in a totally Spanish speaking area though .


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## lebesset (Dec 4, 2011)

all depends what your needs are ; I see torrevieja widely panned here , but if you want to live in a place with the best facilities , public and private hospitals , plenty of expats of all nationalities , golf courses , beaches , lawn bowls , near airport , free buses etc you couldn't do better than there , the old town is 99% spanish so you don't have to just mix with the expats if you don't want to ; yes , it's an urban sprawl so it depends if that is important to you [ but so are places like playa flamenca ] , but don't pass it by without measuring your needs against what it offers

since the crisis property prices are low , if that is of interest to you


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## Pablo-Alicante-Spain (Nov 5, 2013)

Gran Alacant, Alicante, Campello, San Juan Muchamiel. Good area !!


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Renting for a year before buying is a good idea. Also, why confine yourself to Costa Blanca? There are hundreds and hundreds of miles of coastline between Barcelona and Gibraltar each better than the next. 

My advice is to use several locations over your 'discovery' year and I have no doubt you will find your ideal location. We found ours in Costa Almeria (Mojacar Playa).

With property prices on the decrease now could be a good time to buy and things will not get any less opportune over the next few years. However, in the current financial climate I reckon renting is the way to go and gives you more options. What if Spain does not live up to your expectations?


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

Leper said:


> We found ours in Costa Almeria (Mojacar Playa).


Just up the road from me! It is is lovely place, but too 'Britishy' and far too busy in Summer for my tastes. How is Mojaca? Are you enjoying it there?



Leper said:


> With property prices on the decrease now could be a good time to buy and things will not get any less opportune over the next few years. However, in the current financial climate I reckon renting is the way to go and gives you more options. What if Spain does not live up to your expectations?


The buy versus rent conundrum is a tricky one. The advice you give here is sound in my opinion. 

There are pluses and minuses to both renting and buying and the right option is (as it always is) dependent on an individuals own personal situation. For me, it boils down to this:

If you know where you want to be with certainty and are planning to stay in that place for about 5 or 6 years or longer, buying is probably the best option. If on the other hand you're unsure of where you want to be and/or may need to change plans in the near future and change location, return home etc. then renting is the best option.


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## caromac (Nov 16, 2008)

zenkarma said:


> Just up the road from me! It is is lovely place, but too 'Britishy' and far too busy in Summer for my tastes. How is Mojaca? Are you enjoying it there?
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You are right about it being tricky. Our friends in the next village have just sold their house and they will immediately buy again. They clearly had a good experience. 

Because we expect it to take some time to sell our house we don't look for something else yet. So we would probably end up renting for a while to allow us to look around but however long you are renting for is dead money. Add this to 'nil' or thereabouts interest on any capital you may have mean in real terms you are losing money all ways. I think!

Naturally those who 'have had' to return home in the downturn have suffered so as said it is tricky......


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

zenkarma said:


> Just up the road from me! It is is lovely place, but too 'Britishy' and far too busy in Summer for my tastes. How is Mojaca? Are you enjoying it there?
> 
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> ...


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## stevec2x (Mar 24, 2012)

ellieg said:


> Hi, can anyone help with advice please?
> We are looking to retire to the costa blanca . We intend to rent for a year to see if we want to relocate permanantly.
> Can anyone give any advice re which areas would be good to rent please. We are thinking either Torrevieja or Playa Flamenca . Do these communities have a thriving ex pat community ? Also are there any other areas which would be good to settle in , I would be grateful for any advice at all as we don't have a clue where to start !!


Hi Ellieg - we moved from East Kilbride about 18 months ago and now live about 2 miles from Playa Flamenca. You won't have any problem at all meeting fellow expats (and there are a number of Scottish-run bars around, if that's what you like)

There are endless properties available to rent - we flew out for a look around before moving for good. In one day we saw three lovely properties and put our deposit down. We were back for good within 6 weeks.

My advice though, would be to find somewhere closer to Torrevieja. I live in Punta Prima and from here we can walk both to Playa and and Torrevieja (along the coast), and also to the brand new shopping centre in La Zenia. There is also a very good bus service (which there isn't in Playa, because Playa is part of Orihuela Costa, not Torrevieja i.e. a different council)

If you want to ask me anything more specific about the area, just fire away!

Cheers

Steve


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Make sure you don't 'hang out' with British people all the time when moving to Torrevieja, my neighbours (English) just moved here from Torrevieja and after 14 years in Spain they don't talk one word of Spanish, for me, it is quite embarrassing, as whenever they have problems in the house, they come to me to call de landlord, Iberdrola, Movistar, you name it.... which I don't mind at all as I like doing it and they are great people. 

But to move to Spain to be around British expats and in British bars, I really don't see the point. It is important to try. Segregation never was good.


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