Best Places to Buy a Home in Spain
Joanna Styles
The Best Places to Buy a Home in Spain is essential reading for anyone planning to buy property in Spain, and is designed to help you avoid costly mistakes and save endless hours researching local property prices and availability. It is the most comprehensive and up to date source of information available for anyone wishing to explore the property market in Spain before buying a home, and also includes important information about local amenities and services. Whether you are seeking a holiday or a permanent home, or buying for investment, business or pleasure, The Best Places to Buy a Home in Spain will guide you every step of the way.
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Extracts from the book…
Choosing the Region
Spain is a huge country (the largest in western Europe after France) with a vast array of landscapes ranging from flat, desert-like terrain to rugged mountains, from tiny medieval villages to lively cosmopolitan cities. Some parts of Spain remain practically uninhabited, while others are a melting pot of people from all corners of the world. You can choose from an authentic Spanish village where you can immerse yourself in the Spanish way of life, an expatriate community where you’ll live among your own countrymen and other foreigners, and areas where you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
Alternatively, you may prefer the hustle and bustle of city life in dynamic Barcelona or Moorish Granada, complete isolation in the Sahara-like dune landscape of Fuerteventura, nautical life in Mallorca with some of the world’s best sailing on your doorstep, the freshest mountain air in Europe in the Alpujarras, or mixing it with the jet-set in Marbella or package tourists in Benidorm.
Spain is a world unto itself, and deciding where to live can be difficult and the choice overwhelming. Many people’s choice is based on previous holidays, friends’ recommendations or simply an area’s reputation. But all these can be unreliable. How do you know whether an area is a ‘good buy’ and whether it will suit you? For example, will you be able to find expatriate services, good hospitals or lively nightlife? Will it offer a relaxed way of life without being ‘dead’ out of season? What are the local roads and public transport system like?
This book has been written to help answer these questions by providing comprehensive information about the most popular areas among foreign homebuyers in Spain. The ‘best’ place to live in Spain obviously depends on your preferences and it’s impossible to specify a best location for everyone. The aim of this book is to identify the positive and possible negative aspects of each of the selected areas in order to help you to choose the part of Spain that will suit you and your family best.
Town or Country?
Do you wish to be in a town or do you prefer the country? Inland or by the sea? How about living on an island? Life on an island is more restricted and remote, e.g. you cannot jump into your car and drive to Barcelona or Madrid or ‘pop’ over the border into Andorra, France, Gibraltar or Portugal. If you buy a remote country property, you’ll have to tolerate poor public transport, long travelling distances to a town, solitude and the high cost and amount of work involved in the upkeep of a country house and garden. You won’t be able to pop along to the local shop for fresh bread or drop into the local bar for a glass of your favourite tipple with the locals, or have a choice of restaurants on your doorstep. In a town or large village, the weekly market will be just around the corner, the doctor and chemist’s close at hand, and if you need help or run into any problems, your neighbours will be near by.
On the other hand, in the country you’ll be closer to nature, will have more freedom (e.g. to make as much noise as you wish) and possibly complete privacy, e.g. to sunbathe or swim au naturel.
Living in a remote area in the country will suit those looking for peace and quiet who don’t want to involve themselves in the ‘hustle and bustle’ of town life (not that there’s a lot of this in Spanish rural towns). If you’re seeking peace and quiet, make sure that there isn’t a busy road or railway line nearby or a local church within ‘donging’ distance. If you buy a remote country property, the distance to local amenities and services could become a problem, particularly if you plan to retire to Spain. If you live in a remote rural area, you’ll need to be much more self-sufficient than if you live in a town. Don’t forget that Spain is a BIG country and if you live in a remote area you’ll need to use the car for everything (which will increase your cost of living). Many people who buy a remote country home find that the peace of the countryside palls after a time and they yearn for the more exciting city or coastal life. If you’ve never lived in the country, it’s wise to rent before buying. Note also that while it’s cheaper to buy in a remote or unpopular location, it’s usually much more difficult to find a buyer when you want to sell.
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PRICE: £12.95
PUBLICATION: November 2007
EDITION: 2nd
PAGES: 416
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: A5 (210mm x 148mm)
COLOUR PHOTOS: 40
