Hi,
This is the first time that I have used a message board so hope that you will bear with me.
We have lived in the Granada area since 2001, originally in Moraleda de Zafayona where we had a villa with a large plot of land. It took us four years and a lot of hard work to create the garden and then we decided that we wanted a more manageable property and moved to a village house 25 minutes down the A92. Our daughter still lives in Moraleda.
There are only a few 'Brits' here and we see one another at the local market and at the village fiestas etc. We enjoy life and the local people are getting used to us now, although it is necessary to use Spanish most of the time. It is still a bit of a problem with local dialects but we manage and we are learning more all the time! The house is very deceptive as it has a small frontage, typical of a Spanish village, but is like a tardis inside with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We were lucky enough to buy the plot at the rear of the house and have a beautiful garden where we spend much of our time.
With an old village house, there seem to be less problems with papers, building licences etc. and there is a lot less hastle from the authorities. There were always problems with our previous property, although it is lovely to have a new-build with views over the Sierra Nevada, which we have only a glimpse of now.
Our daughter and her Spanish partner have also had big problems with their home as it is built on newly registered urban land on the outskirts of the village, which was bought with the promise of a water and electricity supply. Although the pipework was installed soon after the house was built, they still have to rely on a generator (which is very expensive to run) for electric ,apart from the short time that they can be connected to the local school, a solution that the the Ayuntimiento came up with when they complained after their daughter was born. She is now expecting another baby and still they wait! Has anybody else had a similar problem? We heard of a rural house that could not be connected as the eagles might land on the overhead cables and be electricuted!
Looking forward to future 'conversations'. Bee