Living in Spain the first three months

It's hard to believe but three months ago today we moved in to our new apartment in Spain and started our new life. It was a big step and not one made without a lot of thought, and a lot of work to get prepared. So was it a good move?

Three months seems like a good point at which to review our decisions. Not only the decision to move to Spain, but also the choices that we made about our new life that are a factor in its success.

So... before we talk about whether the move was a good idea, or not, let's start by looking at our choice of area to live in.

We picked El Campello.

A small town on Spains Costa Blanca located right on the coast between Alicante to the south and Benidorm to the north. 

So... Why El Campello?

The obvious reason is because Tracy's mum lives here (and has for more that 13 years) so this gives Tracy an opportunity to be closer to her.

However, that's not the only reason.

El Campello is a tourist town. Some websites still refer to it as a fishing town, and it still has a strong link to fishing, but it is now mainly a tourist resort. It is not however a resort focused on night clubs and discos. It doesn't attract the stag and hen groups that Benidorm and Alicante seems to get. In fact the majority of the tourists are families or older people, and a lot of them are Spanish rather than English.

And that's another point. Although there is an English ex pat community here, El Campello is still very much Spanish. The advantage of this is that there are enough Brits to mean they are catered for (English language menus in some of the bars etc) but not so many that you feel you are just living in a much hotter and sunnier England.

El Campello is also nicely positioned for things to do. We have the sea (the Med) almost directly on our doorstep and we have Mountains and small Spainish towns and villages just a short drive away.

When we first arrived (in April) it was still really the 'winter' season here and it was very quiet and the temperatures were quite a bit lower (still shorts and tee shirts most days but sleeves and long trousers required in the evenings).

Now we are getting in to the main summer season. We've had a heat wave here for the last week or so and it's been very hot. Temperatures in the mid thirties in the shade and with quite high humidity. We also know that it will be hot and humid through July and August, probably starting to cool a little as we get through the first part of September.

We've seen the beach and sea front promenade go from deserted almost the whole time to packed out on the weekends (to be honest we tend to stay at home on Saturday and Sunday and go out in the week).

So... did we do the right thing picking El Campello as a place to live?

So far, yes.

The next choice we made was where in El Campello.

We chose to live in the main part of El Campello close to the sea front. We could have looked further north in the Coveta Fuma area of El Campello. Or further south along the Mucha Vista beach area. We picked the main town area for it's proximity to 'stuff'.

We have six supermarkets within a ten minute walk. Dozens, if not hundreds of bars and restaurants within walking distance, and we can pop down and swim in the sea without having to walk for more than about two minutes.

The downside to this is that we are in the busy area and there is some associated noise. There is a bar between us and the beach that has live music on a Saturday night and there is a bar actually on the ground floor of our building.

Having said that, El Campello is not Alicante or Benidorm. Loud music in bars etc has to stop at midnight (it's the law), and while there are often people still out and about, eating and drinking, and of course talking and having a good time, until into the early hours of the morning, they really don't make that much noise and therefore don't disturb us too much.

Of course we haven't really hit the peak of the season yet but hopefully things will continue in the same way.

So... position in El Campello... A good choice.

Of course we had to choose an apartment and that's pretty fundamental to our happiness here. Did we choose well?

When we were looking for somewhere there was a bit of a shortage of long term rentals. We were lucky to find this one just as it came on the market and we fell for it almost immediately.

It's a second line apartment, meaning that there is a street and a row of buildings between us and the sea front, but we're on a corner so have a sea view (albeit of a small area). While a front line apartment would have better views the separation from the front does block a lot of noise so there are some benefits.

We have a duplex occupying the top two floors (third and fourth) so we have a nice division between the living areas and the sleeping areas.

The apartment has air conditioning fitted, which we are definitely using now, and is nicely furnished and appointed.

We are (roughly) south south east facing on the front and east north east on the side so we get a nice amount of sun but get some shade in the afternoons.

We have a balcony on two sides of the apartment which is quite narrow and has a high wall. To be honest this is probably the only bit of the apartment that isn't 100% ideal but it's still very nice.

All in all we are happy with our choice and can certainly see ourselves living here for two or three years,

So... summing up...

Have we made the right move?

A resounding YES!

Of course we're only three months in and haven't experienced everything. We have the rest of the summer with the heat, humidity and the fact that the town gets a lot busier.

After that we will have the autumn and then the winter.

So, we'll do another review in three months. By that time we will be past the summer season, temperatures will be coming down and the place is going to be a bit quieter.

But, before I go, a quick update on what we've been up to this week.

We took a drive to Aigues which is a small village on the way up into the mountains, we also had a bit of a drive along some of the mountain roads, got a bit lost and ended up on some quite rough and narrow little lanes, and also had a look at Poblet which is an urbanisation just north of El Campello.

The coming week is going to be a bit eventful.

Starting this weekend El Campello celebrates the festival of Virgen del Carmen (Our Lady of Mount Carmel), the patron saint of fishermen, with a number of events taking place throughout the week. It's also my birthday on Monday so some personal celebrations going on as well.