Rich66

Hi, All

My wife and I currently live in the South West of England, we have been considering moving to Spain for a number of years now, so we are looking at a move early next year, I have retired from work 3 and a half years, although I am not sixty yet. My wife will retire when we move; we have no intention of working in Spain or anywhere after next year. We are looking in the Andalusia area, preferably within an expat community, not to busy but not to remote from others. We have looked on line at Seville, Coradoba, and Riviera del Sol. It is our intention to rent before committing to purchasing. Our interests are all sports, music, food and wine. I am Richard and my wife is Jackie, our children are grown up and left home.

Many thanks

Richard and Jackie

Big Mac

Hi Richard & Jackie.
Let me be one of the first to wish you well with your move to Spain. My wife and I spent almost 3 years looking in various parts of Spain, including Alicante, Murcia and Andalucia before retiring and buying out here. We have now lived in Spain 3 years and although we are not in Andalucia I can say we are very, very happy with our life in Spain. We have similar interests to you both. We lived in the country in the UK and bought in the country here though we are within a short driving distance to a gym and a golf course (and a couple of bodegas!). I did attend night classes in Spanish before our move and continued with regular lessons on arrival and now speak Spanish. Stating the obvious, I know, but it is worth taking the effort to learn. I know there are many negative posts but as your situation seems similar to ours with grown up family etc (even though we are a little younger!) I just want you both to know that there are still many, many people who see their move as the best decision they´ve ever made. All the very best!

jojojojojo

If you're not relying on Spain for you income, then its a great place to be!! Good luck with your adventure.

Jo xxx

Rich66

Hi, Big Mac and Jo

Many thanks for positive feedback, it nice to hear them; we shall be looking at our options a little closer now. We have had some teach yourself Spanish tapes for a while which we need to look at again. We are also looking at all the legal issues surrounding the move, while we have obviously heard some horror stories we are remaining positive about the move and looking on line for places, and professional advice. Although we have been to Spain many times, we have not, been to Andalucía so we will be making at a visit to explore our options.

Many thanks to you both

Richard and Jackie

cricketman

Andalucia is a big place - as big as England and very diverse. Before you go and discover, try and narrow it down a bit. Inland or on the Coast? Near a big city or village? The Atlantic or Med? White village or expat urb?

From what you said about wanting to be in an expat area you should probably ignore most of inland Andalucia, Sevilla and most of Huelva province (except Ayamonte) and look at the coast, either around Cadiz (Costa de la Luz), Malaga/Marbella (Costa del Sol) or Granada (Costa Tropical).

Rich66

Hi, cricket man

I have e made a note of your information, we already had an idea that the areas you mention, would be where we will be looking.

If your name is from the sport then you must be happy today after another win? If its not never mind its a win

Many thanks

Richard and Jackie

Rotor

Very wise,take your time and read all the horror stories associated with buying in Spain, good luck

HBG

Spain is a massive and diverse country, under-populated by UK standards. All you need to come over is a passport and credit card, preferably two in case you lose one. With your passport you can open a bank account and sign a rental contract, but you can start off with neither.

You can buy anything else you may need in Spain, all for about the same price as in the UK.

Take your time and try more than one place, and living among expats to start with will supply you with information you may not find on forums or in books, or on TV. You will need the language if you move too far inland, but on the Costas English is widely spoken.

pwwm

I live on Costa Tropical, and not so many expats here, or golf courses, well to be fair, Almuñecar area may have but we are further along. we also love it here, came over after early retirement, now in our 7th year, have to have at least some of the language around here, though Fred is near La Herradura and he can advise you on that part of Costa T. It is very unspoilt and quite rugged in places.

Good luck in your hunt, but as previous poster has said Andalucia is huge, so maybe a few trips to narrow an area down is needed, have fun hunting, I know we did.

Cazzy1

Hi Richard and Jackie
I live in the Sevilla province of Inland Andalucia, it's a great place to be!!! If you want any info on areas of sevilla province please ask as we know most areas very well. Good luck in finding the right area, make sure you do get it right though, because it is very easy to buy a spanish house and very hard to sell one!!!

Caz

Rich66

We thank you all for your contributions ,we are certainly more positive after the replies we have received after posting last night. Its make your mind up time now on an area? Anywhere between Cadiz and Torrevieja, like its been stated its a big area

Many thanks

Richard and Jackie

Rich66

Caz
We are looking at information on Sevilla at the moment and will over the next few weeks work our way through to Torrevieja.

Thanks again if we come across some thing we need confirmation on in
Sevilla, we shall be asking you.

Take care

Richard and Jackie

HBG

Blimey, a journey from Sevilla through to Torrevieja, how exciting, even in cyber space. You will find some severe contrasts along the way.

I've done the physical journey a few times, and used the motorways, but you can still observe a contrasting landscape, snow capped mountains in Granada and empty deserts in Almeria.

Distance wise, it's got to be like travelling from Portsmouth to Glasgow, but I can't think of any snow capped mountains or deserts on that route.

Cazzy1

I hope I can be of help!!

Caz

Rich66

Looking at Tarragona and Torrevieja areas as our first choices at the moment?

Richard and Jackie