purpleflower

HI there again everyone

Was just wondering if anyone lives or has personal experience of Alicante, my partner and I are thinking of moving there in May, we are getting married in Gibraltar on 21 st May and are hoping to rent a holiday home/apartment in Alicante for a few weeks so we can check out the area and look for a longer term rental once we have applied for our residency. Any info or personal experiences of dealing with the authorities in Alicante would be appreciated too.

Thanks

JLFS

Do you mean Alicante province or the town itself?

purpleflower

Sorry, I mean Alicante the town itself

JLFS

Alicante city is not really the best place for a holiday rental, it is quite expensive for a short term let, but for longer term living it is a lot easier renting. The holiday lets that I have seen are about 600 euros a week.

It is mainly Spanish, there are not many expats living in the centre, although a lot are around, they come for the shopping, and visiting.

It may be better staying just outside like San Juan and travelling in to get a feel for the place.

purpleflower

Thankyou JLFS, thats very helpful

pixieve

I live in the city centre. Ive been here almost a year now and love it. As JLFS said, there are very few expats here. In fact, i only know of 2 other expats in the city centre. No one speaks any english anywhere, shops, hospitals, restaurants etc. So make sure your spanish is up to par! Any other info i can give you, just ask!

EmilyPenguin

I dont know a thing about Alicante, but Congratulations on the wedding anyhow!

Domino

many expats keep a low profile

I live in a village/town of 5000 where I have been told there are no expats and I will find it very lonely and very Spanish - so I moved in quicker

one lunchtime I shared my table with 5 Brits, been living here 7 years, the BH travels to work with a woman who has lived here 6 years

last week I called into bar for coffee and met 4 expats, as they left another 3 expats walked in.

many expats keep a low profile but their mistake is to always converse in English amongst themselves.

JLFS

All most all expats speak their own language when they are together, to do anything else seems forced somehow.

My parents NEVER spolke English when meeting other Spanish people in the UK, unless there was a non Spanish speaker with them.

Domino

fully understand JL, just that everyone keeps saying Alicante has no expats

for a city of 334,000+ to have very few expats would be really unusual.
you know full well the Brits are like ants - they get everywhere.

JLFS

Lets not go there.........

Domino

purpleflower

Hi there again everyone, we have booked our flights and will arrive on 9th May, we have booked a holiday apartment in Torrevieja for the first month so we have time to get married and then apply for our residency whilst we look around the area for a long term rental in the area from June.

Thankyou for your wedding congratulations Emily, that was kind.

Thankyou for your reply pixie, I am glad you are enjoying your move to Alicante, my spanish isnt very good, my partner speaks fluent spanish but has a visual impairment so cant read text so we sort of work together as a team, gets us through most things

Thankyou for your replies JLFS and Domingo, a low profile sounds good to me, lol!

Any help dealing with the red tape of residency etc when we apply would be much appreciated, thanks again for taking the time to answer my post

pixieve

Well i can assure you, anyone i have ever spoken to always comments about how unusual it is that i have settled in the city as there are very few expats!

Also i have dealt with 2 gestors from the surrounding area, both of whom said i was their 1st customer in the city centre for over 10yrs! And these guys know ALL the expats...

purpleflower

Hi there again pixie, its good news you have already dealt with two gestors, I might need a recommendation after we apply for our residency, I have read loads on the internet but am still confused about exactly what we have to do, especially as my partner is American, did you have any problems with the red tape stuff?