Spain
 

Hello! Does anyone know of a very large town or city near Madrid ( less then 1 hour driving) that has lots of culture, shopping, restaurants and is a walking large town or city? Looking to explore costs to buy a property 2-3 bedroom apartment and looking for something 100,000-150,000 dollars. It is important to me that it doesn't have a feel that everyone knows who you are and small town feel. I really like my privacy and I don't like to stick out as "the American." I just want to learn Spanish and enjoy their wonderful culture. Ideally, I would much prefer a large city but costs keep me from Madrid. Thank you!!!

Toledo

Toledo is not " a very large city or town."

you may have to look at small towns near Madrid
like Aranjuez or Alcala de Henares ( less than hour drive) and go to Madrid for
culture, shopping, restaurants ..
Zaragoza has a population of over 600.000... It is more than three hours drive from Madrid,
but AVE will get you to Madrid or Barcelona much faster.

Please note that no matter how self-conscious you may be, you are an American in a foreign country. Fortunately the Spanish are a gracious people and welcome people who do or try to speak their language.

As for a city or large town within an hour of Madrid, as others have noted the closest to that is Toledo.

Salamanca with a bit less than 250,000 people is about 2 1/2 hours by car. And as noted above the train and buses in Spain are far superior to those in the US.

What dollars are you talking about, USA; AUS; HK:::::?
We use Euros here in Spain.;-)
You are obliviously not European so purchasing maybe more difficult than you would like. Here is the law and how to get through the paperwork.
http://spain.angloinfo.com/
Websites for housing.
http://www.kyero.com/
http://www.segundamano.es/
http://www.tucasa.com/
http://www.themovechannel.com/
Good luck with the paperwork maze.

Just doing a quick check, there is a 3-bedroom, 1 bath apartment in Alcobendas, just north of Madrid, that is listed at 124.000€, a little above the top of your budget. And another one in Alcalá De Henares priced at 120.000€, with A/C.

For something a little more interesting, there is a 3 bed room, 2 bath in Arenas de San Pedro (Ávila) that is going for only 75.000€. The population is under 7,000 (www.arenasdesanpedro.es/web/).

We know people who live in Aranjuez...( on cercania Line, so is Alcala De Henares),
they come to Madrid several times a week.

Not just purchasing may be difficult. How long are you planning to stay in Spain, and if not an EU citizen do you have the necessary visa?

Is there a particular reason you are choosing the Madrid area over one that may have milder weather?

I highly suggest you RENT for a few months before you buy, if you have never lived here nor are familiar with the culture, you may want to focus on certain neighborhoods as being more to your liking long term.

Thank you everyone for your feedback!!!! I really appreciate it. Yes it would be USA dollars. Thats a good point we could always live outside like in Aranjuez or Toledo, somewhere that has community pool and come into Madrid for the day. We want this to be enjoyable for the whole family and know kids love pools especially in the summer months. Because of our budget we need to consider not having the city of Madrid. We want to feel comfortable with Air conditioning, spacious property, parking, and 3 bedrooms, 2 bath. THat would be out of our budget for Madrid. We also want to be able to walk out our door and enjoy the restaurants and supermarkets.

Just really brainstorming now ideas and seeing what it will entail. We are traveling to spain next summer for vacation and wanted to choose a few places to visit and see how much we enjoy bringing kids there. Reason for Madrid area is the direct flights from NEw York. We would consider Barcelona as well as I studied there 3 months in Spain. Main reason for Madrid is Castillano Spanish...but the ocean of Barcelona is very tempting to me. I have been to both Madrid and Barcelona and like them both. Barcelona is more of a comfort to me as I have favorites there because I spent so much time there. This is a very early plan in the works. We would have to start to save up. Plus don't know if I need Visa there if we will not stay more then 3 months at a time.

I agree we will rent before buying. I wouldnt rent in Barcelona because I already know I love it there. But other places I will.

I had a spanish major in college and teaching major but never became fluent because well you need to be fully immersed for atleast a year- 2.

hah, sometimes a lot more than that. I have a SIL from Central American and she isn't fluent and she's been here 20 years. Just talking to someone who couldn't really carry on a conversation in Czech untill living there 10 years! Of course Czech is an insane language (I"m studying it now, so that's why I asked). But my brother living in Central American in the PEace Corps and knew NO Spanish beforehand (they had to do an intensive training for about 8 weeks before going) and he also said it was 1-2 years before he really got comfortable and could easily speak to people. Spanish is a heck of a lot easier than Czech, that's for sure (to me, an English speaker) (FYI it's Castellano in Spanish, not Castillano).

According to Barcelona University <<In Barcelona, 98% of the population speaks Castilian Spanish. About 50-60% of Barcelona’s total population speaks Catalan. Some of the Catalan speakers speak it as a first language, and Castilian Spanish to them is considered a “second language”. Some Catalan speakers consider Spanish their first language, and Catalan the second. In a very small number of cases, Catalan speakers speak no other languages at all, not even Spanish.>>

I do quite like Toledo. I like Segovia, also, it's about the same distance from Madrid, I think.

if you like the ocean, you might like Valencia - it's very lovely, has a wonderful beach, and doesn't suffer from tourists like Barcelona does.

And there are fast trains to and from Madrid.

I agree I liked Toledo and Segovia. But have been to Italy often and to small towns and don't like the feeling that the entire town knows you are there. I did an exchange as a student in Italy in high school where the whole town greeted us and although it was nice don't know if I want that as a norm. That is why I like cities.

I know what you mean. It takes time and yes Spanish is definately not as hard as Czech. Yes, it is always a work in progress and it really depends on how much you immerse yourself, and many other factors, and I realize I will need to make efforts and put myself out there. My grandparents immigrated to the USA many years ago and my grandmother barely spoke English. She also lived in Little ITaly and at the time was surrounded by other Italian immigrants. It is very possible to live in a country and not learn it.At this point I would be happy with being fairly fluent. My husband doesn't speak it so that doesn't help either. He is just happy with eating there when we go:) Where are you from?

annhig I cant wait to see Valencia. I may consider this by the time we buy. Right now we have 3 kids 6 and under so being close to major airports is the only way we consider. I don't sleep at all coming over to Europe ever so pulling an all nighter then having to drive 3 hours or even take a bus or train sounds not so great with little ones.:) Is Valencia considered Catalan?

That trainride from BArcelona to Tarragona is amazing. So curious to go to Valencia.

I'm not qualified to say whether Valencia is Catalan or not, however in the very short time we were there, there didn't seem to be the same relentless nationalism that you get in Barcelona, and no-one objected to my trying out my execrable Spanish on them.

haha!We were in Barcelona 2 years ago and there were Catalan Flags everywhere. I get the history of Catalan and why they may feel that way but I really only want to only learn Spanish.

No,Valencia is not part of Cataluña. Its the capital of the autonomous community of the same name. Lincasanova might be able to confirm this, I think there's such a language/ dialect as "valencian" , but Spanish is obviously spoken.

Thats what I thought thank you for confirming!

Living life day to day in Spain is not like vacationing. If you where to purchase the apartment, how do you deal with the electrictian or plumber?

I had a feeling that people in Valencia were much more relaxed about
" the language"....I did not feel I had to be careful about using
Castilian.

Please look into the paperwork issues as that could well end your dream in a few words.
Apart of a visa, you will have to obtain a Spanish bank account obtain a fiscal number, health insurance, then there are the tax issues, etc etc. No work permitted.

Do not be put off about this idea.

Valencia has been the choice of MANY families I have met recently. They said they chose valencia for the better weather, and the abundance of English schools to choose from, equidistance from Barcelona and Madrid.. and access to better accommodations for the price they wanted to pay.

The residence visa is NOT difficult to be approved if you have the funds available, or own a house in the US and can prove medical insurance and a clear background check.

It is just time consuming, with lots of recent certifications and translations and can be quite costly in the end because of that..

Once you check a place out for a few months you will know if you want to go forward with the process.

Valenciano is spoken more in the small towns, but there is also a subject or two at school. Many people speak valenciano however there is not the in your face nationalism and separation politics going on here as in Cataluña.

However, with these new faces in local governments, who knows what the future brings:

If you want to be self employed, here check out whatever those requirements might be for that type of visa. I ma not aware of them but it also exists.

A film on how the paperwork chase works in Spain.
A film main by Spanish on the spanish system. As a foreigner believe me you can find it even more frustrating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXWZ3uAEKsw

My experience with presenting papers for residence visas has been very good. if you have what they ask for.. no problem. But don't bring photocopies, older then 3 month certificates and papers in a foreign language.

I do not know if you are an EU citizen or when you moved here and when you purchased your property and car.
You perhaps should have written translated into Spanish with a legal apostle.

All of these things are listed are in the the Angloinfo website I gave above. Also read just how difficult it is for EU citizens (who supposedly have freedom of movement) had in settling in Spain. http://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/

Maybe do a blog on all the your personal experiences re the paperwork chase and what offices you had to run too. It may be a bit more useful than adding the odd bit of information on to this forum.

I help others, EU and non-Eu do the paperwork by interpreting and translating for them, It is all very clear. However, some people just do not like to bring the right papers with all the bells and whistles.

The forum you posted has so many entries I wasn't sure which one you wanted to have me take a look at.

Most people's problem is not understanding the language.They just need to hire someone to help out. really fairly simple solution to avoid misunderstandings.

just adding that some people, even EU, do not QUALIFY for moving here since they cannot prove sufficient income.

All
Very good information! Thank you all and good points to ponder. Not looking to buy today will need to rent in a few locations before deciding and if it works for the whole family. If not, I can always fulfil when retired or just rent until the time feels right and the funds are actually there:)