Hi
My husband and I, retired, and as travell lovers are going to stay 3 month in Spain next year.
We have decided to have this kind of experience. We choose a city, rent apartment and try to live like a local. We do make a great effort in speaking the language so we can have a good relation with the local culture and the local people.
We've donne this in Palermo, in Bologna, in Lyon and in Montreal.(yes, we´ve learned french and italian, and yes, we speak spanish)
Now we are going to Spain and the big challenge is to pick the right city. Never the capital or very touristic places. Not too big, not too small.
We ae simple, easy going people, we love to walk and we love easy going people and places, and, of course, to try new foods and wines
Can you help us ??
Thanks
Katia

What time of year?

Mid march to mid June...

You would have a wonderful vacation.

Zaragoza might fit your bill

Zaragoza is not too big? I mean, compared with Pamplona or Sevilha or Coruña...
I am a little afraid of very big cities, coming from Rio de Janeiro myself...

will you be renting a car - probably not if wanting to stay in one place most of time and perhaps do train trips from a base. Yes Zaragoza is a large city but was thinking less touristed than some. A seaside location could be neat? For lots on trains check www.renfe.com; www.seat61.com - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Look at Córdoba. It is a beautiful city, does not feel big, and is in a great location for lots of sightseeing with good transportation to Madrid, Seville, Granada, White villages, Coastal areas.

Two places I have visited only briefly, but really like and feel would be nice to spend time in are both coastal.

Sanlucar de Barrameda is on the SW coast. It has a huge, long, wide, gorgeous beach and lovely plazas with fountains and cafes. It is close enough to visit other places like Jerez, Seville, etc. It does not seem at all touristy, has nice open spaces, and very local food. You would probably want a car there.

Alicante, more to the SE, has a beautiful, nice for walking, city center with narrow streets lined with sidewalk cafes. It also has a truly fabulous food market! It has a beautiful walking area along the beach with wide, curving, mosaic tiled walks, lined with huge, huge trees. The beach abuts a lovely marina. The one negative is that there has been a lot of building and construction along the edges of the city and it is not, IMHO, very attractive.

Two other places:
Cadiz is really, really pretty, also coastal.
Granada, while a larger city, is a lot more than the Alhambra. There are wonderful places for walking, olive groves and beautiful vistas. Great food too.

Jerez too, is in a good location.

Hi Katia,

We have spent a lot of time in Spain adopting the same sort of approach. We have been fortunate enough to have use of a relatives place in Villanueva Del Trabuco , Andalusia, about 30kms north of Malagá, where we have lived for several months at a time.

The closest town was Antequera. A great, mid sized town which has just about everything you could need and I would highly recommend you consider. It is in a great location on the main train lines and motorway network. I would suggest renting a a car, but even if you don’t, you have excellent access by train to Malagá, Sevilla, Granada and even Madrid (I think).
The people are very friendly and the food and wine are excellent, olives and Iberico ham being specialties of the region. Also close enough to the coast for great seafood. It is definitely the sort of place that you can "live like a local" a cliche, I know but I can’t think of batter way to put it.

Agree with Antequera! We recently spent two nights there and loved it. Very beautiful area with El Torcal Park nearby. Food was great too. It has 33 churches- more per person than any city in Spain. Ancient dolmens and a fabulous alcazaba.

Caceres was a surprise for ne - new town and historic old town (UNESCO World Heritage Site):

https://www.google.com/search?q=cace...w=1536&bih=759

Bit remote however.

I'm not sure what constitutes the right size, but I'll second Cordoba and add Salamanca and Toledo to the mix. Or if you want the north (perhaps not ideal in mid-March), maybe Bilbao or Oviedo.

Well OP does not want a touristy city so maybe Oviedo would work (don't know much about it) but others surely would not. Burgos would be a nice option IMO. Every large city has some tourism of course but some are very very touristy - Salamanca I think is not too much that way and is a wonderful place to base IME.

"maybe Oviedo would work (don't know much about it)"

If you don’t know much about it (which I assume means you haven’t been there) why suggest it?

No, I haven´t been there... In another forum 3 people recomended it, has why I was asking...
So many options...

Well, thanks for all your help !
Now I´m thinkig that it will be Salamanca, Bilbao or Sevilha...
Wich one would you choose? Why?
Thanks again
Katia

They are very different places! Salamanca is a university town, and would give you easy access to central Spain. Bilbao would give you easy access to northern Spain, but might be a bit cold for the first part of your trip. Sevilla is the magnificent heart of Andalusia.