# Living in Spain



## Curiosity058 (Jan 22, 2020)

Hi everybody
I have just registered for this site. My husband and I are wanting to move to Spain this year. We are undecided as to where we should move to. We have been to the Costa Blanca, North and South and would love to settle there, anywhere near the beach. Also we would like to be fairly near the supermarkets. We are concerned about mosquitoes. If anyone could help advise us of any problem areas with these insects, it would be greatly appreciated. If anybody can give us any help, however small it would be a big help. We plan to go out to Alicante sometime in early March to have a look around, and it would be lovely if we could identify possible properties, based on the above. 

So, in conclusion: no or few issues with mosquitoes
next to beach and supermarkets
a mixture of learning to speak Spanish and talking English
Many thanks in advance for getting back to me


----------



## Roland_O (Oct 17, 2016)

Curiosity058 said:


> Hi everybody
> 
> I have just registered for this site. My husband and I are wanting to move to Spain this year. We are undecided as to where we should move to. We have been to the Costa Blanca, North and South and would love to settle there, anywhere near the beach. Also we would like to be fairly near the supermarkets. We are concerned about mosquitoes. If anyone could help advise us of any problem areas with these insects, it would be greatly appreciated. If anybody can give us any help, however small it would be a big help. We plan to go out to Alicante sometime in early March to have a look around, and it would be lovely if we could identify possible properties, based on the above.
> 
> ...




A few random thoughts from someone who is jet lagged... others feel free to correct may ramblings.

Mosquitoes appear to me to be very local. Some places have none, some have loads even though they are not far away. One bad neighbour and you can get them. They also vary from year to year. My advice when checking out an area: look to see if people have nets on windows. In most parts of Spain mossies are not a big deal.

Madrid and Barcelona are expensive, most of the rest of Spain is not. What drives cost is demand. So areas with lots of work, or lots of tourists will be expensive. Tourists make the south coast expensive, and this effect remains as far north as Alicante and Denia. I.e. you pay a premium to live with other brits. Valencia is much cheaper, even though it is a more modern, more vibrant place to live, because it has less expats.

Beware buying a super cheap place (I mean a home for car money) as it will generally mean no one wants to live there. 

The Spanish generally don’t like commuting or houses, so inland houses where you have to drive to supermarkets and the beach will be much cheaper. 

Try looking from Valencia to Castellon. If you are on a tight budget, look in land. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

If mosquitoes are one of your chief worries then maybe spain isnt for you. Everywhere gets mosquitoes to some degree from Spring till the end of September/ October. If you choose to live near still water in a green area it will be worse. If you live at or near ground level it is worse. There are various devices that can be used from sprays, settings, candles etc but at the end of the day you will get bitten. If the thought of even one or two mosquitoes in your bedroom worries you then Spain is not the place for you. Even if you managed to totally isolate your living abode by sealing it and running aircon day and night you will get bitten when you go out in the evenings during the warmer months. Some people deal with easier than others . Some people through no fault of their own can have severe skin reactions making it really quite difficult. So if this is the case with you I sympathise. One word of advise is ignore people who boast about how they never get mosquitoes in their houses or are never bitten they are almost always exaggerating things. So be careful when listening to agents or sellers.


----------



## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

kaipa said:


> If mosquitoes are one of your chief worries then maybe spain isnt for you. Everywhere gets mosquitoes to some degree from Spring till the end of September/ October. If you choose to live near still water in a green area it will be worse. If you live at or near ground level it is worse. There are various devices that can be used from sprays, settings, candles etc but at the end of the day you will get bitten. If the thought of even one or two mosquitoes in your bedroom worries you then Spain is not the place for you. Even if you managed to totally isolate your living abode by sealing it and running aircon day and night you will get bitten when you go out in the evenings during the warmer months. Some people deal with easier than others . Some people through no fault of their own can have severe skin reactions making it really quite difficult. So if this is the case with you I sympathise. One word of advise is ignore people who boast about how they never get mosquitoes in their houses or are never bitten they are almost always exaggerating things. So be careful when listening to agents or sellers.


With all respect, I disagree with that. Maybe near the coasts it is impossible to avoid mosquitos, but inland it is not. I suffer bad reactions to bites (I even ended up in hospital on one holiday to Malta from a bite on my hand) and I cannot sleep in a room if I know there is a mosquito (I either have to hunt it down and kill it, or go to sleep somewhere else). But my current apartment in Madrid is mosquito free. I don't know how, but I can assure that it is. I have lived here over 3 years and I have never heard or seen a mosquito in it. I will never move from here!


----------



## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

But Overandout you must admit that your situation is far from the norm. I visited Madrid last summer and clearly remember being bitten on my legs when sitting at a cafe. I for instance was living in Alicante in a 4th floor apartment North facing and did not really have a big problem but my ex wifes apartment one street down always had one or two mosquitoes at night biting the hell out of you


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Having lived here for nearly 6 years. I have bee bitten alive some years and others not even heard a buzz

As far as I am concerned mosquitoes are very weather depended?


----------



## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Megsmum said:


> Having lived here for nearly 6 years. I have bee bitten alive some years and others not even heard a buzz
> 
> As far as I am concerned mosquitoes are very weather depended?


Weather is one of the potential factors certainly, but anyone like Kaipa or me who suffer will tell you, there is no firm set of rules to eliminate them. Potentially, orientation of the building can have an effect, and the height also, but none of these are fixed or reliable factors, standing water nearby is a big no - no though obviously.
I expressed concern about mosquitos when I moved to Thailand and was told by many people to get an apartment above 7th / 8th floor as they "don't fly that high".
Bullshít. We lived on the 15th floor and if I sat on the balcony in the evening you could see then queuing up with knives and forks in their hands and napkins round their necks to take turns in sucking their dinner out of me.
Still, I guess it was good for the Thai pharmaceutical industry as I practically lived on antihistamines...


----------



## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

kaipa said:


> But Overandout you must admit that your situation is far from the norm. I visited Madrid last summer and clearly remember being bitten on my legs when sitting at a cafe. I for instance was living in Alicante in a 4th floor apartment North facing and did not really have a big problem but my ex wifes apartment one street down always had one or two mosquitoes at night biting the hell out of you


Sure, I get bitten a lot when I'm out and about, but that's just unavoidable. But as the OP is thinking about factors to reduce probability of bites in the home, a bit of research might be advisable, like asking the neighbours, because the mosquito problem is variable even between close properties as we both have expressed.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Spain is a hot country which is why Brits, Scandinavians etc. people want to move there.
Hot countries have more than their fair share of annoying forms of insect and animal life.

Mosquitos, ants, cockroaches, sand flies, processional caterpillars, wild boars, snakes....all of which Ive come across in my twelve years here at some time or other.

All these can be dealt with and dont constitute a major flaw in the overall quality of life. There are, sadly, no no-fly or air exclusion zones for mosquitos. They can turn up anywhere at any time.

None should deter you from living in Spain if that’s what you want to do.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We never had any mosquitoes until next-door, decided to put an above-ground pool in their back-yard. All our windows have mosquito nets so we rarely get any in the house.


----------



## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Problem with nets and blinds is that it makes indoors hotter and a bit darker


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

kaipa said:


> Problem with nets and blinds is that it makes indoors hotter and a bit darker


My finca doesn’t have aircon. A Spanish friend advised me to close all doors and windows and have blinds down on hot days during the day then at night up with the blinds and leave all doors and windows wide open all night. 
This I can do as I have two ferocious sounding dogs and have nothing worth stealing (we were once burgled when we lived in a big house in a posh area but the only thing stolen was some cash Id left lying about).

To my amazement this worked and I slept better on hot summer nights than I did when I had aircon in the previous house.


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

mrypg9 said:


> My finca doesn’t have aircon. A Spanish friend advised me to close all doors and windows and have blinds down on hot days during the day then at night up with the blinds and leave all doors and windows wide open all night.
> This I can do as I have two ferocious sounding dogs and have nothing worth stealing (we were once burgled when we lived in a big house in a posh area but the only thing stolen was some cash Id left lying about).
> 
> To my amazement this worked and I slept better on hot summer nights than I did when I had aircon in the previous house.


No aircon here either 

Shut down by 10am doors and windows open at night, we sleep like logs!


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Roland_O said:


> Madrid and Barcelona are expensive, most of the rest of Spain is not. What drives cost is demand. So areas with lots of work, or lots of tourists will be expensive. Tourists make the south coast expensive, and this effect remains as far north as Alicante and Denia. I.e. you pay a premium to live with other brits. Valencia is much cheaper, even though it is a more modern, more vibrant place to live, because it has less expats.


Most expensive capitals in Spain. San Sebastian is the most expensive and has been for many years

*Capitales de España más caras*

San Sebastián, capital 3.471 €/m²Barcelona, capital 3.353 €/m²Madrid, capital 3.020 €/m²Palma de Mallorca, capital 2.230 €/m²Bilbao, capital 2.200 €/m² 
From here on right hand side
https://www.tinsa.es/precio-vivienda/


----------



## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I've been in Madrid for 16 years and never had problems with mosquitoes. I probably got bitten more in the UK if it was a hot summer. Mosquitoes like humidity, and Madrid is definitely not humid. In fact I can't remember having problems anywhere in inland Spain. The high altitude probably helps as well.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

It also depends on how many swallows, swifts and martins you have flying about since they eat flying insects - helps to keep them down around here.


----------



## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> It also depends on how many swallows, swifts and martins you have flying about since they eat flying insects - helps to keep them down around here.


Yep we've got plenty of swifts swirling around our patio in summertime


----------



## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Chopera said:


> I've been in Madrid for 16 years and never had problems with mosquitoes. I probably got bitten more in the UK if it was a hot summer. Mosquitoes like humidity, and Madrid is definitely not humid. In fact I can't remember having problems anywhere in inland Spain. The high altitude probably helps as well.


I wish I could say the same. I have lived in 4 different apartments in Madrid and one of them which had a balcony which looked out onto open landscaped land surrounding a big hospital complex was a nightmare. One colleague of mine even suggested that the building must have been built on an ancient mosquito burial ground and their spirits were punishing me, I had so many infected bites.
I guess there must have been some pond or other stagnant water in the hospital grounds because it wasn't normal. Shame because visually it was quite pleasant.


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> It also depends on how many swallows, swifts and martins you have flying about since they eat flying insects - helps to keep them down around here.


...and cobwebs & geckos!


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Chopera said:


> I've been in Madrid for 16 years and never had problems with mosquitoes. I probably got bitten more in the UK if it was a hot summer. Mosquitoes like humidity, and Madrid is definitely not humid. In fact I can't remember having problems anywhere in inland Spain. The high altitude probably helps as well.


I've lived in our present house for 25 years, altitude 880m = high and dry, and sometimes I get bitten to death and others I rarely get a bite. This suggests that each year is different, each altitude is different and each person is different!


----------



## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Been here nearly 2 years on the outskirts of a town about 20km inland from the sea, I may have seen a couple of mozzies in that time but no bites. 

In or above ground the chemicals used in a swimming pool should not support mosquito larva, if neglected and stagnant that's something else but can be denounced.


----------



## Jo777 (Feb 5, 2020)

Hi, I find the blue skies, sunshine and lovely people and scenery on the costa blanca are great distractions from the mozzies which are around for half the year and I would say impossible to totally avoid - but there are ways to deter them, go to any pharmacy in Spain and they will advise! I used a website called idealista.com to find my house on the Northern Costa Blanca. I wanted to buy right near the beach like mention you do, but ended up choosing to be a 20 minute walk away because often here it seems properties very close to the beach can be holiday homes and can feel a bit too quiet in the winter, and I wanted to be in an area where people lived all year round. I did rent places close to the sea for aboyt a year in different areas, and was aware that my neighbours were constantly changing as they were holiday let properties, which I didn't like personally. Hope that helps and best of luck!


----------



## ricardoylucia (Dec 1, 2009)

When we were thinking about living in another country about 18 years ago, we did some homework, which was of little help. There were no forums,/SNIP/, but one thing we were told, it is cheaper to buy and live inland. 
Both of us have lived by a beach for most of our lives and wanted to be amongst the Spanish. 
The best suggestion anyone can give, is rent first.
Good luck.


----------



## Alexcc1 (Feb 26, 2020)

"Mosquitos, ants, cockroaches, sand flies, processional caterpillars, wild boars, snakes....all of which Ive come across in my twelve years here at some time or other.

All these can be dealt with and dont constitute a major flaw in the overall quality of life. There are, sadly, no no-fly or air exclusion zones for mosquitos. They can turn up anywhere at any time.

None should deter you from living in Spain if that’s what you want to do. "

I agree with that statement. My family just bought a house in the south of Spain, and yes there are mosquitoes and other insects however is not a big deal.
I just talked to my neighbors and asked how they dealt with the issue and we decided to install screens in all the windows and a screen door so we can have the house open all night and keep the petty mosquitoes out. 

Just a suggestion, wherever you go you will find that those who lived there may have some good advice. We did and it works.


----------

