Hi, we are trying to compare cost of living in

Majorca / Tenerife / southern costa blanca / costa del sol (between Malaga and Estepona)

as this will help narrow down the areas we will then go and look at renting before buying our place in the sun, any useful information would be helpful, I know some things are more expensive from our many holidays in Spain, but would like a more like

general shopping / utilities / broadband /mobile phone costs

Thanks in advance

It is highly dependent on *where* within any one region you live, and whether you can live without being surrounded by "britishness"..

There will be plenty of people who tell you how much more expensive it is to live in Spain. If you are amongst the many who can only tolerate something resembling "Little Britain in the Sun" - then yes, it will get expensive, since "England" doesn't grow naturally here. It's Mallorca."England" needs to be "imported" in order to achieve that result, and that obviously costs more.

Here in Mallorca, the cost of living in the usual expat areas is double or triple what it costs elsewhere on the island. You can pay half a million Euros for a 3 bedroom flat in Calvia, but in say, the center of the island, half a million will buy something more resembling a castle with a few hectares of land, and €150K will buy you a 150 square metre townhouse in some lovely village.

Rents are ridiculously cheap - €500/month can get you a lovely 3 bed 2 bath, 140 square metre home - except in the southwest, of course, where a 3Bed/2bath cookie cutter crammed amongst 100 others will run you as much as €1600K per month - but you'll have expat neighbours and only have to drive less than 1km to the €15K per year / per student international school).

Most Brits seem to believe they *must* live in an expat community, but in truth, the only tangible drawback to living outside the expat areas is the long commute to the expensive international schools that populate the expat areas (for those who are unwilling or unable to learn to speak Catalan or Spanish).

Otherwise, it's half the cost or less to live elsewhere on the island, public transport is modern, efficient, and far cheaper than driving. But the roads are excellent too, if you prefer to drive. The distance to the beach or the city is measured in minutes from most places on the island.

Spain has some of the highest broadband prices in Europe (and amongst the slowest and least reliable, poorest customer service - although it's getting better).

Mobile phones are about the same as UK, but you can get by with as little as €10 per month for voice, text and data for your smartphone if you take PayG.

The energy companies in Spain enjoy a kind of "virtual" monopoly with their strong influence over government regulatory policy, which always favour the interests of the energy giants, and so energy (particularly electricity) is amongst the world's top 5 most expensive - and profitable - for the energy companies (especially here in Mallorca, where Endesa has the monopoly) It's a kind of legal public extortion.

Cost of supermarket products is lower than the UK for most things - especially wine & spirits. But if you *must* buy only British products, the will be harder to get and more expensive.

Petrol is generally less expensive than the UK.

Thanks, we do not require any schools as we have no children (henry's son is married with his kids and living in Barcelona), we have looked at the Cala D'or area in the most part, as that's the area we've loved over the many years of travelling to Mallorca.

We would like an expat community of sorts, but still want to be able to be in an area with locals, as we want to learn and use the language.

We would prefer not to have a car, and we know how good the bus service is in the south of the island, what's it like in the north?

We have also thought about Soller as an area, is this doable on a €130,00 budget ?

Many thanks

Bus services to the extremes of the island are more sparse, but they do exist and the buses are all shiny new and comfortable. In the off-season (for the extremes of the island) they are infrequent, though.

Places like Cala d'Or will be pretty limited for bus service in winter, but they still operate. If you lived in Cala d'Or, I think you'd probably want a car. Also, it's a tourist resort, so everything will be a bit more dear there - as would be Pollensa or Soller.

Sa Pobla, Manacor and Inca areas are amongst the best values on the island. All have low cost of living, low property prices/rents, and lots of local resources (major supermarkets, DIY, etc) but most importantly, train stations, which are faster and more comfortable than buses.

If you went to Felanitx, Porreres, Campos, Algaida, Sencelles, Santa Eugenia, Santa Margalida, etc... what you'd get for your money would be amazing, but you would need a car.

If you lived in the east, Manacor is the centre of shopping - although it's not a tourist attraction at all. Not a particularly pretty town, but it has lots of stuff - good shops, 7 major supermarkets, great restaurants, low prices, easy access to east-coast beaches, train direct to Palma. Low crime, low cost of living. *nice* home can be had for very, very cheap. But you have to dig a little...

For the north (where the beaches are lovely), the Sa Pobla area would be a good choice - very low cost of living, good "resources", easy cheap access to the north beaches/resorts and mountain areas by bus, and fast access to Palma by train.

Do you mean €130K home purchase price, or €130K annual salary?

€130K would buy a lovely home in any of the aforementioned. Probably 3-4 bedrooms, 2-3 baths, 150 sq. meters...

Soller would be great, but like any popular tourist resort, its going to be a bit more dear (but lovely). Good access by bus. Deals can be had, but you'd have to move quickly - and you may have to settle for a fixer-upper at that price.. Have a look at Bunyola or anywhere outside of the centre of Soller /Port de Soller.

Unfortunately, unless you're in the centre, you will need a car. But it's a bit impractical to have even a moderately expensive car here - nobody really cares what you drive, and it will get scratched and dented anyway. Buy an old golf. It what most (eventually) do.

If €130K is your income, well, you will live like royalty here - no worries. The average salary (for those lucky enough to have jobs) is about €30K.

Hi, wow, some great info thank you.

Our budget for the house will be €130,000 (plus fees) for a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment or townhouse.

We will not be working (hopefully) as will have savings, pension etc., to live on for a couple of years until the full pension kicks in.

Yep, have noticed the state of cars during our many visits to the island, but if we were to get a car, I think, like you say it will be cheap runabout.

Thanks again for the great info really helpful

The term lovely is probably different for everyone, but I haven't seen anything decent for 130K (3-4 beds). It's either just an apartment where you hear everything from your neighbour, or an old house that requires total refurbishing without a garden.

Intresting to hear everyones views, but we are actually only looking for a 2 - 3 bedroom place as 4 would just be a waste for us.

You can certainly find enough 2-3 bed properties under 150K, but 4 bedrooms with 3 baths is a bit unrealistic.

thanks, as long as it has some sort of terrace/balcony, no garden really required, as long as we can use telescope would be happy

I think you should have said 'some' rather than 'most' as many expats want to get as far away as possible from some types of 'Brit'

But the rest of your post is (as usual) a

Indeed, some expats are a bit tooooo loud for us, a quietish life but not too quiet is what we want

A quick search of just ONE immo site rendered these:

Manacor, Inca, Campos, Sa Pobla, etc...

Also, be advised that it's not unusual to >list< properties for >double< the market price - with the expectation of negotiating downward.

Lastly, the banks often offer incredible deals on foreclosures. They get snapped up quickly, but I've seen new apartments more or less matching your description being offered for €40K or so. So go to the banks, get in touch with their property managers, and get on their mailing list.

Oh, and most of the places some will tell you are "too quiet" have lots of activity. The aforementioned towns are quite active - not boring at all, and are open late. Unless of course you're looking to live on the Cala d'or strip, and then of course, you'll need to be in a tourist resort. Nonetheless, the "dream" of living in a tourist resort eventually becomes a burden - many who choose that path eventually dread when the season opens...

Good luck.

There might be some bargains, but be aware. Often these buildings are poor quality, not soundproof and not all areas are safe in Mallorca.

OK, so you can buy said properties of desired amenities in that range, but it won't be worth having? You wouldn't happen to be an estate agent, would you?

No wonder so many seem to believe they have no choice but to settle in the most crowded, expensive areas with the highest crime rates. Nobody told them any differently.

Just for the record, we started out in Calvia. Left within 5 years. Now we have a house just outside a lovely village with about triple the space, private pool, lots of land, nearest neighbour 300 mtrs away, zero crime, and even had a chunk of change left over from the sale of the Calvia flat to do it up.

But you do have to consider things you might not otherwise consider - such as living outside an expat area (yes, very dangerous ).

Thank you everyone, this information is most interesting, along with the information we received when we went to "A Place in the Sun Live" last weekend, this is really helping us zone in on what we really want