minouette

Hello everyone!
I'll be on the Costa Blanca in September for a holiday and I'm thinking that if I find a nice place, I would like to buy it.
Could you please give me some advice on how I can find a good solicitor? Maybe even recommend one?

Many thanks in advance!
M

snikpoh

It really depends where you are - it's probably best to use someone local.

The Costa Blanca is a VERY long coast line - where are you hoping to live?

minouette

Thank you snikpoh for replying.
I'm hoping for Cabo Roig or Playa Flamenca.
I used to know the area quite well from holidaying, although I haven't been back for some 10 years.

missile

I would recommend a very good Spanish solicitor who speaks excellent English. e mail: [email protected] Tel: +34 965 725 410 / Fax: +34 966 717 121

minouette

Thank you very much, missile!

missile

Pleased to help.

minouette

Just back from 2 weeks in Spain and happy to report that I found a lovely quad in Cabo Roig which I'm now in the process of buying
It will be initially a holiday home, but hopefully in a couple of years I will make it the main home. Fingers crossed!
Thank you again to all of you who helped with your advice!

Talking about advice, here is another one I need: what's the best and quickest way of learning (basic) Spanish while still in the UK?

mikelincs

Evening classes?, or try a google search, pleanty of online or CD courses, or even borrow from your local library.

agoreira

When you find out, let me know. After years of study and spending lots of money, one thing I have learnt is there are no short cuts, there is no magic formula for learning a language. Hard work is the answer, and unless you are incredibly gifted, it will still take a long time. Total immersion in a language is one way but for many that's neither desirable nor doable. Forget the "Learn Spanish in 3 Months" type adverts, it won't happen. I've seen people (my neighbour!) that have been attending evening classes for a couple of years and is still hardly capable of stringing a sentence together. I think just about all the people that come on here say they intend learning Spanish, but in my experience very few actually do.

agoreira

Yes, and gone are the days when we only had the choice of a very few tatty Spanish books to borrow, CD's, DVD's etc are all readily available. I'm a big fan of skype language exchange but you do need a basic understanding of the lingo to get you started. I don't think all these expensive courses are necessary either, there are loads of excellent free sites on the net. I download podcasts onto a stick and listen in the car, again lots of those freely available at many different levels.

mikelincs

The BBC do an excellent basic set of lessons for free.

zenkarma

There is no 'best or quickest' method. The only way is through a lot of hard work over a period of time.

I think duolingo is a really good way to get started in Spanish. It's free and quite a fun way to learn. You can spend as little or as long at it as you like.

It will enable you to build a good basic vocabulary and introduce you to the syntax of the language to get you started. You can then build on that when you're in Spain. The only real way to become fluent in a language is to speak it every day in the country with native speakers.

jackytoo

I think all those self study courses are only OK as an aid but formal classes are necessary to be fluent. The audio courses are useful if you are holidaying and want to order a meal etc. I did Greek and Italian that way, just to get by for 2 weeks They understood what I wanted but I didn't understand what they were saying to me

stuboy

I can recommend 'Dorothy Richmond's' Basic Spanish exercise book. It starts of really easy. You can work at you own pace, it has the answers at the back. The explanations are also very well detailed.

agoreira

Agree, especially years ago, when we only had books available! Today with all the material available, you hear it spoken "like what it should be" by genuine Spanish speakers, that's important. Some of the so called Spanish teachers, like one we had fresh out of uni, have dire accents and not a lot more knowledge than the students. I had one excellent teacher that could easily pass for Spanish having lived there for 7 years, but for me, there is no substitute for the real thing. We treasure our young Spanish teacher.