cliff b

Hi all

My wife and myself are considering moving to Spain. But where????? that as we see it is our first decision.
This is planned in around 3 years when we retire at 55, so we want to have decisions made in around the next 2 years. We plan to rent for a year before buying, we have no need to work.
We have been to the area around Malaga, Nerja down to Estapona and we do like it there though we will consider anywhere. We would ideally like a 3 bed villa with a pool semi rural.
My first thought is to hire a camper van and travel the area for a few holidays in the next couple of years.
I would like to go where there are other Brits as we no not speak Spanish so we need all the help we can get and its nice to have a chat and meet for drinks etc.
To put it simply is there anywhere that has a lot of ex pats?

Thank you for the replies that i know i will get Cliff

Madridboy

Many areas of Spain have expat communities. Could you give more input as to what are your other requirements? eg. What kind of climate do you want, do you want to be within X kilometers of a beach or a city? Renting is an excellent idea to make sure you like an area first.

cliff b

We are not too bothered about being near the sea/beach.
This would be treated as an occasional day out for us i think, say within 30 minuets to the sea would be okay.
DEF do not like city's!!!
Climate; that's why we want to leave UK, we love the Spanish sun. Does the climate change much from area to area? Ideally high 20's low 30's in summer and not seeing ice or snow again would be nice, we don't mind the winter rain.
Naming the areas that are expat communities north, south and inland of Malaga would be very useful so that we could investigate them, give us a starting point.

pwwm

low 30´s in Andalucia, you are ´avin a laff, my pool is low 30´s already lol. do try and learn some Spanish, yes is nice to chat to someone in your mother tongue but hey, you will be in Spain

mikelincs

Problem with your climate ideas, is that to get the summer temps you are looking for, then you will get the snow and ice in the winter, summers on the Costas will give you a few months at mid 30s to low 40s, but even those can get cold in winter, and homes there are not really geared up for low temperature, very few have central heating, and even fewer have the cheaper gas heating, in fact piped gas is rare outside of the big cities.

HBG

Spain is a deceptively vast and varied country which caters for every possible European taste, and it is slowly filling up with expats from the colder parts of the continent as we become more prosperous and are able to live where we like inside the EU.

The main expat areas are in the Malaga and Alicante provinces where they number a million British expats among them. Yet even there you can find unspoiled Spanish areas devoid of fellow countrymen from the UK.

Renting first is a good idea and it's what most sensible people do nowadays, especially because of recently, well-publicised dangers of the Spanish property market. The renting period would be down to the individual, you could easily spend ten years just looking, and why not?

I wouldn't bother too much about the possible pitfalls, that can and will come later, all you need at this stage is your passport, a credit card and a bit of bottle.

cliff b

Thanks all.
It is our intention to pick up the language as we go along, I think it would be rude to the locals to not try.
Malaga and Alacante have been mentioned is there spacific areas within these places? Excuse my ignorance
I think we will cope with 30's and low 40's

Keep the info coming all it is much appreciated, you can not possibly tell me too much.
When I have narrowed the area to move to down a little I have loads more to ask

mikelincs

This one of the major problems people find with moving to the Costas, they have visited on holiday for a few years for a couple of weeks each time, and just love the sun and hot weather, but, believe it or not, it just becomes too much a lot of the time when you get it for three or four MONTHS every year with no respite. Renting is the only way to see if you really can stand it. Even the locals go out shopping as soon as the shops open in the morning, then retreat to thsir homes till the evening when it cools down again, which is why electricity bills are high, it's the use of air cona dn fans. Do NOT rent somewhere without aircon to start with, and I would suggest moving in Jan, Feb or early March, this will allow you to get used to the heat as it builds.

jackytoo

The longer we were in Spain the less we tolerated the heat...or the cold. There didn't seem to be any seasons anymore, just too hot or too cold

Low 30's is fine lazing around on holiday but when you have to do household chores etc it can be overpowering.

My favourite months were mid-May to end of June and Sept/Oct if it didn't rain.

steviedeluxe

The climate is a tricky one - here in Madrid we've had temperatures of 30C the last few days, but because it's a dry climate it's not felt at all uncomfortable, as it would in say London. Indeed many buildings are still cool inside. However, come July when the 40 degrees of heat turns up, life becomes a lot slower, and you walk in the sunshine at your peril. On the other side of the coin you definitely need to turn on the heating from December through to March here. Less need on some coasts for this (although you will get the occasional cold week, and nights can be cold even if the temperature reaches 20C during the day), but there you will get the humidity that makes the summer heat less bearable. I think the advice to spend time renting is probably a good one.

cliff b

Weather covered guys thank you.
Names of places would be nice as i am hoping to get out there in October for 9/10 days and traveling around in a camper van. Me and the wife (Max N Paddy) lol
I want to make an itinerary of places to look at.
I am a very very keen angler, I go Carp fishing 2/3 days a week, info on this would be very useful as it may have a bearing on decisions we make.

Carol&John

Hi,

Huelva province?
Do have a look around The Ayamonte Club sub forum:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=138

Some further reading:
http://www.discoverhuelva.com/activi...ince-of-huelva

missile

Strange as it seems to those who have not lived in Spain, we prefer the winter months. In summer it can be oppressively hot on the costas and further inland the weather is more extreme - i.e. hotter in summer and colder in winter.

Renting is a good idea, if you don't like you can move and move again.

A camper van is my idea of hell on wheels, but each to their own. Enjoy XXX

http://tvline.com/2013/04/15/hell-on...aturday-night/

cricketman

Actually it rarely gets above 33c on the Costa Del Sol.

You can get your thermometer to give a reading of 40-50c in the sun, but the air temperature will be low 30s. It is much cooler than inland e.g. Madrid, Seville, Jaen or Extremadura. Indeed, the Spaniards from those areas come to the coast to cool off

Saying that, 33c is still very uncomfortable especially as it may get down to only 25c at night. After a couple of years the heat gets boring. April to June is the best time of year on the Costa Del Sol, while July-September are wonderful here in the North

Dxf

Hola

I love the heat. Each to their own - at 30C it´s nice, 35C - good but I will admit I start to wilt around 40C. I have seen 50C in Seville - now that is too hot.

Davexf