Hi forum

Hi Karlom,

I moved from Gran Alacant which is full of expats after 8 years of living there, to Santa Pola, where I have lived for 3 and a half years. We moved because Gran Alacant is very hilly and my wife has bad knees (arthritis). It was great because if you live near the beach area it is very flat and even away from the beach is not that hilly. It depends what you are looking for because if you don't speak Spanish (and we don't) it is very difficult to make friends unless you frequent one of the numerous Spanish bars and they get to know your face. There are no English bars but some of the bars have staff who can speak a little bit of English, as most of the restaurants and supermarkets do so it is not too difficult to communicate with them. The people are very friendly but, as I said earlier, it can be a bit lonely unless you can afford to go out regularly to the bars and restaurants and meet people.

I hope this helps you to decide what you want to do. It's a shame really that this message wasn't a little bit later on in the year because we are actually going to be moving back to England (my daughter is getting married and the wife is a getting a bit broody and wanting to be back with the family so we will be putting our apartment up for sale shortly and it is always better to sell without the expense of using an estate agent.

Hi Karlom,

Santa Pola is a very safe & friendly town. There are a couple of bars which you may think would be filled with Brits but it’s not the case.  There are a few English here, “lots” of Irish , couple of Scots , even a kiwi and Aussie accent or 2. You will bump into them around town. They are all heavily outweighed by north Europeans etc. lots of French, Swedes, Norwegian, German & “Russian” accents.  
Some of the staff at bars & restaurants have a spattering of English but it’s really appreciated when you can make the effort to at least order your vino in Spanish. ;) 

There are several areas to Santa Pola which do vary in price and property style. 

  My best advice would be to rent for a while before you buy. Check out the town as a whole …decide which area works for you.  Properties can take months to sell here so you want to get it right first time if you can. 

I’ve sent you a private message. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions ! 

Caroline 

Whilst living in Cabo Roig, we used to have "Santa Pola Sundays" at any one of the restaurants on the port promenade, and soak up the spanish lifestyle.

 We liked it because we rarely heard English spoken; unlike in Cabo Roig, which was a fun place to live, but not the Spain of my dreams, with it's many supermarkets, bars etc., my favourites being cocktails at DioVio and browsing the lovely Zenia Boulevard.  

I also recommend renting before you buy; each area has it's own flavour. We are househunting in Jerez area now, but if I returned to the Costa Blanca I would choose Zenia/Playa Flamenca for the facilities.