Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Thats as maybe but it also depends on where they want to fly to in the -uk, it maybe OK for somewhere like Manchester or heathrow for example, but i cant imagine there being a great selection of UK airports with flights from Santander.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

AFIK you can only fly to Santander from Stanstead with Ryanair :thumbdown:

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

I would recommend Mojacar Playa in Costa Almeria for retirement:-

1. It has the warmest and driest climate of mainland europe. Airconditioning would be required July/August and heating from mid Dec to end of February.

2. Depending on where you live a decent supermarket would be within a few minutes walk.

3. Walks are on the level except in the hinterland where they are difficult.

4. A central location would leave you no more than five minutes walk to Beach, Supermarket, Restaurants, Shops, Bus-Stop.

5. Mojacar Playa is inhabited 50/50 by expats and Spanish. Obviously, the main strip would contain more Brits.

6. Airports:- Almeria 45 mins drive; Murcia 90 mins; Alicante 2 hours. Nearly all driving would be on motorway.

7. Mojacar Pueblo is a Spanish village perched on top of a small mountain with panoramic views for miles around. It has narrow streets decorated with flowers. Distance 1.5 miles, served by local bus.

8. The local bus service is good an cheap. You would have no need for a car although one would be handy. The neighbouring villages are also served by another local bus service. Vera Aquapark is a shord bus journey distant.

9. You have choice of various markets.

10. Many of the expats there sold up in Costa del Sol for a better quality of retirement in Mojacar Playa.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Fair point, and although Bilbao (still quite convenient for Cantabria) is better served it's still a destination that is best served by scheduled filghts (ie more expensive unless the airline is running a special deal). Of course the coach down to Madrid is fairly reasonably priced, and there are plenty of cheap flight operators flying out of the capital nowadays, so you could even fly down to Madrid with Ryanair and then get a connecting flight. Either way adds time to the journey. Depends on how often you'd want to fly back to the UK, and whether the journey time is a factor. I suspect though that the lack of other English speakers in the region would be the sticking point for the OP though. It does mean you'd have to learn Spanish fairly quickly!

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

And the weather?

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

It tends to be milder on the north coast, which is in my opinion a good thing! I far prefer 30C of sunshine in summer to the 40-45 in southern Spain. In the winter the coastal fringe can be very mild and pleasant, even when there's snow on the inland mountains and hills. I can't deny you get more rainy spells there (which is why the countryside is so green) so if you prefer desert conditions, obviously it's not the place for you! It's more like a warmer Cornwall across the water. But yes, you won't have hosepipe bans or water shortages!

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

I am not knocking your choice, although I would dispute your estimates for temperature > http://www.climatetemp.info/spain/cantabria.html. Horses for courses, I guess:thumbup:.

Having spend some time there I would agree there are many attractions to the region. However I would suggest there is little to attract the OP and not what most Brits are looking for - maybe there loss is your gain?

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Well if you look at the figures it states on average there is only 1 frost day per year, so definitely what I would term as mild!!! But an average is exactly that - it can mean one year you have 5 or 10 days of frost, if the previous 6 years it was frost free. Equally, like everywhere you can have a heat wave (and I was there one summer when the temperature hit 29C) whilst still having an average maximum of 22C. Edit just looked up the mean maximum for Cornwall, and it's around 19C. Like I said, a slightly warmer version of Cornwall.

I've been there a few times in summer, and the sun is definitely stronger than in the UK, but I accept it's a lot milder than southern Spain, which is my argument I suppose. Horses for courses as you say. I'd actually still have Madrid as my preferred choice (if I could afford it), but decamp to Cantabria when the temperature got too hot. But that's just me, and I can cope with the pickpockets and noise of Madrid. Far more relaxed on the north coast, but yes, not what many Brits are looking for.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

One swallow does not make a summer. I would suggest 20, 22 and 32 are closer to the norm for max temperature during high summer in Cornwall, Santander and in Alicante.

In summer Madrid gets even hotter and for their summer holidays most spaniards choose the Costas over Santander. :thumbsup:.

However let's not debate stats. We are way off the topic raised by OP.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Places on the north coast like Santander, San Sebastian, Gijon, Galician resorts etc get fully booked up in August - a large proportion of them Spanish from the inland cities like Madrid, Valladolid etc.
Madrid is normally bearable in high summer, as the cooling mountain air means the night temperature normally cools to 11 or 12C even when it's been in the high 30s daytime. It's only when the temperature fails to cool at night and we're unable to sleep that it becomes unbearable for some of us.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

I would suggest the norm for max temperature during high summer in Madrid is 33. I don't know where you get your numbers from but I would suggest this is more accurate source > http://www.climatetemp.info/spain/

I don't doubt many choose Cantabria, but I am sure many more choose the Costas.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Why are you arguing this? I've never denied that it gets warm in the daytime, in fact I've already stated in a previous post it can get as high as the high 30s ! So an average max temperature can well be 33C (and in fact it's possible to get into the 40s in a heatwave! But that doesn't stop the minimum being 10 or 12 or 14C - it gets colder at night, believe it or not!

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

I agree that the Northern Spanish Coast offers an almost unmatched quality of life, much better than the South - the summers are wonderful and mild, almost never gets to hot to go out in the day, the scenary is stunning and green, the beaches are spectacular and not ruined by overdevelopment, there is almost zero crime outside of the cities and the food is incredible.

But, I'm not sure it is the right place for British pensioners. They will have problems with the langauge, the grey, wet (and sometimes cold) winters and they wont be able to buy their cups of tea and British bacon :)

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

To be fair, I know I'd like to retire in a place where I could converse with my neighbours. Yes, there's scope nowadays to chat via email, the net etc. but some human contact daily is healthy I believe. Alright for those of us who can already chat in Spanish, but it's a lot harder as you get older to learn a new language. I can understand 100% why most retiring to Spain prefer the Costas - especially if they want a guaranteed hot summer climate.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

The figures you quoted for temperatures in various places are misleading. I have pointed to a more reliable source for statistics.