Is anyone living in Santa Pola or Torrevieja

Hi Joanna, 

Jimmy 11 is quite correct.  It’s very much personal choice. What are your needs, likes & dislikes  etc. 

We chose Santa Pola for a couple of reasons but we like that it’s quieter and we don’t feel like we are on holiday with egg & chips advertised everywhere. ( as much as I like egg n chips it’s not good for my cholesterol! ) 

Have you been to either of these places before ? 

Caroline 

Hi Caroline,

Haha yes is good to keep the cholesterol low ;)

Like I have already mention to Gordon, I think I will choose Santa Pola anyway as I want my children to have school near by. My daughter is 11, she is going high school from September. My son is 6, so he will be in year 2. I have been to Torrevieja many times, in February have stayed in Santa Pola which stole my heart. The main concern is if I will manage to get customers for facial treatments, massage and hair. I saw in Santa Pola lots of hairdresser salons.. one next to another .. and because is not that big town will be probably hard to get customers as people are used to the places that their already get the service from. ;) 

Hi Kim,

Ok, So I am 35, have two children 11yrs and 6yrs old. I am taking my mother with me too.. and our four legs family small dog and a cat.

We want to rent a house .. 4 bedroom will be ideal. X

Like I said already we will move to Santa Pola as the schools are near by and easy to get to. 

Hi Joanna,

The main property portal for Spain is Kyero - a quick search in Santa Pola brought back this selection (I searched for 3 and 4 beds, so that you could compare size against locations and price):

https://www.kyero.com/en/santa-pola-property-long-let-1l1753?beds=3

There's also a property section on this forum, so worth checking that as well, as I think the properties should belong to forum members.

I didn't offer an opinion on location, as I don't live in Santa Pola or Torrevieja, but we love Santa Pola, especially in the quieter months when most of the tourist bars are closed.  We go into the Spanish bars and restaurants, and always find the locals to be so friendly.  Your children will make friends at school and you'll build a network through your work, but it's probably worth checking out what would be available for your mum - as your children are still young, I'm guessing your mum isn't a pensioner yet?  The local "Ayuntamiento" (Town Hall) is a good place to start for information about clubs and classes that you may be interested in.

Are you planning to run your business from home, or be mobile?  If mobile, there's a huge, British-dominated urbanisation about 15-20 minutes west of Santa Pola, called La Marina, where you could probably establish a client base - my in-laws lived there for 15 years and there's a lack of really decent hairdressers and beauticians.  You would need to register as "autonomo" (self-employed) and this can be expensive for a start-up business.  Alternatively, perhaps you could rent space, or better still, get a contract in a Spanish salon that needs an English speaker, although I would imagine you'd need to speak some Spanish.  I'm not suggesting this would be easy (unemployment in Spain is around 14%, compared to about 3.5% in the UK), but just giving you some ideas to investigate.

And, yes, definitely worth renting initially - holidays are so different to living here full-time.  A 6- or 12-months rental will give you a much better idea of whether the location suits your whole family, especially during the quieter winter months.

There's some really useful information on the UK Government website, if you haven't already seen it:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain

And, of course, don't hesitate to ask if you have any other queries.

Kind regards,

Kim

Yes Joanne , there re almost as many hairdressers as there are bars lol 

You’ll need to find something that’s different I guess.  Maybe a vino instead of a cuppa & some nibbles ? ;).  

And if you need a receptionist / salon assistant let me know ! 

Caroline 

Great advice from Kimmy,  we have a house near playa lisa and its deffinately a lot quieter  in winter months, I went out there on my own in Jan for the Santa pola half marathon and found it lovely still,  the main town itself is busy all year as it's a working town but the beach bars won't be open,  my good friend has a real estate business near the castle and would be happy to help you find a place if and when you're ready to buy, I wish you all the luck in the world and really hope it works out for you all 

Dave 

Thank you very much Dave for all the info x

Are you still looking for house to rent in santa pola  ?

Dave