SPOG - Spanish Residency

Where to live in Spain

Unless Choosing a location to live in the UK is a relatively simple affair. You know instinctively where the bad estates are and the immigrant ghettos. But here in Spain it is much harder fior a foreigner to recognise the best locations from a safety, convenience and maintenance of property values. Here are a few tips to help you choose.

There are a number of location options which we list below and then go on to give more information about each one:

  • Coastal City
  • Coastal Town- Front line Beach, Town House or Suburban Property
  • Countryside Town
  • Mountain Village
  • Countryside Cottage (Finca)

Coastal City

Barcelona, Bilbao, Tarragona,Valencia, Alicante, Malaga, San Sebastian are the main Coastal Cities of Spain. They are all famous for nightlife and noise and are great to visit for a day or two but to live there permanantly will for most retiring or holiday home Brits become unbearable as most are coming to Spain to get away from hustle and bustle. Unless you are an experienced City dweller and speak good Spanish, coastal cities are not for most. They are geared up for visitors but not for English speaking residents. Health Clinics, Police Stations, Town Halls, Supermarkets, Restaurants in fact everything that you need to do everyday will mean getting involved in matters Spanish. Tourist areas are not typically part of the major cities as land for hotels and tourist complexes was too expensive to develop cheap holiday accommodation. Plus many cities are quite industrial and inappropriate for two weeks of fun in the sun.

Coastal Town

From the French Border down and around to the Portugese are hundreds of small towns that have grown up into tourist resorts consisting of large hotels, apartment blocks and urbanisations of terraced houses, bungalows and villas. These are where the majority of the fifty million annual visitors stay for their two weeks of sun. Transfer buses come and go all day and all night, all year round. At a consistent growth rate of 7% more visitors every year it just keeps getting bigger. Builders are everywhere as are folks enjoying themselves all day and night, it's fantastic, that is of course if you are on holiday. But when you live in Spain and you live in the middle of all this action and you are seeking a quiet life of retirement it is best to try and find a more tranquil place to live. There are many, it's just a question of saying to your estate agent that you prefer not to live in a major tourist complex.

Beachside Properties

The property location choices within the Coastal Town option start with an apartment on the first line of the beach providing stunning sea views. There are some points to consider however about living permanently in a beachside home. In summer its noisy and in winter its damp. In fact anywhere within 300 metres of the sea falls into this category. Open windows needed to keep properties cooler also let in noise generated by tourists having fun until breakfast time. Winter storms are also noisy as the waves crash onto the beach. Trying to dry your washing in damp salty air is a problem. Choose a beachside apartment away from Bars and Restaurants and summer discos. Check on the Procession routes for the easter parades and on where the local Ferias take place (Every village has a Fiesta week) which are noisy right through the night. Parking is a serious problem check out the options.

Town Houses

Whilst living in a Spanish seaside town away from the beach solves the noise and damp air problems the current plague of noisy mopeds can disturb ones slumbers during the weekends and summer months as party goers return home early in the morning. There are quiet streets however, where it is possible to be in the centre convenient to all shops, bars etc. Current planning laws require most new apartment blocks to include space for shops on the ground floor, which also includes bars or garages. So if you are in a street which at the moment is quiet look out for the bricked up shop fronts, in the future they may be opened up into the bar from hell. Townhouses normally don't have gardens, but nowadays they tend to include a cellar and a roof terrace which can be made into a roof garden.

Be careful when buying a property next to a public park or square, whilst the view might be nice they tend to be meeting points for young people who often linger chatting until the early hours. Be wary of being too near a hotel as transfer buses arrive at all hours and sometimes live music or noisy wedding receptions can go on until midnight or later.

It used to be possible to buy an old ruin in the town and replace it with a spacious town house, but these are very hard to find at reasonable prices nowadays. In towns primarily occupied by locals most good properties are snapped up by the locals without being put on the open market. Many older towns have zoning laws as to how high one can build and how far back from the street. Normally it is seven metres high or nineteen metres from the street. Except corner properties which can go up to 3 storeys.

In Spain the family is still a very close knit group with three generations living very close to each other or often in the same home. They tend not to sell these properties but keep them for the next generation. Most Spanish couples start wedded life with a fully paid for fully furnished home paid for by their families. Opportunities for foreigners to purchase properties in quiet locations in old towns are therefore very rare and definitely very expensive.

Parking in the narrow streets of old towns can be challenging in peak season. Underground car parks often offer special deals to town centre residents or incorporate your own garage. Check at the town hall to on the long term liklihood of making the town centre into a pedestrian only zone.

Suburban Property (Residencial or Urbanización)

A suburban property is more often the ideal choice for most foreigners. Mainly because there tend to be more properties for sale on the fringes of towns. They are often within walking distance or local bus service of most facilities. They are quieter as most are not totally dedicated to tourism. The easiest method to discover if an urbanisation is predominantly for tourists is look to see in winter how many properties are closed up. Ask the management committee. All owners of homes in Apartment blocks and urbanisations are responsible for their common areas up to the street where the council takes over. Owners pay management fees to a central committee for all maintenance and replacement of any installations such as cleaning, gardening, pool repair and maitenance, water, sewage, lighting, lifts and security etc. Don´t forget to ask about the planned expenditure on the replacement of any of these items. The average annual community fees are about 300 pounds.

 

Parking is normally better in Suburbia, but more attention needs to be taken with security as quieter more isolated properties are more interesting targets for the thieving community. Most urbanisations are near a supermarket and have at least one bar within walking distance creating a more village like atmosphere with more social interaction with ones neighbours most of whom will also be foreigners.

Countryside Town

One of the interesting phenomena of Spain is that if you travel inland from the coast the temperature starts to do funny things. Away from the sea breezes in summer it can be up to 5ºC hotter and in winter 5ºC cooler. In winter you will therefore need heating for longer and in summer more cooling is required such as, ceiling fans or air conditioning. There are a number of new inland developments some around new golf courses, near Countryside towns where property can be much cheaper than the coast. If these countryside towns are typically Spanish then it is better that you prefer to integrate and learn the language and administration. As we have written before visits to Hospital, Medical centres, Accountants and Lawyers will all need good spoken and written language skills.

Many younger British folks have sold up and brought their young children to Spain to a Countryside home. They have more drive to be come integrated because it is far better for their children. They probably also are self employed with careers that can be done anywhere. Whilst older people come to Spain with much energy and lust for integrating and learning the language the reality is that humping a gas cylinder up lots of steps and trailing off to Spanish classes soon loses its appeal in the summer heat. Many then move again into more populated areas geared up for dealing with English speakers.

Mountain Village

As you move away from the madding crowd into a mountain village, the views are stunning and the people very friendly. Property prices are cheaper and the cost of living too. But the word mountain implies steep. Not everywhere is flat and most properties old or new have an enormous number of steps. Walking is always going to be going up or going down.

Remember there is very little town gas in Spain it all comes in cylinders, heavy cylinders that have a knack of running out just as it gets cold. It is not possible to just run down and get another one as the supplier is miles away and only delivers once a week, maybe. No problem, have a reserve. Big problem, to buy another bottle you need to increase your gas contract at the gas suppliers and you need a reason to have it increased, there are certain limits depending on size of property due to potential fire risk.

The nearest health clinic, supermarket, chemist can be miles away. Parking is dreadful. There tend to be very few police which regretfully means that mopeds race up and down the street somewhat destroying that dream of a quiet village life. OK lets live just outside the village.

Countryside Cottage (Finca)

Access to Fincas is normally by an unmade country track. Try and get a taxi to pick you up, they won't drive down tracks. You wilI need a four wheel drive vehicle and when it rains prepare for the track to be impassable. The countryside is much more peaceful which means of course that you hear very clearly the slightest noise mainly dogs barking the whole night.The public also have the right to walk on any track even if it forms part of your property.

Spain is probably the best country in the world for living off the land fruit and vegetables grow all year round and keeping your own livestock is not regulated by stringent slaughtering laws if they are for your own consumption. If you are determined to live in the countryside consider that what seems simple at sixty can be a nightmare at seventy. Doctors rarely make house calls in Spain and dragging one up from the coast can be an expensive business. If you want to live at the end of the world you can but at least be aware of the practicality of it all before doing so not just for yourself but for the people that might be called on to look after you later.

Living in the countryside requires a lot of work. Work that is made harder by the need to rely on the car for everything. When you're over 70 your driving licence expires which means you will have to return to England regularly to renew it or take a Spanish test which has to be taken annually along with a medical. The ideal property for elderly people is a two bed two bath apartment with no entrance steps, a lift and walking distance to shops, bars and medical services including the chemist.Taking out the rubbish (which is nightly in Spain) is such a simple chore don't make it an ordeal by being miles from the containers.

Summary

Whilst the descriptions of the various locations concentrates on the negative aspects of living in Spain it should in no way detract from the positive ones. Just read again Why live in Spain to remind yourself why you want to come. The concept of concentrating on the negatives is to help buyers make a balanced informed decision not only about the upside but also the downside of life here.