SaritaBarcelona

Hello everyone, we are a couple with a 2 year old son who met and married in Barcelona 5 years ago. I am from the UK, my husband is Colombian. I am fluent in Spanish and work as a translator and he speaks little English and installs air conditioning. We wanted to buy a property 2 or 3 years ago when we were finally financially able to and of course !boom! the prices rose beyond belief. We have even been priced out of the Barcelona city rental market (at least 1000 euros for what we need). So the 1 million euro question is: where now? Any advice would be gratefully received. I have travelled all over Spain when I worked in (upmarket) tourism and would love to move northwards but hubby wants sun and sun and more sun, plus we want be within a short drive of the sea, and obviously working in aircon it would be better somewhere reliably hot (although I personally love the summers in northern Spain). I can live anywhere as I already have my internet-based translation service (I work from Spanish to English; if anyone ever needs anything translated please email me!). We ideally want to live in a place with a public swimming pool, sports centre, library, primary school, health centre, shops, some kind of mums network, etc, or in other words, all the essentials and not in the middle of nowhere. We would buy a small house or large apartment at first and then see what happens. Ideally I would love to run a b and b or rural tourism but that's just dreaming at the moment. We could spend a maximum of 200,000 euros. My parents visit regularly so it needs to be relatively handy for an airport. I know this is a difficult shopping list but if anything can think of a place that may suit us, please let us know! It will be hard leaving friends behind in Barcelona but other than that I won't miss the city much. I have never really felt part of the life here. We want to move to a place where we can become part of the town, especially as we are Spanish speakers so can mix with both locals and foreigners of all nationalities alike. We love fiestas and parties and are very sociable people. I want to have English-speaking friends too but will not be actively seeking out Brits (but neither am I the type of person to actively reject all contact!!) We are a very lively, active family and want the best possible life for our son. You only get one life and I want to live this one to the full in a place we will feel comfortable in. We have considered the area around Valencia (there is a town called Lliria which appealed as it is close to the city but far enough away to be not so expensive, but I am not sure it is as open a place as I would like and there is also the language issue as they speak Valenciano), and I personally love Andalucia (the "non-tacky" part!). My husband is worried about finding work as he currently has a well-paid steady job but he has the gift of the gab, is a hard worker, and has my English speaking connections to his advantage. If we stayed here just because of his job we will still be renting this apartment ten years down the line! We are in our late 30s/early 40s so no time to waste. Thanks for taking the time to read all of these ramblings (it's as much as exercise in brainstorming for myself as anything else! ). Sarah

EsuriJohn

Hi Sarita and welcome to the forum,

Reading through your tick list I think every one is available in Ayamonte right down in the south west of Spain the airport is Faro (Portugal) just 35 mins along the motorway to the west with perhaps the best connections to the largest No of UK regional airports of anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula. They have just opened a new public indoor swimming pool and sports centre. There is a lot of new build taking place out side the town at the beach of Isla Canela and inland at the Costa Esuri Urbanisation so big demand for aircon. There are lots of small new developments in the town itself and I think for 200k you could find just what you are looking for.

If I remember correctly a couple of years ago Sunshinesue who posts on here was setting up a mums group for english speaking mums but it is a very Spanish town so I am sure there will be a Spanish one as well. Sevilla is only 1 hr east along the motorway so you can get a cultural fix in the capital of Andalucia if you want very easily. The whole stretch of the coast of light from Punta Umbria to Ayamonte is well worth a look and as for temps August regularly reaches 40* in Sevilla with a few degrees less on the coast.

Regards,

John.

littlelambfound

Hello S,
I spent 7 years in Barca, and then another 7 in Budapest, Hungary. But on having our first sprog, decided to move back to Spain...to Gandia, in the Valencia region. With around 77,000 peeps and about 65Km south of Valencia city, it has all we could require, but without the cost and pollution (and snobbery!) of the Catalan capital. Both the town and the beach (around 4Km from the actual town itself) are, unlike many nearby towns, very Spanish, with few expats and foriegn tourists. Work-wise I'm of no help, as, like you I do the Internet thing. Good luck!

valenciatim

Another vote for Valencia here! Got everything you could ask for, especially a well served airport.

digdug

yeah, with you and hubby both speaking spanish, i'd say valencia too. its only the ones here who dont speak spanish suffer.
as for the town of lliria, only the old folk and a small minority speak valenciano. its a huge area for property, both in the city and in the surrounding towns, i'd say well worth a rekky. plus its a buyers market.....

marisol

Yours has been a very good advice, John

SaritaBarcelona

Thanks for the advice so far. I think we may end up in the Valencia area, partly because it just easier to go there and look for the exact place to move to! As much as I love Andalucia, it is a helluva way to go and search, especially with a toddler in tow! Gandia sounds great. I was looking at property and houses seem expensive. How about Oliva? A lot cheaper but I guess doesn't have the same advantages as Gandia. Does anyone know Lliria by the way? We have seen some very good value properties there (have visited 3 times) but wonder if there is a catch (we wonder why it is so cheap in that area, being so close to the city of Valencia). Is it a friendly place? We are leaving Barcelona partly because of the fact that it is so hard to make local friends and be involved in things (as well as the loony prices).

TheLostPhotographer

Granada!

I love it here. Obviously very biased, but...


*Beautiful city with good/cheap public transport and public facilities.

*Relatively good value property (falling ATM like everywhere else). New build, city center 1 bed apartments from €90,000. Suburbs much cheaper and very accessible - new metro on it's way.

* €3 and 40 minute bus ride gets you to an international airport.

* Mountains and beautiful countryside a short hike away.

* Sea about an hour by car.

* Healthy tourist economy (suffering due to recession, but it will survive better than most service industries).

* Vibrant city with all year round free entertainment and quality music. Great night life and social scene.

* Perfect size. Not to big, not to small.

I could go on and on and on, but I won't.


e2a; I'll go on just a bit more...

It is a great place to meet people and make friends. I know many people from Columbia here also. Possibly the most socially open city I have ever lived in. Strange that Granadians' have a reputation for being grumpy. Fair to say the heat plays a part some days, but generally they're all a friendly bunch.

digdug

i've lived in lliria, pm me if you want more info