Re: Spain/Portugal
 

What cricketman said :P

In Spanish we distinguish between pueblo, villa and ciudad. Approx. up to 20,000 is a villa. Which is not the villa as in house (this is funny because I never use that word and I only knew it existed for the English).

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

That is my point how do you measure an urban center? The traditional ranking system in UK is by population the biggest single entity in UK being the City of Birmingham at 1million plus with 2 very large shopping centers in the middle but also lots of high street type centers in the suburbs and incedently 10 million trees but no space between it and Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley and not much to Coventry all about 500-700,000. Where as Leeds not only has a population of 750,000 but also has the largest land area of any English city. Spain is very different so much land that cities do not stand cheek by jowel and every urban area no matter how small the population is called a city if it bigger than say 10,000 people.

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

I Think you should check the Municipal Year Book (2009) for population sizes MK is the fastest groing town in Europe and passed 192,000 many years ago. I am of course refering to the Unitary Authority of Milton Keynes not the new city of Milton Keynes which is not a city and is not a municipal entity but might have a population of 200,000

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

Even if there were 400,000 people in MK it still wouldnt come close to the size of Seville.

And anyway, as Siesta said many British towns and cities are basically small villages with huge suburbs. I used to live in Sheffield which has over half a million residents but the city centre is tiny, probably the equivalent size of a Spanish "villa". The rest was sprawling streets with little ammenities.

Btw siesta, English people misuse so many Spanish words especially concerning property. Villa and finca are misused all the time. I think they actually get the word "villa" from Italian where it actually does mean a "mansion".

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

Have you not heard of Medow Hall?

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

What does Meadowhall have to do with anything. It's just a big shopping centre next to the motorway. Is that what you think a city is!? :eek:

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

You obviously know much more than me but I always thought Spanish towns were overshopped judging by all the vacant commercial units that stand empty for years and years bricked up with hit and miss vents at the top and lots of fly posting and graffiti.

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Re: Spain/Portugal
 

Thank you all for your taking the time time to answer my original thread.

I now know the population of Milton Keynes and Seville (or not maybe).

Without starting another difference of opinion can anyone tell me about Ayemonte? I have looked at the Ayamonte thread above and the visit Ayamonte web site.

How long does it take to get into Portugal from there? (I don't know the area at all.)

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

It depends how you want to do it. The quaint little ferry takes 15 mins for you and your car. By road over the bridge at legal speeds it takes 5 mins. As my friend Jon says it is great to live in 2 countries.

Our nearest restaurant is 5 mins from home in Portugal and at €7.50 for a 3 course menu del dia plus bread and olives and a drink you can't beat it. If I want to push the boat out 5 mins downtown in Ayamonte it is €8.50 for the same with a touch of haute cuisine.

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

Thank you. That sounds really good.

I am increasingly liking the sound of being so close to the border, best of both worlds.

Can you tell me anything else about the area or any other web links that I might be able to look at? What are property prices like? What about rental properties?

Again, too many questions, not enough answers.

Thank you for your time.

Re: Spain/Portugal
 

Why not come over and see for yourself. You could stay here in La Villa Aymonte

http://casa51.homestead.com/index.html

for a very reasonble price for a long weekend. Fly from John Lennon Liverpool with Easyjet or Elmdon Birmingam with Ryanair. If you come in October it is just the nicest time with temps in the high 20's and the sea at Monte Gordo as warm as at anytime in the year. Great for a cooling dip after a long beach walk to Pria Verde which must be one of the worlds nicest beaches of it's type.

If you book now our target price for the flight would be £54pp return with carry on bags. A small hire car at that time from Faro can be had for £10 a day and you could see an awful lot in 4-5 days.

In Spain property prices are what you want to pay bargin hard there are 3 bed town houses for €120,000 on a golf course, apartments are less and if you find a distress sale then you set the price. In Portugal prices up to now have held up better but again bargin hard. Rentals for 11 months can be found at reasonable rates

Have a look at this website for lots of genuine info on the area, activities and prices.

http://www.infoayamonte.com/

NB I have no connection to any of the above sites just they are the best I have found on my area.