thinking of buying in caudete . Is this a nice place to live please ?

We moved here a year ago , Caudete was not on my list of places but a house caught my eye on the internet and so we visited. I am so glad we did !  

We arrived 2 weeks before lockdown so the experience has not been normal  !  

Caudete has many benefits , primarily it is a regular working Spanish town so you don'y have the ghost town effect of some of the areas that are holiday home heavy equally you are not overrun by one nationality of foreigners as some places on the coast. population is around 10,000 so a nice size town but not too big or too small.

We have a multitude of shops that surprise me every few weeks when I find another unexpected treasure , an excellent Mercandona supermarket which has been a godsend during the pandemic. 

Climate wise so far we seem to miss the extremes , a light dusting of snow and a very short period of really cold (0c) weather .  

The town seems to me to be well run and they communicate well , Caudete Digital is one and Caudete.org another .

Location , we are in the campo maybe 4km from town , Yecla is maybe 15 minutes away and Villena maybe 20 , Alicante airport under an hour , Carrefour in Elda usually 30 minutes - so in normal times a really wide range of shopping choices available ( Murcia mall is 1 hour !! ) .

Summer is not as brutal as many parts, and you could manage without a/c , I added some just for the odd days when it was nice to cool off a bit but prior to ac it was not a huge issue. ( Whereas where we lived in Almeria province without ac was miserable at times )

The other thing we like very much is the normality , being a regular working town you have normal demographics which gives it a pleasant normal atmosphere - having spent time in tourist centric areas and also "retirement" favored areas of the world a regular town is refreshing.

Cannot comment on social life as a) we were not concerned with that and b) covid !  

Overall , we are very happy we made the choice we did - of course being retired we did not need to consider work availability so have no idea on that .

Good luck , come visit Caudete , I think it is a hidden gem !

Depends on what you are after. I would not want to live there (after living fot the last 55+ years in Spain). It's a bit off anything. I live near Fortuna with a nice expat community and 2 spas. Better look around and take your time, most things are not what they appear at first sight.

So true Killjoy - everyone has different tastes ! 

Agree , taking time and look around is good advice - they say "buy in haste repent at leisure" ! 

We looked at Fortuna and ran the other way !!

As long as we all are happy with our choices , life is good :-)

thank you .  i think so too ! x

thank you.   we are wanting somewhere for our horses as well so it seemed cheaper and more land available.    any advice is appreciated as you say buy in haste !    we really have no idea where to go .  except it must be spain .  x

Hi, I am very close to Caudete, where I often go shopping! The supermarkets aren’t as crowded as the ones in Villena, which as the crow flies, is my nearest town. This is of great importance with the current Covid situation.

I noticed a lot of houses up for sale in this area which have stables included so keep looking. I come from London originally and have lived in large towns. I much prefer the smaller towns and villages now. I am past the age of looking for exciting nightlife so the occasional drink at a bar will be good when venues open up again. 

We do however have easy access to lots of local towns as the roads are exceptionally well-maintained. I don’t miss anything at all from my ‘previous life’! 

The only issue you need to look out for is the buying process: 

Run away from agencies that charge the buyer commission, don’t use the agencies’ suggested lawyer/solicitor, check that the property is legally registered. Some country properties were just built in a time when it wasn’t mandatory to register a property. 

Check that every single part of the building, garage, carport, outbuildings, pool are all listed on the cadastral register. Then you’ll have no surprises.

We certainly do not regret coming to this part of Spain. 

Good luck in your search. If you need any further information, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Janice

Hi I’m Dee and I have just seen the house I brought through lockdown. I’m in caudete I am confused on the water bills I have electricity bill but haven’t had any water bills ? We’re do I go for this and my rubbish bill . I don’t live in caudete I’m in uk but need some help please !!!!  

My lawyer changed the water & electric bills over to me name, checking there were no unpaid bills, too. The same for the Town Hall regarding taxes, rates & refuse.

Get in touch with your lawyer. 

Good luck x

Thank you so much for your answer I will get in contact with lawyers