Cartama? Alora?

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Emma-Louise
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Cartama? Alora?

Postby Emma-Louise » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:50 pm

Hi everyone,

We are currently living in Duquesa as my husband is a policeman in Gibraltar. When he retires this year we would like to move elsewhere. Due to the crazy costs we will only be able to do this once (sell and buy)...

I am looking at Cartama. Are there any other areas that are similar?

I'd love for my toddler to be the only British kid in his class - if that is at all possible without moving to a village of 100 residents :-)

I work from home, so I need to move my phone number etc around with me - so if we must rent first it would have to be a long-term rent. But if we sell but without somewhere to buy this would therefore be a must. Although not preferred

I have lived in Spain for 22 years. We both speak fluent Spanish and the little one is chattering in both as well :-)

If we are forced to rent, then we must rent in whatever town or area we choose to buy in as I do not want to be moving the little one in and out of schools - so the hunt is on to tie down an area!

I hope I've put enough info for any questions that might arise from my post.....thank you for reading!

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country boy
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby country boy » Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:05 pm

We love our town..PIZARRA, on the A7054 'twixt Alora and Cartama Estacion. PM me if you want any personal questions answered. Happy to help.

elusive
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby elusive » Thu Jan 10, 2019 3:06 pm

I thought you have to live in Gib to be a police officer there? Change in rules since he went in?

New longterm rental law allows you a minimum 5 years in a property before a landlord can give you notice.if they dont give you notice at least a month before the five years is up you get another three. Something to remember. If you find the area you like better to buy imo as landlords think they can do what they want regardless

masterob
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby masterob » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:22 pm

elusive - think you need to re-read para2 of the OP regarding where Gib Police may live!

Emma-louise - we lived in Alora for 10 years before selling up and returning to the UK four years ago. I can recommend it as a pleasant place to live with a particular advantage in having the train service to Malaga and the odd service inland. It has everything you might want. A few Brits live there but it is predominantly Spanish. It is ideally placed for visiting places such as El Chorro.
As for Cartama, there are two quite separate bits - Cartama and Cartama Estacion. They are not within easy walking distance of each other.I don't know either bits very well but drove many times through Cartama itself and got the impression it was a small rather sleepy place but with excellent views down to the Guadalhorce Valley below. Don't know if it has much in the way of shops etc. Cartama Estacion is, as the name says, where he station is located (down in the Valley). It seems to be a much more bustling place. Has an excellent Sunday market. Again I don't know much more about it other than regularly passing through on the train to and from Malaga. I got the impression it had a larger Brit population than Alora.

Hope this helps a bit but obviously you need to visit to decide what suits you best. Of course my knowledge is 4 years out of date but I doubt if much has changed in that time. Happy to help further if needed.

elusive
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby elusive » Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:31 pm

Dunno master she says they live in duquesa as hes a copper in gib

maureenscot
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby maureenscot » Sat Jan 12, 2019 12:28 am

They want to retire elsewhere

elusive
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby elusive » Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:11 am

Yeah but my question was in realtion to him been a cop in gib but living in spain.if you apply now for the force you have to live in gib while on the force. I presume the rules have changed since he joined and he was allowed to remain living in spain

masterob
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby masterob » Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:31 pm

Maybe, but it's a bit irrelevant to the information they want about a future retirement location.

elusive
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby elusive » Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:47 pm

Maybe but im intrested as i looked at applying for the force there. And having to live there is a major prob for anyone without money or ties to the place already.so i was intrested if the rule has changed at some point in time

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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby Pamela1 » Sat Jan 12, 2019 5:46 pm

Emma-Louise,
interested to know why you would love your toddler to be the only British kid in his class? My grandson's mother who is Japanese would love him to have other class friends of her culture in his class..

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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby Pamela1 » Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:08 pm

Didn't take long for this topic to bite the dust!! Sometimes i wonder why bother!...

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costakid
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby costakid » Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:13 pm

Alora was on a place in the sun last night. I have been there a few times, nice enough but I would not want to live there. El Choro is lovely but as we are coast people and it is only 30 minutes I would rather visit and then head home to the coast.

East of malaga is much cheaper than the western costa del sol.

masterob
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby masterob » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:53 pm

Before we settled on Alora all those years ago we spent some time researching coast -v- inland. Much to be said for both but having hoards of tourists to battle with on the coast rather put us off. Never regretted it.

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costakid
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby costakid » Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:17 pm

Agree with the tourist comment. It is much worse in certain areas. We have to put up with it for July, August and the 1st 2 weeks of September. After that it is bliss in our coastal village.

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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby Manchesteral » Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:29 pm

masterob wrote:elusive - think you need to re-read para2 of the OP regarding where Gib Police may live!

Emma-louise - we lived in Alora for 10 years before selling up and returning to the UK four years ago. I can recommend it as a pleasant place to live with a particular advantage in having the train service to Malaga and the odd service inland. It has everything you might want. A few Brits live there but it is predominantly Spanish. It is ideally placed for visiting places such as El Chorro.
As for Cartama, there are two quite separate bits - Cartama and Cartama Estacion. They are not within easy walking distance of each other.I don't know either bits very well but drove many times through Cartama itself and got the impression it was a small rather sleepy place but with excellent views down to the Guadalhorce Valley below. Don't know if it has much in the way of shops etc. Cartama Estacion is, as the name says, where he station is located (down in the Valley). It seems to be a much more bustling place. Has an excellent Sunday market. Again I don't know much more about it other than regularly passing through on the train to and from Malaga. I got the impression it had a larger Brit population than Alora.

Hope this helps a bit but obviously you need to visit to decide what suits you best. Of course my knowledge is 4 years out of date but I doubt if much has changed in that time. Happy to help further if needed.
Did you ever meet Mel Williams ?

masterob
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby masterob » Sat Jan 19, 2019 3:01 pm

The name doesn't ring a bell I'm afraid.

Manchesteral
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby Manchesteral » Sat Jan 19, 2019 6:55 pm

Mel was a friend of mine in the eighties and nineties, he was a musician and well known on the Costa del sol, he actually performed at Lonnie Doneghans tribute concert at the Albert Hall, he lived for many years in Alora, sadly he died last year, in his own words he was "nearly famous"
!

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spanish_lad
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby spanish_lad » Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:23 am

Manchesteral wrote:
Did you ever meet Mel Williams ?
A few times. My mum used to sing with 'tapas' and he came to some of their shows where i helped out, and he was good friends with the owners of the company where i work.
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

biribiri
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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby biribiri » Wed Jan 30, 2019 12:53 am

We have only ever visited Alora once around 12yrs ago whilst we too were deciding on somewhere to settle.
The main thing that put us off the place is that it has very steep hills, something to consider if you are planning on growing old there, or your knees are not what they once were. :think:

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Re: Cartama? Alora?

Postby Manchesteral » Fri Feb 01, 2019 4:05 pm

spanish_lad wrote:
Manchesteral wrote:
Did you ever meet Mel Williams ?
A few times. My mum used to sing with 'tapas' and he came to some of their shows where i helped out, and he was good friends with the owners of the company where i work.
Did you get to ride his Harley ??


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