SPANISH PROPERTIES IN PROVINCES OF ALMERIA, JAEN AND GRANADA
VILLAGE HOUSES, CAVE HOUSES, FARMHOUSES (CORTIJOS), NEW HOUSES, LAND, BUSINESSES

Spain is known for sunshine, flamenco, bull-fighting and Real Madrid football team.  Foreigners, both tourist and resident, tend to know a bit of the coast and up to about 25 km. inland , which they think of as “Spain”. The cliché, though, says the “real” Spain starts 25 km. inland.  Certainly, Spain in general and Andalucia in particular are terrific places to live, whether in the “real” version or the “unreal” one on the coast. The climate in southern Spain  is wonderful  (most of the time!), the way of life is relaxed and the cost of living is low cpmpared with most other European countries.
Foreigners are often worried about integrating after moving to Spain but there are few other places in the world where this is easier to do.  The Spanish are warm, extroverted and gregarious  and in 20 years in this country I have very rarely met any anti-foreigner resentment.  This is amazing, particularly in the coastal areas where so many foreigners have lived for years without even bothering to learn a bit of Spanish.

Spain has so much more to offer than sand, sun and a modest cost of living.  It has been one of Europe’s main cultural centres for two thousand years and it had a world empire in the 16th and 17th centuries.    The Andalucian cities of Seville, Granada and Cordoba are ancient and beautiful and well known as such  but there are so many other  towns and cities in Andalucia that are striking.  Merida, Badajoz, (both technically in Extremadura, where the “conquistadores” came from – but they are close to the border with Andalucia),  Ronda,  Arcos ( a large village, really), Cadiz, Ubeda (one of my favorite towns in Europe), Baeza, Cazorla etc..  The Andalucian transportation system is excellent for getting around to see all there is to see.  The motorways go near practically everywhere in Spain and coach services in Andalucia are good and cheap.  An airport with international flights is rarely more than a couple of hours away and there are even some trains left