hi all

my name is George me & my wife (Barbara) are hoping to move to Spain in the near future. we are going to start looking around early in Feb 2011 for one month
we don't know which part of Spain to start looking.
we are both retired & looking for some of the good life in the countryside
we will be hoping to meet some ex-pats in Spain on are trip in Feb

Hi there George...it's very nice to meet you. Welcome to BE.

Our members who post in the Spain Forums are a friendly bunch of folk...so I'm sure you'll get plenty of help and advice from them. Why don't you pop over there, take a look around and join in? It's also worthwhile to take a look in the BE Wiki.

BE is a large expat website...so it's understandable that you may have problems finding your way around our many forums. We have a team of concierges who will direct you around the website. You can find a list of their names at the bottom right hand side of this page.

Problems and complaints should be addressed to a moderator. The mods for the Spain forums are Fred James and Mitzyboy.

Please shout out if you need any further help.

Hi there, I lived in Spain,in an area called Costa Calida, Isla Plana, to be exact, its by the sea, mountains behind, and 17kl. from Cartagena, Murcia region, served by San Janvier airport, less than 1 hrs drive, or Alicanti about 1and 1/2hr. A nice mix of people, a good coverage of shops and bank etc. Its quiet, lovely walks, 5mins easy drive to Port of Mazerron. Speaking Spanish helps, if not sometimes it becomes necessary to have someone to translate for you since it it not like the very English populated areas. You will enjoy it I am sure. Shirley

Hi George and Derla

Welcome to BE.
George, I echo the suggestion of going onto the Spain forum, where you will find lots of expats who can give you the lowdown on life in various parts of the country.
Derla, thank you for coming on here with such a nice introduction and advice for a fellow new member. I hope you too will post onto the Spain forum.

If either of you need some help navigating the forum, come back to us and we will do our best to help.

Good luck to both of you

Dread - x

Hi,
I live in the countryside 'el-campo' near Alora in Andalucia, it's a beautiful inland area and very close to the stunning lakes and about an hour from the coast and Malaga airport.
I've lived here for three years now and I love every moment of life amongst our wonderful Spanish neighbours in the beautiful Guadalhorce valley...the "valle del sol", we are surrounded by olive, orange and lemon trees and stunning views of the hills and mountains at every turn.

I don't know how well you know Spain, but do be aware that it's not always sunny and hot, we do have cold winters, and last year it was exceptionally wet!
If you do locate inland you will find it's hotter in summer and colder in winter that down on the coast, it can come a quite a shock if you are not expecting it.

Good luck with your search, I hope like us you get to live your dream.

Meg.

Hi Megmet

I see that you too are a new member, so I just wanted to say Welcome to BE. Also thank you for such a lovely post written to help another new member. I hope you have also found our Spain forum, where there are lots of expats for you to chat to and exchange news and ideas. The key is to jump in get posting and enjoy the fun.

By the way the place you are living sounds absolutely beautiful.

Thanks again Megmet

Dread - x