LOCATION

[Valencia_Paul]

We went to Baza last spring, mainly to see Lake Negratin. Unfortunately we ended up having to find a hotel in Baza as we had underestimated distances and times on our mini tour.

What are the good points about Baza, I must admit we were glad to get away from the place!

[frank]

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What are the good points about Baza, I must admit we were glad to get away from the place!

There's lots of Brits there! That's a plus point surely! Saw a bit of it on TV the other day, and have to agree, it looked awful! Saw the bit where the the woman opened her caff for full English breakfasts, it was full of sad Brits having an almighty fry up!
Talking of which the Sunday Times did a bit this week about places not to go in Spain. Salou, Benidorm, Torrevieja and Torremolinos figured on the list. Their view of Benalmádena, "described as the biggest council estate in Europe. Populated by the kind of Englishman you'd cross continents to avoid, the town resembles some post-apocalyptic world of drunken, nilihistic youth. At its best at about 3.30am when local police take three emergency calls every minute!"
Of Fuengirola, it says "this five mile strip of grey sand and concrete is said to be the only place where you can meet more people called Lee outside of prison than inside. Forty per cent of all cars stolen in Europe are nicked on the Costa del Sol, and the proximity to Morrocco makes this a centre for the importation and distribution of drugs"

[Valencia_Paul]

Torrevieja - Yes an appalling place. Full of traffic jams and large urbanisations that seem to suffer from a high crime rate. They sell the salt flats with flamingos as an attractive feature but not to these eyes!

A bit further south, I thought some towns around the Mar Menor were not too bad.

Benidorm - does what it does well if you like Blackpool in the sun with a decent, though crowded beach. Not for me though!

[Fletch]

I`m sure we all chose to live where we do for various reasons. Some because they enjoy the tranquillity of the campo, some prefer the bustle of the city, some love the tourist areas. Some of us live here permanently, some part time and some us it as a holiday home. My point is, it`s easy to knock others about their moans and groans, but if you choose to live in the centre of say Benalmadena, then maybe you like getting drunk late at night, mixing with tourists and expat`s and eating fry-up`s!!!
Everone to themselves I say.

Fletch (surname Fletcher)

[sioban]

Can i just say Baza can be a lovely place to live.

Frank said "Saw the bit where the the woman opened her caff for full English breakfasts, it was full of sad Brits having an almighty fry up!"

Can i just say there is no need to insult people who you dont even know!!!!!!!!!

There are no lakes in Baza!!! you have to go to Zujar which is a further 20 - 30 mins away.

Yes Baza does have an English community but it is big enough that if you want to socialize with them you can if you dont want to there are more Spanish than English!.

Sioban

[Valencia_Paul]

Can i just say Baza can be a lovely place to live.

Frank said "Saw the bit where the the woman opened her caff for full English breakfasts, it was full of sad Brits having an almighty fry up!"

Can i just say there is no need to insult people who you dont even know!!!!!!!!!

There are no lakes in Baza!!! you have to go to Zujar which is a further 20 - 30 mins away.

Yes Baza does have an English community but it is big enough that if you want to socialize with them you can if you dont want to there are more Spanish than English!.

Sioban

Well that's just Frank for you! I was genuinely interested in what is good about Baza. Yes I know the lake is at Zujar but when you've been driving all day and have nowhere to stay it was either Baza or Guadix and we found a hotel in Baza. I was only there for about 12 hours and didn't see any Brits. I just thought it was a sleepy town a bit too far from the coast for me and I didn't much like the scenery in the area.

BTW, does anybody swim in Lake Negratin in the summer or is it not allowed, too cold or too dangerous?

[Midnight Rambler]

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What are the good points about Baza, I must admit we were glad to get away from the place!

There's lots of Brits there! That's a plus point surely! Saw a bit of it on TV the other day, and have to agree, it looked awful! Saw the bit where the the woman opened her caff for full English breakfasts, it was full of sad Brits having an almighty fry up!...

WOW! Either you swallowed a thesaurus or you're doing your damdest to put people off going there, wouldn't you agree that in our free society we all have a right to our own free choice, I know nothing about Either of the places you've mentioned but I will check them out then see if I agree, either way the people who choose to live there have the right to do so, perhaps they would have similar criticisms of your home location, give em a break!

[sioban]

you can swim in lake negratin, its a bit toooo cold at the mo, in the summer if you keep going past Zujar towards Freila then towards Cuevas del campo you will find two restaurants both with lovely food, if you go to the second one you will be able to hire pedlo´s.

Baza has a nice night life - in the summer you have the open air discos next to a go cart track and in the winter you have a section of 6/7 in one area - means you dont have to stumble to far!!!

Baza now has about 1000 brits here, most of them are of the ´older generation´(sorry dont want to offend anyone) so for a 24 year old its hard when going on a night out - you either have to go out with the parents or go out with the kids (18 year olds).

There are jobs here if you look in the right place, there are 3 english run bars where there are always jobs going, or if you can speak spanish hen you have no hassels.

The spanish here are lovely you never have any hassel from them and they are always happy to help.

So Yes Baza is a sleepy town, with a small british community but i am in spain for a reason - to be in spain, learn the language live they same relaxed life they do and to work and make a home. All of which i have now achieved - not bad for a sleepy town !!!

Sioban

[Valencia_Paul]

Thanks sioban,

I reckon having a decent lake nearby can make up for not being near the coast. I do like to take a dip in the summer when I'm in Spain.

[anewlife]

I live in Galera a lovely, sleepy village about half an hours drive from Baza. Baza is great for shopping (loads of shoe shops), Lidl, Caprabo, Mercadona, nothing wrong with the place at all. Give me Baza over Torrivieja any day!! Sioban, do you live in a cave in Baza? Only ask as round this area is 'cave country' and we live in one in Galera. No need for heating (or not much) and air conditioning in the summer.

We came to Spain for exactly the same reasons as yourself Sioban, and glad to say we are doing quite nicely with work, language etc. My 10 year old son is in the village school and is learning the language bit by bit. Fortunately, my other half could already speak Spanish, hence work is steady for him.

The Spanish villagers here are even beginning to speak a little English - telling you the price of your meal in Spanish, then following up in English, so they are trying really hard! This morning after dropping off my son at school, I went to the Post Office which is only open from 9-10, but the post lady had been to Huescar to pick up the mail and me and a couple of Spanish ladies helped her take the post out of the boot of her car! This is what I love - a real community spirit! And the view from my cave is fantastic - no concrete buildings in the way, just mountains - I wouldn't swop it for the world.

BTW, been in the spring at Negratin, but never had the courage to swim in the lake, even in August - far too cold for me!!!

[Shukran]

Baza = great shops, large market and lovely people. We think it's a great place to live apart from the cold winters - that's why we're looking elsewhere. If it wasn't for that we wouldn't be moving as we can't find anything else wrong with Baza.

All the Spanish people we've met have made us very welcome and they have as much fun picking up English words as we do the Spanish words.

[sioban]

anewlife - No idont live in a cave, im renting a house at the mo but am starting 2 look for property.

[Troglodyfae]

Hi Anewlife , Sioban and Shukran. I know the original post is a bit old but I was searching to see if anyone here lives in the Baza area. I know Big Col, but I have to agree that most live nearer the coast on this board.

I live just outside Cullar in Pulpite in a cave house. I love Baza it is a nice town, I also like Granada and had a great day out there this week and went to Alhambra palace earlier in the year.

Negratin is superb, and whilst the swimming is a bit on the cool side even in August, it is so refreshing when it is scorching hot. Daughter and I had a good day out there swimming in the lake and taking out a pedalo. Restaurants are great eaten in both and very reasonable.

Got to agree about Torrevieja tho, I lived there for a while or rather in the Urbs outside, could not wait to get away from the place.

Would not live in a conventional house now, as living in a cave is just the best. I have launched a site about caves and cave living as there did not see to be much practical information out there especially on the renovation side. There is a forum there but I have not activated it yet, but we do welcome contributions from people about cave living and your experiences of buying a cave, renovating if that is what you had to do and also living in a cave. Some people just cannot get their head around the concept.

[McT]

This thread started off with a discussion on why some contributors don't make their location public. Having now moved to Spain for good, today I changed the location in my profile from 'Midlands' to 'Rincón de la Victoria'. It appears that the information on the left about each poster is built dynamically, because ALL my posts now say 'Rincón ..', which makes some of the older ones a bit confusing......

McT