carolann

Hi,

Can anyome give me some advice....we are currently living on the Costa de la Luz and are considering a change of scenery. We had thought of looking up country at Galicia, but before we go exploring, we'd appreciate some un-biased advice from anyone who lives in that region.

My husband's a sea angling nut and wants to have a boat there for his retirement....anybody have any thoughts or experience on that subject?

Is there much of a Brit community there?

As we have a house down here, we thought about renting for a year or so if we move - are rentals reasonably well available there?

Finally, we have heard a lot of negative comments about the weather in the region. Is it as bad as some say?

Answers to these questions and any other advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Jules Europe

The weather there is bad by Spanish standards and more on a par with atlantic France and southern UK. visually you will feel more like you are in the UK than Spain especially since you would be coming from the Costa de la Luz.
As for English speaking communities probably few and far between but Brits will be there. Can`t imagine rentals being hard to find in any part of Spain as everybody is desperate to sell or rent. Might be interested to know that the area has some of the cheapest property prices in Spain.

steviedeluxe

So far as I understand, the rainfall is as high as Ireland or Scotland, so in fact worse than England.
This blog may be of interest (although he does seem to be constantly worried that the Ave link from Madrid won't be built as fast as the other sections):
thoughts from galicia

SNIP

Jules Europe

[quote=steviedeluxe;6825812]So far as I understand, the rainfall is as high as Ireland or Scotland, so in fact worse than England.
This blog may be of interest (although he does seem to be constantly worried that the Ave link from Madrid won't be built as fast as the other sections):
thoughts from galicia
(SNIP)

I remember seeing a chart now, between rainfall in Manchester and a city in Galicia and the rainfall in Galicia was higher therefore its probably on a par as you say with Scotland or Ireland.

The debate about the ave to Madrid has been going on for years.

DebsyW

Galicia does have a lot of rainfall but that makes the scenery so beautiful. It is lush and green. In summer it is not as hot as the Costas (but still hot by english standards) and many spaniards flock to Galicia in the summer months to escape the heat.
You are better getting in touch with Battlezone and Casa Santa Estevo on this forum... both live in the Galicia region and are the best at advising rather than listening to us and to looking at web-links

carolann

Thanks everyone for your input so far.

My first reaction is that a move to a region other than Galicia is probably in order as we both absolutely HATE rain and cold weather - one of the many reasons for quitting the U.K. many years ago. Some may say that it's a poor reason for not wanting to live somewhere, but, for us, it's quite legitimate.

Perhaps the Canaries or somewhere would suit. The difficulty is we love Spanish food so that sort of rules out other countries.

Oh well, some ideas will, no doubt, occur in the fullness of time.

Thanks again, but please don't stop

Casa Santo Estevo

If you hate rain so much then nowhere north is suitable for you. However whilst Andalusia is presently experiencing a lot of rain, here in inland Galicia we have great weather. (Even heard there has been flooding in and around Valencia too). So nowhere is safe from the dreaded rain.
Another thing to be aware of is there are not many expats in Galicia so you should have a quite a good command of Spanish to survive well.


Besides the food is a bit different up here too.

Good luck in the Canaries.

Mitzyboy

I'd agree .... we went to Galicia on a break earlier in the year and it rained most of the time, and I did check the rainfall levels before we went which were high

A beautiful part of the country though .... very green (obviously) but if you dont like rain its probably not the place for you

Casa Santo Estevo

But we have to say that you was here during one of the wettest months Galicia has had for some time. Never mind you can always come back.

me me

Why not rent over the winter. Then you will see Galicia at its "worst". At least you will know what to expect and then you can make an informed choice. I love Galicia, but it is not for everyone. My roots are there so I suppose I am biased. If you have got an itch....scratch it.