Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2018 4:22pm
Hi, partner and I have been in a small village around 40 minutes from the coast called Urcal since last March and just love the peace and quiet and the friendly community we are members of.
As just one example, 13 of us went to a place nicknamed "The Chicken shack" over in a hamlet called Guazamara Sunday for a 1pm sit down 3 course meal of salad, as much chicken and chips as you can eat, a dessert and a shot of lemoncello, I had Baileys to finish, some had coffee, there were copious amounts of red and white wines on the table and all for just €15 euros each which most likely included a tip because the service is just excellent and the all in cost under what the €15 euro division actually cost.
It was followed by everyone coming to partners villa round about 3pm, for more conversation, more wine and finger food, music and general laughter, a bit of a music quiz with the last guests leaving around 10pm lol.
The local meeting place, Bar Amazir drinks and food etc re-opens Tuesday, darts nite Thursday, we have a doctors surgery, small school, small but well stocked supermarket, the motorway is just 7 minutes away, the main local town with its big Monday and small Thursday markets is around 12 minutes away, hospital judged to be one of the best in Almeria tho not without it's problems is in H/O, the silence some times is deafening, the peace and tranquility awesome, if you cant chill out here then you have major major problems.
There are various Ramblas to walk dogs if you have them, the Spanish people in the village are friendly, there is another local bar close by that offers very informal, you choose the subject free Spanish lessons to augment the also free but much more intense Spanish lessons in H/O, cant praise how lucky we all reckon we are.
If we want to eat out there is a large choice within easy reach, Chinese, Indian, even fish n chips in places like Albox, La Alfoquia, Vera, even Garrucha and Mojacar, literally any cuisine you could wish for.
It's helpful if you have a car tbh, we drove partners car down using the Santander ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, stopped overnite in a Madrid Air bnb and drove on the day after.
There's loads to do, and loads you have to do if you intend settling here but most of that is longer term and there'll be tons of advice from everyone whose had and got experience.
If your at or close to retirement age the Spanish health service is great, you do have to pay for meds etc but as an example following a fairly thorough work-up which includes bloodworks, urine analysis, ECG, mammograms, even Prostate exams you only pay 10% of the cost of any medication. You can even choose where and which doctors surgery you attend.
Of course being a bit biassed I cant say what living in Mojacar is like, personally right now it doesnt appear too bad tho later into the main tourist season it does get as some will tell you somewhat frantic and overwhelming with loads of holidaymakers, horrendous traffic and lack of parking, we're again lucky in that we have an enclosure and a pool so only venture over there thru absolute necessity.
Hope this snapshot of life with ex pats and locations etc helps, find yourself a nice base and go explore, as above bringing your own vehicle down here can be a part of the adventure, it'll only take a day or so and will help with being able to seek out a place called home plus you'll be able to pack in more without the cost of hiring a vehicle.
Main airports in Almeria and Murcia provinces are Almeria itself, Murcia San Javier and further north Alicante, logistically using Huercal Overa as a central point, your just over 1 hour from Almeria to here, around 90 minutes from Murcia SJ, and 2 hours roughly from Alicante, there should be another airport called Corvera south of Murcia opening in or around December and airlines serving all these airports include Ryanair, Jet2 and BA, sadly no rail network short of Lorca but buses/coaches abound.
Have fun.
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