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Is Gran Alacant the One?! - Page 3

Janice1961o

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:30am

Posts: 21

5 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 6 Nov 2019

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:30am

Al Duff wrote on Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:01am:

Cheers. All that is useful. Sadly, I am suddenly experiencing heavy fire at home about my Spanish dream. 

Hopefully, will come through it, and if so, will contact you when we get out there: that would be great. 

Although I doubt anywhere in Gran Alacant compares with the old Nardini's in Largs, eh.

Yes miss the original Nardini’s.

Good luck with your plans.

Janice.

Kev1172

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:25pm

Posts: 5

4 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 3 Mar 2020

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:25pm

killjoy wrote on Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:39am:

I don't know how far away you live from the nearest airport, Gran Alacant is wihtin a stone's throw from Alicante's quite busy airport. I wouldn't want to live there.

We have property in Gran Alacant Altomar 2 and I can assure you, that, you cannot bear the planes because Gran Alacant is not on the flight path!!

Balmer9

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:01pm

Balmer9

Helpful member

Posts: 75

182 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 6 Jul 2019

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:01pm

Evening Al, when we bought in 2016, my wife and i wanted typical Spanish, so a little village in the middle of nowhere where nobody spoke English. I came out to Spain for 4 days and viewed 30 properties in those 4 days. On the last day i had Emailed Chris at Gran Alacant properties to view a few of his. I arrived a few hours before my plane left, and he had had problems with his E mail, and wasn't aware i was coming. Regardless he showed me a couple, neither of which took my fancy. We came back to the office, and he remembered one that had just come on. I looked at it and knew it was the one for me, on Monte y Mar. I walked round the urbanisation in December and it was 22 degrees. 

  Looking back with 4 children aged between 17 and 25, i now realise that buying on Gran Alacant was the best thing i could have done. No, it is not typical Spanish like we originally wanted. But i have 27 nationalities on my urbanisation. It is 20 euro's from the airport in taxi. It is 1.5 euro's on the bus to Santa Pola or Alicante. The Carabassi beach goes for miles. The nature reserve is lovely. You can cycle to Santa Pola in 25 mins at a stroll. The commercial centre has bars / restaurants / shops etc. Then you have Masa square, then you have the Carabassi strip. And if you fancy a walk you are on the front at Arenals del Sol in 20 minutes. Top Alacant has the weekly market, the skywalk, the lighthouse. 

Elche is beautiful and only 20 minutes away. They also at the moment are playing in La Liga, so had it not been for the pandemic we could have seen Messi play there, if you are into sport. Alicante has a football team called Hercules, which i go to watch. 

  We have met so many people and keep in touch when back in the UK. My kids use it as a bolt-hole and it is neither too busy for us or too quiet for them.  

From my solarium i can see the airport, (but you cannot hear the planes). It is beautiful to sit and watch them from distance coming in, and living near will save you a fortune over the years. Friends of mine have to buy cars and store them as they live 45 minutes away from the airport.. Taxi's are not cheap. There is nothing better than getting off the plane with just your hand luggage, walking straight into a taxi, and 10 minutes later being in your house, dump your bag and off to the pub. 

I hope i have sold to you, and you will get property within your budget. Lots are open to offers. .... I should charge commission.....If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, and best of luck. 

Al Duff

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:50pm

Al Duff

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 63

62 helpful points

Location: Alicante City

Joined: 18 Jan 2021

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:50pm

Balmer9 wrote on Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:01pm:

Evening Al, when we bought in 2016, my wife and i wanted typical Spanish, so a little village in the middle of nowhere where nobody spoke English. I came out to Spain for 4 days and viewed 30 properties in those 4 days. On the last day i had Emailed Chris at Gran Alacant properties to view a few ...

...of his. I arrived a few hours before my plane left, and he had had problems with his E mail, and wasn't aware i was coming. Regardless he showed me a couple, neither of which took my fancy. We came back to the office, and he remembered one that had just come on. I looked at it and knew it was the one for me, on Monte y Mar. I walked round the urbanisation in December and it was 22 degrees. 

  Looking back with 4 children aged between 17 and 25, i now realise that buying on Gran Alacant was the best thing i could have done. No, it is not typical Spanish like we originally wanted. But i have 27 nationalities on my urbanisation. It is 20 euro's from the airport in taxi. It is 1.5 euro's on the bus to Santa Pola or Alicante. The Carabassi beach goes for miles. The nature reserve is lovely. You can cycle to Santa Pola in 25 mins at a stroll. The commercial centre has bars / restaurants / shops etc. Then you have Masa square, then you have the Carabassi strip. And if you fancy a walk you are on the front at Arenals del Sol in 20 minutes. Top Alacant has the weekly market, the skywalk, the lighthouse. 

Elche is beautiful and only 20 minutes away. They also at the moment are playing in La Liga, so had it not been for the pandemic we could have seen Messi play there, if you are into sport. Alicante has a football team called Hercules, which i go to watch. 

  We have met so many people and keep in touch when back in the UK. My kids use it as a bolt-hole and it is neither too busy for us or too quiet for them.  

From my solarium i can see the airport, (but you cannot hear the planes). It is beautiful to sit and watch them from distance coming in, and living near will save you a fortune over the years. Friends of mine have to buy cars and store them as they live 45 minutes away from the airport.. Taxi's are not cheap. There is nothing better than getting off the plane with just your hand luggage, walking straight into a taxi, and 10 minutes later being in your house, dump your bag and off to the pub. 

I hope i have sold to you, and you will get property within your budget. Lots are open to offers. .... I should charge commission.....If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, and best of luck. 

Wow! That is a fantastic overview: thank you. 

Our 3 kids are just a bit younger than yours, so good to hear that yours love it there.

Interesting what you say about football too; I'd assumed the local team was rubbish, but now I could see myself going to the odd match.

It would be good to see Messi in the flesh, because my sense is that he is over-rated. Surely the Brazilian Ronaldinho is the greatest footballer there has ever been; and after him, Zidane. But I could be wrong.

My problem is convincing the powers that be that this is a goer. Will it be 😎 or 😭 ?

But I am going to pass on your brilliant post.

czek1976

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:34am

Posts: 11

2 helpful points

Location: Arenals del Sol

Joined: 8 Feb 2021

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:34am

killjoy wrote on Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:39am:

I don't know how far away you live from the nearest airport, Gran Alacant is wihtin a stone's throw from Alicante's quite busy airport. I wouldn't want to live there.

Actually the noise from the airport is little to nothing as the planes to not fly over that area. At least I have never experienced them when we were on vacation there. 

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Ralph49

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:26pm

Posts: 1

2 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 21 Jan 2020

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:26pm

Firstly there is very little plane noise. We rented long term a town house on Mediterranean 2 complex opposite the nature reserve between 2015 to 2018. We have been back renting a villa for up to six weeks each year. Ok my thoughts, it’s a brilliant location and everything you need is within walking distance. GA is generally split into two locations one at beach level and one up a significant hill. Being older myself I find it hard walking up the hill so I prefer the lower location where the main town centre is. The area consists of town house complexes ,,green colour being single story and pink two stories. Your budget would easily buy a 2 bed unit. Other complexes are mixed with detached and single , double units. Most town houses are now in gated communities, theses are recent and maintained by the residents. I understand they were gated for safety reasons, stopping cars cutting through and also allowing parking only for residents. Mediterranean 2 complex is maintained to high standard, with swimming pools, play areas and tennis courts, plus under cover private parking. We rented because of the low annual rent of 500 euros per month. The service charge was paid by the owner , which I understand was 1000 euro a year. We and our children had brilliant times there. Now it’s impossible to rent like this with Brexit. ( over 90 days in 180) rolling is all the time you can spend in Spain without becoming a resident. If you want to live there I would recommend due to the facilities. Just two points I would raise. It is cold in the winter and quiet, although some restaurants and bars are open. You will need heating. This brings me to the reason why we terminated our long term rental. Remember these town houses are built in clusters so each house has 3 adjoining  houses. The walls are very thin and hence you hear noise. We found this a problem. But nothing is perfect in life. The town house next next to ours owned by Spanish had been up for sale for over 5 years. These are my thoughts, if you want further information on the area please contact me. 

Al Duff

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:47pm

Al Duff

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 63

62 helpful points

Location: Alicante City

Joined: 18 Jan 2021

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:47pm

Ralph49 wrote on Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:26pm:

Firstly there is very little plane noise. We rented long term a town house on Mediterranean 2 complex opposite the nature reserve between 2015 to 2018. We have been back renting a villa for up to six weeks each year. Ok my thoughts, it’s a brilliant location and everything you need is within wa...

...lking distance. GA is generally split into two locations one at beach level and one up a significant hill. Being older myself I find it hard walking up the hill so I prefer the lower location where the main town centre is. The area consists of town house complexes ,,green colour being single story and pink two stories. Your budget would easily buy a 2 bed unit. Other complexes are mixed with detached and single , double units. Most town houses are now in gated communities, theses are recent and maintained by the residents. I understand they were gated for safety reasons, stopping cars cutting through and also allowing parking only for residents. Mediterranean 2 complex is maintained to high standard, with swimming pools, play areas and tennis courts, plus under cover private parking. We rented because of the low annual rent of 500 euros per month. The service charge was paid by the owner , which I understand was 1000 euro a year. We and our children had brilliant times there. Now it’s impossible to rent like this with Brexit. ( over 90 days in 180) rolling is all the time you can spend in Spain without becoming a resident. If you want to live there I would recommend due to the facilities. Just two points I would raise. It is cold in the winter and quiet, although some restaurants and bars are open. You will need heating. This brings me to the reason why we terminated our long term rental. Remember these town houses are built in clusters so each house has 3 adjoining  houses. The walls are very thin and hence you hear noise. We found this a problem. But nothing is perfect in life. The town house next next to ours owned by Spanish had been up for sale for over 5 years. These are my thoughts, if you want further information on the area please contact me. 

Thank you. That is very useful, especially on the types of accommodation. 

I'm 'prematurely retired' from main job and not yet worried about steep climbs, so would consider Upper Alacant too. 

I heard - in fact, saw photos of - flooding in Lower Alacant a couple of years back, so that's something to factor in too. 

(Flood risk has put me off some parts south of Alacant, as well as parts of North Costa Blanca; Javea, for example, suffered the worst flooding ever recorded in European history--albeit back in 1959!).

Cold in winter does not faze me: we went twice to Alicante City in December and found it fine. 

Whole lot better than winter in Scotland anyway.

I agree with you that nowhere is perfect, not even if your budget is millions.

Thanks for your invitation to PM you; I haven't used that ever but will do so if I can get closer to pulling off this feat.

Ufatben

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:34pm

Ufatben

Helpful member

Posts: 94

51 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 21 Dec 2018

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:34pm

Al Duff wrote on Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:47pm:

Thank you. That is very useful, especially on the types of accommodation. 

I'm 'prematurely retired' from main job and not yet worried about steep climbs, so would consider Upper Alacant too. 

I heard - in fact, saw photos of - flooding in Lower Alacant a couple of years back, so that's something to factor in too. 

(Flood risk has put me off some parts south of Alacant, as well as parts of North Costa Blanca; Javea, for example, suffered the worst flooding ever recorded in European history--albeit back in 1959!).

Cold in winter does not faze me: we went twice to Alicante City in December and found it fine. 

Whole lot better than winter in Scotland anyway.

I agree with you that nowhere is perfect, not even if your budget is millions.

Thanks for your invitation to PM you; I haven't used that ever but will do so if I can get closer to pulling off this feat.

Hi Al,

We purchased it lower Gran alacant. We have an Aurora Plus town house in Monte Mar Bajo. Whilst we had horrendous rain in September 2019, because we are on also on a small hill, we had absolutely no problem with the rain at all and I understand it was only the houses at the bottom that were facing up that had any problem.        The properties aren’t built for warmth but our air con also heats the house and we have stayed there in Nov & January months. The lovely days are so worth the house needing a bit more warning than here in England and when it’s your own you have your slippers and dressing gowns etc. 
I cannot wait to get back there as I haven’t been since February 2020 😢 we love it. 

Good luck in your search. 

Nikki


Al Duff

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:14pm

Al Duff

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 63

62 helpful points

Location: Alicante City

Joined: 18 Jan 2021

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:14pm

Ufatben wrote on Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:34pm:

Hi Al,

We purchased it lower Gran alacant. We have an Aurora Plus town house in Monte Mar Bajo. Whilst we had horrendous rain in September 2019, because we are on also on a small hill, we had absolutely no problem with the rain at all and I understand it was only the houses at the bottom that were facin...

...g up that had any problem.        The properties aren’t built for warmth but our air con also heats the house and we have stayed there in Nov & January months. The lovely days are so worth the house needing a bit more warning than here in England and when it’s your own you have your slippers and dressing gowns etc. 
I cannot wait to get back there as I haven’t been since February 2020 😢 we love it. 

Good luck in your search. 

Nikki


Thanks. Interesting, I am glad the floods didn't catch you. Hopefully those it did catch are fully recovered.

I understand that Spain has a unique State-backed compensation scheme for flooding, which is highly commendable. Socialism at its best, I guess.

Slippers and dressing-gowns at one's disposal: that's a good point. I will remember to bring my Superman slippers.

ICH

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 8:15pm

ICH

Posts: 21

14 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 13 Jun 2016

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 8:15pm

Al Duff wrote on Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:30am:

Hi All

I am hoping, when flights are permitted by the Scottish and Spanish authorities, to purchase a modest holiday flat near Alicante City.

Have been doing a lot of homework and Gran Alacant now seems to be coming out on top!

If you have any advice, please post it. I would also like to meet people, Brits and Spaniards especially, out there. 

Written from a snowy spot in Greater Glasgow.

Hi - I’m from Aberdeen and have an apartment in Puerto Marino, beside the Commercial Centre in Gran Alacant, I spent two years researching and visiting GA and other areas locally and always came back to GA, due to the facilities and the close proximity to the airport.  Fingers crossed that we’ll all be able to visit later this year.

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