Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

How are they misleading? You've pointed to a source quoting average temperatures, which is fair enough, but if you tell anyone who's spent time in summer in Madrid that the temperature never reaches 40C (because your chart quotes an average high of 33C) they'd laugh in your face. Equally, if the average minimum is given as 12 or 15C that doesn't mean that there aren't outliers. It's possible in a heatwave for the minimum night temperature in Madrid to be 25C - luckily this is rare and it's normally a lot cooler (and more comfortable) at night. Which is in fact what I was saying.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

He's right missile

I've been in Madrid in the middle of the summer with 45c temperatures. I've also been there at 0c in the winter and a chilly 8c in May. It varies a lot

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

This is what you said It is rarely if ever 30 degrees in Santander. It is rarely if ever 45 degrees in Costa Blanca. :rolleyes:

According to my spanish friends it is very hot and humid in Madrid during summer and they prefer the temperate climate in Costa Blanca.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Thank you all for the replies so far.

To try and steer this thread towards what we are looking for and the type of people we are here are a few more points:

• Both of us are learning Spanish and hope that within a year of arriving will be able to hold a reasonable conversation with our Spanish neighbours. We can already get by in hotels and restaurants.
  
• We are looking at the Costas, not northern Spain, for climate/health and access reasons for family and friends. You can fly to Alicante from virtually any airport in the UK and most of the major western european airports.
  
• We intend to eat Spanish food, yes fish and chips occasionally but we're not looking for a British enclave although we're not ruling that out totally either.
  
• The driving distance from Alicante is not critical so we wouldn't rule Mojacar out as suggested by one member.
  
• The most critical part of our wish list is proximity to the sea.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

have a look at Ayamonte. Fly anywhere in North Europe from Faro 35mins down the road. All UK airlines fly here from many UK airports and many such as Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Birmingham East Midlands and Manchester offer a choice.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Have a look along the coast between Alicante and Villajoyosa. There is a new tram line that runs along the coast which makes public transport easy, cheap and frequent. You can go to Alicante one way and Benidorm the other. You can get the tram to a large supermarket or to local food markets.

Don't judge Benidorm by what you see on TV. We live about 20 minutes drive from there and it is a great place to visit for the day, especially in winter.

We live just outside El Campello, which is still fairly Spanish with a few English bars and restaurants. Our house is about 150 yards from a small sandy beach which is a well kept secret that most tourists never find.

The only thing on your list which might not suit is it is not flat here but nearer to Campello is a bit flatter.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

Thank you, I must admit we hadn't thought about the Ayamonte area or the Costa de la Luz until joining this forum and finding that quite a few members lived there.

We don't want to delay our move to Spain by adding more reccy trips (that's difficult as we are both still working part-time) but once we are there permanently a trip to this area would be very easy for us. One of the advantages to being retired and living in mainland Europe is that you can just load the car up and take off for a a few days, a month or however long you want.

Although we will have to make a decision where to rent by the end of 2011, after our next two reccy trips, it certainly doesn't mean that's where we will settle long term.

We definitely want coastal with guaranteed better weather than the UK so will consider almost anywhere south of Valencia around to the Portuguese border.

Some of the CDS is too hilly and some areas seem to be deserted. I hope I'm not offending anyone who lives in the area but I remember visiting Estepona on a cool day, it must have been between May and September 6 or 7 years ago and it was "closed", even the seafront.

Other members have have given us ideas for places we hadn't thought of as likely and some have reinforced our thoughts about possibilities already on our list. We will visit them all before settling, so thank you to everyone who has responded either on this thread or by the very detailed PMs and responses to our further questions.

Re: Where to retire in Spain?
 

I like the costa de la luz too. You will find almost all coastal resorts are dead in winter, especially the last few years. Some nights we have walked along marbella paseo and never seen a soul. We were once in Puerto de santa maria in March and the beachfront apartments looked deserted and all the restaurants were closed.

Wherever you choose I think if retiring the main priorities are to have at least basic shops that you don't need to drive to. Not many steps to the property (many in Spain do) and close to a good health centre and hospital. It is easy to get carried away with the lovely countryside but semi-rural is more practical. Never choose an area where there are a lot of short term rentals.