My name's Alex and this is my website all about Arboleas in Spain. Register now for free to talk about General Arboleas discussion and much more!
Hi, cant help but feel a mix of trepidation and excitement in your replies lol.
As the Nike ad says, "just do it", partner bought a villa with a pool early last year and we moved in late March, just 20 minutes up the road from Arboleas/La Alfoquia in a sleepy village called Urcal, been featured on A place in the Sun a few times, as has the local bar. It's a haven of peace and tranquility with a really nice mix of Brits and Spanish.
We have the local hub the bar, a doctors surgery, school, corner shop style supermarket and everyone gets on great, help is never far away, and as the year gets going there are plenty of suggestions flying around for things to do from bbq's, curry evenings, bowling etc, there are quite a few really nice restaurants offering most every cuisine you could hope for, including great fish n chips in La Foquia !
The majority of meals out run to around €15 a head, coffee is cheap as chips, as is good wine, theres nothing like having a walk around any of the local markets then having tapas and a drink and just watching the world go by lol.
Fruit and veg from the local markets is cheap, fresh and plentiful, we have strawberries on the stalls even !!
We're 40 something minutes from the coastal towns and beaches of Villaricos, San Juan de las Terreros, Garrucha, Mojacar etc, we are just 7 minutes from the A7/E15 motorway, 12 minutes from the local nearest town of Huercal Overa, around an hour or just over to the airports at Almeria in the South and Murcia to the North, Alicante is just under an hour.
Arboleas was our first look see mainly because there seemed to be so much choice at great prices but maybe it was just our overenthusiastic guide on the weekend we came on a viewing trip but we found clutches of villas in remote areas and realised from the signs that "Arboleas" per se covers a huge area. Partners friend who she has holidayed with over the last 4 or 5 years found, viewed and recommended this villa for her and the more we looked, the more we loved the place.
Some days we dont even take the lock off the front gate and just potter about the villa, a double plot still needs to be looked after, friends whove been over have loved the ability to go shopping in the morning and jump in the pool in the afternoon, and now we know what to do with the pool heater we can extend "pool use" both before and after what seems to be regarded as "pool season".
Take your time looking round, gather loads of spec sheets, we never had any objections to our taking photographs with cameras, tabkets etc, an agenrs spec sheet only tells part of the story, having boots on the ground means so much more.
Utilities arent much difference to the UK, gas is usually butane for house fires and portable heaters, water is slightly cheaper but council tax is really really cheaper, partner had a 3 bed one bath house back in Essex and paid around £1450 a year, roughly £200 plus a month, here for a 3 bed two bath double plot with a pool she just paid around €240 for the full year !!
The roads are generally very good, motorways excellent, avoid places like Mojacar in the summer months as they get jam packed, nowhere to park and full beaches.
You'll find cars and furniture expensive so if you intend buying any try and source them in the UK and bring them. Petrol is about the same as in the UK, diesel a bit cheaper.
As above just keep asking questions. Someone will have an answer lol. Most of all, if your almost at retirement age its great to put your feet up, lovely even now in mid January wakibg up to clear blue skies and warm sunshine. Temps drop as the sun goes down around 5 ish.
