Ian & Irene

Your kindness is appreciated. We are fortunate that the language teaching is a supplement and not an essential. Also our time frame is flexible - we intend to spend our first months learning the language (and the ropes). If that includes Galegan, all well and good. Then start looking for a post when we have decided where we want to be. It is of course entirely possible thatwe shall embark on something entirely different - life does seem to have a habit of throwing the odd curve ball doesn't it?

We are approaching the move to Galicia in much the same way that we did for our move to France. We have a number of mandatory requirements allied with a number of nice to have criteria with regards to the property and location. Once we find what we think to be the right property and land we will then spend 2-3 weeks touring the local area to make sure the supporting infrastructure for our business is available, if it is ok then we make an offer, if not we start searching again.

When we moved to France it was quite daunting as neither of us had been here before and neither could we speak much French (not many English speakers around here either – all farmers) but after 3 years we had a very successful business and were very much a part of the local community. I think the key to our success here has been that we accepted that there would be cultural differences and were willing to accept that and adapt, we set about learning the language from day one (always had a go even if we had to revert to drawing pictures of using hand signals!!!), we were used to living in remote rural farming areas where time has a totally different meaning. As we have other sources of income we allowed ourselves a realistic timescale (12months) to settle in before actually setting up the business.

Will keep everyone updated as to our progress.

The hardest part hit home the day after all the animals had gone from the farm. I got dressed as normal and went into auto routine mode and as I opened the front door at 0630 with my boots and work jacket on, it suddenly dawned on me that there were no animals to go and check any more. Went and sat in the office and reflected on how one small accident can have such a dramatic effect on your whole way of life.

Thank you very much for the link to the camping site, we will give them a call today and see if they can fit the RV in there. Once problem is that it weighs 7.5 tons and many grass sites cannot take them. Also many sites will only take one dog and we have 4 with us. But worth a try and if we do end up going there I will let you know.

Rgds, Mike L

Mike from your last post you have the right attitude to fit in with the Gallegos. Just do what they do. There is no real expat support here, but hopefully you get the same sort of neighbours as we have then you will find that support comes from them.

We wish you well and like others we look forward to hearing about your trip.

Better late than never, I know I promised a rundown on our latest recce. Everyone bear in mind these are just fleeting impressions.
We jumped around a fair bit. Started in Monforte de Lemos, saw several houses/properties in the area. nothing that rang the bells. Nice town, very friendly people. Torrential rain fall.
Not much planning behind our trip as we are still getting the feel -next went to Lugo for the weekend. Really nice city. Excellent restaurants, shops everything.
Down to the Portuguese border. More of a mediterranean feel, but harsh coastline - didn't appear to be too many beaches. Some super seafood, but did not like the feel. Much busier than the rest -not what we want at the moment but I am aware that until we make the move next year we are still reeling from the chaotic conditions in the UK.

Headed off to Corunna, but en route decided to return to the Viveiro area which we like so much. Had a look at Carino, but overpowering smell of fish. - not surprising given the industry, the new road will probably make a tremendous difference here. Espasante not for us, but liked Ortigueira more than ever - really nice town.
So we are back where we started. Really love northern part of Galicia, and we think again that is where we will end up.
Yet again, everyone so helpful, so polite. No graffiti. No drunken yobs. No litter. We cannot wait

Has anyone thought of trying Ferrol, Ares, mugardos, Fene etc. You will not hear much Gallego spoken in these places. If you want to teach English, these might be good places.
There are 2 big shipyards there. and a big naval base, If I am not mistaken called Astano and the naval one Bazan.
The names may have changed, but I am not quite sure. They employ thousands of workers.
They always need teachers, and the workers are always on the lookout for private tutors. It is impossible to work in a public school, as you have to have the relevant qualifications and also sit the "oposiciones". These are exams for all public employees, from doctors to binmen.
They are held yearly and you have to study in a private academy to learn what is needed.
I spent most of my summer holidays there as a child, I remember the sun always seemed to be shining.
But I suppose we are all like that. I spoke to my cousin yesterday and it had been piddling down. Good seafood, nice beaches. A nice change from the "costas". It can be a bit bleak in the winter though.

But it was raining all over Galicia at the same moment

This new motorway will turn Ortigueira into a ghost town. There are many people who work in bars etc, who are looking for new jobs out of the town as when the road comes there will be very little traffic through the town as it will be by-passed. I am biased but Viveiro (have lived here for two years) and the surrounding areas are lovely. If you need any info about this area please ask away.

Certainly some food for thought there. We absolutely love Viveiro too. In fact our first plan was somewhere in or near Viveiro, and that still may be. what we do.
We probably don't want to be in a town but nearby - preferably about 3 to 5 miles out
Battlezone is it ok to ask in forum about local businesses? In particular about the immobiliari?

Casa

Sorry so rude not to have answered you. The rain isn't a problem. Both of us like gardens, green and seasons. The idea of weeks or months of 30 degrees utterly horrifies us. We are pretty laid back about most things, and are pretty settled on Gl;aicia - we just like so much.
We did mean to try to stop with you, but events rather ran away with us, as I was finishing the teaching course until 48 hours before we departed - but maybe next time.

Will be going to Viveiro in the next few days and I will hunt out some www addresses for you for estate agents. We live in Cabanas which is about 10kms inland of Viveiro. You have the peace of living in the countryside but with all the faciilities of a large town nearby.

Very kind of you and much appreciated. We were in Viveiro two weeks ago, and hunted some down, but my Spanish is still too rudimentary. We found one chap - Immobiliaria Viveiro- on the riverside who seemed very much a businessman, but spoke no English, and my Spanish took us only so far.
As a general point, is there a guide to how much a price is overstated (in a normal market that is)?
In the UK as you know it is usually 5 per cent over what a seller will accept. Is it the same in Spain? Some have said it can be 20 percent in Spain. It certainly is often the case in France

Having little Spanish is going to be a real handicap in Galicia, as not many locals speak English. Not only for the purchase but your day to day life too.

Our experience when we purchased this house, some 5 years ago, was that if you purchase from a local they would not accept any offer. We still understand this is the practice now (information gained by talking to those purchasing properties). It seems the vendors would rather hang on to the property and wait for a full price then sell quickly.

Galician property is valued by the owner and not by the agent, so nothing is priced at what one would call a real bargain. We have heard some depressing stories about estate agents basing themselves on the English speaking market in Galicia.

Maybe other Brits. who either live here or have recently purchased in Galicia will give their views.

Ian and Irene,

Thanks for that. Spanish wont be a problem, I have a good ear, speak German, French and some Italian already.
Prices - well we will have to see. With the market collapsing in UK (and in Spain I understand), we are not in any rush. A friend of mine , (a professional property investor) was just offered a flat in the South for 600,000 that he turned down at 1,000,000 euros last year . Only two apartments in the whole block have actually sold. I appreciate that this is the speculative building, and most of the speculative stuff is presumably in the South, but still pretty scarey until things settle down.
Michael

Bigglesworth
I can only tell you of our experience in Galicia, we saw a place, fell in love with it and offered the full asking price a few days after getting back to the UK, which we considered very reasonable. We wanted to secure it and were worried that we might loose it for the sake of a few thousand euro's (there were others due to view it). This was in Nov 2007 before the publicity about the credit crunch. We are hoping to complete the sale next month. We will be paying less than £70,000 (inc fees/taxes) for 5.5 acres of good land and a huge 4 bed house with (livable with phone, electric, well, septic tank etc) and 4 barns.

I personally think that inland Galician property is still good value if you look carefully, and the Galicians seem to know what price they consider is reasonable. We have been negotiating to get some extra land and as we could not make what they considered a reasonable offer, they are holding onto it for the current time. Thats not too say its not worth making an offer, depends on the saleability of the house/ruin. Our Galician Estate Agent recently told me that there are lots of people looking but very few buying due to the financial uncertainties. Depends on how much you fall for a particular property and whether you want to risk losing it. Galicians are not desperate to sell as they often don't live in the properties and will hold onto it until they get the 'right' offer.

I think the situation in the south is very different, there seems to be tons of overpriced property available with developers eager to offload some of it to get some of their investment back and people who may have paid too much in the first place, trying to get something back. If I were buying there I would make cheeky offers.

I agree with the above comments. Galicians would rather hold onto their property until they receive the price they want. Even if it takes years. We purchased our property two years and paid the asking price.