Costa Brava
 

Would just like to know if there are any people who have a holiday home or permanently live in the Costa Brava? I find the place has so much to offer + the climate is more pleasant. I'm just surprised that you don't find too many Brits there (which could also be a good thing:-).

Re: Costa Brava
 

So, it seems I was right.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I was interested in this post, and keep coming back to have a look for responses. I guess they too busy in the PDT to respond! :thumbdown:

Re: Costa Brava
 

I was hoping to get more response here, but it actually does look like most Brits don't consider the Costa Brava.

Re: Costa Brava
 

Strange, I thought many British lived there, whether it be part or full time :confused: maybe they frequent a more forum if there is such a thing.

Re: Costa Brava
 

It doesn't seem to be the case, as I haven't seen too many. Most people only know Malgrat de Mar, Lloret de Mar, as a party place for young people and then Blanes, but even those places have so much more to offer than the Costa Blanca. You have great walks along the coast and don't have these oversized developments (like Benidorm etc.). The residential areas around the main resorts are all well maintained and there are plenty of other places including the popular Tossa de Mar, or Roses.

Re: Costa Brava
 

The Costa Brava is too expensive for Brits in Spain. The weather is also not as good as further South

The Costa Brava is way superior than its southern equivalents in terms of the scenary, little beaches, villages, culture and food.

Although Lloret del Mar was one of the first mass market resorts, the rest of the coast doesn't feel mass market at all, it feels exclusive and special

Re: Costa Brava
 

I wouldn't really say too expensive. We have a place in the area and couldn't afford similar further south. Sure, you don't get the high temperatures, but still plenty of sun.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I was looking around Calella de palafrugell a few years ago and the house prices were eye watering, something like half a million euros for a 2 bed

And there were lots of very nice cars parked around

Re: Costa Brava
 

All those little coastal villages like Tamariu and LLafranc are great for summer holidays, but I doubt much goes on there out of season. They are certainly places where I'd consider having a second home, if I were that way inclined and if I had the money. But I couldn't see myself spending most of the year there. I think prices are slightly inflated because of the exclusivity of the area and its proximity to France/Barcelona.

Re: Costa Brava
 

You can certainly get plenty of apartments under 60K and smaller Villas in nice residential areas for under 150K. Of course there are several expensive areas like Calella de palafrugell too.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I doubt if you'll get a villa near the sea for less than 150K. Once you go inland then it's the same story all over Spain: property is cheaper and there are fewer expats.

Re: Costa Brava
 

Well depends what you mean with near. You obviously won't get a front row villa, but 10km from the sea is certainly still possible. Apartments however aren't more expensive and with a sea view is certainly possible under 100K

Re: Costa Brava
 

Hi, me and my family are planning to move to the costa brava from the uk. We find the area one of the nicest in Spain.
All I need to do now is find a job and we will be over.

Re: Costa Brava
 

You make it sound so easy! :)

Re: Costa Brava
 

That's where your problem lies, jobs are few and far between, and with unemployment in Spain running at, officially 27%, and in reality 35 - 40%, unless you speaak fluent Spanish, of have relatives that can give you a job, then you are looking at bar work, restaurant work etc, and pay for that is something like 4 or 5€ an hour without a contract. If you have a job to move out to, which is a legally contracted job that will get you access to the Spanish healthcare system, then it's possible, but without, then you will need a good cash back up to last you several months, If your family is of school age, then you have that to factor in, State schools are free, but you have to pay for all books etc

Re: Costa Brava
 

Sadly it's not that easy, I know, but we are determined

Re: Costa Brava
 

Very true. I also find it to be one of the nicest areas, but job wise there's nothing on offer. We'd only go there permanently, when we have everything paid off, and enough savings for a couple of years. Like you said, it's only season work and pay is pretty bad. If you're a professional, or are multilingual the most jobs are in Barcelona.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I have thought about working for myself, selling greeting cards, and partyware, is there a market for this in Spain?

Re: Costa Brava
 

Greeting cards in Catalunya? No way. Only British people send cards!

Partyware, well, depends what you mean. Birthday parties are rarely done at home in Spain because most people live in flats, so they have it at a children's play place or at the park or beach

You can get ballons and stuff anywhere, the local kiosko or chino

Re: Costa Brava
 

Hello
it might be pretty up there,
but far to cold in the winter.

Re: Costa Brava
 

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. I am the Concierge for the Spanish section and thought that you might find it helpful to know that the moderators for the Spanish forums are Fred James and Bevs, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: Costa Brava
 

There might have been in the past in the mainly expat areas, but there were plenty of other people doing the same thing, and shops quickly went out of business. Remember if you are working for yourself, then you ahve to apy Autonomo, a SS paymeent for the self employed, and that can be aroung €250 a month, and has to be paid every month, along with rental for the premises etc whether you do any business or not.

Re: Costa Brava
 

Driving thru a town a couple of days ago and we passed a

TUPPERWARE shop

:eek:

but again I have to correct you about Southern Spain.........
it is possible to get greetings cards here amongst the unwashed - just they are in Spanish and they don't translate the way UK greetings cards do.
:blink:

And McDonald's in Granada is a favourite place for kids birthdays, choking up all the parking spaces, screaming kids all over the place.
not the place to take the secretary for lunch nowadays

Re: Costa Brava
 

interested in this post is there really a big difference in lifestyle and prices between costa brava and say costa del sol??

Re: Costa Brava
 

Enourmously. They are effectively different countries

Cosat Brava has a different language, different climate, different food and different appearance to the CDS. They are part of very different cultures.

Andaluces and Castilians call Catalans "Polacos" because as they are so different culturally then they may as well be Polish

Re: Costa Brava
 

There seems to have been a unusual amount of interest in the Costa Brava/Catalunya as a destination for British people in Spain. I think I count 6 members here on the forum, as well as a race car engineer who has a job waiting for him here - that I met by chance in the local town car park !

I've pulled together some threads that I and others have answered questions about recently, and that some of which will be useful to all.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/spain...nently-835221/

http://britishexpats.com/forum/spain...-there-835694/

http://britishexpats.com/forum/spain...slator-834691/

Re: Costa Brava
 

Doesn't get that cold and you still get good sunshine. It would be boring to just have a desert around you, like it is in some parts of the south.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I'd say you can eat out just as cheap as the costa del sol. Of course there are more expensive tourist places too, but you have the options. Lifestyle depends what your looking for really. If you only want higher temperatures all year round like Heike und Alan, you'd probably go for costa del sol.

Re: Costa Brava
 

if you don't understand the difference then the best thing is
don't bother coming at all

it is like asking is there a difference between Margate and Blackpool or Blackpool and Bournemouth (or Brighton).

sorry this is negative but Spain is 195,000sq miles with a population of 47 million whilst the UK is 243,500sq miles with a population of 64 million.

yes there is a lot of space spare but that is mostly mountains which tends to keep the Autonomous Communities more remote from each other, as well as the Provinces within each AC which are generally much larger than any UK county.

Although Spanish is the "official" language there are others in different parts of the country (mostly in the north) but there are accents/dialects in the same way as as we have Geordie and Brummie etc which don't mix.

hth

Re: Costa Brava
 

Very valid question because the areas are very different. I hope that a few members will be along soon to give you an insight into the two places.

What sort of things are you interested in experiencing because that might help with peoples responses.

Rosemary

Re: Costa Brava
 

Well done you for asking such a question. I wish I had asked such questions on here before my first visits to Spain. I see you've received some replies already. The differences between one part of the country and another had not even entered my head. I just had visions of sun, sea and sand. All my visions seem to be stereotypical!

Re: Costa Brava
 

I would hope that if someone asked what these places were like that people would provide information about each of the places in order to provide an insight for them.

Please do not be so insensitive to a new poster.

Rosemary

Re: Costa Brava
 

I know that you are in the same province as I am but have you visited other areas too. How did you go about selecting the area?

I have visited the Costa Brava and liked it a lot but that was as a holiday maker and I believe that when in that mode you view a place with a different frame of mind. Liked it a lot, loads of places to visit, beautiful scenery and the people were really friendly.

Also been to Granada, Benalmadena, Huesca, Baza and a few other places in the Costa del Sol once again this was as holidays not with a view to living there but I did enjoy being there, spectacular scenery.

Rosemary

Re: Costa Brava
 

Morning Domino. I realise your post style and tone can be on the blunt side shall we say, but I'm with Rosemary and Jonboy . Ukwlf is a new poster and your tone there is rather dismissive even if you didn't mean it that way. I'm sure you didn't.

I totally agree with this. That's what makes ukwlf question so good. We mostly don't really know about the differences in areas in places before we arrive to a new country. It's great the new poster has thought to ask.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I remember our first trip to Spain we went to an urbanisation near Torrevieja. Lots of british people, pubs and cafes. All the bungalows had bars on the windows and we seemed to need about six different keys to get in and out of the place! The locals told us not to leave our washing out as it would be stolen and we would have to buy it back at the car bootsale:ohmy: We thought that the place was sort of ok, so we visited a few properties and had a bit of a look around. There were some interesting characters and we returned back to the uk.

On the next trip we looked north of Alicante and found that it was somewhat greener, less obviously north european, somewhat more prosperous and appeared to have more infrastructure. Only about 80 miles apart but very different to each other. I had imagined that Torrevieja and the rest of spain were all the same. I've travelled about a bit since and Spain has so much more to offer than I imagined back then. So the advice is to travel around more and get a greater feel for the place.

Re: Costa Brava
 

I think Domino just got his km2 and sq miles mixed up UK is 243,610 km2 which is
94,060 sq mi ;) ...according to the modern wonder that is Wiki anyway.

*that was in response to Keithtoon's query, which seems to have dissapeared*