Where to live Campo de Gibraltar?

[TAI]

Hi
My partner and I are moving over in June, we are looking for jobs in Gibraltar and are not decided on where we want to live yet.

We have been over a few times and stayed in Duquesa & Estepona, we don't want to commute too much so we have ruled them out. We never visited Santa Margarita or La Alcaidesa but were wondering what is around these areas? We are in our mid thirties, don't like clubbing but are not ready for the quiet life either.

Any advice welcome!
Thanks

[aidan]

Hi, both Alcaidesa and Santa Margarita are well placed to commute to Gibraltar. The main problem with both these urbanisations is the lack of Bars, cafes etc. Alcaidesa for instance has only 1 bar at the moment outside of Summer when there are a couple of chiringuitos on the beach. Santa Margarita to my knowledge has none. With the speed that these 2 places are growing it can only be a matter of tme before there will be a bigger choice, I know Alcaidesa is having a small commercial centre built at the moment and a new International school has been started.

[princess peach]

Hi,I live in santa Margarita.
Alcaidesa has no bus service and Sta Margarita does have one-every hour on the hour.
Aidan is correct about the bars-none at my end.
We both have our own beautiful beaches tho.and Alcaidesa is slightly more expensive to rent/buy than sta Margarita is.
Also alcaidesa is further away from Gib by about 7-10 mins(by car)
They are both nice areas to live.and both quite remote,very quiet.
A taxi from where i live is around €10 to get to la linea centre.

[gymcrazy]

We are a similar age and worked in Gib and lived in Duquesa, it only took about 25 minutes to get to Gib. We see it as a better option than Santa Margarita and Alcadesia as there is nothing to do there.

[TAI]

Thanks for your replies.
I think we are going to book a holiday rental when we first come over in either of these places and see how we get on.

[princess peach]

believe me after working in Gib thru the week you will be glad of either place-santa margarita or Alcaidesa to retreat to.Its nice to be rid of the hussle and bustle and tightly packed area full of tourists.
You can walk right along the beach from Alcaidesa to santa margarita,right the way along to la linea if you wish,the beach is beautiful.
I am in my mid 30·s as is my hubby.The peace and quiet of where we live is great,but we still have the hustle and bustle of the town(la linea) 10 mins away,and Gib a little further down the road.
good luck with wherever you choose,and if i can help you any further i will.

[katy]

I think La Linea has really improved over the past few years. Often have a walk around when I have been to Gib. Seen lots of worse places where some ex-pats have congregated.

[princess peach]

yes Katy i lived on the outskirts of la linea for around 3.5 years near where the new iberostar hotel has gone up.
the town is lovely,but still has a few no go areas(all out of walking distance of the town itself)Its a nice place to sit and have coffee-they are definately gearing it up for tourism,and why not after all Gib has plenty of tourists that must venture out over the border-seems silly for them not to use that to its full potential,much cheaper for the tourists to stay as well.

[TAI]

Thanks, which areas in La Linea should we avoid?

After reading some of the posts last night I had a terrible sinking feeling that we were making a mistake moving to Spain. My partner told me to stop reading these posts as they were scaring me to death.

Thanks alot
x

[aidan]

La Linea is a fantastic town, it has a terrible reputation which probably was deserved in the past. We are big fans, I always have to prepare new visitors for what to expect as first impressions can be a bit off putting. Look below the surface and try to ignore the transients both local and ex pat and you will find a real thriving, buzzing town. Great tapas bars, restaurants and cafes some decent late night music bars too.

[karandjon]

This is really embarrassing, but, 2 years ago, i was staying at my friends in Estepona. One day whilst she was at work, i decided i´d go for a day out to Gibralter! Now, navigation is not my strong point, but, i got to where i thought was Gibralter, parked up in a multi storey car-park, asked directions to the shops....only to find I was in La Linea, and had not quite reached Gib!! I swear it was a blond moment

[princess peach]

TAI!
the places you need to saty well clear from are-Junquillo(pronounced hung- key- jo)and Atunara.
also round the hospital are some pretty rough spanish areas,and near the bull ring-the last two bullring and hospital arnt as bad as they used to be,

stay as near to the border(Gib as you can)
apartments i would recommend are-Ballesteros,Baluarte(apartment blocks-rent for around €900 ish a month),and also for houses-Maria Guerrero.all decent places and safe.
If you see something and are not sure about the location-pm me and i will tell you,if i dont know i will find out for you.The estate agents are no help and will tell you its safe when its not.All the areas including the not so nice ones are all regularly patrolled by policia.Hope this helps you.

[Biskit]

Hello everybody!

I think it's great that you are all so helpful...

My fiance and I are going to do something similar. The advice offered above is priceless. Thanks very much!!

I contacted an estate agent regarding an apartment in Alcaidesa, but he said it had already been let and offered me 2 other places in La Linea, both at 650 EUR/month...after reading your advice I'm going to be very careful.

I was reading that you should get a third party ie the govt. to hold your deposit. Does anybody have any advice regarding this? Is it normal practice? I'm a bit wary of handing over my hard earned cash to a landlord...I know from experience it can be difficult to get it back...

He alson mentioned something about half a months deposit being their fee. Sounds dubious...surely the landlord would pay any fees for letting the property??

Thanks in advance!

[aidan]

There are loads of apartments for rent in Alcaidesa both long and short term, there are a lot of keyholders with better knowledge of what is available than estate agents. I can give you details of some of them if you need it. Not sure about the 3rd party holding deposit, but sounds a good idea as i've read unscrupulous landlords will make it difficult to get deposit back.

[Biskit]

Thanks Aidan!

I've spent loads of time scanning the web, so I would be very grateful if you could point me in the direction of some trustworthy key holders

[aidan]

I've sent you a pm. At least they will have very good local knowledge of whats free at mom.

[Biskit]

Cheers Aidan. Much appreciated!

[princess peach]

Hi Biskit-the usual practice is to hand the deposit over and dont pay the last months rent when you leave(if you know that no damage has been done of course )that way,the deposit holder cannot keep your deposit.
what areas are you looking at?
If there are any areas that you are unsure of send me a pm with the name of the area and if i dont know what its like,i know someone who will.
The estate agents who i had my property for sale-still have it up for sale on their website one year later-even after telling them it had been sold-im sure its a ploy ..."oh that one has just gone...but we have this one which is similar for sale"..just be careful,and take everything they say with a pinch of salt-even if they turn around and say,we have someone getting back to us this afternoon about this property.dont be forced into taking anything if you are unsure.
good luck.

[Biskit]

Hi Princess

We're looking at working in Gib, living somewhere not too far away were we can retreat to, but not too far from civilisation. We like to explore and find new restaurants, bars etc. Seems like Sa Maria & Alcaidesa might be just right...

We're still in the UK at the minute, but are planning like mad so we can make the move asap.

Don't worry, I won't be handing over any hard earned cash unless I'm sure it's right for us...

[princess peach]

Hi Biskit.
I dont know if you have any estate agents websites(Gib) to browse thru.
I can pm you some if you like.let me know.

there are no areas in Alcaidesa or sta Margarita that you need to stay away from,all are nice.so there are no worries there.You may pay a little more to rent there,but it definately worth it.

I will also have a look in Morrisons,they have a notice board with lots of properties to rent on there(all private ads).
I can look today/get the details and pm you the numbers if you tell me what you are looking for.

Have pmd you biskit.