joannesmith79

Hi All

My fiance and i have just returned from looking at properties in The Costa Almeria / Murcia. We both agree that we would like to move to an area in spain that isn't built up and full of tourists. The area was beautiful and we saw some lovely properties in an area in Puerto Lumbreras. My fiance is a little concerned that this area is a bit to spanish and remote. Does anyone live in a remote part of spain and how do they find it?

Joanne

El Capitan

Spain is a huge country and the extreme of remote can be : no mains electricity, no mains water nor any piped water - only tanker deliveries into a deposito, no landline telephone, nearest main road some kilometres down/up a track. Few would choose that extreme but it does exist. I think to get useful answers you maybe need to rephrase your question. What facilities would be important to you? Everybody is different and whilst some people might enjoy remote, others would hate it.

spain

dont forget the inadequate or non-existent sewage system/septic tank

joannesmith79

Thanks for your replies. The area isn't that remote. There's mains water, electricity, etc. I suppose my fiance means remote as in, it's very spanish and there's not much british around. We have a daughter and she would go to a spanish state school.

Can someone tell me how to edit my title. I'm new to this and can't seem to work it out.

Joanne

Mitzyboy

Go to "your profile" above

Rosemary

I would suggest that you make a long list of things that you and your family unit must have/need in order to feel fullfilled and compare that with what is available in the area you are looking at. Remember that in many areas the teachers cannot speak English at all and neither do the doctors.

Ask and answer a few questions from people on here and you will gain a better insight into whether it will be OK for you all.

On the list I suggest that things such as language skills, work, friends, entertainment, shopping, mixing with others etc should be included.

We live in a very Spanish town and know no other Brits so our only communication with other Brits is on forums, telephone calls to family and when we meet people from BE. This suits us but would not suit everyone. Our Spanish is limited but we manage to communicate with the people in our town and have integrated well. However, we are early retirees, have always enjoyed our own company, have loads of interests, love the Spanish way of life and do not have any deep yearnings to be able buy British food etc.

Do lots of searches on the forum, there are loads of informative threads regarding living here, schools, shopping etc which will help you.

Once you have all the information that you need to make an informed choice weigh up the pro's and cons very carefully because this is not a decision to made on a whim and can have extremely negative results if everything is not considered properly.

Wish you all the best in coming to your decision whatever it may be.

Rosemary

pwwm

I live in a very Spanish area and have done for the last five years, a few expats have moved here since we have, but not many so we have needed to get to grips with the language.
They have totally taken us under their proverbial wings and are lovely people. Personally I think it is great.

But we are lucky not to have to work, there is not much here for expats.

joannesmith79

Thank you for the replies. It's really difficult isn't it? I've also got my daughter to think about who will just be turning 4 when we move out. I don't know if it would be beneficial for her to live in such a spanish area. My fiance would also like to do some kind of work. Maybe moving to a more british area would be better for us but neither of us wants to live somewhere that feels like britain only with the sun.

Joanne

pwwm

Have you though about around Mojacar, I know there are lots of expats there but you might find some of the area's outside to your likeing, also Albox, they are both in the Almeria province and lovely area's.

Mitzyboy

I really dont get all this avoid Brits thing. OK, I wouldn't want to end up in an area where the majority are Brits, but for instance I'm 6 kms from ther coast in Northern CB. My neighbours are Spanish, the area is beautiful. If I go into town, yes I notice Brits, but its not over run with them and the town is still Spanish as far as I'm concerned. So why the need to bury yourself in the Campo when you can just choose to live in a Spanish neighbourhood and have the best of both worlds

pwwm

I think she meant that she did not want to live in a wall to wall brit area, not so much as avoid them, but this was why I mentioned Mojacar or similar.

We have best of both here, Mailny Spanish but we get to meet up Sundays for churros and chat with the local brits , makes a nice day.

joannesmith79

That's exactly what i meant. I don't want to completely avoid the british but i don't want to live somewhere that is like a holiday resort. I think it would be good for my daughter to mix with both british and spanish kids.

Thanks for the advice pwwm on your other message. I will definately give that a try.

Joanne

pete_l

Hi Joanne,

some things to think about when you say "remote":

• where would I/we work? remote means not many people. Few people means fewer jobs
• What would you do if the car broke down, and it's a 10 mile walk to the only garage - and they only speak spanish
• A lot of remote areas (mine included) don't have landline phones. Mobile coverage can be patchy - and sometimes drops out for no reason. Would that bother you?
• What would you do if someone had an accident, or needed hospital treatment

As a guideline to what living in a remote area means, think of buying a house on Dartmoor, or Cumbria, or Snowdonia. Putting aside the better weather in Spain, if you wouldn't buy a house in any of those locations, would you buy one in remote parts of Spain?

Obviously, these places suit some people. However, with the current state of the housing market, you can't just sell-up if you don;t like it. Even in good times, a house in Spain can take year to sell. One recent survey put the average time at 3 years. It's a big step.

joannesmith79

Thanks for the advice Pete. If you don't mind me asking, do you work were you are?

jdr

If you need to work then you need to find work first, then find somewhere to live within easy reach.