lovingaus

Hey Guys

I registered here a while ago. I am currently staying in Australia. I moved from the UK about 6 years ago. We are thinking it is time to get out of Oz as the prices are going through the roof. House prices, food prices just generally the overall cost of living.

We are looking at Spain but don't know where to start. It really is a thought of upping sticks and moving again.

I like the Almeria region, but the OH is looking at malaga or alicante.

Our work is not a problem as we do all our work online marketing other peoples products. About 8 years ago we ran a successful villa renting company in the UK and I was thinking on getting back into stuff like that if I moved back as a sideline to our main business.

Anyway All I am looking for is suggestions of areas, like why you like where you live, also how easy is the spanish language to learn? is there any areas you would stay away from?

Anything you can think of would be a great help.

Thanks in advance

Pete

steviedeluxe

My advice (if you're looking for work and business opportunities) is to really learn Spanish, and move to Madrid. It's the best place I've been in western Europe for finding work. For some reason that upsets people who've never spent more than a couple of days in Madrid.
However the same people often state that the days of making a living from other expats on the coast are over, and I suspect they may be right.

pwwm

re the area's well quite honestly only you can make that choice, what sort of winters do you want? coast or campo? we live in an old Spanish town, hardly a brit or any other here, just a handful, foothills of the Alpujarras, personally I think you need to spend some time actually here visiting all the areas before you choose blindly.

Homework is what it is all about, remember not everyone can get a landline, think about that when looking. Here it is 50/50 landline or radio phone.

Good luck with the hunt, but honestly think if you can then spend some time touring the area's

steviedeluxe

Good points there, the OP mentioned doing all their work online. Obviously then the ability to get a fast internet connection is key. He/she also mentions Malaga and Alicante - it's been mentioned many times here but Valencia can be a nice city to live, well-connected, and loads of villas on the coast

lovingaus

Hey Guys

Thanks for you thoughts. We are probably looking more at the coast maybe out to about 30 minutes drive from the coast. Was just really looking for tips and what you think about your area so we can get other expats benefits. We will be looking around when we get there as we will be looking for investment properties too.

Work is no problem as we wont be working for someone we have our own online business which means the only need will be a landline and broadband.

The winters don't bother us much and neither do the summers after living in australia it will be a bit colder anywhere really lol

Anyways thanks for all your tips and if you have any more suggestions they are all more than welcomed.

Thanks

Pete

paintermujer

Yes, Valencia is a great place to live with everything you could ever want right on your doorstep.

Madrid/Barcelona always seem to be hailed as the best cities in Spain and Valencia is not really mentioned much but it is truly a beautiful place with very friendly people.

It may tick all your boxes.

Good Luck.

ivanmax

You won´t have problems learning Spanish. The most problematic thing for a British is the rotative sound /rr/ and the fact that verbs change depending on the subject of the sentence. If you look for a private tutor or just try to blend with Spanish people you will learn quickly. I know many british people who speak great Spanish (well, they never lose their accents but their grammar is great and they are perfectly understandable).