We were now doing some internet research and used Google Earth to try to check out locations along the southern Mediterranean coast and plan our next trip. As we were retired and had no major commitments at home, we decided on another location hunting trip later in the Autumn of 2014. This time the plan was to base ourselves at Nerja, east of Malaga and explore the area before driving west along the coast, towards Gibraltar. From there we wanted to revisit Vejer and the Costa de la Luz as we already had an affinity for the location from our 2005 trip.
We used our base in Nerja to explore east, along the coast – La Herradura, Almuñécar, Salobreña as far as Calahonda. La Herradura and Almuñécar both had their charms. The former on a delightful bay but it looked like the kind of seaside town that might close in Winter. Almuñécar was more of a working town, interesting to explore and Laurie Lee clearly enjoyed his stay and was well-liked by the locals so why not? Unfortunately, the town houses we were able to see within budget were dark, sad places that didn’t appeal.
Rugged coastline east of Nerja
From Nerja we headed west along the coast stopping off to view village properties, bank repositions and apartments on urbanisations. We soon learnt that checking out the brand of kitchen appliances was a good guide to the overall quality and finish of properties. However, it also was obvious that most urbanisations were not very Spanish and most of the apartments lay empty most of the time. None that we visited had any sense of community.
You might detect some hypocrisy here. We were planning to spend three months a year out here but didn’t want to live in a location where the majority were doing likewise! All I can say is we wanted to join and take part in a Spanish community as far as possible. We were determined to learn Spanish and use it. The further we ended up from an Irish pub the better. And, don’t get me wrong, I like Ireland!
The story of the rest of this trip continues in the next post.
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