I agree with Cptains Wench Las Alpujarras, sounds like it would fit the bill, maybe not the highest part as cold in Winter, very cold the ski up there, or along the Costa Tropical coast, Almuñécar to La Rábita.

I think the bit, "Therefore my first idea about living in rural area was rejected" would rule out the Alpujarras, it doesn't get much more rural than that. Beautiful area for retirees, hippies, Buddhist monks etc, but doesn't strike me as the ideal place for a young man looking for a bit of life. Órgiva never did it for me, I thought it was a bit grotty!

I based my reply suggestion Orgiva area after reading this part of his post 'I am musician/artist, so probably will be looking for same spirited souls '

Orgiva is not everyone cup of tea but given the above statement and having spent time the area for a few years now I thought it may suit him. It may look a bit grotty but I found the people there open and friendly, and for a single man plenty of places for music and painting.


.

I just said las alpujarras, meaning general área, it is quite large. we dont live near Orgiva, but on the coast 4kms from the sea, but not everyones cup of tea, was meaning Costa Tropical and área in general. we are retirees, but most definately not hippes or buddhist lol, we like it here as relatively nice diving, not as good as UK but free and clearer lol

thank you all for support, it's really valuable info.
I must say I am hippie and Buddhist although still exploring and learning.
That places close to the Sierra Nevada, looks very interesting. I was planning to research that area, as its close to coast, and mountain, and Malaga/airport and Granada. Anyway new situation in my life force me to get little bit 'back into society'. As much as I love being alone, this is not something I want at the moment.
I was researching 'Internet issue' in Spain, seems like a real drawback, when you consider rural area. So it seems semi small town/city would suits me best.
Something like Xabia/Javea (I hope there is no problem with Internet there?)
Sure I want to have a taste of Spain, language, culture, food&wine. Living in rural areas is not best suited for me.
What is your opinion on this ?

Have you considered the Basque country?

Granada has a good night life, mountains all around and is already 750metres asl, close to the ski resort, just a distance to go to the beach.
good communications inside the city and some places outside
cheap bus service and flights to/from LGC although a bus to malaga only takes an hour or so.
what with the students, the Jazz festival and many other functions its biggest drawback is - poor advertising, but that seems to be normal in Spain. Surprising how many things get advertised the day before or even the day after.

no,
I must say, Mediterranean sea got some kind of magnetic force...I just love the coast. Although I don;t reject any other parts.
All I want is a sunshine, sea and mountains I don;t mind when winter is colder, as long as is sunshine (and all UK residents know what I mean

One thing which worries me about Granada is 45 degrees hot for 6 weeks...
but the rest seems very appealing. Living in outskirts of town would suits me best.
Am I correct that coast town like Xabia will have less hot summer and milder winter?
If I could choose between seaside town and mountain, I'd go for the water
especially considering 4 months of proper hot.

Given your interest in Buddhism, you might like to know about this place:-
http://www.karmaguen.org/en/

It is close to where I live, Velez-Malaga which is the administrative capital of the Axarquia region. This is a large working town which, although there are expats here of many different nationalities, has a predominantly Spanish population. It is 5km from the coast and we have a good climate, without the really high summer temperatures and really cold winter ones experienced inland. I live in the historic centre within the original city walls, there is no car access here but we don't find that a problem. All the shops and facilities of the town are 5-10 minutes' walk away but it is quiet here, especially at night and many houses have wonderful views as the area is uphill from the town centre. We have a good broadband connection with this company (costs €29 per month inc. IVA).

http://www.broadband4spain.com/

More info about Velez here (just to throw another suggestion into the mix!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lez-M%C3%A1laga

that's fantastic info!
really thank you
this kind of town is something (I think) I am looking for.
what is average speed of Internet, and is it provided without any hassle/stop, etc?

actually I plan to visit Malaga in October, and have a trip to Granada, and then further east to Alicante, and then fly back to London week later from there.
If anyone can advise on some places I should see/visit, please be welcome.

We get around 6mbps, we have had the service for about 18 months now and it has been very reliable. Once it was off for about 24 hours because their wireless mast had suffered a lightning strike, but I couldn't really blame them for that! Being a large town, getting a Telefonica landline isn't usually a problem either (although we don't have one, have never bothered with it) and I believe they now do 10mbps ADSL broadband, I know a couple of people who have it and are very pleased with it.

Oh, and you mentioned earlier that you are an artist. A new Contemporary Arts Centre is to open in Velez-Malaga on the 14th of this month, and there are quite a few painters living and working here. This lady's studio and gallery, for example, is about 20m from my house:-

https://www.facebook.com/lacasadelapintora

Regarding internet connections: 4G is being rolled out in Spain, and should vastly improve internet connections across the country. I suspect most areas will be covered by the end of next year (but you never know!).

I lived in Albunol for a while many moons ago, not a Brit to be seen anywhere, not even in the nice little coastal villages close by.

However it's a good way up the mountain from there to the Alpujjaras and a much cooler climate.
Ag describes it as rural, well maybe, but travel East from the Alpujjaras then you'll find out what rural really is, though unfortunately many of the villages had been abandoned, partly due to unsafe crumbling foundations on the unstable ground and partly due to the difficulties of a much more hostile and arid climate in that direction.

Ronda, coin, alora?