There has been a disproportionate amount of bad press relating to property purchase on the costas, seemingly neglecting to point out that you can have problems in any country including the UK, if you don’t use safeguards Continue Reading »

There are still many northern european residents, itching to escape the cold weather and hoping to move to the Costa Blanca, as soon as their property is sold. Your Choice! Do you really want to wait?

At the moment, however, selling in most areas is difficult, so why not consider rentals as a first move? Let’s have a look at the pro’s and con’s to see what’s best for you.. Continue Reading »

People who know Denise and myself, know that we are property finders. Lots of people ask us to sell houses, which we don’t do, because that would be unethical. In a past post, you may remember (all two of you), that a golf developer had offered us silly money and a car for pushing their new resort, which we later found had no planning permission……… Continue Reading »

Despite the gloom and doom of the housing markets both here and in the UK, a large removal company has reported that the exodus to Spain has now re-started and they are doing more and more exportation, particularly to the Costa Blanca… Continue Reading »

It seems that every time you turn on the box in the UK, there is a programme knocking life in Spain. Usually property that has gone wrong but now propaganda about the euro from BBC2 who should know better………… Continue Reading »

Online Booking “Hiccup”

A recent experience of ours has lead us to believe that some airline websites are not totally honest. (Are you sensing a slight hint of sarcasm?) We have had Ryanair told off for not including prices, but this new phenomena for hiking up prices (or is it just a coincidence?) by two of the “cheap” airlines has me thinking consipracy theories….

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Thinking about retiring to somewhere warm, healthy and fun? Read On…. Continue Reading »

The pound has dropped yet again against the euro at the time of writing and looks set to drop further………..

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There has been a lot of bad press in the UK about property purchase in the Valencian region and it is true to a certain extent that a minority of buyers fall foul of unscrupulous dealers, but is this any different to anywhere else? The phrase “leave their brains on the plane” comes to mind, as many buyers in the past have not even taken legal advice when buying. It really dosen’t have to be like that… Continue Reading »

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, described here to help you decide which type is for you Continue Reading »

Home Finders - a new concept for the Costa Blanca?

The way property has been bought and sold in the Mediterranean part of Spain has been much criticised. Continue Reading »

Promises, Promises -

In Spain you have less choice of phone providers, at least with land lines, due to the monopoly held by Telefonica, who do not display the best customer services in the world. You may not even be able to have a land line… Continue Reading »

A new house under construction, but they are not all built like this!

This is the first of my articles on how Spanish property is, or can be, built. Our Spanish country house started life as an agricultural building Continue Reading »

I had a go at this (green) bowling when I was a teenager and it is more exciting than it looks! Obviously with a lot of retired people in the area, there are a fair few clubs around the region. This time I am covering the Marina Baja and Marina Alta areas. Continue Reading »

This is by way of an introduction to the Marinas from Oliva down to Torrevieja. Valencia are of course hosting the Americas Cup and if I get time I will include those near and around Valencia. Comments and recommendations are welcome from those salty sea-dogs who have personal experience of short and longer stays. We would also like information on anchorages, sailing hints and the sailing around the Balearics. Continue Reading »

As an ex-sport and commercial diver/diving supervisor, I have long since hung up my flippers. I must say I got a bit bored with it and coming to the Mediterranean, thought, wrongly, that diving here wasn’t worth getting wet for… Continue Reading »

Personally, I think it is pointless to have a weather widget on my site, which may only tell you what the weather was like yesterday or today. More advanced ones might give you a forecast but why bother when you can Continue Reading »

Here’s more of the same following my first post IS & B Reviews. Costa Blanca Expats is the first one I have stumbled across that seems to be reasonably well updated and “does what it says on the can” Continue Reading »

To save you trawling through the search engines trying to find what you want, I have started to compile information on sites which may be helpful to ex-pats and future expats

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It is often hard to choose a tradesman, company or place to buy things on the CB. Specialist items are almost impossible to find and the quality of tradesmen and services varies immensely. So, send in your positive comments so that others can benefit. Funny and sad stories as well if you like, but don’t name names!

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Looking around at news sites relevant to the Costa Blanca, I have found that the quality and content vary, from local and national coverage to those just trying to sell books. Rather than pick an RSS feed for my site, thought it would be better to describe Continue Reading »

It’s Twu! It’s Twu!

If you get your car insurance through Saga like me, or not, a really good source of information for moving to Spain is the Age Concern Espana website. They have a series of fact sheets like this one on healthcare

Costa Blanca, being in the Valencian region, has special free healthcare provisions for Continue Reading »