Hi - my husband and I are moving to Spain, probably in January, once we get our non-lucrative visa’s.  We have identified the Costa del Sol area as where we want to live.  We are planning on coming over with only our clothes and were thinking of either staying in a hotel or renting a short-term apartment around Mijas or Fuengirola until we identify exactly where we want to live.  We are basically retiring early, so no need of work, and we don’t initially want to buy anything, so looking for a long-term rental.  No kids or pets, but want a nice 2 or 3 bedroom with a terrace with views.  We don’t want to be on the beach.  Does anyone have any suggestions of where to start?  We are not fluent in Spanish (but will be taking classes once settled), but we don’t want to strictly restrict ourselves to an expat community, as we plan on making Spain our permanent home.

Living on the coast you will find it hard to avoid the ex-pats, if you are not bothered about the beach why don’t you come a little further inland and experience the real Spain. This is totally different from living on the coast.

Yes, that’s what we were thinking we wanted to do.  Do you consider Mijas inland or are you suggesting further North over the Sierras?  We are coming from a subtropical climate in the U.S. and are seeking as moderate a year-round climate (not too hot or too cold) as possible.  We were thinking we would want to stay south of the Sierras due to the ideal micro-climate, but we aren’t really beach people so don’t need that scene.  How far inland should we be looking without getting outside this micro-climate?  Any ideas of some specific mixed communities of both both Spanish and expats? We will definitely want to have social interaction with English-speaking expats due to our obvious language restrictions, but hopefully without sounding too standoffish, we would prefer a community where the expats that are there have a desire to immerse themselves into the Spanish culture. We are global travellers, and language people (just not Spanish, yet). We also prefer authentic Spanish towns with some history to newer golf club type developments. Upon recommendation by some close Spanish friends, we have been searching on idealista.com for available rental properties, but is this the best way? Any ideas are appreciated!

We live an hour inland from Malaga near the town of Ecija, probably a bit too far inland for you. Ecija was once the capital of Andalucia and is lovely. When we moved here our Spanish was basically non existent. Now with classes and Spanish integration it is a lot better. There are a lot of ex-pat families around and there is always ex-pats around if you want a chat, although we are not in each others pockets all of the time, we are there for each other. It is also cheaper to live inland with rentals and shopping. There are numerous ex-pat groups and social events, classes in Spanish etc.. We work for a language school as do most of the English speakers in our village offering full immersion English packages with adults and children staying with us for a few days. We speak English with them, provide English meals, English TV etc..  We are fully integrated into our village and fully accepted. The way of life is slow and uncomplicated. I can’t speak for other villages but ours provides everything we need. There is a shop, doctors, town hall, school, football pitch, padel, tennis and basketball courts, street gym. municipal pool, gym(with organised classes 5 euro a month), bars. All of this for about 200 houses. The women’s association provides outings and there are many fiestas.

The downside to being in a small village is that you have to drive if you want big shops and supermarkets. Some things that you might want that are not used by the Spanish need to be purchased on the coast. Public transport can be a problem. If you are in the countryside electricity, water and telephone can be problematic.

As a holiday home I would choose the coast, but to live I think being part of the real Spain and living in it is the way to go.

If you need a regular income it will be very hard to get a job Inland.

Caz

Kelchas:

I agree with much of what Cazzy has to say.  And Mijas could by no stretch of the imagination be called “inland”.  A more touristy town would be hard to find!

I understand completely your wish not to live in an expat ghetto.  I wouldn’t like it either.  However, you can live on the coast, or close to, and yes there will be expats on view, but you do not have to speak to them or otherwise engage.
My home town is Marbella, where I have lived and worked most of my adult life.  Yet there were months on end when I spoke nothing but Spanish, except where work dictated otherwise.  Aside from the main drag in Marbella (for example) and the “old town” as they call it (tourist trap!), there is a big Spanish area up not far off the main street, and you rarely see tourists/expats up there.  You could live in a building in one of those areas, and yet you would be very close to the beach/sea.

It is worth while looking at towns inland too, and it is an excellent idea to rent somewhere first, give yourselves six months or so, to really look around. 

Best of luck
Patricia

Patricia, that’s good advice and I would say that holds true for almost any major city - one can definitely find Spanish areas in even the most touristy centers.

Thank you all for your helpful advice!  We have stayed in Marbella in the past and actually know an ex-pat owner of a b&b there.  That will be one of the areas we explore and we have nothing but time on our hands to find the right mix.  We do want to find some English speaking friends and make new Spanish ones, as well.  We come from a large city, so like having some nightlife and lots of restaurants to choose from, but don’t want to live in a big city…just not too far away from a major airport, like Malaga.

Kelchas, Good luck with your move. My mother lives in Florida and they did consider moving to Spain, but did not find the ‘right place’ for them. This said, the climate here is quite moderate, although certainly hot in the summer, and can be a little cool in the winter. (But nothing like the UK unless you go really inland and away from the coast.)  I belive the Costa Blanca is more temperate?
But if CDS is where you want to start, I can agree with Campana that Mijas is too overrun with ex pats (I lived there for several years and 1/3 of the population are non-spaniards. This said, the village still has a very traditional feel.)

We are looking at moving to Alhaurin el Grande, where the expat population although growing, it is still a majority of Spanish, but we will have the access to the Ex pat social groups there an in nearby Coin. (Again more Spanish than ex pat, but slowly catching up with the other areas 😉 Guaro - a little further inland again is a tiny village and quite traditional I belive, but not too far from the coast, as is Alora. A friend lives in Antequera (OK further inland again, but she loves it/it has all the facilities her and her young family need.)

Down Marbella way there is Istan, Ojen, etc, etc. 
I am sure you will find the right place for you.

Again good luck. Exciting times ahead!

SJ