Longtermstay

Hi 

We have been here for a year and absolutely love it. We moved to the costa, beach area, first but have since moved to arroyo and enjoy it better. I have made some lovely Spanish friends and the people are generally all very friendly. There’s great shops, bars & restaurants and they are cheaper up here. The weather is nice all year round really. It gets chilly at nights now and is often windy but I would recommend this area to anyone. I’ve only bought some things from Ikea so can help so much on the furniture side. 
Good luck with your move!! I hope you enjoy living here as much as I do 👍🏼

Sorry that should say I can’t help with the furniture 🙈

Hi,thank you a lot,that was exactly the motivation I need😉

Which supermarket is your favourite?

Do you think I will cope with speaking English?my Spanish is not so great still!

I am sending my stuff with dhl,is that reliable in Spain?

Did you have problems finding a permanent house for you,or is it easy to sign a lease?

Thank u again!

Glad you found it helpful! 

My favourite supermarket is mercadona. It’s own brand products are good! And I find if the cheapest. I don’t have a car here so I also do an online shop with them to get all the heavy stuff delivered like water and stuff. Then I go shopping for fresh produce. 
There’s also lots of small shops in arroyo like butchers, fishmongers, bakers & green grocers which have great produce  too! And a market here on a Friday with lots of fruit & vegetable stalls. I get plants & flowers for my terraces there too. I have killed many so far 🙈😂

We also used DHL to send boxes over  they arrived 2 days late so not the worst.   I have used them again since then and boxes arrived on time. Things in general do arrive and happen slower here but if your prepared for that it’s not as frustrating. 

Before I moved here & during I have been using duolingo to learn Spanish, it has helped a lot  my Spanish is very basic but I’m getting there and find if you try some Spanish in shops/ restaurants they will help you out  most have some English here  Down on the Costa they all speak English. I have just started English classes at a community style college here  They run twice a week till June or July  It only cost €100 for the year  There are many nationalities in the class.  There are lots of private schools here also but they are around €40-50 a month. I go to Spanish Pilates class & im the only Brit, it’s good listening to the people chatting in my class although a lot of it I have no clue 😂 but the teacher speaks English. I use google translator on my phone everyday 👍🏼

We are looking for a new place to rent at the moment. It is not easy finding a place in arroyo. If you have a car there a nice areas of Benalmádena with good prices but you need a car living there. Although the buses and trains here are great and very cheap. 

Homes come and go very quickly and you have to keep looking. I use all the different sites idealista, fotocasa, think Spain etc and marketplace on fb. I also have gone round the estate agents and left my name and number.  

I hope some of that helps you and if you have any other questions just shout 👍🏼 

Gosh, that's more than helpful, thank you a lot ,it is especially really really nice to have some contact before moving there alone.

I have resarched for years before actually daring the step of finally moving.

and I think as far as I can tell from your experience I have chosen the right place it all sounds very very pleasing. I will definitely look into this language classes. I have no car available neither do i have a driver license so I will depend on public transport but that's alright with me... I like walking too, and as far as there are a few supermarkets near me I'm quite happy,markets are very nice too.

I have contacted DHL but they are not able to transport big stuff like mattresses....so will will look into Hermes.

I wish you luck with your your new house search!

What about doctors in this area?

Can I drink tap water?

Would you recommend the taxi or bus from malaga airport?

Now I question you definitely don't need to answer,  if I will start looking for permanent apartment, is it sufficient to pay the rent in advance or do they need monthly paychecks?(because I saved up money but obviously have no work there)

Thank u again and again,I like this exchange!have a wonderful day!

I’m glad I’m helping 👍🏼 Things often don’t go to plan here but if you are prepared for that it’s not as frustrating. Count to 10 and get a coffee 😂

We only took boxes as it got very expensive to move mattresses etc. We live in furnished properties and have had new mattresses each time by the landlord. Very lucky. But there is Ikea in Malaga & plenty furniture shops I’ve seen with mattresses. We sold some things at home as it was cheaper to buy here than to transport it over. Our TVs for example. 

Our friends here paid there rent a year in advance and got a discount for it. Not sure if it’s normal but they saved quite a lot of money 👍🏼 We pay our rent monthly. You normally pay 1 months deposit, 1 months rent and 1 month to the estate agent. People do advertise privately on sites though which saves paying agents fee. 

I don’t drink the tap water here, I see the build up inside the kettle 😂 I buy 6 packs of water, 1.5 litre bottles, from mercadona & they’re €1.20 each. You need to clean your kettle often here, I use vinegar & water. Also you need to buy distilled ironing water, you get it in the supermarket or your iron gets ruined. 

There is a train from the airport to benalmadena, it’s great. It runs from Malaga along the coast to fuengirola. It takes 20 minutes to get here from the airport. It cost €2.05 or €2.70. I can’t remember which. There are ticket machines at each station 👍🏼 There are no buses from the airport but you can get a taxi. They are around €27-28. The buses here are great. You can get a bus card and you only pay €1.10 for each trip. The train is called Renfe. You can look it up online: cercanias malaga. The buses are avanza. You can get information there. 

If you work here or are retired here you can get access to the state doctors for free. I have private insurance as i don’t work here. 

If you need any other help, just shout. I hope this helps. Other people may give you more information on this site. 

We can meet for a coffee when you get here 👍🏼

I'm actually so so incredibly grateful for your kindness, i think it is just amazing how much time you sacrifice to helping me, thank you so so much!

The the informations about transportations are actually very much needed because I couldn't figure it out in the internet,I wrote all the tips down😉

I assumed you could drink the tap water ..thank you for the warning!

Oh,that sounds good,maybe I will find a flat where you don't need a paycheck too.

Are there areas I should avoid,or are all safe?

My transitory Airbnb is near the beach in banalmadena.

I even found a library in the area,so cool,I am a book addict!😃

Hm,maybe then I should second guess my decision to send my stuff,I am probably astounded about everything I get  there,but you know how it is,before you travel you never believe how similar shops for example are...

I will take you up on your offer to meet Mhairi(that's your name?)

Hope you have a nice day!

Hi, 

Yes my name is Mhairi, I should have introduced myself 🙈😂 I’m 42. 

I also love books but have been using my tablet since I moved here to read. You can show me where the library is 👍🏼

I don’t think there’s any really bad areas here, but I have not been everywhere yet. Maybe someone else can help with that but I have heard many stories about 24 hour square so maybe an area to avoid late at night alone. 

When you are coming over give me a shout and we’ll meet up 👍🏼 And if you need any other help let me know 

Mhairi 

Hi Mhairi,what an amazing name.

I am Annika,30 years old.

Thank you for everything,I will get in touch when I have arrived.

The library is according to Google maps near Arroyo.But I am not sure yet how to get a card.

But there are supposed to be second hand book stores around.

I cannot live without books,I have a tablet too,but prefer the good old physical copies 😃

I am so happy that we met here!