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Look for a great location to live in Spain.

Posted: Mon Mar 2, 2020 12:34am
9 replies137 views5 members subscribed
Phil

Posts: 6

Location: Roses

Joined: 15 Sep 2019

Hi thanks for reading my message. We have lived and worked in the Caribbean for the last 10 years and now looking to retire to Europe. We like the area of northern Spain because we think we can lock up our house and drive to France, Italy, Switerland, etc. 2 hours to Barcelona by train and as we are from the U.K. we envisage doing the odd trip to drive back to the U.K. and visits places that normally we would not visit. My question is can anyone recommend a location we should take a look at. At this moment we have no real idea of an area we my look to settle. 

In our minds eye, we would like to be in a town Center where we can walk to restaurants. We need to be close to the ocean and we like to be involved in an fair size expat community. We are not look for rural countryside, or an area that is say primary Spanish.  We enjoy nice Restaurants and good company with people who can hold a conversation. We are visiting Spain for about a month in September and would love to hear any suggestion about places we should go and take a look. Last September we visited Barcelona. Which we loved but don’t think is a place for us to live. We had lunch in Roses but not much of a look round but it had a nice feel. Stayed a night Cadaques, which was very nice but not sure it’s what we are looking for. We wold love to hear any suggestion. You leave reply’s here or email up at pp6000@hotmail. looking forward to hearing any suggestions. 

Karen

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:53pm

Posts: 21

2 helpful points

Location: Tossa de Mar

Joined: 31 Jan 2017

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:53pm

We love Tossa but it’s very quiet in the winter so depends what you are looking for 😀

Phil

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:19pm

Phil

Original Poster

Posts: 6

Location: Roses

Joined: 15 Sep 2019

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:19pm

Karen wrote on Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:53pm:

We love Tossa but it’s very quiet in the winter so depends what you are looking for 😀

Thank you for your reply. We are returning to Spain for a month in September so plan to take a look at a few places. We understand what you say about winter. Can you tell us a little more about the place and what it is that you enjoy. We look forward to hearing from you 

ATrelles00

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:46am

Posts: 2

Location: Begur

Joined: 31 Dec 2019

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:46am

Hello Phil,  that seems like a fantastic idea!  Our youngest daughter is 2 1/2 years from going to university and, once she does, we are thinking of doing that very thing and moving to the Costa Brava due to its cool climate and proximity to France, Geneva, etc... and the glorious Spanish food. Not fully retired but working part-time.

We are looking at Girona and Begur, as they have both a lot of activity (and not just in Summer) as well as gorgeous old towns.  We may also look closer to Barcelona, say Manresa.  We plan to stay a couple of weeks at each of the locations, live like locals, and see how easy would it be for English-speakers to make friends (my husband is not fully bilingual). Good luck with your search and we might see you around!

All the best,   Amari

Karen

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:56pm

Posts: 21

2 helpful points

Location: Tossa de Mar

Joined: 31 Jan 2017

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:56pm

Phil wrote on Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:19pm:

Thank you for your reply. We are returning to Spain for a month in September so plan to take a look at a few places. We understand what you say about winter. Can you tell us a little more about the place and what it is that you enjoy. We look forward to hearing from you 

Hi Phil,


it’s nice as not built out , lots of Spanish go there and a nice holiday feeling 😀


go and have a look and you will see 


cheers Karen 

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Karen

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:57pm

Posts: 21

2 helpful points

Location: Tossa de Mar

Joined: 31 Jan 2017

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:57pm

Karen wrote on Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:56pm:

Hi Phil,


it’s nice as not built out , lots of Spanish go there and a nice holiday feeling 😀


go and have a look and you will see 


cheers Karen 

Actually we have a house in Santa Maria a few Kms up the road and love it .. 

Roger48

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 12:30pm

Posts: 11

Location: Begur

Joined: 21 Apr 2019

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 12:30pm

Hi Phil,  

 We have a second home near Begur it’s a small town it’s nice to visit but we wouldn’t  live there. I would suggest that you take a look at Palamos and Palafrugell both busy larger towns. We have friends that are active U3A it’s a good way to meet people.

Good hunting 

R

satprof

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 4:39pm

Posts: 31

18 helpful points

Location: Roses

Joined: 24 May 2017

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 4:39pm

Hi Phil,

We moved from the Geneva area three years ago to a small village not far from Roses, but with superb panoramic views from Mount Canigou (in France) right round to Roses itself. If you want really good restaurants within walking distance, a great place to think about might be downtown Empuriabrava. We eat out a fair bit & there are three really good restaurants (Noray, Essencia & La Ola) very close to each other, as well as dozens of others. There are probably a few too many tourists there in summer, but nothing like as many as in Roses, and we've not been impressed by the Roses restaurants. Should you be interested in boating, Empuriabrava should definitely be on your list, as most properties come with their own mooring.

The local British Society of Catalunya (Roses Bay): https://www.bscroses.com/ is a great way of finding an instant social life, with Bridge, Lunches,Golf & Mini-golf, Book Club & Bowling activities as well as occasional outings. We personally like the proximity of France, both for restaurants and for shopping. (Living for 27 years in France means that there are plenty of French items we don't want to do without.)

At the moment, of course, everything is locked-down, but it won't last for ever & I hope that your September trip proves to be successful.

Phil

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:13pm

Phil

Original Poster

Posts: 6

Location: Roses

Joined: 15 Sep 2019

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:13pm

satprof wrote on Sun Mar 22, 2020 4:39pm:

Hi Phil,

We moved from the Geneva area three years ago to a small village not far from Roses, but with superb panoramic views from Mount Canigou (in France) right round to Roses itself. If you want really good restaurants within walking distance, a great place to think about might be downtown Empuriabrava...

.... We eat out a fair bit & there are three really good restaurants (Noray, Essencia & La Ola) very close to each other, as well as dozens of others. There are probably a few too many tourists there in summer, but nothing like as many as in Roses, and we've not been impressed by the Roses restaurants. Should you be interested in boating, Empuriabrava should definitely be on your list, as most properties come with their own mooring.

The local British Society of Catalunya (Roses Bay): https://www.bscroses.com/ is a great way of finding an instant social life, with Bridge, Lunches,Golf & Mini-golf, Book Club & Bowling activities as well as occasional outings. We personally like the proximity of France, both for restaurants and for shopping. (Living for 27 years in France means that there are plenty of French items we don't want to do without.)

At the moment, of course, everything is locked-down, but it won't last for ever & I hope that your September trip proves to be successful.

Thank you for your feed back we appreciate your suggestions and will take a look. Hopefully the September sound the sort of place we are looking for. Many thanks 

Phil

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 6:39pm

Phil

Original Poster

Posts: 6

Location: Roses

Joined: 15 Sep 2019

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 6:39pm

Phil wrote on Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:13pm:

Thank you for your feed back we appreciate your suggestions and will take a look. Hopefully the September sound the sort of place we are looking for. Many thanks 

Hey we did a little research on the the place you suggested and viewed a few photos. I must say it looks amazing and exactly the type of place we would enjoy. As soon as this terrible situation is over we will be finding somewhere to stay to check it out. Thank you so much for the heads up. A place we had never heard of. 

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