dorishaslop

Hi everyone, I am hoping to come and settle in Spain as I really have had enough of britain, I am currently looking at some long term rentals with options to buy, I originally fell in love with el Campello and Villa Joyosa but not much renting going on as far as I can see, I have looked at some pictures from estate agents for apartment blocks in both Almoradi and Algorfa, but would love some input from you as to what may or may not be good, I am 54, have two lurchers, and am a very private person who has rhuematoid arthritis, so would be interested to know about transferring my DLA over to Spain, and whether the medical system there is good, Many thanks in advance to all who reply, much appreciated. Also I am hoping to make the move before the winter sets in here.

Guardamar4me

Forget estate agents trying to sell you whats on their books. Come out and rent then have a good luck round. You need to do a lot of research before jumping and I would suggest the worst thing you can do at this time is 'burn your bridges' - in 2 years time, you may have changed your mind completely.

I also have RA and find it much better out here in the summer, but I prefer central heating and carpets in the winter.

Be very careful with your DLA. It depends what rate you are on, but the coalition are looking to remove it from as many as possible.

I am not getting into discussing the pros and cons for any areas, on a public forum, but PM me if I can help further.

Good luck with your quest. The Costa Blanca is a lovely area and there are lots of bargains to be had.

dorishaslop

Hi again, I tried to PM you but am not allowed as I haven't posted three times yet.. thanks for your help though, I have only just applied for my DLA so if and when I get it, I should be able to collect it for the six months, by then I will have made a decision whether to stay or not. My other half will be paying the rent on my apartment and he will join me at a later date. I just wondered what other bills are going to appear other than gas and electric, is there council tax, water rates, etc. Also are there any free wi fi hot spots or will I have to get broadband as I would like to use skype. or will a dongle do... sorry to bombard you with questions but it's a big leap for me...

jackytoo

He will PM you

Guardamar4me

Put some more posts on the forum then send me a pm - its better then clogging the forum up.

missile

What are your priorities? Are you looking for Brits abroad or to go native? Living in an apartment can be very noisy in spain. How bad is your RA, can you cope with stairs and hills?

IMHO, the medical facilities in spain are far better than in UK.

lynnxa

actually we rather like the forum being 'clogged up' with useful info

that's what it's here for

posting uninformative stuff just to get your post count high enough to PM is generally frowned upon

just thought I'd mention it in case you weren't used to using forums & didn't understand forum etiquette

HBG

Almoradi and Algorfa are pleasant Spanish inland towns. Almoradi is bigger, Algorfa is nearer to the sea. There is a smattering of expats in both. You can't really compare them with Campello or Villajyosa which are coastal resorts next door to the major cities of Alicante and Benidorm.

dorishaslop

Thanks for that, My RA is pretty bad in hands and feet but I can manage some stairs ok, One of the most important things is somewhere to be able to exercise my dogs, also, when you say that apartments are noisy, in what way? or am I just being naive..I have neighbours where I am and a busy road, can it be much worse that that.? It would be nice to live close to a beach but I don't plan on bringing my car if all amenities are within walking distance. I didn't want to be living too close to a major expat community (no offence to my fellow brits) but some friendly faces would be excellent. I expect you all think I'm some stuck up snotty bi**h but I'm not, I never have been one for being in and out of other peoples houses for gossip, it's just the way I am... oh by the way,, another bit of dumbness on my part but what is a Campo, I see it keeps getting mentions.... thanks again friends x

Rosemary

Hi and welcome to the Spanish section of BE.

Campo is the the countryside, fields etc away from a town. Some campos are on the outskirts of a town and some are miles from a town.

The noise on the hard floors is incredible. Anyone moving a chair sounds dreadful. We do not like this sort of noise so we fitted felt bottoms onto all of our chairs and things that are easiest moved by just pushing them out of the way but I can assure you that others do not. If you lived in a flat where there are a big family above you can you imaging the amount of noise that you would get.

Rosemary

dorishaslop

Thanks Rosemary, I was thinking of renting a ground floor flat in a rather large complex in Algorfa, it was a very reasonable price and looked lovely, there is also another furnished apartment (2nd floor) in a complex overlooking a play area in Almoradi, this has been up for rent for quite a while now,, wondering if that might be a bad sign.. Sorry to keep harping on about my dogs but do many people have dogs in these areas? thanks again

Rosemary

I am unable to help you with the areas that you are looking at but if it is at all possible for you to rent either of the flats or somewhere similar and stay for a week or two prior to the big move it really would help you with your decision. Many places become very quiet during the winter months and extremely noisy in the summer months so you will need to have an inkling about that factor too.

Regarding your dogs, we have another thread running at the moment that is about fireworks so I advise you to read that one as it could also affect your plans.

Rosemary

missile

I concur with Rosemary's comments. In my experience spanish families make more noise than their UK counterparts and often party into the night. I do not intend that comment as a critiscism of spain, but you might not like that.

There are a great many appartments available for rent and you will be spoiled for choice. You might find LLs reluctant to accept dogs. There may be many who do it, but I don't feel it appropriate to keep large dogs like lurchers in an appartment. You might be better in the campo where your dogs will have more freedom.

Domino

sometimes it is the dogs that have a problem, moving from a UK house with garden to - in our case - a 3rd floor piso. our little chap seems to like the flat and over the past 3 months has staked out his areas and accepted some modifications to some of his routines (ex shelter and likes routine).
biggest problem is getting him into the cupboard every time he wants a walk. we call it a lift but even now he still isnt sure about it and seems fazed by being enclosed in the cupboard.

please go for what is best for you and the animal(s) - not near play areas and remember that the Spanish have well trained dogs, rarely wear leads and always come to heel.

dorishaslop

Thanks again, Domino and Missile, at present we don't have a garden as such just a paved area much like spanish terrace, My lurchers are very typical of the breed in that they are happy with half and hour walk/run in the morning and evening and will quite happily snooze the rest of the 24 hours away, Im not sure a campo would be ideal, yes they would have freedom to run but they would also be chasing and killing any little furry thing they saw. I'm hoping to become friends with my neighbours not mortal enemies