Moving to Torrevieja from the UK

Hi Louise and welcome to the forum!

Sorry to answer a question with a question, but would you mind telling us a bit more about yourself?  How old are you?  Moving on your own or with family?  Will you need to work?  Early retiree?  Pensioner?  And most importantly, what is it that attracts you to Torrevieja?  It's a big town with different areas to suit a variety of tastes, so it would be good to know what you've seen that you like, so that we're not steering you in the wrong direction.

Best wishes,

Kim

Street View on Google Maps works almost everywhere in Spain and will give you a brutally honest 360 view from almost any road, and also from many mountain and coastal paths and especially scenic spots.

You could start with this link https://goo.gl/maps/x9e1xDYLCj9hM31T7 .

Open up the map at the bottom and you can jump to anywhere else marked with a blue line or blue spot, or you can 'walk' around from the starting point.  Check the little box top left and you'll see when the image was recorded.  August will look very different from January.

Hello Kim,

thank you for responding to my post.
I’m 25 years old and I’ll be moving over here with my parents (in their 40s not retired) and my dogs. 

I don’t travel to Spain very much so I don’t know much about any of the areas but I want to live somewhere near to the beach and near to shops, restaurants/ bars etc. 

I am self employed and will be moving my beauty therapy business over there but also looking to get a job around my business too. 

I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Thank you.

Louise x

Hello Gordon,

thank you for responding to my post. 

that’s actually a good idea, I’ll have a look now and just hope that it’s all up to date as I wasn’t sure if google street view got updated every 5 years so wasn’t sure if it would be outdated. 

I’ll definitely be checking it out!

Thank you!

Louise x

The date varies a lot on Street View.  You should be able to see the 'Image Capture' date bottom right.  If there is a clock symbol next to 'Street View' in the box top left you will be able to click on it to see images from earlier dates.

Hello Gordon,

I’ve been having a look and it’s really helpful thank you.

Do you live or have you previously lived in Torrevieja? Could you give me any information about the place? Any information would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you.

Louise. 

Apart from information about the area to which you referred can I suggest that you have a look at the following couple of sites that may answer some of the questions that you will have.   It is not as easy these days to move to Spain.

Citizens Advise Bureau Spain for bureaucracy stuff - there is quite a lot nowadays, particularly since the UK left the EU and moved to a Third Country situation.

N332 for anything to do with driving in Spain.   Their Facebook page has kept us up to date in respect of the rules and regulations about the current virus since last March.   Their website is run in conjunction with officers of the Guardia Civil for English speaking people and also has an English version of the Spanish equivalent of the Highway Code.

Hi Louise,

Have you looked into the cost of running a business in Spain?  (I don't understand why the Spanish authorities don't encourage entrepreneurship with a more supportive tax regime!)  

Beauty businesses in Spain are regarded as "luxury" and taxed accordingly.  But even as "autonomo" (self employed), you have to make monthly contributions, whether you earn income or not - a bit like National Insurance contributions in the UK, so they do give you entitlement to the Spanish State healthcare system.  The contributions for the first year are discounted to around €100 per month, but after that, they increase to around €300 per month.

In terms of looking for property, I'd recommend looking at these two websites:

www.kyero. com

www.idealista.com

Gordon gave you great advice to look at Google Earth, so if you have any more queries about specific areas once you've done more research, let us know.

Kind regards,

Kim

Hello Kim,

sorry I’ve gotten a bit confused, so whether I’m self employed or employed, the £100 per month for the Spanish state healthcare is that fixed price for the first year and then increases to £300 per month after that? 

Is this our equivalent to the NHS or is this classed as private health care? 

Sorry if this seems like a silly question! 

Louise x