fadingstarlight

I am currently in Alfafar. It is a smaller town that is an 8 minutes ride on the train to Valencia city. there are many houses here for sale and for rent.
it is a great place with 2 other towns surrounding (Benetusser and Sedavi). It has everything.
I guess it depends on if u want city living or country living. house prices here have dropped alot.

living in Alfafar there is no english here and I havent meet one person who speaks english. I have very little spanish but i get by since everyone is so nice. (my husband is from here).

Valenciablue

The outskirts of Valencia have always been relatively cheap in comparison to the city centre, as most of the Valencian's choose to live in city flats close to work, prefering not to travel by car, keeping the outskirt prices fairly low.

Personally I prefer to live in a city flat as it means I can walk or take a short bus trip to work, have easy access to nightlife and restaurants and my social network, and I don't have to worry about pool and garden maintenance, or having to drive too often.

However, I can understand how someone else would prefer the quietness of the countryside, with a garden and pool. For that reason many people choose to live in areas around Llíria, Montroy, Monserrat, etc. It's worth taking note, as others have commented, that these areas are generally valencia speaking areas, although they can speak castellano if necessary.

There isn't a huge British community in Valencia, but there are organised social groups that get people together.

Rosemary

As Concierges for the Spanish section of BE we would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let us know if you need any further help.

Rosemary and Graham

Macberry

We like you are doing our research and became aware of the land grabs etc. We decided that with so much property to choose from, why risk buying in an area with as suspect track record. However if you really like the area and can afford to risk your investment then go for it.

fadingstarlight

i have a child and if you have children and want alot of parks and a bit quieter life, Alfafar is good for that. there is a mall within walking distance of the whole town and smaller strip malls. alot of major chain stores. Benetusser and Sedavi are right next to us so there are two more very small towns very easily accessible to the train station to valencia.

there are alot of places for sale and rent here that are very reasonable priced. if your just going to be here 2 years buying a place might not be needed for such a short time. but that of course is your own choice.