They move away from the expat ghetto to taste 'real Spain' then find they miss a touch of home. Others find Spaniards are beginning to resent the expat colonisers. As we find, tensions are rising on the Costa Blanca.

"It's strange, really," says Carolyn Pierce, taking another sip of wine, "when you buy a car, you go carefully into what you want, take a good look round, research the market – and then you come out here on an inspection flight and buy a house without even doing any research at all."

Carolyn and Colin Pierce, from Norwich, in eastern England, had bought virtually the first place they looked at, and were soon regretting it.

They bought a bungalow on the Orihuela Costa, in south-east Spain. But they soon realised it wasn't real Spain; it was Little England - British bars, shops, restaurants and people.

Noise and bustle, and a rising crime rate as the criminals moved in for easy pickings.

"So we moved out, down to here," said Colin, "where we knew it was real Spain, Spanish Spain."

'Here' was a small finca not far from Villena, in the Vinapolo valley about an hour inland from Alicante.

An idyllic place - almond groves, splendid views, peace and tranquillity.

So what didn't they like about it? This was as far removed from the cranes and criminals as you could get.

"Well, we don't speak Spanish, for a start," said Carolyn, "and nobody round here speaks any English.

"I know we wanted real Spain, but suddenly I miss English newspapers, and having plenty of restaurants around, and supermarkets.

"There's no landline, so I can't use the computer, not unless we get GPRS, or satellite, which is costly.

"I miss having a chat with the neighbours, when we used to pop down to the bar for a drink. A finca sounds fine, but they can be hard work, and I thought I'd retired!"

It's not an unusual story. The fact is that people are different, what one person may find an ideal way of life, is another's idea of hell.

Lesson one: know exactly what you want, before you decide where you live. The quiet life isn't for everyone.

But it is exactly what John and Jackie Scarne wanted, and they spent two years looking for it, driving hundreds of miles, as well as working hard at learning Spanish.

They weren't bothered about English papers, or television; they wanted a cave, and that is exactly what they got.

Fuentenueva is in Almeria province, in the foothills of the Sierra Umbria - and that is where they bought their cave house.

It is miles from anywhere, with only a few other caves around, but it has all the amenities, countryside all around, and is peaceful beyond words.

"It is precisely what we wanted," John said, "as far removed from our old life as you can find.

"We're starting to get on OK with the locals, and we hardly ever see a Brit, apart from the odd traveller. We're living the Spanish way, perhaps even more so than most of the Spanish!"

Surprisingly, while there is little anti-British sentiment amongst the Spanish, there can be a considerable amount among the Brits themselves.

Ron and Marilyn Court decided against coastal urbanisations when they arrived here, and bought a house in Jacarilla, about 30 minutes inland from Torrevieja. At first, there were only a handful of Brits living in the village.

"That was two years ago," Marilyn told us, "but now it's getting ridiculous. There must be a good two hundred Brits here now, and they all seem to want to have is England in Spain.

"They moan about the lack of amenities, sit around in the bars, and make no effort to integrate with the local people."

Ron waved a hand in the direction of the vast expanse of orange groves. "They're all going" he said, sadly, "all due to be torn down for development. Nobody knows how many, but some say maybe two thousand houses, and they'll all be bought by expats.

"Two years ago, we were welcome here, but now the locals moan about the ruddy English, taking over and pushing up the house prices, so the locals can't afford to live here any more."

You could probably hear the same complaint in Cornwall, or Somerset, but it cuts more keenly, here. If you really don't want to live amongst the British, how far inland do you go?

"We really thought we'd got away from the Little England thing," said Ron, "but it's like a huge tidal wave, moving further and further inland. I suppose we want the best of both worlds, British facilities and the Spanish lifestyle, but it seems you just can't have them, not unless you move far inland."

As we spoke, I looked out over the orange groves. In the distance, a single crane, the first of many, loomed over the orchard.   

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Updated May 2005

Subject: Living in Spain, moving to Spain