Property Management and Rentals La Marina

The way of life and the relaxed lifestyle is in contrast to the busy London life that we have been brought up in.  No traffic jams, a fraction of the cars on the road and less traffic pollution plus the slower pace of life of the locals makes for a healthier lifestyle.  The area due to the local salt plains has been classified by the World Health Organisation as one of the healthiest places in the world to live.  
In our spare time we can go for a dip in the pool, relax in the garden on a hamock, go to the beach, a local bar, restaurant by the sea, local golf course, a visit to a number of local castles, water sports, balloon ride, scuba diving, hire a jet ski or boat out, walk along the promenade in Santa Pola or La Mata, a walk round the ports of Alicante or Torrevieja, local museums, Iberian, Moorish or Roman places of interest, water parks, theme parks, safari parks and the towns of Benidorm or Cartagena is only an hours drive away.  There is so much to do compared to the UK, and due to the weather more time to do it in.  
There are plenty of reasons to move to the Costa Blanca and leave the UK behind, but due to the local property market being stagnant, in my opinion it is not a good time to buy.   I meet so many people who have purchased property and didnt like the neighbours/area/finish of the house, the property didnt live up to expectations, had to many problems etc so what an increased percentage of people are doing is moving over here to rent for six months or so until they find the right house and area that suits them without losing money buying and then having to sell (sometimes at a loss) plus the cost of solicitors, taxes, agent fees etc.  There is little committment in renting and very little financial committment.
How about the best of both worlds living in the uk during the summer and Spain in the winter?  The cost of living is cheaper here, you could rent a nice 3 bedroom 2 bathroom Quad house for example for about 700 euros per month, this includes your community fees, electric, water and Sky subscription.

 Now that we have lived in the Costa Blanca for nearly two years now and after getting to know a lot of other local business owners and residents I think we are in a position to compare life between the UK and here.  However my views may differ from someone who has retired here or only lives here for periods at a time. 

Firstly we have to compare the weather, before moving I read reports that the Costa Blanca has 320 sunny days a year on average, maybe true but the other 35 days it pours down.  Between May and October the weather is generally blue skies, sunshine and t-shirt weather (except July and August when even that feels too much).  November – April is normally about 18 degrees during the day but you can get a week here and there especially December and January where the wind is cold and it drops down to about 13 degrees.  However at night you will need some form of heating and a lot of Spanish homes do not provide this.  During the summer its lovely spending time after work relaxing by the pool and even 2 out of 3 weekends during the winter it’s still warm enough to walk on the beach in a t-shirt. 

The next comparison is the lifestyle.  We come from Essex where the evenings are normally spent in-doors and the weekends shopping at Lakeside and maybe a visit to the cinema and a restaurant.  The plus side is we spend more time outside; however shopping is something that we do miss as the fashions here are different.  It’s not so bad for Sam as she will quite often find a top that she likes in Sara or Hennes for example but not for me.  There are some good shopping complexes about such as Habaneras in Torrevieja and one of the largest shopping centres in Europe which is next to the Murcia football stadium about a 40 minute drive from here.  Food shopping except for June to September can only be done Mon - Saturday as nothing opens on a sunday so if you work those days you dont get a chance untill saturday afternoon.  There are plenty of smaller supermarkets about stocking English foods, but you cant get everything and you normally pay a premium for those items.
As for restaurants we are fussy eaters as I don’t eat meat and Sam is particular.  There is every type of restaurant in the area such as Argentinean, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Spanish tapas, Italian and English and even through there are some good places to eat we do miss restaurants such as Harvester, TGI Fridays and Pizza Hut.  

I will continue this discussion during the week and if anyone has a particular aspect of Spanish life they would like me to compare feel free to contact me. 

Un saludo

One very important factor to consider when choosing a country or area to live is health care.  I know everyone knocks the NHS back home but how many countries actually offer a better service?  Well I found out as soon as I arrived in Spain what its like in the Costa Blanca south.  I am not the healthiest of people as I have been diabetic and insulin dependant since I was 5 years old which is 35 years now.  This has led to offer problems one of which was a problem in my shoulder which was operated on a week before coming to Spain to live.  We drove over with all our possessions and the following day I felt terrible and was sent to hospital and diagnosed with a kidney infection.  It was an old hospital and there was a language barrier as I didn’t know a word when I first got here but they dealt with me with kindness and care and had me out within 1 day and back to normal within 3 days.

Since then a new hospital has been built in Torrevieja where our daughter was born last October, the hospital was excellent it was new, modern and clean, we had a private room with TV, pull out bed for the father to sleep in, three meals a day and lovely views of the local salt lakes, it was like a Holiday Inn.

Last week I suddenly went blind in my right eye and was sent up to the emergency department, we had to wait about 3 hours and the consultant told me that because it was a Saturday I would need to see the specialist and to go home stay in bed and come back on Monday which I did.  I have been told they will have to cut into my eye to insert a bubble to prevent my retina detaching, this will be done tomorrow Thursday 05/06/08 and I am confident that I am in good hands.