Want to move to Spain but don't know where

[sue999]

My husband and I are thinking of moving to Spain - for the sun and the relaxed lifestyle. We are fed up of the rat race and the miserable weather!
At the moment we have no idea which part of Spain we want to move to. Any suggestions? My husband speaks Spanish (he is a Spanish teacher) but I don't. We are looking for somewhere we can be in an english community so that it is easy to make friends but we also want to integrate with the Spanish. We want somewhere close to the sea (say half an hours drive away) with good transport links to towns and a big city so that we can find jobs there. Can anyone recommend any good estate agents who are knowledgable and reputable ?

Thanks

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by sue999

My husband and I are thinking of moving to Spain - for the sun and the relaxed lifestyle. We are fed up of the rat race and the miserable weather!
At the moment we have no idea which part of Spain we want to move to. Any suggestions? My husband speaks Spanish (he is a Spanish teacher) but I don't. We are looking for somewhere we can be in an english community so that it is easy to make friends but we also want to integrate with the Spanish. We want somewhere close to the sea (say half an hours drive away) with good transport links to towns and a big city so that we can find jobs there. Can anyone recommend any good estate agents who are knowledgable and reputable ?

Thanks

I answered in your introduction thread also
The Calpe / Denia Gandia coast is lovely, national parks, great scenery. blue flag beaches and a mix of nationalities
I can give you an agent in Gandia if you need one that I have personal experience of

[sue999]

Thanks for the info. Sorry to be ignorant but where is the area you mentioned - is it south of Valencia. What sort of places do the Brits tend to live in - are they all on Golf complexes or do you find enclaves of Brits in traditional Spanish towns and villages. Are there lots of jobs within the expat community that I for example could do without a knowledge of Spanish. Can you find english speaking doctors, dentists and that kind of thing?

Yes, an estate agent would be useful, thanks.

On the topic of the cat, she is only young so I hope she would be OK. I would hate to think of it making her that ill. We were thinking of hiring or buying a people carrier and taking her in that. Though of course this is all a long way off yet !

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by sue999

Thanks for the info. Sorry to be ignorant but where is the area you mentioned - is it south of Valencia. What sort of places do the Brits tend to live in - are they all on Golf complexes or do you find enclaves of Brits in traditional Spanish towns and villages. Are there lots of jobs within the expat community that I for example could do without a knowledge of Spanish. Can you find english speaking doctors, dentists and that kind of thing?

Yes, an estate agent would be useful, thanks.

On the topic of the cat, she is only young so I hope she would be OK. I would hate to think of it making her that ill. We were thinking of hiring or buying a people carrier and taking her in that. Though of course this is all a long way off yet !

Well, we live just outside Oliva, in the centre of the area I described to you. Its about 80 kms South of Valencia.

Oliva is historically an agricultural town based on fruit and olives. Right now we can smell the Orange blossom and its wonderful. There are orange groves everywhere. There are no real concentrates of Brits, they are dotted around, and I think you'll find thats the way you will like it. Moving into a Brit enclave imho would be terrible.

Gandia is a working town and has lots of shops & restaurants and there is also the Playa area which boasts a very long esplanade and Blue Flag Beach with restaurants and bars all along the front

Denia is I guess a seaside resort, with ferries running to Ibiza and Mallorca. Its very pretty and the nightlife is good there

Calpe & Javea are also nice towns. There are a lot of Brits in Javea from what I've seen.

Behind this all are mountain ranges and national parks and if you want a mad night out (but advisedly not in July or August) Benidorm is fun.

Oliva Nova Golf resort is not too far from us with a Seve Ballesteros designed course. I noticed there are a lot of Germans & Dutch living there.

You've got to get away from wanting to find Brit Dentists and doctors . Our dentist is Spanish, and speaks a little English. She charges us Spanish rates. If you go to a Brit / SA dentist you will find a different charging structure. I pay €45 for a filling.

We have private health care as its relatively cheap here and we're not of retirement age and dont work. We found several doctors, one who speaks perfect English and another that we get by with .... sign language, pointing etc ... its all part of the challenge. But you have an advantage over most as you have an unpaid interpreter!!!

If you want aan agent in this area speak to Mike Kirtley 0034 680 335 390, hes a very genuine guy. Dont pay estate agents to find properties for you, and if you take my advice (because you dont know the areas well) you'll rent for a few months before buying. It is a buyers market here and you'll have plenty of time