Los Alcazares

RichT wrote on Tue Jul 6, 2021 4:58pm:

Hi - I can help with the cost of living question...

Electricity - slightly more expensive than the UK, but you are unlikely to have gas and won't require as much heating as you would in the UK. Budget for €100-€120 per month. Obviously, this depends on your consumption - so if you have aircon, a pool, etc. then your costs go up....

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Property purchase costs are high - allow 12%-13% on top of your actual purchase price.

Council tax (IBI) is a lot lower - generally around 20% of what you would pay in the UK.

Food (supermarkets) - comparable to the UK, dining out a bit cheaper, alcohol a lot cheaper.

Car tax lower; fuel about 10% lower.

Broadband similar.

Under the current rules, as a non-resident, you can only spend a maximum of 90 days in every 180 days in EU (unless you are an EU citizen - e.g. Irish), although this may change over time.

Hope this helps!

RichT wrote on Tue Jul 6, 2021 4:58pm:

Hi - I can help with the cost of living question...

Electricity - slightly more expensive than the UK, but you are unlikely to have gas and won't require as much heating as you would in the UK. Budget for €100-€120 per month. Obviously, this depends on your consumption - so if you have aircon, a pool, etc. then your costs go up....

Read more...

...

Property purchase costs are high - allow 12%-13% on top of your actual purchase price.

Council tax (IBI) is a lot lower - generally around 20% of what you would pay in the UK.

Food (supermarkets) - comparable to the UK, dining out a bit cheaper, alcohol a lot cheaper.

Car tax lower; fuel about 10% lower.

Broadband similar.

Under the current rules, as a non-resident, you can only spend a maximum of 90 days in every 180 days in EU (unless you are an EU citizen - e.g. Irish), although this may change over time.

Hope this helps!

GerryT wrote on Tue Jul 6, 2021 5:13pm:

I've only been here a month, so early days. Although there's an Aldi,Lidl, I found the prices a lot dearer than UK overall. Yes,there are some good value meals eating out,definitely. Beer cheaper, definitely. Electric a lot more expensive,definitely.

But..weather...much much better than UK

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Council tax equivalent.. much much cheaper

Great choice of restaurants, bars

Beach within walking distance

Think the positives far outweigh the negatives

Jonte54 wrote on Wed Jul 7, 2021 1:14pm:

El Carmoli on the hill is ok, we have a home there (actually on the market)

10 mins walk to beach, a bit quieter but there are a couple of bars, one, Chill Out is also a restaurant which is ok.

NeilH53 wrote on Fri Jul 9, 2021 9:11am:

Hi, I bought what they call a corner quattro in Los Narejos 6 years ago and it matches all your requirements in terms of distance from beach, amenities etc - we love it. We're also fine with regards to floods as while the volume of water can be incredible, we're far enough out of the town  c...

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...entre/old town not to be affected.

In a 'normal' year we come and go, spending roughly 16 weeks a year in Spain. The new 90 day rule doesn't hurt us but we have friends who used to come for the whole winter and now can't do that.

We shard a communal pool with 39 other properties which is perfect as we're not there all year so don't have to worry about maintenance. Our Community fees are €350 per year and we pay the council a bit less for their fees so in total, under €700 per year which is less than half of what we pay in the UK.

Like the other guys have said, some food is cheaper and some is not but there is plenty of choice. It's the same with eating out in that there is every cuisine you might want and a choice of cheap or expensive depending in what you want.

I might be bias but just can't fault the area and can't wait to go back. We're booked to go out end August 😊

Hope that helps, please feel free to get in touch if you need more info.