Living in a small town in Spain can be rewarding, but the place you love in August may feel very different in winter. Writer Sally Veall shares what she learnt from choosing, buying and renovating a home in Spain, and why visiting out of season matters.
You spend your summer holiday in some picture-postcard small Spanish town, either tucked along the coast or inland with views over the vineyards. Everything about it says yes: the bars are heaving, the restaurants full, even the supermarket queues feel more like an excuse to chat than an inconvenience. It’s lively, it’s welcoming, and by the third glass of something cold on a terrace, you’ve more or less bought the place in your head. Local life beckons, and if you’ve got children, there’s clearly no shortage of ways to keep them entertained.
Small-town life in Spain genuinely can be wonderful but before you get carried away signing anything, it’s worth asking the one question that August never answers honestly: is this a year-round town, or a summer one wearing a very convincing disguise?
Revisit in the off-season
We found it: the small town we believed was the one. Set above the coast with glorious views, a lively weekly market and a bustling centre, it had everything: several excellent restaurants, and a beautiful old town of cobbled streets lined with independent shops. That was in early July.
Back home in France, we began searching the online estate agencies and found no shortage of suitable properties. Work commitments meant we were unable to return until November, by which point we had a folder of properties to view.
The town we had loved was deserted. Not merely quiet, but entirely closed. One bar and one small supermarket remained open; every other shop and restaurant was shut. We were able to park without any difficulty at all, directly outside buildings we had struggled to get near in July. It was a genuine surprise, and since we intended to move there permanently, a sobering one.
Look around nearby
Feeling somewhat despondent, but with time already set aside for house hunting, we found a hotel in a larger town some 25 kilometres away. It sat directly on the coast, had a pleasant promenade and appeared open for business, although a number of shops and restaurants remained closed. We decided to return after Christmas and rented an apartment within walking distance of the centre for six weeks.
The weather was surprisingly kind, and we lived, shopped and ate as the locals did. On the outskirts was a commercial centre where everything was open, and the local bars, along with a handful of restaurants, were busy. The sea air was revitalising, and we resolved to return at Easter to see how the town would compare.
Time to make a decision
By Easter, the town was almost in full swing. Foreign number plates lined the seafront, shops that had stood empty now displayed fresh stock and restaurants had menus posted outside. That’s when we began looking for an apartment in the town centre.
I’ve written before about our experiences there, but for this article, I’ll simply say we made the right choice. We revisited the original town that had so charmed us in July. It was still quiet, though not quite as quiet as it had been in November.
Renovating and settling in
For several reasons, we weren’t able to begin renovating our 1920s apartment until the following January. One was that the tradesmen we’d been recommended locally were already booked up. It’s a wait worth having, though; good references count for a great deal, and one telling sign of a reliable tradesman is that he isn’t free for months.
We were still living in France at the time, so frequent trips were needed to check on progress. Our estate agent and lawyer were, in theory, keeping an eye on things, but in practice we had to make the decisions on the tiles, the paint, the kitchen and bathroom fittings.
Our small town did not have all the suppliers we needed which meant we had to travel to other towns to find them. This took up a lot of time and we discovered that delivery times varied enormously: four days for this, four weeks for that. In the end though, we owned a two-bedroom, two-bathroom 1920s apartment right in the town centre.
The utilities
In most of Spain you will need central heating for the winter months, and it can be expensive. This year gas and electricity have risen due to wars overseas. We had gas to warm us and it was the right decision as we didn’t immediately live there full time. It is quick to warm rooms and the temperature is easily controlled. Fortunately, the gas, water and electricity suppliers had offices in the town, otherwise we would have gone to two towns some distance away to open an account.
Living in a small town
Generally private doctors and local clinics (CAP) are easily found but if you are in a very small town, doctors may only visit once or twice a week and you will need to go to the nearest large town for these services on some days. There is usually a large public hospital not too far away but public transport is sometimes infrequent. Similarly, dentists and the post office will be found in larger towns, so you might need a car. Trains run between the larger towns with stops at smaller places on the way, though you should check this out when you have decided where to buy your property. There is no train service directly where I live and it is a 45-minute drive to the nearest train station, roughly the same as to the nearest airport.
I sometimes visit the town we originally had our eye on and in the winter it can be tricky driving around the narrow road and sharp bends up the hill, particularly in driving rain.
One of the advantages of living in a small town is the great sense of community. You will find plenty going on; live music, cinema, cultural events and sport. Local councils invest in local communities and try to offer something for everyone. The markets are also a focal point of small-town life, and people meet on market days for a coffee or lunch.
You will find numerous clubs and activities in small towns, ranging from tennis, padel and handball to photography, dance, yoga and arts and crafts. These are social too, so you will meet locals and people of other nationalities which is great way to feel part of your new town.
Language classes are also usually on offer, either at the local adult college, academies or privately. A trip to the local library could be the place to find out more about these classes. If there is a foreign community in the town, the library might have sections in English and other languages. You can also find DVDs there and in some, dedicated spaces for computers and printers.
Summary
Looking back, we would make the same choice again. Small-town Spain has a character of its own; quieter and not without its off-season surprises, but richer for it. You get to know your neighbours and there is a particular pleasure in watching a town gradually return to life each spring. It is not always the town first imagined from a summer holiday, but it is a place genuinely suited to living, rather than merely visiting and that distinction makes all the difference.
