The negatives

Yes, there are negatives!

There is nowhere in the world where life could possibly be perfect all the time and if you are considering a permanent or semi-permanent move to the Costa it is only fair that you appreciate any potential negatives which might affect your life before you take the decision to relocate here. After all, the estate agents trying to sell you your dream property will not mention negatives even if they appreciate them – you might decide not to buy and they will not earn commission.

It could be too quiet in the winter

The Costa del Sol is primarily a holiday destination and is likely to remain so for the next few years. Despite the huge of amount of new development which is currently taking place there are a large number of properties which are empty for most of the year – these new properties are and may remain second homes or potential holiday rentals. This can be absolutely wonderful if you like your own company but if you are a gregarious person it could be a very real negative if you live here 52 weeks of the year and is something which I will return to when discussing your potential choice of the ideal property.

It could be too noisy in the summer

In the same vein because it is a potentially a holiday destination you can suddenly find that the wonderful quiet development in which you live and which you have come to appreciate suddenly becomes a madhouse in the height of the summer. There will be noise around the communal swimming pool. There will be screaming children – and believe me today’s children while on holiday can really scream – and sometimes the parents appear to be totally oblivious to the noise they create.

Even if the urbanization in which you live has community rules about noise around the swimming pool late at night this does not mean that you will escape the noise. When people are on holiday and return from a restaurant or a bar in the early hours of the morning a dip in the pool can appear to be very appealing on a warm summer evening even if the community rules prohibit late night use of the pool. These same holidaymakers do not even consider the fact that there might actually be other individuals who live in the development and who may have to get up for work the next morning.

Also, since people live outdoors here for many months of the year, a group of people who do not respect others can be a bit of a distraction to the resident population if they sit on the terrace until the early hours of the morning drinking wine and chatting. It is an unfortunate fact of life that the greater the consumption of alcohol the louder the discussion.

Living in a big resort

The positive aspect of living in a big resort is that there will always be life there and even in the low season you will never feel isolated. The downside is that in the height of the holiday season the roads will be busier, the car parks will be busier and the restaurants will be full (although regular customers throughout the year can usually find a table!). It will take you much longer to do all the things you need to do to live your life normally and it might cause you some frustrations

Choice of the right location

In planning any move you also need to think very carefully about where you live now and how much you want your new environment to reflect the things that you have come to expect in life. If you have been accustomed to living in an urban environment or in a British village where services have always been available, the lack of these services in some parts of the coast could be a real negative. Even to buy the most basic items could mean getting in the car. This will not happen if you live in the heart of one of the big developed resorts but then you will have more noise at other times.

If you choose to live in the countryside and the access to your property is along a dirt track there may even be times when you cannot even get out to buy the basic necessities of life. You will therefore need to ensure that you always have everything you need just in case the rain arrives during the winter months.

Coping with the heat

The climate for us has always been a real positive but if you are truly the type of person who cannot cope with intense summer heat, the Costa del Sol could be a problem. You can escape if you find good shady areas but in July and August the temperatures in the sun can be cruel. We know many people who love living here for ten months of the year but they have to escape back to the UK in the height of the summer. If you think you might fall into this category it is better to consider this carefully before you select your ideal place to live.

Another aspect of the climate, which could be a negative for some people, is the fact that there are really no seasons on the Costa del Sol as you might have known them in England. Summers are hot, dry and dusty. Winters are cooler and wetter but many of the trees do not lose their leaves. In fact winter is more like an English summer with warm days and the occasional dull and wet day. You might actually miss spring or autumn. In fact, spring on the Costa del Sol really arrives in October when the first rain of winter arrives and everything starts to grow again. Over the winter period the countryside and gardens are full of flowers.

The expatriate community

A very strong positive for many people who relocate to the Costa del Sol is the size and strength of the expatriate community. Wherever you live you are likely to have many British friends. It is good to be able to enjoy this easy communication with others who now live in a foreign country in the language you have spoken all your life. This can lead to a real sense of security should you have problems. There will always be someone you can ring for help or advice.

The converse is that since the expat community is very close the community can become very incestuous. Everyone knows everyone else and that includes their personal business. Having lived in a big city in the UK there are times when we have found this unusual. If your personal background is in a small town you may find it absolutely ideal. If you like the anonymity of big city living you need to choose very carefully where you live. Depending on your own personality, you might actually resent the lack of privacy which life in an expatriate community can produce.

Entertainment and culture

Quality of life includes many things and among these could be a love of cinema, theatre, the arts and museums. If this is an important factor in your current life you really do need to consider your choice of location here very carefully. It can take an hour to get to a cinema and even then the films may be shown in Spanish. There is very little theatre in English apart from one theatre in Fuengirola. There is opera and ballet but not on the same scale that you would expect in other areas of Europe and perhaps not even of the same standard.

Outside Malaga there are very few world-class museums. The Costa del Sol is very rich in history but can lack the culture that you may have come to love or indeed need in your life if you live close to a big city in the UK. Many people who live here return to the UK just to gorge themselves on theatre. Indeed, many of the local Spanish population do the same by going to Seville or Madrid.

There are beautiful towns to visit such as Ronda, the many hill villages and of course Malaga itself. There are wonderful excursions, like the train journey through the mountains from Algeciras to Ronda. You are within striking distance of Granada, a World Heritage Site; and slightly further away are Seville and Cordoba.

Travelling outside the Costa del Sol

You must also take into consideration that in moving to the Costa del Sol you will be closer to Africa than you are to Europe. Africa is 12 miles from Tarifa but to travel anywhere else in Europe takes hours. Travelling to Morocco is easy and fast.

Travelling outside the Costa del Sol can be a negative. If you are planning to move here and continue to run a business back in the UK, you will have no problems whatsoever. Availability of flights to most airports in the UK is good from Malaga and improving all the time from Gibraltar.

From Malaga	From Gibraltar
(Most airports in the UK have a connection to Malaga)*	London (Gatwick or Luton) and Manchester
British Airways (GB Airways franchise)	British Airways (GB Airways franchise)
easyJet	Monarch
Flybe
Iberia
Monarch
Various charters (which allow flight-only ticket purchases)

However, if your business travel necessitates visits to other European or world cities you could have the most frustrating problems. Nearly every destination will involve travel via Madrid or Barcelona or even the need to fly back to the UK and then onwards from there to your final destination. Not only can this be very inconvenient if the flight times do not match up but it can also be very expensive. On one occasion I had to travel from the Costa del Sol to Vienna. This involved a day of travel each way and the fare was more expensive than that from London to New York. If you have to charge your travel costs to a client this could be a problem. In the case I have just described my air fare was actually more than the daily rate which I charged my client for the two days of work which I had been asked to do (so we had a teleconference!).

This is the chicken-and-egg syndrome. Malaga is not yet a major European business destination therefore connections to Europe and the rest of the world generally are not well catered for on scheduled flights. Most European destinations will require a routing through Madrid or Barcelona. If you plan to continue to work in a job that involves extensive travel from the Costa del Sol you really should look into the travel options very carefully before you make your final decision.

The frustrations you might encounter could seriously affect your overall impression of your new life in the longer term. Potential negatives must be considered before you make your final decision.