Uksp

Hello,
I am looking to buy a holiday home that I will eventually move out to in 10 years time and like the following areas:

Chiclana de la frontera
Novo sancti petri
Conil de la frontera
Los gallos

Can anyone let me know more about these areas, which one is best? What are the areas like in winter? Are they safe areas for Brits to live as largely Spanish communities?
Any advice is much appreciated.

Dxf

Hola,

Los Gallos and Novo Sancti Petri are parts of Chiclana; Conil is a different town to the south and where you will find the best English speaking solicitor.

Los Gallos is mostly urbanised; Chiclana is a large town of 84,000 people with approximately 50% illegal properties. The problem in July & August is the population increases to 240,000 people; the roads to the beach are large traffic jams at times.

The Ayuntamiento put on a full itinerary of events in August, the most popular month. However there is always something going on somewhere within the vicinity, but you need to speak Spanish.

Outside of the summer months Chiclana is a stable town with small industrial estates employing local people. Crime is mostly opportunist, unless you get a Spanish family feud (rare but not unheard of).

The local ex-pat association www.chifra.org - Home has a website for more information.

Davexf

Uksp

Thank you for the information.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Arco-Iris

The common advice to those thinking of settling here is for you to rent a place for, say, 6 months and see how you like it.

This part of Spain is popular among Spanish people in summer and it is advisable to learn Spanish. Roads, restaurants and supermarkets get very crowded.

Winters can be very cold; concrete houses do not retain the heat, many houses built have no damp-proof course and it's expensive to keep warm. Some areas are prone to flooding, so do your homework.

This is also a very windy coast and the hot wind from Africa (Levante) from May to September can be unbearable. Again, renting could allow you to discover this for yourself.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Uksp

Thank you for your comments. I have been visiting this part of Spain for the last 15 years on holiday as I like the fact that there is very little British influence and we are normally the only British in the hotels that we visit in the area. I'm just looking for advice on whether the area is welcoming for British buying properties as a holiday home in either chiclana or conil?thank you

Dxf

Hola,
Yes in general both towns welcome other nationalities that buy homes here; I can not recollect any problems that other areas have had where there has been an influx of holiday home owners changing the balance for the indigenous population.

There is still cheap housing in this part of the world and no end to houses being constructed. That said, the unemployment situation is still bad having dropped to 23% from 46% so many generations of families are living in one property, having had to move out because they can't pay the rent / mortgage.

Davexf