For our search for a Spanish home, we bought a LHD car in the uk, then took the Portsmouth St Malo ferry.  The drive down to San Sebastion went well with no major problems.
Our tour started very well with a stay in San Vicente with it?s wonderful harbour and quayside town area, not far from San Sebastion, we found a neat little hotel and went out for our first Spanish food?  slipped up here by going into the first place we came to,,  we put this right the following day with a great Menu del dia down in the harbour?

  The next day we tried to contact the Asturian online Agency but they were unavailable!  in England for 20 days? She tried to organize a viewing with no luck. We drove on west and searched some of the small coastal communities and loved what we saw,  we also noticed, next to no for sale"se vende? signs , that was a surprise to us and it seems people don?t put signs up. or use the For sale by owner sites!  We have used these in the past with good results as owners try harder to get their property seen..

We stayed in Cangas de Oris the next night and that is also a lovely area, if a bit damper due to the mountainous region it is set in, we again tried to get an agent to show a house we had researched on the web.. but again..unavailable!!

Off West again and really enjoying the scenery and the friendly people, we decided to stay away from El Ferol/Corunia as we heard winter and summer fog is an issue also more rain.  Down towards Lugo and Orense,  we found these area to built up and with a less favorable weather pattern and went on South West towards Baiona.

Again this area seemed to us to be over built up and since our last visit by Yacht in the 80?s it was disappointing. ( The yacht club refused us entry even though we told them we were from another club)
We contacted two more agents here but still failed to view a property..  Luckily we found an older email with a house for sale by the owner.. we called them and went to see their home in Portugal.

It was lovely ?if cold? weather and their home was really nice,  but lacked the land we wanted for gardening.  Then the language!etc?The area though was wonderful.. and no border!!  just drive in and out like one country..great..  We spent a pleasant few hours with them swapping Ideas on where to live and what to do then departed for the East and the ferry to Mallorca   for Christmas with the Family.  lots of homes have small vine plantations in this part of the world which seems a very nice thing to do..

It was a very interesting"if short? 6 days where we learnt a lot,  including where we do not want to live.

Our Idea is now to find a good rental( possibly to buy)  and spend the month of January in Asturias and or Galicia,  taking time to get to know people and places better? and hopefully giving agents time to show us some homes!!

Note:On likes and dislikes: The food was superb in most places we ate.. and the winter weather suited us.. even though there was a colder than usual system going through. We enjoyed the chance to practice our poor Spanish, unlike in the South where everyone speaks English..  friendly and helpful people..
The ?vodaphone? mobile was almost useless and constantly out of signal , this caused us problems,  then finding wi-fi was not easy, some hotels did not have it or it was problems with the differing security systems.
We?ve had it too easy in the Americas!!
To sum up:  It has not been too easy to view property and we will do some research for making this easier.
We have not given up living in the Granada area .. for the skiing etc but so far we love the weather in the north.
Anyone with tips for rental?  say 1 to three weeks in Asturias or Galicia..
Seasons greetings
I & T

We are EU passport holders but live in Australia. We are planning to purchase a LHD vehilce on arrival in UK in May and then spend 2/3 months in Galicia region with a view to purchasing property.  Finding rental accomodation looks like it may be defficult.
There is plenty of holiday lets at inflated prices, but little in the way accomodation for people wishing to spend an extended period in the region. 

Will be interested to know how you get on.

Peggotty

Ok ,looks like we are on the same bus.

We bought our car from Kilrush,,  he (Lawrence)has   a good stock   and sorted our paperwork out with the minimum fuss.

Your right on the rental prospects and that is what I am doing right now.. searching the internet and calling people.. 
If we don’t find a buy on this visit we will try again in April and May so may meet up..
Rental for the type of time we are looking for will be difficult so we hope to get a tip from one of the agents our home sellersin the area. 
We think the crisis is only in it’s infancy and although there may be little blips in the property market   I think long term, the outlook is in the buyers favour…  but who really knows eh?

Galicia :Lovely but many of the nicer parts have already been overdeveloped and we liked Asturias.
watch this space..

.

peggotty - 05 January 2010 11:15 AM

We are EU passport holders but live in Australia. We are planning to purchase a LHD vehilce on arrival in UK in May and then spend 2/3 months in Galicia region with a view to purchasing property.  Finding rental accomodation looks like it may be defficult.
There is plenty of holiday lets at inflated prices, but little in the way accomodation for people wishing to spend an extended period in the region. 

Will be interested to know how you get on.

Peggotty

Thanks for the info

We have been in contact with an English agent living in Galiacia. We believe they will be able to find suitable accomaodation for us. I must will say that the agent has been very helpful and followed up with lots of useful info, nevertheless we continue to explore the rental situation for ourselves.

We spent 3 months in France last year, it was so much easier in France, but we do like Galicai. 

I think we might have to purchase a small property and set it up just for people who wish to visit the region and who are considering becoming domicile in the region.  I am beginning to think this venture would be a winner.  LOL  

Peggotty

Si buena idea, aseg?rese de que incluye internet ?eh? jajaja. hemos encontrado algunos lugares muy agradable en Asturias, y ahora a punto de reservar uno con Internet, para ayudar con la compra de una vivienda
with the help google translate !!!
  are you using Mark/Anna/John/ Miriam? or another for your agent

We have considered France and Portugal but the language put us off, even though our Spanish is poor..

We have been in contact with an English agent living in Galiacia. We believe they will be able to find suitable accomaodation for us. I must will say that the agent has been very helpful and followed up with lots of useful info, nevertheless we continue to explore the rental situation for ourselves.

We spent 3 months in France last year, it was so much easier in France, but we do like Galicai. 

I think we might have to purchase a small property and set it up just for people who wish to visit the region and who are considering becoming domicile in the region.  I am beginning to think this venture would be a winner.  LOL  

Peggotty[/quote]

Thought you might like the idea, and yes, being an IT person the Internet, would follow shortly after the power is connected. 😊

In Northern France we manage with the exception of the morning TV news, but in Provence when Maison sounds like Mais-Hong and starts somewhere down in the bowel region, we loose the thread quickly. 

Spanish we are working on, but Galician ???

We have spent three years wondering around China, Indonesia Phillipines and Malaysia, aboard our traditional sailing yacht so we are not easily phased. I see you are also blue water sailors.

We know it’s time to find a base on land now. The kids are starting to worry about us !

We are flying out of Australia in about four weeks but will be stopping off in Penang for a couple of months to see friends.

All being well it’s Spain in early May.

Yes, Mark did send us some stuff, and was he was very helpful. I hope he does sell us something, but he won’t sell us something we don’t want.

Cheers

Peggotty

BTW   We have found www.thinkspain.com turns up some inexpensive long term rentals in Galicia.

ok but not sure what you were on about in the beginning i’m a little dim..

mark has been very helpful especially because he is always available on skype, so when we think of a question   we get it over before we forget it!!

I thought you may be yachties and yes we have been sailing for 30 odd years 11 of those on the bigger yachts.  Sailed off with the family in the 70’s when things were less restricted!  we spent 6 months in OZ when doing a refit in 2001 cairns slipway.
lived in NZ as well for 4 years. then Vancouver Island and the mountains of New Mexico(Fav)
Doing a 2on 2 off stint currently   expedition yacht,  but ready to settle.

here here on the french thing..  pity cos we love the country

Have you sold the boat?

we just had an apartment(Asturias) offered for 28 a night with wi fi..  so not too bad..  and still more to chose from..

if you would like to chat on skype anytime just say..

luego

peggotty - 06 January 2010 04:37 PM

Thought you might like the idea, and yes, being an IT person the Internet, would follow shortly after the power is connected. 😊

In Northern France we manage with the exception of the morning TV news, but in Provence when Maison sounds like Mais-Hong and starts somewhere down in the bowel region, we loose the thread quickly. 

Spanish we are working on, but Galician ???

We have spent three years wondering around China, Indonesia Phillipines and Malaysia, aboard our traditional sailing yacht so we are not easily phased. I see you are also blue water sailors.

We know it’s time to find a base on land now. The kids are starting to worry about us !

We are flying out of Australia in about four weeks but will be stopping off in Penang for a couple of months to see friends.

All being well it’s Spain in early May.

Yes, Mark did send us some stuff, and was he was very helpful. I hope he does sell us something, but he won’t sell us something we don’t want.

Cheers

Peggotty

BTW   We have found www.thinkspain.com turns up some inexpensive long term rentals in Galicia.

Sorry,

What I was suggesting was that they speak so quickly on the morning TV show in France… Aujoured’hui….even the French have to concentrate to keep up with what is going on.

Aujoured’hui (au +? jour +? de +? hui) , loosely translated ” of the present day”..... in Australia its our Today Show. 

The above translation is by an Australian and with appologises to all the good French people out there.

What do you know about the cost of Health Care in Galicia ??

I know that it is possible to contribute to the Health Care System in the Valencia Region (270 Euros per quarter, under 65 years and 300 over 65 years) . I am trying to find out if this possible in other regions, particulary Galicai. In France,  residents are accepted into the French Health system after 5 years (70% fee cover).  Private Health cover can become very expensive has we get older.

Hmm sorry I can’t help too much on the health care questions,  we took out private cover two years ago after having none most of our lives.As you say it’s costly at our age and goes up disproportionately it seems!  our family all have private also even though they could use state care.
I’m pretty sure some others will read this and may be more helpful.

keep up the good work

peggotty - 07 January 2010 04:02 AM

Sorry,

What I was suggesting was that they speak so quickly on the morning TV show in France… Aujoured’hui….even the French have to concentrate to keep up with what is going on.

Aujoured’hui (au +? jour +? de +? hui) , loosely translated ” of the present day”..... in Australia its our Today Show. 

The above translation is by an Australian and with appologises to all the good French people out there.

What do you know about the cost of Health Care in Galicia ??

I know that it is possible to contribute to the Health Care System in the Valencia Region (270 Euros per quarter, under 65 years and 300 over 65 years) . I am trying to find out if this possible in other regions, particulary Galicai. In France,  residents are accepted into the French Health system after 5 years (70% fee cover).  Private Health cover can become very expensive has we get older.