best place to find expats

 Further to my first post, where is the best area to find ex pat community?

not knowing much Spanish, I would feel better to live in an area with some Brits - at least to start with

I was thinking of  moving to Andalucia

It depends how much of an ex-pat community you are looking for.

I would say the area where I live, Manilva, has one smallest ex-pat community along the western arm of the Costa Del Sol, where as somewhere like Calahonda is quite literally like moving from Britain to Britain, just not part of the British Isles.

Anywhere along the coast of Andalucia will have a atrong Brit ex-pat community, but I would say the largest lay between Torremolinos and Estepona on the CDS.

 I do not want a Little Britain just somewhere that I will come across some English people

I think wherever you go along any of the Southern coasts you will find plenty of other expats.  Saying that, even in most remote villages you will have the odd "guiri" there.

I think most of the UK population has moved to Spain so you should comfortably find other expats wherever you go!

Justin

There are plenty of ex pats where we live, Los Alcazares area in the region of Murcia.

According to the Mijas Foreigners Office, Mijas Costa has the largest number of expats registered on the Coast!

 I do not want a Little Britain just somewhere that I will come across some English people

I think most of the Costa del Sol is Little Britain to be honest, particularly where we live (Manilva/Duquesa).  So maybe better to move inland.  You say you want to move to Andalucia, but Andalucia is a massive, varied region.  It can take 4-5 hours to drive from one end to another.  Even away from the expat haunts, you're still likely to meet some Brits, as Justin says.

Now you see, I think Manilva is very much Spanish, Sabinillas much the same, however the port of Duquesa is defo 'Little Britain'.

But as Justin and Sanchez said, I don't think you would have to travel far in Andalucia before you meet some Brits.

And don't forget you have Gibraltar close at hand when down this neck of the woods.

As the previous posts advise you'll not be far from a Brit enclave on the CDS. However, why move to Spain and miss the opportunity of learning Spanish and living the life. It really is not that difficult but it will be harder if you have the easy option of not having to speak Spanish to get through the day. I used to live in Barcelona and had to learn the local dailect to really make friends, I now live in Soller,  Mallorca and am spending time with the locals learning Spanish all over again.

The Spanish are really accomodating and appreciate the efforts we make. So don't be put off by going inland and finding the real (what's left of it) Spain on the CDS.

Personally, I would advise to at least start off on or near the well known places on the coast. Just because there are large numbers of foreigners does not mean they are any less Spanish. To suggest as much is to suggest Bradford is not British. Even in Calahonda, you will come into daily contact with Spaniards, at the supermarket checkout, at the bank etc.But unless you wish to become a hermit, or are someone who wants to brag to your friends back home about how "integrated" you've become and pretend to have forgotten how to habla English proper like, if you head away from these areas you are liable to feel extremely isolated. Don't be fooled into thinking that simply learning the lingo will mean you can "integrate" and overcome the hugely underestimated cultural differences. It may (on occasion) be true to say the Spanish are accomodating and appreciate our efforts, but you'll always be an outsider - especially if you think that in Barcelona they speak a "dialect" and that in Mallorca the locals speak Spanish!

P.S. no offence meant.

LIke anywhere, it takes time to meet people and make friends.  We have been living in Jumilla for just over two years.  Jumilla is a small town (pop. around 25,000) in northeast Murcia, over an hour from the coast.   

Initially we were told by local people that we were the only "ingleses" in town, then when we had been living here for over a year we met Jaqui, who also lives in the town centre and who has been living here with her daughter for six years!  Jaqui speaks Spanish fluently (as does her 11 year old daughter) and most of her friends here are Spanish so they probably forget that she is English! 

We have met other expats who live in the "campo", some of whom we get on really well with and now meet on a regular basis.  John and I have taken part in lots of different events in town, which we have been publicising to other expats, so now we find more of them taking part than when we first arrived here.  We also organise an English book swap once a month, which is gradually expanding as we meet more people and tell them about it.  I think I would feel isolated if I lived in the countryside rather than in the town, however the people we know who live there seem to enjoy their lifestyle.

Our first friend in Jumilla though was Juana María who, luckily for us, speaks quite good English.  We usually meet her a couple of times a week for coffee and we occasionally socialise with her family too.  Roberto makes a good point about culture. Although we usually end up talking in English to Juana María, one of the most valuable things about meeting her is talking about cultural differences and even simple differences in daily living like not getting "cash back" in local supermarkets.  It took us ages trying to explain to her what "cash back" is!  The majority of local people don't speak English, so we need to use our limited Spanish every day.  We also get free lessons in town, which can be challenging at times as our teacher doesn't speak any English!

You also need to think about what lifestyle you want in general terms.  We prefer being in town, because that is what we have been used to for most of our lives.  I have also experienced living in the countryside in England, and wouldn't want to do it again.  As one of our English friends said the other day about where we live: "It's like going back 20 years in the UK - which is why I love it here!"  Is that what you want, or would you prefer the hordes of people living on the coast?  Remember though that some places that are packed out in summer may be deadly quiet in the winter months.

The best advice though is to rent, at least initially, then you can decide if that is where you really want to live in Spain.

Sue

Sue

Hi

There are loads of Brits around Albox area. Some may say too many! lol

Deniseann I  think you will find Brits in any area in Spain within 30 mins of the coast .

We moved into a  small village in Murcia believing there were only a few Brits here when in fact there are about 100+ of us spread over a 6 mile radius and within weeks we discovered there were Brit meetings and clubs of all sorts should we so desire.  Most towns and villages have free language classes and that is an excellant way to get to know people.

All you have to do now is to find a location here that you feel happy in.

Good Luck

Hi

As TechnoApe says, you always have Gibraltar in the deep south of the region.  I live in a small place 12km north of Gib which has enough expats from many countrues to have a good mix. The official language of Gib is English although most of them are bilingual so you will have no issue at all in Gib with language bariers.

We have a good balance here though becuase, I find, the further south you get in Soain (and inland) the less English they speak which makes you learn Spanish.  Not being fluent in Spanish it is difficult to get work here but not so in Gib, there are many international companies as well as local concerns - many gaming companies actually. You will find that literally thousands of expats, Spaniards, martians, yoiu name it, all cross the border each day to work, shop and play in Gib.

I love it here for the variety you get.

PS if you are a golfer, you have a mass of choice in southern CDS, round here for example you have Valderrama, La Reserva, Finca Courtesin, San Roque Club to name but 4 championship quality courses.