looking to purchase

Hi Ann and Nick

Suggest rent a place for a month or two in the area of choice. 

That'll give you a good idea whether you like the area and if there are local issues that might affect you.  It'll also give you time to sort out any bureaucracy such as opening a bank account and getting residency sorted.

By the end of two months, if you use the time wisely, you'll know all you need to know, plus a lot more besides.  

Good luck 

My family and I moved to Roquetas in January 2020 and as you can imagine it's been a stressful

I've been monitoring Roquetas since about 2015. We have visited several times before moving here and a lot has happened and a lot has changed

You should consider the following

1. What kind of lifestyle do you want. Different areas offer different options. We chose the port area (plaza Dolores) as very few international residents, only one English bar, very few English speakers and the heart of the town that functions all year round

2. What kind of property do you want? And what facilities 

If and when you do visit, I recommend doing what I did and spend half a day or a couple of hours walking around the 6 areas of Roquetas 

1. Las Salinas. From the shopping centre to the beach 

2. Port/Romanilla. Make a triangle from the castle, along Avenida Roquetas until you reach the river, down to the beach and back to the castle. This was our choice. All facilities all year round 

3. Pueblo. The area the other side of Avenida Roquetas. In this context, the police refer to Avenida Roquetas as "the frontera

Walk around the Romanilla/port area first then walk up Los banos and keep walking until you cross Avenida Roquetas and keep walking for about 15/20 mins

4. Las marinas/touristas. From the castle along the beach to Avenida Mediterraneo, up to mercadona and back to the castle. Summer tourists and holiday villas and apartments 

5. Tourist zone. From Avenida Mediterraneo to calls Sierra Nevada. Residential and holiday homes. Very quiet in the off season 

6. Golf. The final zone. Very very quiet in the off season

Also, download the IDEALISTA App

Definitely rent in an area before buying and take into account the big difference between the summer season and out of season. As Enrique123 said, decide on what lifestyle you want. La Envia, you are not able to walk to any facilities except the hotel and golf club, plus it is busier in the summer as there are a lot of Spanish and other nationalities who have holiday homes there. Every where is easily accessible by car from Envia and it's quite cheap to get a taxi into Aquadulce. But if you want to walk to facilities it may not be for you. Try before you buy is the best advice anyone can give you.

La Envía is a bit out of the way from Roquetas, but is close to the Viapark Retail complex.

Roquetas is a small city of 100,000. It has seven wide blue flag beaches and including Aguadulce a flat walking and cycling paseo that stretches 14 kms beside them.

We arrived in 2018 after two years of prior visits to here and other places as far away as Mojacar and St Juan de los Terreros, etc. We preferred Roquetas but ‘each to their own’. 

We rented in the Urba for 3 years (inc through the Covid period), then we decided where to live permanently and also bought here in the Urba, close to Avenida Mediterráneo - where everything is close at hand: and in walking distance. Shops, restaurants, tapas bars, bank, clinic, tourist office, vet, beach, etc. For the cinema we go to Gran Plaza where Tuesday night films are in English. Most apartment complexes (inc ours) have a communal pool open in summertime. You might fancy a villa but it’s surprising how many villa pools don’t seem to be in use. 

There are a few scattered English bars here in the Urba but we go to just one weekly for a quiz. Most of the time all you hear is Spanish: that’s what we want!

Chris

If you are not familiar with the area I definitely agree with the posts on here that recommend renting first. For a very good, English speaking estate agent give Zurimar a look. They are in the Playa Serena and are extremely helpful even after you rent/ buy from them.