pain-in-spain

Hi Frank

Okay, here goes.....First of all, despite my negative or rather, realistic comments about Barcelona, it is still a wonderful city and up there with the greatest cities in the world in my opinion. I fell in love with it because of my family history here, but geniunely believe it has a lot to offer to the right kind of person. As with any place, it´s not right for everyone.

I am in my early forties (so not a spring chicken!) but am very youthful nonetheless! My partner and I have no children and as I said before, we are true urbanites with a need for culture and plenty of variety in our lives. In this respect, Barcelona is a good place for the kind of people we are. The downside is that due to it´s beach location and much commented on "laid back" lifestyle, it attracts a large amount of hippy, "beach bum" types and lay about druggies.

I have been visiting for over 40 years and I would say that the greatest changes have happened in the last 5-10 years. The biggest problem, I think, is the massive wave of immigration that has turned many areas into ghettos. It´s true that as a Londoner I have lived in areas that were very mixed, but somehow it seems much worse here because Barcelona is so densely populated. Due to high unemployment, it feels like everyone in Spain is living here! However, it is also true to say, that there are very few major cities that are not experiencing these serious problems. The other great thing about this city is that despite the crowds, it is very easy to escape into the surrounding mountains or seaside with little effort as the transport is excellent, cheap and user friendly. The Catalan region is possibly one of the most beautiful in Spain.

Where live, El Raval, there is the largest amount of immigrants in the city, however it is super central and an area considered very up and coming and trendy. Because it was neglected for so long there was a glut of run down properties in need of restoration. The local government is also ploughing funds into it to bring it up to date and we are seeing many positive changes. My flat has doubled in two years and we are hoping it will continue to go up. I know some areas in Spain may be experiencing a slow down but Barcelona is very different from the costas. First of all it is a major city and people will always need to live here for work. It´s geographical location make it difficult to sprawl out into the green belt and therefore space is more restricted creating the supply and demand effect. The population is growing and accomodation is not only needed for the local population, but there is also a fast growing foreign population who want to have second homes here due to Barcelona´s fashionable european city status.

With regards to rent, there is a wide range of prices depending on area and size. In the city centre it´s possible to get something of around 100sqm for about 1000 euros per month, possibly much cheaper depending on the state of the building and location. However, this is a very noisy city and if you´re looking for peace and quiet it will be harder to find. As a rule, the higher up you go towards the mountain the quieter and more expensive the property is. Having said that, there are also some nice properties in the Olympic village area, just 5 minutes from the sea which are surprisingly quiet and modern.

Utitilities are mostly cheaper than the UK. My bills for water, electricity and gas come to around 50 euros a month. Telephone is more expensive as line rental is high, my average bill is around 50 euros per month. Many areas now offer ADSL and prices have come down as it gets more popular, there is more competition in the market and I think it will improve greatly in the coming months.

Prositution and crime are power for the course in any major city. It is true that Barcelona still has it´s seedy areas and with the rise in immigrants, prositution has grown. Petty crime is very high, especially in the tourist areas, but it´s no worse than London at the moment. However, recently there has been an increase in the presence of the local police on the streets and I really think they are making huge efforts to improve the growing crime levels. I would say that I feel safer here walking around late at night than I would back in London.

Financially, as I said in my first post, this city is great if you have a good income. My salary is not enough to survive and although we own our property outright, we are still struggling. Whilst it is nice to have the beach so close and sit on cafe terraces drinking good coffee, this is not enough to sustain us.I think that a reasonable income for two people is 2000 euros a month, however most people earn half that.

Barcelona could be your dream city if you have the money to enjoy all it has to offer. I would suggest you come over for a few months and perhaps rent a place as a short let. At least then you will get an idea of the place and where you want to live. The location you choose in the city is fundamental to how you will feel about living here, if you get that right, you will have a better chance of making things work for you. Good luck!

thatmtnman

Hi Jock,

Many many thanks again for the extreamly helpful information.

We originally wanted to live in on Costa del Sol area, but were very worried about all of the issues you had written about. It was our thinking that we could use Barcelona as a stepping stone to the Costa del Sol area. However, as you are already there, perhaps we can get enough good information to skip that step.

I take it that it is now an excellent time to do a rental? If so given we are still so far away, how would you suggest we locate a property? I have read several articles about questionable business practises, and would like to avoid that route.

Secondly, in your area...how difficult is it to get high speed internet connections, and how long would that take and what would the cost be? If you know, what is the time line, costs, and proceedure for phones, and other utlities.

I must say I love your little quote about the snow and rain...we've waited too far ourselves! LOL!

yours kindly

Frank

ScotinSpain

Hi Frank,

Most of the people that I know who rent longer term have found places privately and then arranged a contract direct with the owner. I know this is very difficult from afar but, perhaps, you could arrange a short (1 month?) rental, obviously at a higher cost, then walk the streets, talk to people to seek a longer term one out. There are many web sites here but most are commercial and run by the agents with higher rental prices and, frequently, poor service once they have your cash. I run a 'non-commercial' site for our little Community, but can only find two others down here. Try searching Albayalde, Selwo Hills and Manilvalife to see these, they sometimes help although, again, they are mainly looking for short term clients and are in the more expensive areas. Once you are here there are plenty of houses advertising in the window and it's just a question of phoning around or knocking on doors. Most want 1 months deposit and a month's rent in advance, although agents frequently take an additional month as their fees. Again consult a lawyer BEFORE signing, it's money well spent. Now is a good time for longer rentals; both the Brit and locals are still reeling from the drop off in tourism this summer and we are in the lull between summer and Easter at present. Most of the dodgy business practices are with the larger Brit Agencies and, as always, the press only report the sharks. Many hundreds of thousands of Brits have moved to the Costa del Sol, and are still coming; it's not the most popular centre by chance and the Police are containing much of the crime you read of in other areas.

As regards broadband down here, it's not a problem on the Costa, but inland is a bit 'hit and miss', usually miss! Once you know the area Telefonica (BT equivalent) will let you know the score, you can even type in a phone number and it will give you an instant answer. Telefonica have recently improved their, previously terrible (a la BT) service, and can normally provide a telephone in a few days provided there is already a line in. For broadband (ADSL) it takes a couple of weeks for them to send the 'Kit ADSL', including a router, and then you set it up. There are many IT 'experts' who will help for a small charge if your Spanish is not up to it. We are setting up WiFi access in our Community, mainly for the non resident owners who only spend a few weeks, or months, down here each year, which makes it much cheaper with instant access once they have the wirless card.

Cost for the telephone line is 16.52 Euros/month and 24/7 ADSL is 39 Euros, both plus 16% IVA (VAT). Telefonica have recently doubled download speed to 512 at no extra charge so it really screams along. Other ISPs are available, some a little cheaper, but Telefonica provide the lines so most businesses use them and I have not had a problem with them in 2 years; they are training more English speaking staff slowly. In general Internet awareness here is well ahead of UK, and the Costa infrastructure modern and efficient (however install a USP if you rely on the Internet for business as the electricity supply is not so good, with many short term outages).

Hope this helps, moving here is a big step but 95%+ never look back.

Jock

thatmtnman

Thank you so much Jock! You are 'just the best'! I will go look at the links you sent.

You're setting up a wifi node? Wow! What a great thing to do. I was just down in SFO and someone there has set up a free WiFi node which is just great.

yours kindly

Frank

Chiclanagir

If you have been thinking about the Costa de Sol, consider my area on the Atlantic coast near Cadiz. Still very Spanish and much cheaper to live, also very beautiful.