Wayfareruk

Hi I would like to introduce my Wife Lorraine and I. We are both 56 years young and are currently planning a move to Spain. We are looking at 3 places in September, Torrox, Sayalonga and Compéta with Compéta being the first choice up to now. We would like to know of any British people in this area as our Spanish is very limited and don't want to feel isolated. Lorraine is from Glasgow Scotland and a sociable person who likes to be among people she can talk to. I am from Chesterfield England I am also a sociable person but a little more reserved than Lorraine. We would be interested to hear from anyone living in these areas who can give us some advice as to what the areas are like and the expat groups around here to help our move go as smooth as possible.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

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 about 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

Fred James

Competa is a lovely place, but make sure you try driving up to Competa from the coast on a dark, windy and wet night - it might put you off!

Sayalonga is also very nice and the road to the coast is a bit better.

Torrox is very different, but of course it would be as it is essentially a seaside resort. There are plenty of expats in all of them so you should be able to socialise pretty well.

frigilianafreddy

Yes Competa is just too far off the motorway for us - hence Frigiliana. I do rather like Torrox Pueblo, though not Torrox Costa.

Fred James

Of course you need to differentiate between living in these small "white villages" and living just outside in the Campo - two very different experiences.

We had some friends who rented a house in the middle of Torrox Pueblo - an absolute nightmare for noise and 500m to carry the shopping down from the car park.

Competa and Sayalonga are the same, but there are some lovely houses nearby (hopefully legal).

Torrox Costa is good for eating out, but it is wall to wall blocks with no character at all. Somewhere between the coast and the town could be good. There are some nice detached houses on Torrox Park, which is between the two, but it's a bit of an urban sprawl.

lhalliday

I must admit I fancied Competa until I drove up there from Frigliana. It's like 40 mins of driving on a multi storey carpark but with a cliff drop to add to the tension. Quickly decided against it. Not for the faint hearted and I cope very easily with the Cumbre which is very high up.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

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 about 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

licinius

I live in a town approx. 20 mins inland from the coast. There are a few rules you MUST follow.

Only use a reputable estate agent that has a shop, if they don't have a shop ask why?
If you buy a property, use a lawyer from out of town. The Spanish community is very close knit. The builder, estate agent, bank manager, lawyer, town mayor are often related & will stick together resulting in expats (such as me) getting stung with illegal properties.

The hardest thing you must do is listen to some of the gobsh*tes that you wouldn't normally listen to. Go in a local bar & mention your estate agent/lawyer etc, I ignored warnings because I never ever listen to those people who sit in a bar all day with nothing better to do than slag others off. I wish I'd listened!

Spain is a great place to live but remember the nicest people make the best conmen...

teuchterpete

Hi
I am originally from Rotherham and my wife and I both lived on Isle of Mull then Lochgilphead for best part of 25 years, so you will know where we are coming from. We looked for a house in the campo and also in the mountains around Andalucía and after all the twisty roads in Scotland decided somewhere more accessible was needed. Not wanting to live in a British "enclave" ( no offence but we wanted somewhere more "Spanish") we decided to move inland. It is much cheaper than the costas and we are still only 1 hour from Malaga and 2 from the Atlantic coast. It might be an option to look inland in the sierras before you decide. As for the language, you can get lots of free Spanish downloads from the net and it is surprising how quickly you pick it up.
Teuchterpete ( your wife will recognise the significance of "teuchter")

Wayfareruk

Rotherham not far from my home town then. Thanks Pete I am also familiar with the Scottish term for Highlander used by the lowlanders. We where just looking at renting a property the reason we have decided to look at these 3 areas is my Wife likes the Costa Del Sol and we just looked at Malaga area I am open to suggestions if you can help with a couple of place names.
Regards
Adrian