Where should I live in Spain?
Location is probably the most important item to research thoroughly. It can also save you a lot of money. SPC are happy to advise you on areas as well as locating suitable land on your behalf.
The fact that you have taken your annual holidays for the past 10 years in Torremolinos does not mean
that this is somewhere you will be able to settle and live comfortably. Conversely, splendid isolation whilst offering staggering scenery may prove tiresome when needing to pop down to the local shops for a loaf of bread or similar. You also need to bear in mind the location of healthcare. Where is the nearest clinic or hospital? Healthcare is good over most of Spain but it’s not usually found where the population is scant.
Many are attracted to the mountains simply because of their spectacular scenery but remember, each 1000 feet you go up the temperature drops by 2 degrees. At 5,000 feet you will enjoy a most beautiful summer but a very cold winter.
Most expatriates are guided by a range of considerations among which is proximity to a town so as to have access to shops, supermarkets, banks etc. Public transport can be a real consideration for some and availability of good health care is of prime importance. When looking for your ideal location, keep in mind travelling times to all the places you are likely to visit regularly and which could prove problematical as you grow older.
If you choose to live in a rural area you will need to be much more self sufficient than if you live in a town and will probably need a car for everything. However, car pooling among expatriates is quite common in rural areas and they usually organise themselves so as to be aware of and able to help their fellow countrymen. The Spanish will do the same if you allow yourself to integrate. If you learn the language, moving to Spain will perhaps be the best decision you have ever made and the whole country will be open to you.
Inland living is different and for some foreigners, this difference is what they want. Property prices are usually similar to or less than that for coastal areas but with much more land and property for the same money. Inland it is often possible to build a 4 bedroom luxury house on 10,000 square metres of land at
the same cost of building a 2 or 3 bedroom house on 400 square metres of land within 10 km or so of the coast. Increasingly, people opting for inland properties are seeking independence from the utility companies, requiring solar heating for hot water, solar power generation for electricity and their own water supply. With inland plot sizes being between 5 – 10,000 square metres, (the size of two football pitches) more than ample space is available for those who really want to live “the good life” and grow their own crops etc.
Lifestyle is quite different, being far more “laid back”. Meeting friends for a meal or drinks in one of the many picturesque town or village squares and chatting the time away is common. In many inland locations local expats have set up clubs to help new-comers integrate. Many of the local town halls offer free Spanish lessons. As with the coast, there is usually plenty to do inland. Golf courses, not as prolific as found on the coast but usually cheaper, are never too far away and in many areas horse riding, pony trekking, hunting, fishing, clay pigeon shooting, hiking, climbing and much more is available. If you have dogs, inland Spain will be a paradise for them.
Based on the general consensus of opinion of many ex-pats, what appears to be an ideal situation is property on the outskirts of a moderately sized town so as to be reasonably close to all amenities (Banks, supermarkets, filling stations, restaurants, bars etc) but not on top of them. This situation is described as close enough to matter – far away enough to count. In other words what you want is there when you want it but not on top of you. Life is yours to live as you will. Inland living is in the main that chosen by those who look forward to a little peace and quiet under the Spanish sun but still with plenty to do and who do not require their daily schedules organised for them. The desire for many to retire inland is quite understandable. Land is cheaper and so is property. There are also some spectacular views which it’s difficult to believe you could ever get tired of looking at.
However, these features are available without ending up at the foot of a mountain deep in inland Spain. There are many attractive locations to be found anywhere between 30 – 100 km from the coast. An examples which comes to mind is Pinoso which is approximately 90 km due west from Alicante in the Valencia region. Pinoso is claimed to be one of Spain’s most prosperous towns because of its red and white marble deposits, which ac-counts for about 95% of Spain’s output. The town is also famous for its salt exports and the manufacture and sale of quality shoes and leather bags.
Earlier, when we referred to being able to buy quality wine in bulk, it was in fact with one of the bodegas (wine co-operatives) in Pinoso in mind. Pinoso has a modern infrastructure with a new
medical centre, schools, su-permarkets, bars and a wide variety of restaurants. There is an indoor market selling fresh produce and a street market every Saturday. The excellent sports centre has outdoor and indoor swimming pools, tennis courts, football pitches and a gymnasium. All of this is in a town of only 6500 people which is just 50 minutes, on excellent roads, from the capital Alicante city and its airport. Currently, there are about 260 British expatriates living in a community where there is almost no crime at all, the locals are extremely friends and where family values definitely come first. Healthy mountain air, warm summers but the fountain in the town square can freeze in the very short winter. The reader would be forgiven for thinking this was an advertisement for Pinoso but not so because there are numerous other towns and villages offering similar facilities throughout Spain, some of which are closeby and may offer better value.
North East of Pinoso by a few km or so, can be found the City of Alcoy or Alcoi. With its population of 60,000 it ranks as the 6th most populous city in the province. Alcoy is popular with British expatriates but has no expa-triate area as such although the greatest concentrations can be found just outside of the city limits. Alcoy is a city of bridges and has five of them, including a suspension bridge. The people are well known for being very friendly and this probably explains the ease with which foreigners integrate. As with all modern Spanish towns and cities there is a modern hospital, several clinics, a wide variety of shops, banks, restaurants, bars etc.
As with so many towns and cities in this large country, Alcoy is no different in that you can go from city centre to “countryside” in no time at all - with no built up areas surrounding towns and cities as is the case in the UK This of course appeals to many expatriates who want the wide open spaces of the countryside but who also want almost immediate access to good facilities.
If your idea of living in Spain is to be near and in sight of the sea, then your options are clearly defined. You will either have to live in a coastal resort or if you are looking for any degree of isolation at all, have the necessary funding to allow you to buy virgin land in site of or overlooking the sea. The latter will require a very healthy budget. When it comes to the difference between living inland and living on the coast, there are more of them than the obvious presence or absence of the sea.
On the coast, most things will cost more and this includes land, property, food and services. Further,
coastal life will tend to be cyclical - hectic and busy in the summer and then quiet and in some areas, almost deserted in the winter. Examples where this happens are Torrevieja, Torremolinos, Benidorm, Benalmadena, La Manga and all areas where the population may increase several fold during the tourist season. The restaurants and bars which open to deal with the tourists soon close once they have gone, when the shutters and grilles go up until the start of the next season and the temporary workers move on looking for winter work. Finding parking space is once again possible. Come the new season and the temporary workers return, parking is impossible and everywhere buzzes with life.
If you want to live in a coastal resort it’s probably best for you to select an expatriate area, where for want of a better description, living is “averaged out” over the year. Many misunderstand what is meant by “expatriate areas” and have visions of ghettos full of hard drinking Brits and signs warning not to enter. Nothing could be further from the truth and such areas are usually on well kept urbanisations where the majority of inhabitants are foreigners and who remain resident all year round.
Coastal Spain is popular and expatriates do group together in significant numbers, carving out a way of life which is uniquely different from that in the UK and which tends to involve a lot of socialising. These areas are by no means exclusively expatriate and have many Spanish residents as well. Such an area is Quesada, a large urbanisation about 35 km south of Alicante. Obviously, in such areas shops, banks, restaurants etc remain open all year.