Nerja, Spain: A Mediterranean Hideaway with Richard Carnaby

We’re diving into the sunny vibes of Nerja, Spain, and trust me, it’s not just a pretty beach town; it’s the kind of place where you can actually picture yourself kicking back in retirement bliss! In this episode, we chat with Richard Carnaby, who’s on a mission to build his dream home on the eastern Costa del Sol. He spills the tea on why he and his husband chose Nerja over more touristy spots like Marbella, and let me tell you, their reasons are as delightful as a churro dipped in chocolate! We also explore the cost of living, the local LGBTQ scene, and the breathtaking scenery that’ll make you want to pack your bags ASAP. So grab your sunscreen and tune in as we uncover what makes this hidden gem the ultimate retirement destination!

Nerja, Spain, is like that hidden gem you stumble upon when you least expect it. Richard Carnaby, an actor living in Norfolk with his husband Steve, takes us on a journey of how they found their future retirement home on the eastern Costa del Sol. Initially drawn to the popular town of Nerja, they soon realized that nearby Salobreña was their perfect match—a blend of beautiful beaches, a quaint atmosphere, and a dash of local charm. Richard shares delightful stories about their adventures in house hunting, including a memorable long weekend that reignited his love for the area after many years. They explore climate, community, and the lifestyle that awaits them in this sun-soaked paradise, where winters are mild and the summers are warm and inviting. Richard's narrative paints a picture of tranquility, highlighting why he feels Nerja and Salobreña are not just places to live, but true havens for those seeking peace and belonging.

Takeaways:

• The Where Do Gays Retire Podcast is all about finding the perfect retirement spot for the LGBTQ community!
• Richard Carnaby shares his journey of choosing a retirement home in sunny Nerja, Spain, with his husband.
• Living in Nerja offers a chill vibe with beautiful beaches, great food, and a warm community!
• The cost of living in Spain is generally cheaper than in the UK, especially when it comes to food and dining out.
• Nerja is not just a tourist trap; it’s a tranquil town with rich history and culture to explore!
• Safety is a big plus in Nerja, where walking home late at night feels as safe as a cozy blanket on a cold day.

Links referenced in this episode:

• www.wheredogaysretire.com
• www.lgbtqseniors.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Introducing LGBTQSeniors.com – A Free Community for Connection & Pride

Mark Goldstein, host of the Where Do Gays Retire Podcast, shares exciting news: LGBTQSeniors.com is live! It’s a free online community for LGBTQ folks 50+ featuring: Private messaging & forums Monthly Zoom meetups Real connection—without the social media clutter If you love what Mark’s building, please support the cause at 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/unlonelylgbtqseniors 🌈 Join today at LGBTQSeniors.com — because pride doesn’t retire.

Episode Transcript

(01:13):
Welcome to the Where Do GaysRetire Podcast where we help you
in the LGBTQ community find asafe and affordable retirement place.
Join Mark Goldstein as heinterviews others who live in gay
friendly places around the globe.
Learn about the climate, costof living, health care, crime and
safety and more.

(01:33):
Now here's your host, Mark Goldstein.
Have you ever wondered whatit's like living in Nerja, Spain
today?
Stay tuned and find out.
We have our special guest,Richard Carnaby here and Richard

(01:55):
is an actor based in Norfolk,uk, where he lives with his husband
Steve and his two beagles.
He's appeared in severalfilms, one of which is due for release
next month in the UK alongsideKevin McNally of Pirates of the Caribbean
and Downton Abbey.
He's currently performingOscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband in

(02:15):
the Duchess Theatre inLeicester, uk.
I got that right.
Richard and Steve have beenmarried for almost 14 years and have
decided in advance ofStephen's retirement to buy and build
a home on the eastern Costadel Sol in Spain.
Their search began in thepopular town of Nerja, but as time

(02:38):
went on, they realized thelesser known town of Sanobrena was
the perfect fit on the nearbyCasta Tropical.
I hope I pronounced all ofthat correct.
Oh, 10 out of 10.
Thank you, Richard.
Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Sure.
So, Richard, tell us about yourself.

(03:00):
What led you and your husbandto choose Nerja or nearby Sal as
your future retirement?
It was all a bit of anaccident, actually, and the story
sort of unfolds.
I was introduced to NER Wow.
About 25 years ago when I waswith a previous partner.

(03:21):
We owned a house there justoutside in a small village called
Friglana.
And we then, yeah, we thenparted ways and weirdly, I never
thought it was likely that I'dgo back.
But then I met Stephen.
Time went on and what haveyou, and we were looking for a place

(03:43):
to go and visit just for along weekend.
And the flights from here.
Our nearest city is Norwich inNorfolk in the uk and it's on the
east coast.
And the flights were fairlycommonplace to Malaga at the time.
And we just decided to fly ona Thursday to Malaga and come home

(04:05):
the following Monday, just fora long weekend break.
It's only a two hour flight, alittle over two hours.
It was really, really simple.
Whilst there, we went to.
We actually stayed inMarbella, which is on the western
Costa del Sol.
Much more touristy, urbanized,very developed and very popular.
And whilst there I thought,well, actually, let me just Go back

(04:25):
to.
Let's take a drive acrossalong the coast to Nerha and see
how it is and what's changed,if anything.
Because don't forget, this wasabout, I'd say, five, maybe 10 years
after I'd previously been.
And we went and we went upinto the mountains to a little town
called Kompata.
We went to Nerha and I said toStephen, you know, what do you think?

(04:49):
And he said, why wouldn't Ilove it?
It's beautiful.
And I suppose since then it'sbecome our go to emergency break
kind of place because of theease of access.
And then over time, again,sort of, whilst we've been married,
we started to think, well, wedon't do well in the winter here

(05:12):
in the uk.
Let's be honest, I suffer froma degree of depression which is exacerbated
by the dark nights and the,the gloom of winter here in the uk.
Steve is very hard workingand, and is slightly older than me,
about five years older thanme, so he's closer to retirement
than I am.
And we thought, well, we'dlike to find a place that allows

(05:36):
us to live well in ourretirement and that is, I went sort
of house hunting veryfrequently over to the area on the
Costa del Sol and we kind ofdecided that, yeah, actually we could
make this work.
And the intention is to spendseveral months in the winter months

(05:58):
in Spain in the Costa del Soland obviously the summers here in
the uk.
That's the plan and that'swhat we're kind of the kit of parts
is there and forming andcoming together.
Would you.
So when you mentioned you werein Marbella, which is west of the
Casa del Sol, west of Malaga, right?

(06:20):
Yep.
And then you traveled east toNerja, what.
What caught your eye?
Like, what made the differencebetween those two locations?
Was it the mountains or.
Oh, you can't.
The two are completely different.

(06:42):
We, Stephen and I, aren't whatI would call city dwellers.
Yes, we've had careers and wework in the capital of the uk, London,
and I've worked in Nottinghamand Leicester and Steve's worked
all around the world as well.
But we're not city dwellers,we prefer the countryside.
And also whilst Marbella andPortobenus and all of the west coast

(07:06):
there has elements of it thatare beautiful, it's all quite purpose
built.
Whereas on the eastern side ofMalaga things are a little bit more
rural and a little bit more traditional.
It's still accessible by afantastic road, the Autovia del Mediterraneo.
Which goes all the way up toBarcelona, but it's not so urbanized,

(07:29):
I would say.
And we just felt that becausewe live in the countryside in the
UK and again we've got accessto good roads and an airport and
train stations and things like that.
Here we don't, we didn't wantan environment that means we're confronted
with people on all sides,whether you go out or whether you're

(07:52):
out for a Sunday drive or adog walk even.
We crave tranquility and adegree of isolation.
And that was why we favoredthe eastern side, because it's not
as heavily developed.
Even though it's accessible toGranada, the city of Granada and
Malaga, it's still relativelyunfound, I think is the.

(08:14):
An untrodden, I think is the phrase.
It's a little bit of a secret.
It sounds like the best ofboth worlds that.
So you have access, reallygood access to urban lifestyle if
you need it.
So in other words, you can goto Malaga on a.
The same day and see a show orgo to some restaurants that you want

(08:40):
to and yet get away to thepeacefulness of ne.
Absolutely, yeah.
Okay, so let's talk a littlebit about climate and geography.
Can you describe the climateand natural setting of Nerja and
the surrounding Casa del Sol?

(09:00):
Yeah, it's protected from the north.
It's clearly south facing.
It's on the.
The southern coast of Spain.
It's protected from its northside by a mountain range called the
Sierras de Oh, Sierra Taja.
And the highest point of whichis a ski resort, believe it or not,

(09:21):
even though you are in atground level or sea level, you're
probably in 25 degrees.
There is a ski resort up inthe mountains and it's very popular.
So you're protected from thatnorth blast that we get here in the,
in the northern hemisphere,I'm afraid for.
And so within that it, itfaces south so that the climate is

(09:42):
always very accommodating.
Certainly in the winter monthsit rarely drops below 20 degrees
Celsius, which is around about70 degrees Fahrenheit.
So but in the winter monthsit's not fiercely hot, so it's comfortable.
And then of course, as youevolve into the, the summer in the

(10:07):
northern hemisphere, of courseit gets hotter, which again gives
you license to relax.
There's nothing, you know,nothing wrong, there's nothing to
feel guilty about by wantingto spend a day by a swimming pool
in a 25, 30 degree heat.
And that is what they'refamiliar with in Spain in on the
south coast there.

(10:29):
So, so that's the, the, thesort of heat factor.
And I've, I've seen days whereit has gone over 40 degrees Celsius,
which is significant.
It's a rarity.
But it happens and it'shappened more frequently, more recently.
There are strong winds attimes and when it rains, it seems

(10:52):
to really rain.
They call them the inundations.
And I've been there where oneor two days, say in October, it's
usually October and it doesmake the national international news
where just for some reason aweather system gets caught by, I
don't know whether by themountains, between the mountains
and the sea.

(11:13):
I don't know what, I'm not aweather forecaster but, but, and
whoa, does it rain.
And you know, people's carsget washed down the road and things
like that.
So, but that's a, that's theworst case scenario and it only happens
infrequently.
So other than that, you getthe odd shower in spring and autumn,

(11:33):
but from about June, 1 Juneonwards, it rarely rains all the
way through to October.
So what that does is, allowsyou a lifestyle that you can plan
and you can, you know that you.
It's not going to be rainedoff or snowed off, unlike the UK
where.
Yeah, yeah, you know, and youcan eat outside that simple relaxing

(11:56):
pastime of, you know, having a beat.
Absolutely.
You can sit there and haveyour coffee in the morning without
being rained on or you canhave a beach picnic or you can sit
by your swimming pool and haveyour evening meal and.
Sounds so delightful, doesn't it?
I know, I'm selling it well,aren't I, Mark?
I'm kind of doing quite well,even though I've told everybody,
I think it's the best kept secret.

(12:17):
I'm now telling everybody howgreat it is.
But never mind, carry on.
So explain to our audience.
Nerja is also.
Is it on the Mediterranean?
It is.
All of that coastline is Mediterranean.
Okay, so it's just east of Malaga.
Yeah.
Anything east of Gibraltar ison the Mediterranean.

(12:39):
Gibraltar is, is British, of course.
It's a United Kingdom territory.
Anything west of Gibraltar is,I think over towards Portugal is
class as the Atlantic.
So, so yes, we're on theMediterranean coast.
The localized sea is calledthe Albaran Sea and it's a, again,
not too heavily, not a lot ofshipping traffic.

(13:00):
It's a, it's a marine naturereserve which again is really lovely
because it's protected sothere aren't kind of masses of speedboats
and Jet skis and water skis.
Yes, there is some localizedstuff going on off the beach, but
it isn't a kind of heavilytrafficked area because they have
dolphins and, and, and otherreally heavily protected sea creatures

(13:24):
of all kinds.
And you can do scuba diving,you can take a boat out and, and
go scuba diving and all ofthat stuff.
And of course because of theheat, you know, the, the sea warms
up through August and it's atits best in sort of September, October.
It's not a particularlyfreezing cold kind of sea.
You know, you can spend timein it and actually it's quite a relief

(13:46):
too.
So from Centro Nerja, thebeach is how far away?
Oh, there are, there are aboutfour or five beaches.
Nerha itself is on the coast.
It's literally on the, on theshoreline and it's known as the Balcony
of Europe.
And there is a main, I've seenthat balcony.

(14:06):
Yes.
There's a main prominent treefrom the town square that juts out
over the sea and it's calledthe Balcon di Europa, which is Balcony
of Europe.
And on a very clear day, andyou would have to require a very
clear day, you can see thenorthern coast of Africa from it.
That's how geographically Isuppose close you are to the northern

(14:26):
coast of Africa.
But beaches across the townthere's a couple of town beaches.
One's called Calahonda,Torricella is another one and they're
quite sweet twee little beaches.
There's little beach huts andit's all quite traditional.
It's not rammed full ofsunbeds and commercial.

(14:49):
You're not laying there nextto somebody that you've never met
kind of beach.
It's not like that.
It's, unless you choose to ofcourse, but, but, and the main big
I suppose family orientatedbeach is called Burriana Playa Burriana,
which is just east of the town.
It's a little bit of a walkfrom the town center.

(15:09):
Although they are trying toform a, a walkway between the town
center and the balcony.
Balcony through to Buryana.
But that's where kind of mostof the family activities are based.
Like, like I say, the, thebouncy castles and the, the, the
water sports and that kind ofthing that's more driven to family
environment.
There's restaurants and barsand, and beach bars and they call

(15:31):
them chiringuitos, which islittle restaurants that are on the
sand where they keep your,your, your sardines on the barbecue.
Absolutely.
So there's a, there's amultitude of Choices, which is again,
great.
Further afield there's themore rural ones as well.
There's a couple of naturist beaches.
How about towards Salobrena?

(15:52):
Well, that's where the morerural ones I find tend to be.
Do you still have beaches there?
Oh, absolutely.
Again, that's directly on the coast.
Salabren, which is as, aswe're about to talk about is, is
further east, only about 10minutes drive.
Nothing dramatic.
Salabrina is an old medieval town.
It's got, is.
Is formed around a giantcastle that's in the middle.

(16:16):
It was clearly a fortress backin the day of the.
The numerous invasions thatSpain underwent hundreds of years
ago.
It's less touristy and this iswhere we eventually settled on a
property.
It's got everything that youwant, your supermarkets, your bars,
your huge beach.

(16:37):
Huge beach.
But it's not so well troddenand not so well known.
And I think that's born out ofthe fact that it's just.
First of all, it's in adifferent province.
It's in Granada provincerather than Malaga province.
So our, our technically our goto city at Sala Brent, when we, where
we live in Salaabrenia isGranada, which.
Is inland, is Malaga.

(17:00):
Yes.
Yeah, but they're only 10 minutes.
No, her and celebrity are only10 minutes apart.
So really Malaga and Granadaare equidistant from both.
It's just Malaga is the bigport, airport city.
Whereas Granada, because it'sinland, it hasn't got the port, it
has an airport, but it's more traditional.
It's certainly.
It's known by its Alhambrapalace, which is a great big, one

(17:22):
of the sort of wonders of theworld style palace.
It's huge.
Salaba, as I say, is a littleless developed, has got the elements
of a, of an old Spanish townlike Nerja.
It's just not as well groomedand put up for tourism as Nerja is,

(17:45):
which has its benefits and burdens.
I suppose it's not so crowded.
Certainly in the summer it's,it's more tranquil.
But of course you haven't gotthe variety of restaurants and other
things going on because it'snot so touristy centered.

(18:05):
It's such.
It's much more of a localSpanish town.
Do you find yourself goinginto Nerja?
Absolutely.
No.
Her is always.
Neha is a great.
Yeah, no, her is a great go to town.
It really, really is.
It's.
It's got every single facility.
You would really want accessto health care.

(18:26):
There's private doctors of all languages.
There's clinics, that kind of thing.
Dentistry.
There's, of course, supermarkets.
There's more.
What I have noticed aboutNerha, and I have noticed it about
many of the towns on the cost,these more small market towns on
the Costa del del Sol is theydon't have these overwhelming shopping

(18:51):
complexes.
It's, it's not like they'regoing to find the Beverly center
just outside on the motorway.
It doesn't work like that in Spain.
They're, they're quite, fromwhat I can see, they, they quite
like to keep things within thetowns and keep it centralized rather
than these big out of townshopping complexes.
There are the odd one or two,but everything is centered in the

(19:13):
town.
So you've always got yourpharmacies, your hairdressers, your
restaurants, cafes, bars, shoe shops.
Because it's walkable too.
Absolutely.
Everything is in walkingdistance as it is in Salabrenia.
And is there a town called Torox?
Torox isn't a town.
It's.
Yeah, Torox is, is known asthe best climate in Europe.

(19:37):
Where is that?
That is just about two milesto the west of Nerha.
So you have to drive past it from.
Yeah, yeah, it's very close.
Torox is lovely.
It's a sweet little Andalusianvillage, slightly inland.
And again, like I say, it'sbecause of its geographical location.

(19:58):
It's kind of in a valley whichis sheltered on all sides by mountains
apart from the, the south,which is of course facing the sea.
So it's known as having thebest climate in Europe.
And the countryside aroundTorox is beautiful.
It's very dramatic, very greenand verdant, very hilly and, and

(20:18):
lots of people have foundbeautiful villas in that area.
And going up towards Kompata,which is nearby the town I mentioned
earlier, but up in themountains and.
But Torox also has a Costa.
Torox.
Costa, which is a purposebuilt kind of beach location for
the village.
And I've noticed that they'vedone that a lot in Spain where, where

(20:41):
you have a city or town in the.
In, in land, it will have itspurpose built beach kind of vibey
area also.
So you can dip between the two.
I mean, the classic case isTorolinos at Malaga was purpose built
as the beach resort for Malaga.
So again, it gives you all the options.

(21:05):
You can hit the beach, you canstay in town, you can, you know,
it's great.
Have you noticed any climatechange in the region?
Like I mentioned earlier, theodd day there's A there's a fierce
moment in August and it's.
August has always beenblisteringly hot in Spain, full stop.

(21:29):
And what tends to happen isyou'll find people from Madrid, the
Spaniards who, who work andlive in Madrid and other big cities
will have a home on the coastthat they kind of migrate to for
August because it's slightlycooler, even though it's 35 or 40
degrees Celsius.

(21:49):
But, but obviously they canjump in the pool or jump in the sea.
And I've noticed certainlythere's a, there's a, a moment in
August, usually about a weeklong, that it is extraordinary hot,
extraordinarily hot.
The, the ween, the wind stops,is still, it's peaceful because nobody's

(22:10):
moving, nobody dare goanywhere because it's just so you
can't, you can't get tradesmento do anything in August because.
But, and also the rainfall inwinter hasn't been as consistent
as I used to know it was.
And there was a concerncertainly about six months ago that

(22:34):
the, the reservoirs.
I know there's a big reservoirnear Nerha called Lake Vinuela, which
is a giant reservoir.
Its resources were dwindlingthen they had the inundation in,
in August, sorry, October, andit, it literally filled up within
the space of about a fortnight.
So they're.
But, but, but there is anissue with water supply in the area.

(22:58):
Quite a big issue.
And that's born out, not bornout of development, that's actually
born out of avocado farming.
Believe it or not, a lot ofthe farmers have moved over to the
global demand for avocados,which require huge amount of water.
Water to irrigate them.

(23:18):
And they're calling on theresource to make a living, which
of course is having an impacton water supplies to urbanized areas,
towns.
And I know certainly in therural areas, areas like I mentioned
earlier, outside Torox andCompeta, they do switch the water
off from time to time toresidential areas to, to feed other

(23:41):
residential areas.
It is a little bit push me,pull you and give and take.
How that's being addressed, Idon't know.
It's.
Spain has faced this problemfor several years.
I don't know what to say.
It is an issue for, for to consider.
Yeah.
Okay, let's move on to thecost of living.

(24:05):
So how would you describe thecost of living in Nerja and the Costa
Tropical as opposed to the UK or.
The US in the uk I don't livein the US So it's difficult for me
to convey it, but I wouldimagine in the US life is expensive.

(24:25):
I've worked and lived in la,I've visited New York.
I know though certainly thoseplaces are expensive to live in all
kind of directions.
In the uk, life is expensive.
Our food has gone up significantly.
Our resources like power,energy, petrol, diesel, gasoline,
you call it, are all expensive.

(24:47):
Spain is much cheaper.
There are elements that areslightly more expensive but nothing
of note.
It's, and I think that'sbecause they're connected to other
countries in the eu, so ofcourse supply chains are there.
Food, it has to be mentioned,is cheaper.

(25:10):
Is cheaper.
Absolutely.
And I think again that comesfrom the fact that it's easier to
go out to eat in Spain.
People do, because the lastthing you want to do is stand over
a hot stove in a 30 degreeheat at home.
So just go outside, go out andget someone else to do it.
And, and of course it'sprobably cheaper.
Yeah, absolutely.
But of course also it's easierto grow, you know, vegetables and

(25:35):
that kind of thing is mucheasier to come by out there.
And their food standards, Ipersonally feel a higher, I go, I
love going shopping, foodshopping in Spain because simply
the colors and the, the lifein the food on the shelves, on, you
know, the grocery areas is,it's really flamboyant, I can't describe

(25:57):
it.
And it's much more of what Iwould call a higher standard compared
to that in the supermarketsand grocery stores I see in England.
I, I again, I don't know wherethat comes from.
It just feels like it is.
Alcohol is cheaper there.
However, their drink drivinglaws are, are much more tough.
So be careful.

(26:19):
Their threshold for beingunder the influence of alcohol whilst
driving is really, really low.
So don't think you're going toget away with having three cans of
beer or whatever and gettingin your car and driving home, because
if you get caught, they will.
And I, I don't want to get onthe wrong side of the Guardia Civil.
They look a bit scary.

(26:40):
What's, what I've, what I'veheard in Spain is though, like, wine
is so.
Much cheaper because grapesare easier to come right.
And you know, you'll have winewith lunch, you'll have wine with
dinner, you might even havewine with breakfast.
But the way they, they drinktheir wine is not like, you know,

(27:01):
they go crazy.
They take like a half a glassor a small portion of the wine and
it's just like a social thing.
Absolutely.
We, I mean, we're Britishpeople are renowned for, across the
world, for our poor managementof alcohol.
I make no secret of that.

(27:21):
And I'm gonna hold my hands upto that.
We're terrible at it.
And.
But.
But yes, absolutely.
Out there in Spain, it iscertainly more of a social thing.
And it is very uncommon to seea Spanish person who is drunk.

(27:43):
In fact, I don't think in allthe time I've been going there nearly
30 years, and I can't recall atime where I've seen a Spanish person
drunk.
They're much more consideredwith it and much more measured.
And you're right, it is a verymuch an addition to a meal, not a
prerequisite.
Right.

(28:04):
And I think, again, that comesfrom the heat.
I mean, the lot.
You know, the last thing, theworst feeling in the world is a thumping
hangover when it's 35 degrees.
It's just the.
Oh, really?
Why do we do that to ourselves?
I've never done it out there,I have to say.
I've never done it and I wouldn't.
I avoid it because I don'twant to feel like that.

(28:25):
Right, yeah.
Who does?
Let's talk about.
How about cost of living asfar as the housing market is concerned?
So you're building a house.
Yeah.
So do you know what theaverage median, maybe the median
home price is, in a word?
No, because it's so variable.

(28:46):
Because there are rural spots,unpopulated spots.
You could quite easily pickyourself up a tiny little village
house with maybe two bedrooms,a little roof terrace, little white
sugar cube house with a livingroom kitchen for the equivalent of

(29:10):
£30,000, which is, I think,around about $45,000.
Ish, I think.
Sorry.
Yeah, that's in the more rural areas.
Absolutely.
It would need some work, butit's yours and it's legal because
it's in the.
The town, so to speak.
So it's urbanized all the wayacross to.

(29:34):
If you want your beachfrontvilla with sea view from dawn till
dusk, uninterrupted, ofcourse, they go up into the millions.
So there is a fantastic crosssection of property prices depending.
And it is all based on postcode.
It is literally, you knowthose houses outside of.

(29:59):
On the edge of Marbella, onthe Golden Mile there, where the
Sultan of Brunei and the Kingof Saudi Arabia all have houses?
Well, you're talking literallyBel Air prices.
Whereas, of course, I couldfind a similar sized villa in the
countryside just outside Toroxfor €300,000, which is a lot of money.

(30:26):
But again, you aren't cheek byjowl to your neighbor, you've got
towns and villages that youwant to visit close by.
It all depends what you want.
But I assure you it's, I wouldargue it's cheaper than, certainly
cheaper than the uk.
I mean, I don't know again,it's, I'm pretty sure the, the cost

(30:48):
of housing across the US willvary where, where you want to be.
It's that supply and demand stuff.
But it's funny, I foundmyself, we found ourselves not wanting
to be in the sought afterareas, which might be a fantastic
lesson to sort of watch asit's understandable.
How about groceries, diningout prices, Transportation.

(31:14):
How did they compare to the uk?
Transportation is brilliant.
The road network, I mean, thefirst thing I always notice when
I get home to the UK is howterrible our roads are.
And even though we havemotorways and high, you know, six
lane highways, the Spanishroad network, the motorway network
is brilliant and it's almostunder subscribed.

(31:39):
You could drive on a motorwayand not see another car and think,
where is everybody?
And I know certainly on thewest western Costa del Sol they have
toll roads as well, which arecompletely empty and you pay your
five euro toll and you canrace down to Marbella.
So.
And also the public transportsystem is very effective.
Actually, Noha and Salabaaren't on a railway network, which

(32:03):
I think is, dare I say it, agood thing, keeps the people out.
I'm glad you said it.
They are on a very good busnetwork, very efficient bus network.
And I've never used the bus,but I see them and they are very
frequent.
They're very clean and tidy looking.
The locals use them, theSpaniards use them all the time.
You see them.

(32:24):
And I don't believe from whatI hear in Facebook forums for the
town and things like that it'sonly a couple of euros, which is
not a dramatic to go anywhere.
These are fairly frequent.
They go up into thecountryside, into the villages, serve
the villages also off toMalaga, into Malaga.
Malaga, where you can get thevery efficient training service.

(32:47):
Yeah, you can.
You've got the train serviceout of Malaga which goes along the
west coast to Toromalinos andanother locations for Wangarola.
Yeah.
But it also goes direct toMadrid, other big cities all the
way through.
They have the bullet trains.
They do, they do, they do,they do.
And I've been on a train.
I haven't been on a bullet train.

(33:08):
I've been.
And again, it's clean, tidy,efficient and it's, it's very user
friendly.
Yeah, absolutely.
What's the transportation timefrom by bus or by car from Nerha
to Malaga?
Hour and a half.
Oh, it's that far from Malaga?

(33:28):
Yeah, on the road, I think.
Yeah, I think a bus would takea little bit longer.
I, I've done her to Malaga inan hour.
On the, on the road, on the car.
In a car.
But I guess by bus you'retalking an hour and a half to get
into the center of the city.
Yeah.
So it is far away.
I mean, far enough that youhave peace and quiet and seclusion.

(33:49):
I, I think that distance is meaningful.
Yeah, absolutely.
And it brings a lot ofbenefits and it, again, it depends
what you want.
If you want people, if you,you don't want isolation.
There are areas in the Costadel Sol of all kinds that you can
find a home in.
But for us personally, theeastern side was the winner at all

(34:11):
times.
Because, because it allowsyou, if you want to go in and dip
your toe into the busy stuff,of course you can, but you always
go home and, you know, have aquiet night's sleep.
Do you know what the cost ofInternet and those kind of utilities
like gas and electric?
No, there's no mains gas.
There's no such thing as mains gas.

(34:33):
They have bottled gasdelivered in the countryside, which
I.
Excuse me, sorry.
They have bottle gas deliveredin the countryside.
A little man with a littletruck comes around and drops you
off your bottles and takesyour empties away.
I don't believe it'sparticularly expensive, but I don't
also believe it's particularly efficient.
I know our house build.

(34:55):
We concentrate on electric andbecause it's south facing and we're
going to get away with solarpanels on the roof and that's going
to prop up the hot water andthe city central heating, what heating
you actually need, don'tforget, you don't actually need a
lot of heating, A lot of theair conditioning that you do.
And, and of course that, thatprovides a reverse function of heating

(35:16):
as well.
If you needed warm air on aparticularly rare occasion where
it is cool enough to, to need it.
I don't get a sense it'sparticularly expensive though, Mark.
Neither is water, strangely,given its degree, the degree of scarceness.
I, I don't believe it'sparticularly expensive to fill up
a swimming pool or even just,you know, fill up a kettle to boil

(35:39):
yourself a cup of coffee.
It's, it's all fairly accessible.
And I think it would be wrongto think that this is a primitive
place where resources arescarce and, and difficult to come
by and expensive as a result.
It's that it's not like thatat all.
It's a very well accomplishedorganized area of the country with

(36:02):
great facilities andutilities, Internet and broadband
and that kind of thing.
Do you know what?
I don't know, forgive me, Igenuinely don't know what the comparison
would be.
I know in the countrysidepeople have kind of satellite broadband
and I think there's one bigcompany called Axel Fusion who provide

(36:24):
it.
I don't get it.
Again, I think because it's sodomestically available, I don't get
a sense that it's expensiveand I don't.
And I think it's fairlyreliable as well.
So, yeah, I've heard others indifferent parts of Spain say that
it was pretty inexpensive.
So yeah, yeah, it's not a drama.

(36:45):
Seriously.
Okay, let's move on to theLGBTQ community or lack of now.
So we know Spain is very LGBTQplus, you know, oriented or, or minded.
What's the community like inNerja or Rena as far as compare comparing

(37:11):
it to Malaga?
Is there any type ofcommunity, Is there an LGBTQ community
at all?
Malaga.
And it's kind of a neighbor.
Toromalinos is where the majorgay LGBTQ plus communities congregate

(37:33):
to socialize.
And again, Toromalinos has apurpose built zone, I would call
it a kind of neighborhoodwhich is alive with bars, clubs,
venues, restaurants.
And it's lovely, it's, it'sreally sweet.
And, and what's lovely aboutwhat I really, I was there in March

(37:55):
actually.
It was a friend of mine's 30thbirthday and we went out on a Saturday
night and we were there till5am and I'm nearly 50 years old and
I thought, oh my God, I can, Ican't do this anymore.
This is crazy.
And it was great.
But what I loved about it, itwas, wasn't just little kids or I,
I say little kids, you know,your, your late teens, twenties,

(38:15):
thirties.
There's there's also a crosssection of ages and there's drag
and there's, there's, there's leather.
There's.
There, there's.
So, so the night scene isconcentrated in Torolinos and Malaga,
Nura and Salabren.
Yes, it's much more restrained.
And I think that is by choice.

(38:36):
I think like you said in theintroduction to that question, Spain
is incredibly tolerant.
They're a fantasticallywelcoming and tolerant nation.
And it's fine to be gay.
You know, I've been there withmy husband and my.
Nobody cares.
No one gives us stuff.

(38:57):
I, I admit, I.
We don't hold hands.
We don't do public displays of affection.
I don't believe for a secondif I did, I would get a scowl of
any kind.
It would not be receivedunpleasantly at all.
Like in the uk.
Is it like the us like, isthere anti.
There's a degree of.

(39:18):
Yeah, the UK is a.
Oh, I don't want to go intopolitics, but we, we have some influences
in the UK at the moment that.
To the lgbtq, you.
Even though we've got a.
An arguably a socialistgovernment, the Labor Party at the
moment, which is more left.
Left leaning, there are someinfluences in the UK off to the right

(39:42):
that aren't helping.
And whilst it is perfectlylegal and lawful and okay to be gay
and, and show that in the.
In on the street in the uk,you know, holding hands, I'm always.
I personally am alwaysreluctant to.
Because we hear the stories,I'm afraid.

(40:02):
And, And I don't want to bedragged into some sort of show where
just because I, I don't know,patted my husband on the back and,
you know, put my arm aroundhis shoulders, all of a sudden I'm
dragged into.
Oh, you know, that's allwrong, those kind of comments.
But, but it is lawful.
It's just, it's morerestrained here.
It's like the U.S.
yeah, what you're describing.

(40:24):
But, but, but Nerha, you'reright, there are pockets.
There's the odd venue that is.
I wouldn't say exclusively gay.
It's leaning towards gay.
There's no particular zone orstreet or shop that I can think of
that is of relevance to thegay community.
There's a beach, actually,fairly in between Salabino Nerja.

(40:50):
There's a beach, actually.
It's on the edge of thenational park, so it's not developed
at all.
There's just a couple oflittle beach bars and that is it.
And the car park and it's beautiful.
And there is a gay zone ofthat particular beach, which I think.
Because it's secluded.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
But, but, but.
And again, it's beautiful.
I've been there.
I make no secret.

(41:10):
It's fine.
And there's a naturist areaand it's so.
It.
I don't think that's anythingnegative though, why it's done like
that.
And I, I just think it'sformed out, it's been formed organically.
I always describe Nerha andSala Brenya and certainly the Countryside
where I've rented villas sooften over the last 25 years while

(41:32):
we're house hunting andholiday as somewhere where if I don't
want to be found as an actor,let's just say I became the next
who, I don't know, Tom Cruise.
It's just imagine if I don'twant to be found, that's where I'll
go because it's accessible tome and I know where to get to and

(41:53):
I know how to get to where Ineed to be.
But it's also difficult forother people to find you.
It's secluded, it's discreet,it's select and that is why we chose
it.
It's not in your face, it'snot brash, it's not, you know, drag
dragon.
It sounds refreshing, but itdoesn't need it.
And, and I think if that'syour choice of a location for a home

(42:15):
or a holiday destination,don't expect fireworks and, you know.
Right.
Feather boas.
All right, gotcha.
No, I totally get it, Itotally get it.
But everyone seems to be verywelcoming and absolutely, they won't
bat an eye.

(42:36):
And also because it's a, ahotbed of other nationalities, you
know, British people andAmericans and Canadians aren't the
only people buying holidayhomes and retirement homes.
Don't forget it's accessiblehugely to the north European market.
So Germany and Dutch, Sweden,Switzerland, all of those traditionally,

(42:58):
I would argue, cold locationswhere, where again, gay couples.
I, I know I, I can think of ahandful of gay couples that I've
met whilst holidaying in Nerhathat have.
They come from Holland andSweden and Denmark open and, and
those locations are alwaystotally, you know, fabulously accepting

(43:18):
and to, to the gay culture and Iceland.
I.
Absolutely.
So, you know, you will alwaysfind this fantastically accepting
culture in Neha and celebrity.
That's great.
Yeah, that's great.
Great.
Let's talk about walkability again.
Transportation.
So we, we talked about howaccessible the wet towards the west

(43:43):
is with rail.
Nerha has buses.
How about walkability?
So can you walk to everythingin Nerja?
If you lived in Nerja or inSala, could you walk to the pharmacy?
Yes.
Grocery store.
Yeah.

(44:03):
The short answer to thatquestion is yes.
You will always findsomething, of course there, like,
like I said earlier, there arebigger supermarkets accessible by
the motorway and things likethat, but you will always find little
grocery stores, little shoeshops, little designer boutiques,
the, the, you know, the shopwhere you need to buy some sun lotion.

(44:24):
The pharmacy, there's YetNerha is a very accomplished market
town and there is a regularmarket as well on the outskirts of
the town.
Again, I, I could.
I know my way around it and.
It'S all walkable here is notalways better.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no.
Says who?
And Sala Brenya is the same,but it's more, it's a smaller town

(44:47):
generally got a smallerpopulation and, but everything is
walkable or bikable and, andthere's ample car parking as well.
So if you do live outside andyou need to go into town, there's
ample car parking either onstreet or in purpose built car parks
around the town.
Do you need a car if you livedin ner?

(45:08):
No.
If you lived in thecountryside or one of the villages
outside, I would argue yes.
My home is, is in an area,it's a gated development called Monte
de los Almondres.
I've got the card in front ofme for the, the administration office
and it's.

(45:28):
That translates to AlmondMountain and it's a, an estate that
is outside of the town of Salabren.
And actually, whilst it's abeautiful location and every home
is like that, like you wouldsee in sort of those Bel Air estates
where, where every home isbeautiful and they have the green
hedges and the big gates andthings like that, there isn't a shop

(45:50):
on that particular area of the town.
So you would need a car.
You've got neighbors, you'vegot, you know, a communal pool which
is rarely used because.
And a tennis court and apaddle port and things like that,
which is rarely used becauseeverybody's got their own blooming
pool anyway.
But there isn't any retailthere, so you would need a car.

(46:12):
And is there car ridingservices like Uber?
No, no, no.
There's taxis.
There's.
There's taxis, but there isn'ta, an app based.
Not that I'm aware of it.
It will creep in, I'm sure.
Then there probably is one inMalaga and Marbella because they're
more businessy, they're morefinancially kind of driven cities

(46:33):
with finance districts and,and things like that.
But no, I can't recall seeinganything like the app based service
like those, Uber and Bolt andthings like that yet.
Okay.
But of course you can justpick up the phone and ring a taxi.
Lots of people actually fly inand get a taxi to their home where
they've got a car waiting forthem that they purchased to sit with

(46:54):
their home.
It saves them parking at theairport, it saves them frantically
driving to the airport late orwhatever takes the stress out of
all that bit.
So that's quite commonplace.
So, yes, walkability is greatand actually quite relaxing.
Yeah, sounds like.
Let's talk about health care.
I don't know if you'veexperienced the health care system,

(47:18):
but you.
You probably know about it in,in Spain, in general.
So is there a hospital in Nerja?
No, there's lots of small.
There's lots of small clinics,private ones.
What's the closest?
Oh, the, the closest hospital hospital.
Yeah.
There's a large one at a towncalled Veles, Malaga, which is about

(47:41):
halfway between Nerha and thecity of Malaga.
It's a big half hour, 30minutes maybe.
Yeah, yeah, around that, yeah.
And of course, there are bighospitals in Malaga.
There's a couple of.
That I can think of.
I've seen signs for.
I've.
I've had to use healthcare outthere a couple of times and it is

(48:02):
better, although more costly,to take the private route.
It's easier.
And, and you know what,forgive me for being blunt, but if
you've got enough money toretire to Spain, you've got enough
money to pay €50 for a GPappointment, doctor.
So.
And also I'm.
We're going through the visaprocess at the moment where we can

(48:24):
apply since we've left the.
The uk, left the eu.
Yeah.
We have to now apply for visasto, to live and work in Spain for
any reasonable amount of time.
So I'm currently going throughthe visa application process.
What.
What type of visa are youapplying for?
We're having the, the domesticnomad visa, so we can still work

(48:48):
from Spain without restrictionand it allows us to reside there
and carry on our work in theUK and potentially in Spain as well.
I'm an actor, so, hey, I mightget an advert to advertise a car
in Barcelona.
I don't know.
But.
And I know part of that, thatvisa application process is proving
that we've got adequateprivate health care cover that you

(49:12):
can purchase.
You can purchase an insurancepolicy or alternatively, you can
pay for it ad hoc as and whenyou need it.
Like I say, I can't rememberwhat the health care issue was now,
to be honest.
It was a good few years ago,but I thought, you know what, I'm
going to go and get thislooked at.
And what is great about itbeing a private system is that you

(49:34):
pick up the phone, you bookin, you go down and you have your
appointment and that's it.
And you're seeing at the timeyou Booked it.
You haven't got away inqueues, you haven't got a, you know,
run around buildings lookingfor the relevant doctor or the relevant
reception desk to, to getyourself to where you need to be.
It's all just done and thereand sorted and so it is a private

(49:57):
based system.
There is a cost to that butfrom what I've seen also the standards
are high and I know there arehospitals in Marbella, which of course
is a good couple of hours awayfrom where we're talking about that
are the best in the world orconsidered the best in the world
for various treatments.

(50:18):
I understand.
Is it true or pro.
Do you.
You.
You'll be applying for privatehealth care, Correct.
So yes, yes.
Do you have any idea what itcost costs?
I think anywhere from 100 to$200 a person per month.
I think it would depend onyour age, your any, any pre existing

(50:43):
conditions.
Conditions whether you're asmoker, whether you're a drinker.
All of those things fall intoplace, don't they, when, when considering
this kind of policy.
And actually I haven't had myquote back yet from my visa consultant
who, who's doing ours.
So in answer to your question,I don't know but I would, I.
It's again, we're in asituation where it's a commercial

(51:05):
country where provision is available.
It.
I, I would imagine given howmany people require it who are retiring
or visiting or residing,certainly from the uk, let alone
Germany, France, sp, you know,Sweden, Holland.
It's a fairly accessible.

(51:26):
There are fairly accessibleschemes available with the relevant
cover that's necessary.
Now once you get your visa,how long does it take to get on to
the public system?
I can apply for residency in.
I can apply for residency atany time actually.
Whether I'll get it or not, Idon't know.

(51:46):
But you can become a citizenwithin three years.
So.
But the public health caresystem, 1, 1, 2 visa.
I, I actually don't know theanswer to that question.
But, but.
And I think the very fact thatwe've got to have a private health
care policy means we can't.
I think it's a year, I think,I'm not quite sure if it's three

(52:08):
months or a year.
Yeah, but I think you needprivate health care.
Yeah.
For a year.
Yeah.
And then when you're eligiblefor the public, since you haven't
been paying, paid, you haven'tpaid into the system, the Social
Security system of Spain allof those years, there is a charge.

(52:32):
I think it's something like 70.
The equivalent of €70 permonth if you're below.
If you're less than 65 years old.
Okay.
Younger than 65 and 65, itgoes up double.
Yeah.
We do have a benefit that hasmaintained and been retained since

(52:54):
the UK left the EU ofreciprocal health care.
So.
Yeah.
So I know British citizens, ifyou're in, you can apply for a card
while you're in the UK andit's a little blue one with, with
the European and British flag on.
And that allows UK citizens tohave reciprocal free emergency health
care, which is the same thatwe would get in the UK if we needed

(53:18):
it.
Whether that.
That wouldn't.
That would.
That.
That covers emergency provision.
I don't know.
Say I slipped down the stairsand broke my leg on holiday or whatever.
Think that would allow for amore residency based issue like say
perish the thought.
I was living in Salaba and Icontracted cancer.

(53:41):
I don't think that that coverwould, would allow for that.
Which is why the policy wouldkick in for us.
Right.
I don't know how that sitswith American or Canadian.
Yeah.
So I think after that periodof time of your residency, I think
it's a year.
And then you can pay into thepublic system as well.

(54:04):
And there's no pre existingconditions with the public system?
No.
Okay.
Let's talk a little bit aboutarts, culture and dining.
Moving right along.
What's the cultural scene in Nerja?
Beautiful.
The first thing that springsto mind, and don't forget Malaga
is the home of Pablo Picard,the artist.

(54:26):
Granada is very artsy.
So what I love about Nerha, asI've mentioned before in celebration,
is every shop, every littlecorner, there's something individual,
it's very cultured.
And that part of Spain hasover the years been fought over from

(54:49):
medieval times and beyond bydifferent Romans, the Moors, the
Jews.
It's, it's.
No.
The area is known as thevillage of three cultures.
So.
So there is a lot of history.
There's a huge amount of history.
And the first thing thatsprings to mind is the caves in.

(55:10):
They are again, I would argue,a wonder of the world.
There's a beautiful cavecomplex that's open to the public,
very cheap and accessible,just outside the town.
And it's amazing.
And they hold music concertsin there, which of course the acoustics
are extraordinary.
You've got museums, obviously.

(55:30):
Celebr, as I mentionedearlier, is based around a great
big medieval castle fortress,which is great.
It's kind of like thispinnacle on, on the, the top of the
hill, you've got the influenceof Pablo Picasso in Malaga.
There's art galleries, there's museums.
Malaga is a beautiful oldcolonial city and some of the architecture

(55:53):
is really quite beautiful, asis in Granada.
So yes, it's, it's, it's thereif you want to go and find it and
look for it.
Absolutely.
And aside from that, there'swalking trails into the mountains,
there's quad bike rides,there's, there's all that will take
you into these untouched kindof corners of the mountain, mountainous

(56:15):
area.
There's a great deal ofculture going on if you wanted.
It's Spain.
They don't need asking twiceto have a festival about something,
I assure you.
I don't think I've ever had atwo week holiday in Spain where there
hasn't been a holiday of some description.
A public holiday where all theshops are shut and, and they're all

(56:37):
partying or doing something inthe town square is so it's brilliant.
I mean, good for them.
They know where, what it's like.
They have the right idea.
Yes.
Their, their public holidaylife balance is the one that I really,
really aspire to.
Yes.
How about if you wanted to goto theater, where would you go?

(57:00):
To Malaga.
Yes, yes.
Yeah, I, I can't think of atheater in Neha.
There's a cinema in Veles, Malaga.
But, but your big cinema.
But like live theater.
Live theater.
I would, yes.
It would have to be Nerha.
Sorry, Malaga or Granada.
But also, I believe.
What's anything going to say?

(57:20):
Oh, it's gone now.
Oh, flamenco.
Oh yeah.
Well, as well.
So you would think I, we, thelast time we were there in March,
stumbled on this over.
I've been going to know herfor nearly 30 years.
Stumbled on a bar that I havewalked past dozens of times, a doorway.

(57:42):
It's.
It was completelyinconspicuous and we went in and
saw the complete works of aflamenco show that was totally raw,
untouched, beautiful as itwould be.
I mean, you know, I'm not anemotional person, but I sit sat there
watching this flamenco dancewith a tear in my eye thinking this

(58:03):
is absolutely beautiful.
So there are these pockets ofculture that again, if you go digging,
you'll find it.
It's gorgeous.
Great.
How about dining?
Oh, again, you can you.
You've got the cross, crosssection from high end, you know,
Hulk cuisine all the waythrough to down to pizza.

(58:26):
Now in Nurheim, is it also acafe culture where everybody eats
outdoors?
Yeah, absolutely.
The weather allows for it.
The.
Because Most of the streetsare cobbled and pedestrianized.
It's.
There's always cafes and baths.
The balcon itself is, is alivewith, with outdoor eateries, but

(58:48):
of course there's others thatare set back and, and, and hidden
in the town.
There's lots of beachfronteating, dining, which is beautiful.
Sitting there eating your,your fish that was caught in the
sea literally there while, andhearing the waves crashing.
There isn't a real demand ofany kind that I've noticed for fast

(59:08):
food there.
I can't blame them.
There is no McDonald's, BurgerKing, Five Guys, nothing keep them
away.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I, I've heard it mentionedthat one of the service stations
on, on the motorway might begetting a McDonald's.
And literally the outpouringof hatred on, on, on the Facebook

(59:33):
forum was no, keep it away,don't allow it, leave it alone, don't
do it.
But no.
So again, if, if McDonald's orBurger King is your thing, you're
choosing the wrong location.
Not to say there aren'tburger, you know, American style
burger places, but they're more.
Right.
But that.

(59:53):
Yeah, yeah.
And they're great.
And again, it's also individual.
There's a Mexican I can think of.
There's, there's.
Oh, sushi.
Beautiful Japanese restaurant.
Seriously, I bet you don'thave Chinese.
Not takeaway.
I can't think of a takeaway actually.
No, that's a very English thing.

(01:00:16):
Yeah.
Oh, what's he done?
Tip his coffee over.
So again, if you can't findsomething you like, I would argue
there must be something wrongwith you.
Right.
And again, it's all so freshand, and bespoke sort of cook there.
And then it's I.

(01:00:38):
Because the restaurants areall fighting for customs.
The standards are high.
Standards are very high.
And the service is very, verygood as well.
Yeah, absolutely.
Okay, let's talk a little bitabout crime and safety in Nerha.
Is there an.
Any kind of crime?

(01:00:59):
There's certainly no seriouscrime that I can think of.
See you don't even.
So Spain doesn't allow guns.
Well, as the uk Yeah.
I think guns are lawful in Spain.
They're.
They're not lawful.
Are they not?
Okay, pass.
I, I thought they were.
I've not come across aparticularly serious crime in all

(01:01:22):
the time I've gone there.
And I know areas of the west coast.
Again, I'm going to talk aboutMarbella, which are.
Because Marbella developedfrom the 60s onwards as a millionaires
playground, it's known as.
It's Like Beverly Hills.
Absolutely.
And it's beautiful.

(01:01:42):
You're right.
It's well groomed.
There are beautiful cars,beautiful people, beautiful homes.
There is also an element ofunderground crime in Marbella.
In fact, one Britishjournalist did a big article on Marbella
and basically said, marbellais the place you either go to to

(01:02:03):
do shops or get shot.
And it's known.
Whereas on the east side, I'venot seen anything even remotely near
that.
There is the odd pickpocketincident and it's funnier.
And again, there are what Iwould call, I don't know what you

(01:02:25):
call them, guys that sell fakehandbags and fake luggage.
They're more prevalent on thewest side because they attract, they're
attracted to the tourism whobuy their fake Gucci bag and their
fake fondi purse or whateverand they sell them on the streets.
That element has only justcrept in, into Nerha in about the

(01:02:45):
last five years.
And there's only, I can thinkof two guys that walk about selling
these faux bags.
And again, when somebody onone of the Facebook forums for the
town said, oh, look, you know,I've just purchased three handbags
and a, and a clutch purse for€200, everybody attacked this woman
and said, you do realizeyou're funding organized crime.

(01:03:08):
Stop, don't do it.
So there is a real kind ofsense of protection of, no, we don't
want crime here and we won'ttolerate it.
It in, in, in a town like nha,yeah, you get your petty little bits.
And I know certain houses inthe countryside get burgled because
it, you know, and they,they're usually holiday homes because

(01:03:33):
people watching them, the,the, the burglar watching them knows
that well, that that owner is Swiss.
They've gone home for the next month.
I can break into here anytimeI want and no one's going to come
knocking.
But of course, if you're.
Again, if you've got abeautiful home that you want to Protect,
you have 24 hour security and,and you know, you can have your cameras

(01:03:54):
and your alarms and thingslike that and, and your little man
that will turn up in his, inhis car with the little orange light
on the top just to check itevery day.
So there's, there's alwaysdefenses to the crime of which again,
there isn't a lot.
So let's say you lived inNerha and you went to a restaurant
at late hour because Spainjust starts eating maybe at 10pm

(01:04:18):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
When I'm like in my thirddream by then.
But let's say you finishdinner, it's midnight, you want to
walk home.
If you were living in Nerha,would you feel safe walking home?

(01:04:39):
Without a shadow of doubt?
No other answer to that.
Even women, I've heard, feel safe.
Yes, yes, it's, it's, yeah, totally.
I can't think of a, an area ora place where I would question that.
No, absolutely not.
It's completely at ease, comforting.

(01:05:01):
Oh, totally.
It's funny, last year I had togo over and sign some papers to do
with the house build and myflight time, it was August and my
flight time was at sillyo'clock in the morning and I parked
my car in the town center andhad to walk through the town center
to get to the car about 3am actually.

(01:05:23):
So it was the dead of nightwith my luggage and you know, my
passport and wallet in mypockets and things like that.
And I can remember seeingpeople and you know, walking in the
street, walking about.
Not, not.
I can remember seeing policecars driving about, the local police,
all the civil guard.

(01:05:45):
I didn't even think about crime.
It didn't, it didn't occur tome what I was doing.
And so no, I, I, I, Yeah, absolutely.
Safe types of.
Very comforting.
Yeah, very, it's a verycomforting feeling.
Feeling that you're, you'resafe and not.
Even have to think aboutcompletely, completely anything.
Yeah, other.

(01:06:06):
Okay, so let's talk aboutperception versus reality.
Many people picture Nerha as atouristy beach town.
What do people often get wrongabout life there.
From the point of view of anEnglish person?
What Nurha isn't is Brits abroad.

(01:06:31):
We again, we have at times inareas of the of Europe.
British people have a terriblereputation of wanting everything
cheap, everything basic, beingloud and brash to get it.
You know, we drink too much,we party too hard.

(01:06:53):
You will not find that in Nerha.
It is and remains aquintessential straightforward, well
groomed and well cared forSpanish town.
So when people think of theCosta del Sol, that's what I'm getting
to is when people think of theCosta del Sol in Spain, they think

(01:07:17):
of those urbanized partycapitals and those, you know, lots
of sunbeds by big swimmingpools at great big complex hotels.
No, it's not like that.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
It's simple, sedate, twee,easygoing, take me as you find me.
And it's very, very beautiful.

(01:07:38):
And it's also not a beach town.
It's on the beach, it's on the coast.
But there's so much morehidden behind, behind those bright
lights of the balcony.
There's a lot more.
There's winding paths and,and, and sweet little alleyways with
little boutique shops in.
Just go beyond those brightlights in that central balcon area

(01:07:59):
and you'll find all sorts.
Like I said, the flamenco barwe stumbled upon last time in March,
which was packed in Marchgiven the demand.
So you know, we had to bookwhen we swore it.
So yeah, that, that's whatpeople get wrong.
It's not Brits abroad and Ithink that's steered off from also

(01:08:19):
the other European influences,the Germans, the Swedish and the
Scandinavians.
What else do people get wrong?
No, that's about it really.
It's.
What would you say to someonewho's unsure about retiring in Spain
or hesitant about moving abroad?

(01:08:40):
What would you say to them?
Go and have a look but alsotry and live it rather than be a
holiday maker.
And by that I mean rent anapartment of the sort that you might
like to live in.
Rent the villa of the sortthat, that you might like to retire
to and live it, you know, hireyourself a car and drive around and,

(01:09:06):
and think well you know, isthis, you know, if I lived here,
would I put up with this housethat's up in the mountains?
How perish of thought, howwould an ambulance get to me?
Where do I go for my nextgrocery shop?
You know, if I went rent thisapartment, how many flights of stairs
have I got to go up if I livein the town center?

(01:09:26):
Where, where do I park my car?
Will it cost me a fortune?
Just live it like even for twoweeks, three weeks, live it like
you would be living in it andsample it at different times of the
year because yeah, it's got abeautiful climate.
It really, really has.
And that's what's drawn me andus and the health benefits of that

(01:09:50):
beautiful climate and sunlight.
But of course he isn't foreveryone, you know and, and, and,
and certainly I know I canthink of my mother in law who's in
her 80s.
She would hate to, to be in a35 degree heat.
She just can't deal with it.
However, we've taken her outfor Christmas and taken her to Spain

(01:10:12):
for New Year and she's lovedit because she can walk around in
a jacket.
It's not freezing, freezing,freezing cold.
And she's, you know, she lovesthe cafe culture.
She sit there and have acoffee and watch the world go by.
So what I would say to, if youare thinking of sampling that area
just Go for it and live it.
Don't pretend to be a tourist.

(01:10:33):
And also, one other thing is,for heaven's sake, try and learn
some of the language.
Ah, yes, we didn't, we didn'ttouch on that.
So I'm glad you brought thatup because you do.
You are fluent in Spanish.
I am.
See?
And not, and don't get mewrong, the, the locals in Nerha and

(01:10:54):
the venues and the restaurantsand shops, they all speak a degree
of English.
And because they've, they'vedeveloped with English tourism and
English tourists for 50 years,for heaven's sake, so they're familiar
with it.
However, I noticed when Istarted learning Spanish and speaking
to Spanish people in Spanishin Spain, I mean, I'm a great believer

(01:11:18):
in don't ever go to someone'scountry and try and teach them your
language.
Learn theirs first, forheaven's sake, at least a bit.
Show them some accord and respect.
I noticed I was treatedcompletely differently and this place
played out actually in Marchagain, we were sat on the balcony

(01:11:38):
weirdly having a cup of coffeeand I spoke to the waitress in Spanish
and her face lit up and Iordered all the food and all the
drinks in Spanish and she wasspeaking back and, and, and then
I saw her, I just.
We watched her speak to aBritish couple behind me on us, on
the table next door.

(01:11:59):
And actually they were reallyquite blunt almost.
Again, we have this fantastic,terrible ability to.
If we don't understand thelanguage, we shout English at them
a bit louder.
I want a beer, please.
Can't you understand me?
And this happened and I justwatched this waitress look at this

(01:12:20):
couple as if to say, forheaven's sake, what on earth do you
think you're doing?
You know, I'm not d.
You know, and, and it's just disrespectful.
It, it's not, it's just.
Yeah, ill considered.
And so if you're going todance in someone else's dance floor,
learn their music and, and,and, you know, and, and that even

(01:12:46):
just a bit, and the laugh ofit is I get things wrong.
You know, I've gone aroundsaying, thinking I'm saying the words,
hello, I'm Richard, I speak alittle Spanish when actually I'm
walking around saying, hello,I'm Richard, I'm a little Spaniard.
So, you know, and, and these,these people are staring at me thinking,
oh my God, they, you quiteclearly are mad.

(01:13:09):
But they try with you and theyhelp you out as well and they'll
work with you if you try andthey, you know, and they find it
is flattering to them.
And then they want to learnEnglish, too.
Oh, God.
Yeah.
And.
And that's the hilarious.
Again, the bizarre thing is,you know, I've been having conversations.
We're building a house, as weknow, as we've discussed, and I'm

(01:13:30):
having a conversation with thearchitect, and I'm trying to speak
to him in Spanish, developingmy Spanish.
And he.
No, he says, I want to speak English.
So we have an argument.
It's like, no, I'm in Spain,I'm going to speak Spanish.
Manager.
No, my client's English.
I'm gonna speak English.
So it all just goes horriblywrong, really.
But.
But yes, that.
That is what I would say aswell, is at least try.

(01:13:54):
Even if you get it wrong, theywon't laugh at you.
And it opens up a wholedifferent life and vision on.
On the country that you're in.
Oh, heavens.
Yeah.
And it opens up more doors as well.
Yes, yeah, yes.
You'll find if you telephoneand book a table in Spanish, you'll
probably get a better table inthe restaurant than you will if you

(01:14:17):
do it in English.
I believe.
Yeah, I believe.
Yeah.
Great.
So, for wrapping up, Richard,finally, what do you personally love
about building your future inNerha and Sala Brenya?
Oh, the vision.

(01:14:38):
We've never been people thatkind of live life like it's over
there, and there's somethingthat we're constantly chasing, but
this is a destination and.
And I suppose we've taken a route.
We couldn't find the house wewanted, which is why we've chosen
to buy a building plot andbuild it, because I've built my own
home in the uk and I justthought, you know, what if I've done

(01:15:01):
it in England, I could doinspiration Spain.
How difficult could it be?
And it's just that knowing andfeeling like all the things we've
discussed that thatdestination is safe, warm, welcoming,
friendly.
You.
I've worked way, my waythrough the currency and the.

(01:15:24):
I've got a bank account andall of those things that, you know,
you.
Those boring domestic thingslike finding yourself a solicitor
and a lawyer and all of thosethings, but it's all doable and actually
strangely easy, even thoughthere's a language difference.

(01:15:44):
And so.
So it's to me, the.
Is the vision and thedestination and.
And that knowing that I've gotthat place to hide.
And actually the house iscalled Escondite, which in Spanish
is Hideaway, because it's ourlittle home.

(01:16:05):
And our hideaway.
And that is what I'm solooking forward to.
And again, I can't help butrecommend it.
Just go and look and decidefor yourself.
There's plenty on offer thereand it's a wonderfully welcoming
country.
Really is great advice.

(01:16:27):
Well, thank you so much, Richard.
You are welcome.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for joining the podcast.
Yeah, it's been great.
We learned a lot about Nerhaand Salo.
Salo.
Sal.
I forgot the accent.
The end has got a bounce in.
It's an accent.

(01:16:50):
Okay, well, thank you verymuch and we'll talk soon.
You are welcome.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
Bye Bye.
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