Iwould also think that you should rent property for the first year until you are positive of just where you really want to live. I know when we first started visiting Spain we loved all the areas we visited. BUT when it came to actually moving here we drove the costal area and Nerja, Costa del Sol, beat them all out by far. It is a very quiet beach town east of Malaga. Great beaches, lots of English speaking residents, but still very Spanish.

Give your area some serious thought before you make the jump into property ownership.