Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 9:48am
I live in Vera-Playa, on the border of Palomares, virtually opposite where Dream Beach is held. One week of the year it’s insanely noisy, and as SveinB says, around 8 months of the year it’s busy - June / July. / August is insanely busy.
Is Palomares good for retirement? Depends entirely in the retiree. It’s a very small Agricultural town, lots of different nationalities there - but you’ll not find lawn bowls there. Lot of Agricultural workers in and around Palomares as you’d expect given the massive amount of crop-growing land around and about. It’s not on the beach, but reasonably close to. A few bars in and around with Monika’s being an English “hub” (the times I’ve visited) and offering a full English Breakfast for 6,50€ - good value.
Vera-Playa is quieter in the winter months with a hell of a lot more holiday homes that are only used for around 4 or 5 months of the year. A good amount of the hotels in and around the Playa close down in the off season. If your looking for peace and tranquility, Vera Playa in the off season is the place to get it; also served a wide and varying variety of bars - like the French place at Consum that will charge extortionate prices for admittedly good food, or Antos at Las Buganvillas that has Karaoke every Friday night and serves a mean full Irish breakfast, or Charlestons where you can get an incredible Fish & Chips or a Sunday Roast. Incredible restaurant.
Personally, I prefer Garrucha, just “up the road” from Vera Playa. A massive assortment of cafes and restaurants all offering something different, plenty to see and do in the off season and a much MUCH more Spanish flavour than the the Playa or even Palomares … is it a retirement place? If you like apartment living and no parking anywhere … yes.
Mojácar along from Garrucha is split into the Playa and the Pueblo. The Pueblo is incredibly pretty and sits up in the mountains, the Playa is of course overlooking the sea. Mojácar is the local Brit concentration with a huge amount of Brit migrants and holiday makers being concentrated in that area, so you’ll get bars and restaurants that reflect that.
But retirement … do you like Golf? Then either Valle Del Este or Desert Springs are your places. Both have cosmopolitan communities and are built around the golf course. Desert Sorings appears to have the more expensive properties.
Vera itself is a lovely Pueblo and where I choose to have my business place. Don’t even think of living in Vera if you can’t speak Spanish. You’ll be very lonely.
Finally, avoid like the plague any estate agent that tries to sell you a place on the basis of the imminent arrival of the high speed line. That’s been promised since 2005 and latest now is saying it will be completed by 2025. I’m not holding my breath. 2035, maybe.
But you’ve not helped yourself; you’ve mentioned you are looking at 10 places without saying what those 10 places are and criticized Matthew for giving some EXTREMELY good advice. Spain isn’t all Sun, sea and laid back lifestyle. Come here unprepared and you’re in for a shock. Do yourself a favour and be a little more lenient towards those that freely offer their experience or you will be setting yourself up for a difficult and ultimately miserable time.