Anybody got anything to say about this place?

Nice area, and larger towns, beaches and airport all within a short drive.

Thanks

All the information about this town can be found here

What I am looking for here is any personal knowledge of the place.

Is there a large Brit comunity?

Are the locals friendly?

Does anyone on this forum live in Alhaurin el Grande?

Hi Jondee

It may not be of much good to you,but,we used to live there in an area called Las Lomas,it was beautiful and had some great times in Alhaurin town,however,last year we were going to move back down but were put off by the way thing's had changed,local Spanish bar's had been changed to sports bars, lots of petty pilfering and generally not as good as it was.
I went onto Andalucia.com and found loads of info with people living there,one I actually new from when we lived there.
Hope this helps

Merrymex

Hi Jondee,

Sorry, I only just got to this thread, as I am using a friends computer until I move, actually to Alhaurin El Grande, on 4th June.

I do know a bit about the town, but only as someone who has stayed there a few times since November 2006, while in the process of buying my house.

There are about 21,000 residents, of whom about 2,000 are expats of various nationalities. Not sure how many Brits. I woul think there are quite a few, as there seem to be quite a few English shops scattered about. At least two English supermarkets, two English newsagents. An English butcher, A 'Linens Direct', and various others, maybe more, those are the ones I've seen, That's not to say that the town is completely saturated with British people. My impression is that it is a traditional small town/village, mostly Spanish. Plenty of Bars and places to eat. There is a Chinese restaurant, two Indian restaurants, pizzerias. Several Spanish supermarkets. From what I have seen you could but pretty much anything you would need from the town, food hardware electrical goods.

The town I think is very attractive, traditional narrow streets, with all sorts of attractive small shops, selling clothing, crafts, gifts, without being geared towards the tourist market. Surrounding the commercial area are narrow streets with traditional Spanish town houses, some of which seem to have been turned into little family shops, selling fish or pastries, and other commodities. There are several churches, and squares. Beautiful trees, palm, orange, eucalyptus, olive. The local government seem to be paying a lot of attention to the planting along the roads in the town, and the areas around the outskirts, constructing park areas with places for children to play. Also seem to be lots of schools.

You can get a bus to Malaga, Fuengirola, Coin, and probably others, however they all seem to stop running at 8pm. The drive to Malaga airport takes about a half an hour. About the same to Marbella.

It was the first town that I saw when I came to look at property, and I liked it right away. For me, as I don't drive, it was important that I was closeish to everything, but not in a tourist area. It seemed to have a good balance of traditional features and modern facilities. They are also in the process of buildinga large centre which will house a large library.

I hope this gives you a little idea. I have to say I am biased though. If I have missed anything out please ask and if I can tell you I will.

Regards, Brenda

PS. Almost forgot, great views of the Sierra to the South and the valley to the North.



The town is built, nestled into the Sierra de Mijas (I think), which is a National park, comprising a large area of forest ( umbrella pines). In places the roads are very steep

Thanks for all your replies.

Compost, Hope your move goes well. Keep the forum informed.

I may be looking for a second hand car once I arrive so if you know of a dealer in the area then I would appreciate the info, although I am considering buying a LHD over here and driving down, just need to sort out the pros and cons, like registering it once in spain and the cost of travelling down comapared to the cost of SH cars over there.

I have never been to Alhaurin but have fallen in love with it already (sounds daft i know) Your decription of it confirms what I thought the place was like so is all good.

No, cars are not something I've had a need for, so have no idea. However, once I am there, can have a check around and report back You all sorted re accommodation etc? Sounds like you are going to be on the move quite soon.

Regarding the town, I fell in love with it too.

Hi
There is a couple of english guys on the industrial estate who own a garage they are very helpful, i will try and find the address of Mr Naughty and post it later.

Thank you Miss Naughty, I would apreciate that very much.

did you live in the Alhaurin area?

Stayed in coin which is a few miles out but i would never stay there again.

Alhaurin is a lovely town and really has improved over the years.
Nice bakers their aswell

xxx

We have some friends who live in AEG and have just bought a house there, they love it

Hi Miss Naughty, why wouldn't you go to Coin again? I don't know much about the place, we've only driven throught there

Hi

( Coin)It is a dirty place to me. Also its a boring place once you have walked through the town once thats it nothing else to do.

The la troja shopping centre was rubbish there was nothing in their apart from phone shops and shoe shops and a few other bits.

I felt trapped there, apart from sitting in mickeys bar all day there was nothing.

i know there is always a lot of dogs muck in towns but this was really bad.

Maybe if i was retired and wanted a really quiet life then yes coin might be it


xxxx

I have my eye on a rental property on the grounds of the Hotel Mirador, do you know it? I'm not sure where in the town it is, I think its out of town on the footfalls of the seirra de Mijas. I would have full use of their facilities including the full size swimming pool, although would be packed with guests at peek times. The rentals manager I am in contact with has quite a few houses to rent so I will just have to see what is available when I get there.

I'm hoping to come over end of June but would need to fly back and forth a couple of times to tie up loose ends here.

I would say that The Mirador is about 5 minutes drive from the town, on the way in from Malaga.

I agree about Coin not being very 'clean' but lets be honest not many spanish industrial towns are. It isn't the prettiest place in Andalucia but it is very practical for residents with a good choice of schools, medical facilities, supermarkets etc. I know from your previous posts that you were ripped off by 'friends', screwed over your car repairs and didn't last long in Spain but don't write off a place just based on your bad experiences.