# Nerja residents... Info please!



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

I am so excited. I have been traveling around France Spain and Sicily for every months now exploring places I thought I might want to live for awhile or forever. I found several places I really liked (Valencia, Madrid , Marbella Estepona. And Malaga inSpain, Mirepoix and Uzes in France but nothing that just felt right. Today I am in Nerja and it might be the one. Sizzle seems good. The view of sea and mountains is heavenly (I like the sound and sight of the sea but dont particularly like beaches).

Now I need to confirm that other factors work for me. Things like opportunities to meet other people... Preferably both nglish speaking expats and spaniards. i see supermarket and small shops. Is there also a market fr fresh produce, etc? Good resaurants nearby? Any walking paths or trails nearby? Any real estate agent recommendations ( will look to rent for at least a year ) And finally anything good or bad that I ought to be aware of? Thanks. Melissa


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Reading through a few back issues of this magazine might help answer some of your questions.


SOLTalk

There is a weekly outdoor market in Nerja (on Tuesdays) but no indoor market for fresh produce.

In the magazine you will be able to find details of literally dozens of clubs and activities where you could meet people, according to the kind of things you like to do.

Lots of different restaurants advertise in there too. 

There are some good walks around, to go up to the village of Frigiliana and walk back to Nerja down the Rio Chillar river bed is a popular one (but best avoided in the very hot months and also in winter when the water is flowing strongly). There are lots of other walks, and the free magazines including the ones I linked to, which you can collect from various shops and estate agent's offices around town, often print articles giving details of them.

I've never dealt with an estate agent in Nerja but hopefully someone else will be able to give recommendations for that.


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## fcexpat (Sep 25, 2014)

The estate agent we used for our property in Frigiliana but is based in Nerja I Nerja Property Services ...... nerjapropertyservices.com ... Laura Downes ..... found us our rented property and listened to what we wanted not what they wanted to show us !


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Good and bad things:-

Good - the Cultural Centre in Calle Granada has a good programme of concerts and other forms of entertainment. In the same street is a very good second hand bookshop, the Nerja Book Centre, where you can buy books and when you take them back they give you a credit of half the book price to use against the purchase of your next batch of books.

Bad - lack of parking, everyone who has a car says, especially in the peak summer months. If you use public transport, be careful of your purse/handbag when queuing for a bus as pickpockets operate there especially when it's very busy. I had my purse stolen once there. Same goes for the outdoor market.


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## emlyn (Oct 26, 2012)

I found Nerja property services excellent,both Laura and Nick were very helpful,also Imobiliaria PN estate agents provided an excellent service when we came to buy.


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Lynn, emlyn, fcexpat: Thank you all for the info. I've checked out the magazine and am reading up as much as I can on this site and elsewhere about Nerja. Still feeling good about it! Please pass on any additional info you think might be helpful! 

What's it like in Nerja in winter? I assume much quieter, but do most restaurants/businesses in the town center remain open? 

Thanks, Melissa


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Melissa58275 said:


> Lynn, emlyn, fcexpat: Thank you all for the info. I've checked out the magazine and am reading up as much as I can on this site and elsewhere about Nerja. Still feeling good about it! Please pass on any additional info you think might be helpful!
> 
> What's it like in Nerja in winter? I assume much quieter, but do most restaurants/businesses in the town center remain open?
> 
> Thanks, Melissa


Some restaurants do close for a month or two in the winter, but plenty of them stay open all year round, and the shops all stay open too. There are less tourists about than in the peak summer months, but Nerja is never really "dead" in winter.


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Thanks Lynn. Sounds better and better. Now I just need to find a rental. Looks like I can get a winter let somewhere, though apparently it's late to be doing that and the pickings are a bit slim. And then, of course, I'll have to figure out what to do come high season. But maybe I'll just pick up sticks and try another promising spot in Spain for a few months!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Melissa58275 said:


> Thanks Lynn. Sounds better and better. Now I just need to find a rental. Looks like I can get a winter let somewhere, though apparently it's late to be doing that and the pickings are a bit slim. And then, of course, I'll have to figure out what to do come high season. But maybe I'll just pick up sticks and try another promising spot in Spain for a few months!


Yes, it often makes me smile when I read comments on the forum advising people to rent before buying, and saying that there is a massive supply of rental properties to choose from. In some areas, that just isn't the case and it would be a matter of taking what you can get.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Hi, long term rental properties (as opposed to holiday lets) for Nerja and surrounding areas don't usually appear on the market until mid October and then you will find quite a lot. Nerja Property Services are excellent, as mentioned in earlier posts. There are some you must avoid but I won't name them publicly - send me a PM if you want and I'll let you know. They are either hopelessly inefficient or crooks!! Not many but you really must avoid them. Nerja and also Torrox just along the coast have, usually, a very mild winter but, like anywhere, can have colder nights. Some restaurants do shut in winter but we would avoid most (not all) of those anyway as they simply aren't good enough to remain open in the quiet winter months. 

Some excellent restaurants in Calle Pintada, Calle Almirante Ferrandiz (Sevillanos is especially good) and Calle Hernando de Carabeo (Little Italy where excellent pizzas can be had for €3.50) but these three street, which all lead to the Balcon de Europa, are always busy even in winter.

Nerja is great but lesser know and just as good is Torrox Pueblo so try and visit there if you can.

Good luck!!


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## fcexpat (Sep 25, 2014)

The reason Nerja is ok all year round is the fact it's a working town. We live up in Frigiliana but quite often jump the bus down to Nerja for the day. We love the area and would never think of moving anywhere else !!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> Thanks Lynn. Sounds better and better. Now I just need to find a rental. Looks like I can get a winter let somewhere, though apparently it's late to be doing that and the pickings are a bit slim. And then, of course, I'll have to figure out what to do come high season. But maybe I'll just pick up sticks and try another promising spot in Spain for a few months!


 I'm just wondering how you're managing to do allyour travelling around being an American. Don't you have to get visas and things?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I'm just wondering how you're managing to do allyour travelling around being an American. Don't you have to get visas and things?


have to admit I was wondering that as well

as we know, non-EU citizens can only stay 90 days out of 180 in pretty much all of Europe


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

pesky wesky and xabiachica: It's OK...I'm legal! My first stop in Europe was 6 weeks in Germany, where I took the "CELTA" course in english language teaching and applied for a freelancer visa. It was granted (good until the end of Feb. 2016). With that in hand, I set out for a month in Valencia, 2 months in Montpelier France, a month in Siracusa, Sicily, and a month in Malaga, with a few week-long stints in between at various other Spanish locations and back in Germany.. At the end of this month, I head back to Germany until the end of the year to "earn" my freelancer status--I'll be teaching part-time at the Hochschule in Mainz. While there I'll make application for a long-term non lucrative visa in Spain, now that I've decided it's where I want to be. As long as that comes through before the end of Feb., I should be fine. If it doesn't...well, the German authorities might grant me an extension based on the jobs I'll have this fall. But they may be a wee bit annoyed that I didn't actually work for the first 6 months of my freelancer visa! They told me when granting it, that to be extended, they would need to see earnings receipts. 

The big hurdle for me, I think, is going to be managing the visa application to Spain from Germany, since I speak neither Spanish nor German. But I'll be living with German friends who can help and I think I've done a lot of the legwork already: Proof of income (same as I needed for Germany), health insurance, ordered police background check reports when last in the US (but I suppose I'll also need a German one), etc.


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

fcexpat said:


> The reason Nerja is ok all year round is the fact it's a working town. We live up in Frigiliana but quite often jump the bus down to Nerja for the day. We love the area and would never think of moving anywhere else !!


Fcexpat: I was in Frigiliana yesterday and loved it. In fact, I'm going to nose around there for a long-term lease as well. While I have been drawn to many such picturesque small towns in Spain and in France, I've feared that they would proved too lonesome and too small for me. But the proximity to Nerja...and at the easy bus ride there...sets Frijiliana apart. offering the best of both worlds, it seems! I'm headed back on Wed. of next week to plook at some rental properties.!


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