Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:30pm
Hi Anne and welcome to the forum!
If you haven't already found them, I'd recommend some brilliant guides written by our resident guru, Jim Taylor, about everything to do with making the move to and living in Spain:
Jim's guides - your complete guide to Spain
I'm surprised you didn't hear any British voices in Torrevieja - you'll certainly hear them in high season :o) But there are lots of nice villages and towns inland where communities thrive, but bear in mind that public transport is virtually non-existent once you're away from the tourist areas. Even a little Spanish will go a long way with the locals making you welcome and one of the best ways to meet fellow foreigners is to join a Spanish language class.
You're a couple of years older than me, so I'm guessing you have to wait until you're 66 to draw your UK State Pension (67 for me)? People in receipt of their State pension or another exportable benefit, such as Disability Living Allowance, are eligible for a Form S1 to transfer their free healthcare from the UK to Spain. In the meantime, however, you'd need to buy private health insurance, which can be quite expensive.
A couple of other things to bear in mind for your budget is that, if you wanted to buy a property for, say, Eu 100,000, you'd need to allow a further 13% (Eu 13,000) to pay ITP (property tax) and legal fees, e.g. notary, lawyer, land registry on your purchase. If Eu 100,000 is your top budget, you need to be looking at properties at a selling price of around Eu 88,000.
Unfortunately, Brexit could also have a negative impact - in the worst case scenario of a 'no deal', the S1 system will cease to be valid for UK citizens, so that means paying for private health insurance, or joining the Convenio Especial, for the rest of your life. Also in the event of 'no deal', the UK government will not pay State pension increases to UK citizens living in Europe beyond 2022.
The cost of living in Spain is still cheaper than the UK, except for electricity, which is actually more expensive here, but IBI (Council Tax) is much cheaper here - the difference between our Council tax in the UK and what we now pay in Spain more than covers the cost of our health insurance.
Have a browse through Jim's Guides and if you have any questions, just ask. This forum is a mine of information and people are happy to help - we've all been in your situation at one time of another.
Best wishes,
Kim