Seeking best place to live - Page 6

Hi Anita, we live in Torrevieja near the Park of Nations in Torrevieja virtually opposite the new Consum. There are shops and supermarkets close by and a big new gym nearby. A few restaurants and it’s about seven minutes walk to the sea front. We live in Calle Cáritas, opposite the gym and about seven minutes to the local health centre. Also we have ALDI a minute away. We bought here because we didn’t want a car and it’s really convenient for almost everything. 10 minutes walk to the Habaneros shopping centre.

Hope this is of use to you.

Liz

 Hi Jan Sorry for late reply to this thought I had replied that shows how dizzy I am lol. Well I'm coming over in April but was unsure of the best area to base myself for a week of looking around I have the option to go San miguel de salinas B&B as it sounded good but I don't drive ans since been told its quite far as I'm looking toraviaja areas so not sure of cost in taxis etc so wold appreciate any advice

That's perfect for me definitely what I want but it's my budget that's the worry 58.000 I know it can be done but it's the areas I don't know so hope I can find something within your area

Anita 

Punta prima and playa flamenca/ la florida are far from quiet in the winter. 

They have good bus links, both north and south. Plus pickups for coac trips, like Daves. 

San Miguel is lovely, but not close to areas you want to see, and virtually no public transport to speak of. 

Delores and Catral, both 15 mins from coast and cheap - ex-pat communities and are Spanish areas.

Perception - whilst Playa Flamenca has plenty of entertainment (personally I don't define entertainment as Kareoke - but maybe that's just me). I do feel it is not suitable for all. I lived there for 6 months.

It's very a much a touristic location, 'little Britain' - it is not a town or village and does not have a Spanish feel at all, as it's not Spanish - very much of 'Brits in the Sun', rather than a Spanish town, with an ex-pat community. For me, it lacks 'soul' - a calculated concrete jungle, designed to take the money of tourists. Not as cheap as a small Spanish town.

Of course - just my opinion, we are all looking for something different. When I stayed there over the spring/summer, the pissheads singing football songs at 3 am whilst stumbling past my door, did it for me and reminded me that I wanted to live in Spain or a Spanish location.

You could get an apartment for that money. We have a modern two bed & bought ours about 13 years ago from new. I am hoping to achieve about £50,000 for it when we sell later this year. You shouldn’t have any trouble in Torrevieja keeping to budget. Our bad news was we bought just before the crash and paid 72k. Story of our lives. :-)

Hello Anita, you've had quite a few replies and, as to be expected we all think our own area is perfect.

We holidayed in and around Torrevieja and Oliva, in the northern Costa Blanca several times before plumping on  Torrevieja as our preferred destination.  We decided to rent initially before buying, having decided we would like to live in the town beach areas, but were  unable to find a long term rental in that area.  For private rentals the Spanish prefer you to have a Spanish bank account already in place for paying rent, at that time we didn't have one.  We'd just about given up when our current home came up for rental.  It's on the other side of town, beyond the Naufragos beach, and now we're here it ticks all our boxes, so we've decided to continue renting and forget the buying.  This will also be easier practically for our family when we are no longer.  In half to three quarters of an hour we can walk to hospital, health centre, bus station, Carrefour and Habañeras shopping centre, town centre, Punta Prima to buy English greetings cards (yes, really). The beach is less than five minutes away and we can drink and or dine in a different place every day for a fortnight within ten minutes.  There is a bus stop in about 200metres, with buses to as far away as Cartagena or Zenia Boulevard in one direction and into town and Alicante the opposite way.  The bus fare is a flat fee €1.35 per journey. Frequent bus users registered on the Padron can get a bus pass for, I think €7 annually.  In this area the most frequently heard language is Spanish, the locals are very patient with our attempts to speak their language, but there's always someone close by to translate when all else fails.

I wish you good fortune in your quest.

Hola Anita,

Wow!  You have received more advice and suggestions than you could have hoped for.

Well, there you have it. Good reasons to live in the Torrevieja area and good reasons to live in a spanish community. The ball is in your court now.

Taking taxies to see all around the coastal area is not going to be easy.  Taxi charges are high. You could take a local from Torrevieja to Alicante which picks up all along the coast. The airport bus doesn’t travel on the N332 ( our coast road) it goes the long way, using the motorway for part of the journey and travels on the opposite side of the salt lakes.  While in Torrevieja, you could hire a bicycle and toddle about wherever you fancy. DO NOT LEAVE THE BIKE UNLOCKED...it won’t be there when you return. Remember, it becomes very hot during the day and might be too hot to cycle any distance.  If you plan to stay close to the coast, you could walk miles and miles and get the chance to see areas that would appeal to you....while you get a good suntan.

Buses are available to many inland towns....I think.

You could try to do a deal with a taxi driver. Select areas that appeal to you and ask a local driver for a good price. Mornings aren’t busy for them so you would like to think you do make a deal.

Some estate agents pick up prospective buyers and show them their suitable properties which could be a way of viewing and seeing different areas. DO NOT BE COERCED INTO BUYING WITHOUT THINKING.  TAKE YOUR TIME AND DON’T BE RUSHED.

Have you booked your flights yet?   Good luck.

If you look at properties on line or in local agents the agents will pick you up and take you to visit the properties and take you back home after all for free. 

Hi Jan well I don't want that kind of thing either I want a mixture of cultural Spanish peppered with some English just don't know where 

Anita