Breianne

Hi Everyone,

Pleased to meet you forum wise and look forward to making new contacts and friends and hearing from everyone that has taken the opportunity to re-locate to Spain or the Balearic Islands, or perhaps Cyprus, Malta, etc.

My name is Breianne and my Husband is Brian. We are both from (still are) in the UK (South Wales) and looking to relocate. Over the past year, though we are yet not retired we are in our early sixties we are thinking about re-locating to Spain or a part of the Balearic Islands such as Menorca (but no Ibiza or Majorca) for our retirement.

We have looked online for areas, location places and what they offer, spoken to some overseas estate agents in respect of properties (bungalows or villas that don't have upstairs bedrooms/living rooms) in small community residential areas that are not holiday resorts. Preferably with gardens and own pool but if in a small community consider a communal pool.

Brian and I feel that looking for a location and suitable property is like looking for a needle in a haystack. So much choice which is welcome and good but obviously needing to keep to our budget in mind.

We feel somewhat overwhelmed by what we see online and on the internet, Television and You Tube and know its a case of seeing overseas areas in Spain and the Balearic Islands but for the fact we are still working and want to find a location that some of you could feel fit the bill so to speak!

We are both young at heart friendly down to earth people and enjoy various pursuits such as table tennis, outdoor bowling, darts, walking, squash, (art painting and drawing), golf (Brian), cooking, seeing films, dining out, dancing, entertaining, excursions and socialising etc. We are open to new pursuits and hobbies and eager to learn some Spanish.

We have a few small dogs so looking for a location in mind that doesn't see us away and isolated in the mountains but not situated right on the beach either.

A few minutes walk to reach amenities for shops, supermarket, dentist, GP, bank, vets etc is a must. We both drive but we wouldn't want to have to drive for example, half an hour to get a pint of milk! Knowing and fitting into a community that is also English speaking to make new contacts and friends is also another must.

We both know that its not just a case of living the dream but being realistic so any one that can let us know how things fare and work with medical (health care), pensions, cost of living, to rent or buy (as we are undecided), pros and cons, in fact anything that would be relevant to relocating would be most appreciated.

We would be interested to hear of your own experiences of re-locating and look forward to hearing from anyone and everyone

Best wishes xx Breianne and Brian

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

FranE

Hello Breianne. My husband and I also considered re-locating permanently in our retirement but ultimately decided it was too much of a wrench, so we now spend 6 months each year at our house in Spain. A few of points:


1. Start to learn Spanish now, before you go. We went to conversation classes at the local college, I then went on to GCSE, and even now in my 6 months in the UK I have weekly one-to-one conversation sessions with a Spanish ex-pat.
2. I don't see how you can decide on an area without travelling around to see for yourself. Personally, I believe this is far more important than looking at specific properties. Over a couple of years we travelled the length of the southern coast to just look at the areas, get a feel for them, and see what suited us. As a VERY GENERAL rule, we found that the further south down the mainland southern coast you go, the more ex-pat communities you will find. I think a lot depends on just how "native" or "ex-pat" you want to go. Look in estate agents' windows while you're there to see what sort of properties are available.
3. If you see a place that suits you, find the "English bar"! There very often is one somewhere. Our area is very Spanish, very few Brits, but even so there is an English bar which is frequented by ex-pats (and Spanish as well) from our small town and quite a few nearby towns and villages.


I can't comment much on cost of living as our place is totally off-grid, and as a result our council tax is ludicrously cheap (less than 50 euros a year) and all we have to pay for is bottled gas for the fridge and cooker! We have found that food clothes and petrol is cheaper, but furniture and appliances - even second hand - are considerably more expensive than in the UK. Our second hand car cost more than double the equivalent in the UK.


I also can't comment on health care because as visitors (we go for 3 months at a time) we are covered by our EHIC (E111) cards -and we don't know what will happen after Brexit. I've had occasion to visit the hospital once and had excellent service.


I'm sure others will have different points of view, this is just generally what we found.


Good luck.

Breianne

Hi there,

Thank you very much for your contact and reply. I hope the post hasn't made us sound as if we are jumping in to re-locate to Spain and not applying a lot of thought. Brian and I completely agree with you on deciding to travel around and visit areas before even thinking of a property.

This is why we will book to go to Spain to take the opportunity to look at areas and talk to estate agents and hopefully some local English speaking residents and expats. To visit for the next few years for at least for two weeks and take the chance to travel around. The trouble is we don't have more than 2 weeks to spare in any given year due to our work commitments and hence we would like to hear from those such as yourself who can perhaps point out or recommend areas in and within Spain.

Its daunting to re-locate hence our asking those such as yourself on Expats of their own experiences, what areas appeal to those wanting to re-locate and so forth. Spain and the Balearic Islands have much to offer and yet with the help of those on Expats may have some suggest visiting certain areas and places that they are happy with and suit our own requirements.

All the very best

Breianne

Boseley

I considered the area around Moraira, south of Javea, my father lived there for many years so I was familiar with that location, but the climate and cheaper economy of the Canarian archipelago swayed me and that is where I now live and have done so for many years.

Breianne

Hi Bosely, Thank you very much for your contact and reply. Will look at Canarian archipelago

Best wishes