Moses2013

True but even if you live in a large City and crime is everywhere these days, you don't really want to live in the exact same estate or street.
Compared to the rest of the world, most cities in Spain are still safe enough but always good to have neighbours you can trust.

Bridie55

We love Almunecar not too touristy, nice working Spanish town, enough ex pats to make friends with. 1 hour from Malaga airport a bit less from Granada. Although we take the boat to Santander and a very easy drive down. We will be there on Monday for our 3 month break then back in September. Not a young person's place but plenty walks and things to do. We never get bored. Cheaper rentals than the Costa se1 Sol as well.

vh3

I am thinking we may have to go down a winter rental route due to Brexit. We are actually in Canada right now and moving back to Europe in 2020. We can use the Golden Visa route but that means putting all our money into a property and hoping it all works out. Renting for a year would have been ideal but I doubt that will be an option after Brexit. We are lucky in that we have choices but still it is a big step.

Loafing Along

Whatever you do after three months you will have to go through the hoops of registering residency and after six months you become a tax resident. No reason why the situation should change dramatically by 2020 so would definitely recommend a long term rental in your chosen area and hold-off buying until you are 100% sure you are where you want to be.

vh3

Fingers crossed. I guess we were thinking once Brexit took effect we would then not be able to freely live in Europe, or at least not as easy.