Hi, This is our first post here. We are a couple in our late 50’s who currently live in Bulgaria. We hate it, and so our house here is up for sale, and we are moving over to Spain, come hell or high water, in the first week in September. We plan to rent somewhere around the Dolores/Almoradi region, although that is not set in stone. We will be staying in a hotel in Elche for the first 10 days while we look around and try to find a furnished apartment to rent for 6 to 11 months. We are on a limited budget and will have 300 to 350 euros for our monthly rental. The problem we have been having is that when we find an apartment, the agent gets back to us telling us that it has ‘Just been rented’ but he has something similar but at a higher price.  We are new to the rental market in Spain and would appreciate any advice regards agents and the procedures we have to go through when we get there. I understand we need NIE cards, can you get them without an address, because it seems we cant rent without one, but need an address before we can apply? We are hoping to find somewhere a little inland away from the tourist areas but with shops, restaurants, doctors etc. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Chris and Ray