New to Spain..Any suggestions?

Just thought I'd introduce myself, I have been living oversea's in Canada for many years, but have returned back to the UK to work.

I am returning back to Canada next year, but I am not looking forward to those long cold winters, so I am heading to Spain for the winter.

I would like some suggestions if possible on long term lets for the winter, I am looking for a modest, 2- bedroom property. I will be working from home, but will also be working in the UK/Canada and I need somewhere close to local services, so that my wife and daughter can look after themselves in my absence.

Although I am in the restaurant/hotel trade, I can pretty much fit into any job, I know the timing for the winter is wrong, but I would also be looking for P/T work as well.

With these factors in mind, would any of the members have any suggestions or idea;s for a winter in the sun!

Regards

Peter

Bit confused. So, you'll be working from home, in Spain, but also traveling to UK & Canada, while holding down a part time job in the restaurant or hotel trade, or anything else that comes up? (Are you aware that Spain has massive unemployment?) Daughter of school age? What "services" do you need? Airport nearby? Shops? (There's lots in Spain). Don't really know how to help you. 

Go to Oz! More likely to find work.

I'd definitely chose one of the fabulous cities on the north coast - Vigo, Gijon, Ovieda, Santander, Bilboa, San Sebastian. You also couldn't go wrong with Madrid. Or else, Santiago, Orense, Salamanca, Leon, Burgos, Logrono, Valadollid or Toledo. Failing which, try Lisbon or Porto. That ought to be enough to get on with. Draw a line from Lison through Madrid up to Barcelona. Stay north of it.

Well, that narrows it down a bit! So, stay north of the Guyline. May I ask - why?

(Here we go, off on a tangent! I fear the OP is not going to get many sensible replies here)

No 'winter in the sun' in the N!

@Roberto. The Guyline.  A nice ring to it. lol. Well, this could degenerate into a "The Real Spain" argument that we see on these pages from time to time. I admit I have my prejudices. I also drive around Spain a lot, and get to visit the Costas a couple of times a year - but more often drive north of the Guyline. And live in Extremadura. South of the line is ugly, there's no other way of putting it, and most Spanish I've spoken to on the subject agree. If you want a bucket and spade holiday then Estepona or Benidorm would fit the bill. And there's no doubt that Cordoba, Grenada Valencia, |Cadiz, Seville.... are wonderful cities. But for non-stop gobsmacking beauty you can't beat Galicia, Asturias, Extremadura, and the north. I know they say it rains a lot on the north coast, but I've never found it to be the case. I think the main reason Brits chose the Costas is because they'll find communities of fellow Brits. (The Brits that go to live in France don't have these communities - I don't think there are any -  they all live in amongst the French.) Brits in Spain often have a sort of laager mentality, circle the wagons and keep a watch out for redskins.

All I'm trying to suggest to the OP is consider the whole country.

Madrid? Scorching in summer, freezing in winter. Traffic jams most of the day.

And no Brit enclaves in France? You haven't been to many places, then. Languedoc, Provence to name just two. Seems us Brits like sticking together and the same in Malta, Cyprus and as far away as India. The costas aren't the be all and end all of the south. The Jalon valley, Alicante mountain range towns and all along there are lovely. Probably why so many Madrilenos spend their summers here. Cartagena can be added to the list of lovely cities and even Elche with it's palm lined avenues has its attraction as does Alicante. 

Yes, it is a big country. The north is nice to visit but the south is the place to be. And it's all "real" Spain. Honest.

@Marie. I know France quite well - and we've owned a place in Provence (Cassis) for over thirty years. The Brits I've come across in Provence have been scattered randomly among the locals. I've never known anyone buy in a particular place because they'll have Brit next-door-neighbours, an Iceland to shop in and the local bar with Brit bartenders serving Wayneys & full-English breakfast. Never come across that, I'll admit. But live and learn - pse post a link to the equivalent of somewhere like Camposol. Sacre bleu!

OK @GuyT, you got me there. There probably is no place like Camposol....anywhere.

However, you must have skipped Aquitaine (where we lived for 3 years) and one particular department called the Dordogne. Or Dordogneshire as it was known. 30,000 Brits in that small area alone. Popular place called "The Cricketer's Arms. Many British "supermarkets" and several English language newspapers. Quite a rarity to hear French spoken (or even French registered cars) and many even commuting to and from UK. A bowls (not boules) club and a residents committee composed of 100% Brits.

However, houses not primarily built for Brits and, agreed, not like Camposol but we did have a fish N chip shop (think it was called something like the Inn Plaice or similar naff name).

Visited some friends in Pezenas near Montpelier in one of the Languedoc departments and it was exactly the same except the pub was called The English Rose.

However, the fact that Brits tend to stick together is hardly earth shattering news. Neither is the fact the south of Spain has some stunning areas. Actually thinking of moving to the Jalon valley region. The have a wonderful restaurant that does roast beef and Yorkshire pudding carveries....

Well, now we've got the "Real Spain" (a complete nonsense expression) discussion out the way, perhaps we can go back to not helping the OP?! Unless we've already frightened him off.....

@Sinners: If you're still looking for suggestions, perhaps you could be a little clearer what exactly you're asking for.

Many thanks for the replies, to be a little clearer, just looking for a bolt hole for the winter, close to local services etc.

Not been frighten off...yet!

Just wondered if any of the members know of reasonbly priced long term lets?

Many thanks Sinners

Again, a virtually impossible request to answer. Try to imagine someone asking you if you know of any reasonably priced lets anywhere in the UK near to "services" - with no other info or requirements!

OK, I'll do my best to get your ball rolling: here's a site with only a few tens of thousands to choose from https://www.idealista.com/en/alquiler-viviendas/#municipality-search  

and here's another with several more thousands to peruse https://www.kyero.com/en/spain-property-long-let-1

Good luck!

Many thanks Roberto, to narrow it down, I had the idea of somewhere like Costa Blanca, not too far from an airport, just somewhere to sit out the winter.

Been a tough year for the family, they need some Spanish chill out time!

Sinners

If you are looking at "beach" type areas then look at Costa Calida as well which is the continuation of the Costa Blanca. Areas include San Javier/Santiago de la Ribera, Los Alcazares, and areas nearby. There is a small airport in San Javier that has a few flights in the winter to the U.K. (and other Countries). For historical places there is always Cartagena or most places along the coast in Costa Blanca.

You need to say what type of area you like, i.e. beach, inland, busy or quiet, etc. When you post that everyone will say where they live is great if you like what they have.

Will you have a car or will you need public transport? Do you want 'night life' or peace and quiet? and so on.

At the moment you are still asking "how long is a piece of string"! Good luck

 reasonably priced lets anywhere  near to "services"

Unfortunatley that is what everyone coming here is looking for!!

It's difficult to conduct a search from the UK - the agents are even less interested in you than if you you were sat in front of them.

I'm sure someone somewhere would be glad of a winter let, it's just finding it. My advice would be to come over for two weeks and follow up the small ads and window signs, ask in bars and restaurants  - get talking to people!! 

My parents used to winter in either Malta or Cyprus. They stayed in a hotel for 3 months and it was very reasonable. I note some Spanish hotels do this but are rather more expensive. They got Malta for a full 3 months (room only) for around £1,000 each and I see some Spanish hotels are offering them for a month at £1,000.

Villas and town houses can be rented for about 4 hundred euro a month which would be a considerable saving as that wouldn't be per person like the hotels would charge. Just putting winter rentals Costa Blanca comes up with loads of sites with apartments for 2 to full villas sleeping 8 and all within half an hour of Alicante or Murcia airports. 

From what I know of the Costa del Sol most of the properties you see advertised on the internet are in fact not available and are just bait (oh that one went last week but we have another one blah blah) But why agents want bait for I don't know because they are not remotely intrested unless its an expensive property and they can get a months commission for themselves - I hope it's different on the Costa Blanca Sinners

Not necessarily. Try this agency: https://www.idealista.com/pro/del-sol-inmobiliaria/alquiler-viviendas/ Ask for Cesar, he speaks English (maybe his colleagues do too, I don't know). You can even tell him Roberto put you on to him (I'm not on any percentage!) This agency do mainly rentals. He just rented a lovely one bedroom apartment in my building. He did have a nice 2 bedroom apt. just up the road for €550 a month - that's gone now too I think, but he'll have others. His office is on my street. It's 5 minutes walk from the train station, which is about 10 minutes train ride from the airport (Málaga - plenty of flights all year!) Everything "service" related is on the doorstep. Naturally, I'm going to tell you this is the best place in Spain! Plenty of expats, but also a mostly Spanish feel to it. It's as "real" as anywhere else in Spain. Beautiful it's not, but if it's natural beauty comparable to north of the Guyline you're after, a 45 minute drive inland will take you to El Chorro and el Caminito del Rey which rivals anything anywhere in the world for "chillout" value.