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Torre del Mar Life

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:26am
6 replies205 views4 members subscribed
ZepDing

Posts: 7

1 helpful points

Location: Torre del Mar

Joined: 6 Feb 2022

Please can anyone who has lived or is living in Torre del Mar share their experiences of living there? ie. is local transport good for getting to other villages? Are there markets for food shopping? Do you feel safe out and about there? Are there meet ups/classes for arts/crafts, walking about tours...? Are there quaint plazas to sit, eat and watch world go by?

Izzy

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 10:39am

Posts: 44

14 helpful points

Location: Torre del Mar

Joined: 6 Jan 2020

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 10:39am

ZepDing wrote on Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:26am:

Please can anyone who has lived or is living in Torre del Mar share their experiences of living there? ie. is local transport good for getting to other villages? Are there markets for food shopping? Do you feel safe out and about there? Are there meet ups/classes for arts/crafts, walking about to...

...urs...? Are there quaint plazas to sit, eat and watch world go by?

You have all of the above here in TM and more so if those are your requirements this is the place. 

ZepDing

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 5:30pm

ZepDing

Original Poster

Posts: 7

1 helpful points

Location: Torre del Mar

Joined: 6 Feb 2022

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 5:30pm

Izzy wrote on Mon Feb 21, 2022 10:39am:

You have all of the above here in TM and more so if those are your requirements this is the place. 

Thank you Izzy for your help.🙂

Gingko

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:17am

Posts: 54

25 helpful points

Location: Vélez-Málaga

Joined: 1 Apr 2016

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:17am

Hi there,

Torre del Mar gets many visitors. The Spanish come to their second homes in the summer and in the winter, northern European pensioners spend their winters here. Foremost though, it is not so much a holiday resort, but a working Spanish town. What there is on offer in the way of guided walking tours or other touristy activities, I do not know. Torre del Mar has a lively thursday market and many small independent shops, as well as several big supermarkets. It is full of bars, cafes and restaurants, some good, some bad. There are 4 (I think) British run places, where you can get an English breakfast or watch sports. The nearest English supermarket is in Torrox Costa. Torre has a great seafront, but quaint squares, there are not. The council in Velez has done a bad job in preseving the traditional feel of the place. There is no old town in Torre and the overall picture is one of 70s high rise apartment blocks. Picturesque it is not. There is, however, a great feeling to the place. You stop seeing the ugly buildings after a while and appreciate the town for what it is. Public transport is great. Buses to Velez every 15 minutes, to Malaga or Nerja every hour or so. You can live here without a car, we do. And yes, it is safe. I haver never ever felt threatened or unsafe anywhere at any time. The only thing I have to say is, that because of all the pensioners, is a bit old here. I am 57 and there are not many northern Europeans her in that age group. So, if you are maybe even younger than that, it might not be for you. Best, you come for a few months over the winter and try it out, before commiting. 

Best of luck!

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ZepDing

Posted: Sun Mar 6, 2022 6:55pm

ZepDing

Original Poster

Posts: 7

1 helpful points

Location: Torre del Mar

Joined: 6 Feb 2022

Posted: Sun Mar 6, 2022 6:55pm

Gingko wrote on Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:17am:

Hi there,

Torre del Mar gets many visitors. The Spanish come to their second homes in the summer and in the winter, northern European pensioners spend their winters here. Foremost though, it is not so much a holiday resort, but a working Spanish town. What there is on offer in the way of guided walking tou...

...rs or other touristy activities, I do not know. Torre del Mar has a lively thursday market and many small independent shops, as well as several big supermarkets. It is full of bars, cafes and restaurants, some good, some bad. There are 4 (I think) British run places, where you can get an English breakfast or watch sports. The nearest English supermarket is in Torrox Costa. Torre has a great seafront, but quaint squares, there are not. The council in Velez has done a bad job in preseving the traditional feel of the place. There is no old town in Torre and the overall picture is one of 70s high rise apartment blocks. Picturesque it is not. There is, however, a great feeling to the place. You stop seeing the ugly buildings after a while and appreciate the town for what it is. Public transport is great. Buses to Velez every 15 minutes, to Malaga or Nerja every hour or so. You can live here without a car, we do. And yes, it is safe. I haver never ever felt threatened or unsafe anywhere at any time. The only thing I have to say is, that because of all the pensioners, is a bit old here. I am 57 and there are not many northern Europeans her in that age group. So, if you are maybe even younger than that, it might not be for you. Best, you come for a few months over the winter and try it out, before commiting. 

Best of luck!

Thank you greatly for your reply. Its definitely somewhere I am going to visit on my list of towns/villages to check out!

I'm 49 so not looking for a heavy clubs kind of place, more of a place with cafes/bars and places to eat as love my food. I like the Spanish working town vibes, have been to a few so know I like that  I enjoy the holiday feel but is nice to experience the day to day life of locals too. I've got Competa on my list to visit too and a helpful member here has just replied to me on another thread that buses are more regular to Torre in the Summer season.

So many places I am falling for! So many places to visit. I'll probably end up renting rather than buying as want to experience so many places and different vibes in Spain.

I see you have Velez Malaga as your location. Is great Torre has bus links to there. I'm assuming Velez has the more plazas and old traditional Spanish feel. You feel quite safe there? If learning Spanish and don't speak fluently, is Velez an area I'd find many other expats living?

Gingko

Posted: Sun Mar 6, 2022 8:13pm

Posts: 54

25 helpful points

Location: Vélez-Málaga

Joined: 1 Apr 2016

Posted: Sun Mar 6, 2022 8:13pm

Hi, 

Velez definitely feels more traditional, surprisingly so, considering its proximity to the coast. However, quaint squares it has not. It has the main square outside the town hall, which is newly pedestrianised and has two good cafes on it. And it had the paseo, a tree lined walkway, with many benches and a couples of bars. Velez council (which is also responsible for Torre) has done its best to modernise the town, at the expense of its traditional features. Plaza de las Indias now houses the local waste bins, plaza Espinar had its well removed in favour of parking and plaza Carmelitas (town hall square) is still a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by, but they have removed the lovely old cast iron lamps and the old cute kiosko and replaced them with a wooden shack and modern horrible grey lights. The town planner needs stringing up in my opinion. Saying all this, Velez is a nice town, very safe and very well connected to the coast. The old town is lovely, the fort and the ermita have been renovated wonderfully and there are loads of individual shops and cafes. Not so many restaurants, you are better off in Torre for that. Velez has expats, mostly British, and although there is no British run bar, there are places where the Brits like to go. Velez also has a large gitano population up in the old town, with everything that comes with this. Mostly noise, chickens and dogs. One reason why I live in the new part of town. 🙂 You need a little Spanish if you live in Velez, more than you would on the coast, but it doesn't have to be perfect. Mine is not, far from it. I think you are right to rent first and find out if a place suits you. If you make it here and you fancy a coffee, get in touch. Good luck with your move!

ZepDing

Posted: Tue Mar 8, 2022 3:36am

ZepDing

Original Poster

Posts: 7

1 helpful points

Location: Torre del Mar

Joined: 6 Feb 2022

Posted: Tue Mar 8, 2022 3:36am

Gingko wrote on Sun Mar 6, 2022 8:13pm:

Hi, 

Velez definitely feels more traditional, surprisingly so, considering its proximity to the coast. However, quaint squares it has not. It has the main square outside the town hall, which is newly pedestrianised and has two good cafes on it. And it had the paseo, a tree lined walkway, with many ben...

...ches and a couples of bars. Velez council (which is also responsible for Torre) has done its best to modernise the town, at the expense of its traditional features. Plaza de las Indias now houses the local waste bins, plaza Espinar had its well removed in favour of parking and plaza Carmelitas (town hall square) is still a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by, but they have removed the lovely old cast iron lamps and the old cute kiosko and replaced them with a wooden shack and modern horrible grey lights. The town planner needs stringing up in my opinion. Saying all this, Velez is a nice town, very safe and very well connected to the coast. The old town is lovely, the fort and the ermita have been renovated wonderfully and there are loads of individual shops and cafes. Not so many restaurants, you are better off in Torre for that. Velez has expats, mostly British, and although there is no British run bar, there are places where the Brits like to go. Velez also has a large gitano population up in the old town, with everything that comes with this. Mostly noise, chickens and dogs. One reason why I live in the new part of town. 🙂 You need a little Spanish if you live in Velez, more than you would on the coast, but it doesn't have to be perfect. Mine is not, far from it. I think you are right to rent first and find out if a place suits you. If you make it here and you fancy a coffee, get in touch. Good luck with your move!

Thank you again for your valuable information 🙂 you've really helped. Its definitely a place I'll visit and get a feel of. That's a shame about the 'modern taking over the traditional'. This seems to happen more and more so, is a shame.

Oh and thank you for offer of coffee meetup 🙂

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