where should I spend 3-4 months in Spain?
 

After I retire at the end of this year, my wife (59) and I (65) will be spending about six months next year (May-October) in Europe. May and June will be in Siracusa, Italy (Sicily). I speak some Italian and I want to become fluent. I then want to go to Spain for 3-4 months (July-October) so that my wife can learn to speak Spanish. I am a doctor and she is a CPA.
We enjoy photography, cooking, meeting new people and just absorbing the culture of an area. We are not beach people and we would prefer an area with beautiful weather. We live in Florida and don't mind the heat. We will be looking for an apartment to rent for the long period of time in Spain. We prefer to cook most of our meals so a location with nearby supermarkets is important.
We do not plan to have a car and would like to find a city with good possibilities for transportation both within the city and to get to the outlying areas. We will rent a car for a few longer sightseeing trips.
We are considering the Malaga area or Valencia or possibly north of Barcelona (Girona). We are looking for suggestions for one place which will fulfill all of these criteria.
I speak Spanish but will need to have some instruction since most of my experience is in Latin America.
Thanks.

If you are from the US, you are limited to 90 days at a time w/o a visa.

Are you aware of the schengen requirements? Most tourists can spent a total of 90 days in 180 in the schengen zone (which includes both Spain and Italy). You will want to be sure of your ability to stay longer than 90 days before getting into the nitty gritty!

I guess you are up to date on the schengen treaty right and you have a solution to it? I think Malaga is a great idea. I'd look at the area around the covered market and the river 36.721853, -4.425077 lots of bus access, train just down the road and shops nearby

This info might help you if you are American and need info on the schengen visas

http://travel.state.gov/content/pass...act-sheet.html

Agree that unless you are citizens of the EU you can't do this on a regular tourist visa which is limited to 90 days for americans (assume that is your nationality - otherwise not sure what the rules are).

To stay longer you need a whole different type of visa which you have to apply for in advance and jump through a number of hoops - varying depending on your nationality, financial circumstances, future plans and guarantee of medical insurance coverage.

Enroll in a certified language school and your problem is solved, or apply for a visa. Plenty of people spend extended time in the sunny parts of Eurrope and do exactly what you want to do. Talk to nearest Spanish consulate or embassy if you haven't already.

But to get to your question:

Valencia might work for you weather wise, but do bear in mind that Catalonia favors the Catalan langauge (and thensome). How about considering a Spanish destination that robustly embraced the traditional Spanish tongue? From July to October the region of Galicia or Asturias might be a remarkable experience for you. Again, I would base someplace with a certified language school for learning and practicing on the street classic Spanish (not the Basque country).

Unlike the French, the Spanish and Italians are very gracious about attempting to speak their language. And although there are regional languages and dialects, the Spanish know that tourism is still their most important economic sector accounting for more than 10% of their GDP.

When we talk about spending some time in one location in Spain, we think of Barcelona and we do not speak Catalan.

First off ignore the advice that makes you an illegal alien in Spain.
Read this:
http://spain.angloinfo.com/moving/re...-eu-nationals/
To rent a property you will need a bank account to open a bank account to have to have a NIE.
http://spain.angloinfo.com/moving/residency/nie-number/
you will have to have private health care.
http://spain.angloinfo.com/healthcar...lth-insurance/
Live in Spain and you have to become a tax resident. Please read what this entails, declaring all of your overseas property and investments.
http://spain.angloinfo.com/money/general-taxes/
If you want a DL then you will have to resit your driving test.
http://spain.angloinfo.com/transport...ence-exchange/
Good luck with the move.

Valencia is a beautiful city with the best food market we have seen in Spain.

Dpkmd2:

Cancyou consider many bases? I am thinking of Madrid, barcelona or any other city/town nearby, valencia, and may be Bilbao or Santander or Santiago/Vigo.

You will enoy your side trips anyway!

I really think the scare mongering about driver's licenses and tax residency is just that: scare mongering. You need to talk with the the Spanish government about this. There is no question about that. But beware the internet voices. Go to the official sources.

<i>sandralist on Jun 26, 14 at 12:27am

I really think the scare mongering about driver's licenses and tax residency is just that: -----
But beware the internet voices.</i>


Ironic that last sentence.

I was going to suggest Oviedo because it ticks many of your boxes... Except weather. Valencia is wonderful... You could also consider Salamanca.

The language school may be able to help with housing. I think an issue with student visa is it would only be good for your wife, unless you both sign up for school.

You don't need to open a bank account or become a tax resident for a stay of three months. You could check homelidays.com for rent from owner places to live. But first check it out with the school, they may have affordable apartments for long stays.

Have just spent a month touring Spain and Malaga is the last place I would stay for any length of time. We enjoyed Valencia and agree, the market was the best we saw in Spain..Barcelona was interesting but very spread out and the best food we had to line up for for ridiculous lengths of time, and expensive...

I disagree. I could easily spend a month or three in Malaga (or rather, one of the small villages surrounding Malaga). It's situated well enough that you can easily make day trips to Gibraltar, Cordoba, Granada, Competa, Motril, Nerja, Tarifa, etc.

OP may not need to become a tax resident for 3 months but having spent two months in Italy already they only have less than a month visa free in Spain. They need to check out visas, study visas or otherwise, and how, if at all, the prior stay in Italy impacts on getting that visa.
They also need to have good health insurance which will cover them for the entire period in Europe.

OP, you're going to need more than two months in Italy to become fluent. ;)