Hi

Could someone please explain the difference between a Cortijo and a Finca ?

Thanks !

First one could be a rural farmhouse, generally large.

Second one is one or more parcels of agricultural land that may or may not have a dwelling on it.

Thanks OF. That confuses me as all of the programmes we've seen on TV a Finca is a house ?

Of course, like most TV programs about Spain, they are wrong.

Olivefarmer is correct. We live in a Cortijo on a Finca.

OK so, If we are looking for a rural farmhouse we should look for a CORTIJO ?

Just thought of one other thing, so, if we found a FINCA with a house would there be any difference between a house on a Finca and a Cortijo ??

I lived in a chalet on a finca

No. It's all estate agent speak!

Many agents wrongly call country houses Fincas. Sometimes the Spanish refer to a nice house in the Campo as a Chalet - just to confuse you even further!

Is a rural farmhouse more commonly advertised as a CORTIJO rather than a CHALET ?

In estate agents you will usually find a country house advertised as a finca. Wrong maybe but this is how they advertise, ie 'a large country finca for sale, with 7 rooms in need of modernisation'

Its sort of like a Hoover. Everyone calls it a hoover but in reality it is actually a vacumn cleaner.

I am thrown every time some of the people in my town call certain flats fincas. Weird.

Rosemary

Oh Jesus.... I am none the wiser, more confused in fact ! We would be looking for a rural farmhouse type property in the countryside,so, what should we look for as advertised by agents Finca, Cortijo, Chalet or what !?

Take any of those descriptions and go and have a look.

Hopefully someone might post a link to a website where you can specify the type of property by:-

Number / type of rooms
Built size
Size of plot
Age
Location
Price
Etc.

In order that you may apply enough filters to only view properties similar to your requirements.

I think the simplest way is to refer to a finca simply as a farm or smallholding. It may or may not have a house on it, but it has (usually) trees that can generate a small income if harvested.

A cortijo is just a small country house sat on a plot of land in the campo. The land might be very small and not classed as a finca, or the land might be large with lots of trees and therefore classed as a finca.

The cortijo is the house, the finca is the farm.

Below is a link to what you are describing.

However it does require a little TLC

http://fotos.diariosur.es/201001/cor...640x640x80.jpg

Our property is on 7000m2 of land and is quite large (550m2).

Locals refer to it as either a chalet or as a casita - I wonder how big a casita has to be before it becomes a casa?