To dream the impossible dream....

Hi.  Just stumbled across this site and it looks great.  Just the place maybe to get help with my wife and I's dream?

We're looking for somewhere to buy as (a) a holiday home for ourselves (b) a rental income opportunity when we're not there and (c) possibly a permanent home for ourselves in a few years time.  So that means it needs to be somewhere to suit our tastes and interests but also have some commercial appeal for renting.  Ideally by the sea, but preferrably somewhere rough and rugged for great views and walks rather than big (and busy) sandy beaches.  Our main hobbies are cycling and horse riding.   Somewhere Spanish or at the very least mixed - definitely not a big ex-pat cummunity.  Blighty in the sun is definitely not for us.  I'm thinking though that our personal preferences are maybe the exact opposite of what would fit a good rental investment property?  One other requirement that's maybe not contradictory is that it needs to be easily reachable by flights from Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh or Prestwick).

Any suggestions on areas or developments to look at?

Hello and welcome to Eye on Spain.

Spain is a huge country so unless you have an idea of where you want to be then I'm not sure you're going to get a lot of responses.

It could be a good idea to at least post on here a list of Spanish airports with directs flights to Soctland, that way we can at least narrow it down some areas near to those airports.

Best of luck!

Justin

Good points!  I left some detail out as I didn't want my first post to be too long!

So, flights from Scotland are to Alicante, Barcelona, Mahon, Malaga, Murcia, Palma, Reus, Girona.  Some are better served and cheaper than others, but I won't go into all the details of that.

Areas we know are Mallorca, Menorca and Costa Dourada.  Mallorca away from the big resorts is pretty near perfect in many ways - rugged coast, mountains, etc.  But one airport means flight options are not so varied and prices higher.  Same applies to Menorca.  But we wouldn't rule either out.

Costa Dourada  I suppose has a good mix of the commercial attractions to attract income (beaches, nightlife, Port Aventura) interspersed with the rugged coast and Spanish feel we'd prefer.  And with a choice of two (3 at a stretch) airports travel would be easier.  But we don't know it all that well.  Really just Salou and surroundings  Cap Salou has the rugged feel, though built up.  Some beautiful cliff edge properties.  The old town and western end in general is pretty Spanish.  The eastern end.... pass quickly through. (Apologies to anyone who's there and loves it.)

But to be honest it's the places we don't know that we'd like to hear about.

 We have a place in Peñiscola which is easily reached from Reus and Valencia and even Barcelona is only about 2 hrs away. We have a national park on our doorstep which is great for walks and mountain biking. Not a huge expat community and on our urbanisation there are 181 apts with about 2 dozen english living there permanently and the rest rented out. Some of the apts have never been occupied and our builder has stopped his other projects. To be honest it gets packed in July/August which is when we DON'T go but the other times of the year are quite pleasant. If you search Tierra de Irta you will find some pictures of apts to rent/buy. Just to give you something to look at 

Thanks Mary.  Looks great - the development and the area.  Definitely one to look into more..... sea, mountains, cycling, orange blossom.... I'm on my way already! :)

La Vera is a 100 km string of villages south of the Gredos Mountains about 2 hours west of Madrid. It is popular with wealthy Madrilenos as it is very beautiful and reachable after work on a Friday. Sort of Cotswolds. Our neighbour has a very modest casita and it is always let to visiting Brits & Madrilenos who want somewhere unusual. I know of only one other Brit couple in the area. Gredos for walking, skiing, horesriding. Monfrague for birdwatching. You need to be prepared to learn the lingo.

there are so many options for you  ,malaga airport flights are generally cheap and from here you dont have to travel miles to find tranquil country ,worth doing some research on the surrounding villages.us brits dont spread out forever so you can still find your dream

I would say you could do worse then to check out the Costa de la Luz area and its hinterland particular with your requirements. But of course, Spain is full of beautiful places. Just be on guard when you buy and use common sense, use a good independent lawyer and trust people when they have earned your trust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it1okjvUu0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQoy3lgksAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR5x9xHI23Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMRnGRSmjdI 

Thanks everyone for your advice.  I won't respond individually to everyone.  But this is the sort of information I'm looking for - suggestions for areas that fit the bill but that we don't yet know about.

On the learning the lingo point, yes definitely.  Though increasingly in some parts of the country the question is which lingo?  I know Castillian Spanish will get us by everywhere.  But it's polite I think to at least make an effort with Catalan or whatever applies. 

All good advice - and you may be surprised at the rental potential as well, lots of people looking for slightly 'off the beaten track' places these days :o)

Good luck!