Hello

My boyfriend and I might be moving to Spain in January 2011, we will be bringing our cat with us.

We will be working in Gibraltar, we are trying to learn spanish now, so of course our spanish will not be that good when we move.  so we were wondering where you would recommend us to move to?  We will be renting, so we are looking for a cat friendly area with a good mixture of english speaking and spanish speaking people.  We are thinking of Sotogrande, Manilva, Estepona area.

Any suggestions or advice you could give us?

thanks you for your reply, but that is not really what I asked for.  I was wondering if someone has personal experience of moving from the UK to Costa del Sol and what areas they would recommend.

ok, which area in Costa del Sol have you got experience of moving from the UK to? A good cat friendly community where you will survive with a bad spanish but still have the opportunity to learn more?  Where there is a lively social life but not too many tourists? up to 45 minutes from Gibraltar.

Thanks

The Spanish do not treat cats very well in Spain. It seems to be a sport to try and run one over. They treat dogs just as bad!!

thats nice, how do you know that?

c_lempinen - 04 October 2010 07:52 PM

thats nice, how do you know that?

Because I have first hand experience, after watching a teenager drive down our road speeding up when he saw a cat, then knocking it senseless, we took it to the vet and it was put down. Also we have a river running through our village where they drown their pets once they are fed up with them!!
It is horrible but it is the way the spanish are with cats and dogs.

It depends where you live.

The people I know in the Basque country that keep dogs are usually kept on there land, not usually pets and as such can be a bit harsh towards them.

In the town that I lived on the CDS every Spaniard seemed to have a toy dog, crap was all over the streets and the little ba88888ds would bark most of the day & night, pet shop’s seem to be booming with nice little accessories for them, except pooper scoopers.

The atlantic coast is really nice too, and not far from Gibraltar. There are plenty of people who live in Tarifa area and commute to Gibraltar. It depends on what you like.

Tarifa is a port and tourist town, especially for kite surfers - so many bars and restaurants are seasonal. There is a bit of a bohemian feel to much of the town, but it also has a very traditional small town Spanish side to it. The wind is extreme at times. I don’t live there, but I visit often and stay with British friends that do. Like everywhere it has its ups and downs, but I think I could live there quite happily - as long as I had a nice house protected from the worst of the wind.

You would get by with English in Tarifa, but there is plenty of opportunity to learn Spanish.

As far as cats go .... my Tarifa friends have cats and it seems to work fine. They have a cat flap to their roof terrace and the cats roam where they want. Of course there is risk. If you want cats without risk, you can’t let them out - but that’s also true in the UK. As everyone has said in general Spanish attitudes to pets are different to British attitudes. That said I have a Spanish friend who worked for years in a pet refuge in Estepona and is VERY sentimental about animals - as ever, it pays to keep in mind that nationality isn’t the end of the story.