Worldwide residents love Marbella, and within the newest census there have been over 150 nationalities calling it residence.
Nevertheless, whereas it’s a gorgeous place to dwell, it’s not excellent, and also you undoubtedly must take the tough with the graceful.
In case you’re dreaming of emigrating to the Costa del Sol, or buying your self a vacation residence there, it is advisable to be reasonable and take a look at the frustrations and difficulties of residing there, alongside the numerous advantages.
To assist anybody deciding whether or not the Costa del Sol is true for them, we requested Spanish property consultants Sean Woolley and Darren Simons from Cloud 9 Spain to share a few of their bugbears and annoyances about residing and dealing on the Costa del Sol.
Darren Simons explains why that is vital; “I feel generally you get a really shiny picture of Marbella and its environment. Social media and advertising depict it like the whole lot’s excellent and idyllic; everybody seems to be glamorous on a regular basis and drives fabulous automobiles. However we want to confess that it isn’t excellent! The solar doesn’t shine day by day and there are some issues that annoy us about residing right here.”
Listed below are the 7 issues that don’t usually make it into the brochures!
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Seasonal overcrowding
The Costa del Sol is without doubt one of the world’s hottest vacation locations. That signifies that Marbella, Puerto Banus and all alongside the Costa del Sol does get very, very busy within the peak summer season months.
From mid-July to the top of August, the visitors is heavier, the outlets are busier, parking is troublesome to seek out and the eating places are packed. These are in all probability the residents’ least favorite occasions of the yr, and also you’ll typically hear them complaining. As Sean explains, “If I might get out of right here for these 6 weeks, I might. It is best to.”
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Excessive price of property and price of residing in prime areas
Provide and demand and the status of being a luxurious, high-end vacation spot signifies that in the perfect areas you’ll pay prime greenback to buy property, lease property and exit. Nevertheless, these hyper premium areas are literally few and much between. Some elements of Marbella, such because the Golden Mile, Puerto Banus, Nueva Andalucia, the Golf Valley, and areas similar to Benahavís are premium areas and also you pay for the privilege of residing there or going on the market.
Nevertheless, there are many different choices. Marbella centre has numerous reasonably priced areas, bars and eating places, and head simply 10 minutes out of city and also you’ll discover that your cash goes lots additional. Head inland and the prices plummet even additional.
Sean explains, “It’s nonetheless premium right here, nevertheless it’s not ridiculous. You may at all times discover little pockets of worth, however usually talking, we’re in a premium place, so count on to pay a premium to dwell in the most effective areas.”
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Paperwork and pink tape
The Spanish do appear to like a little bit of pink tape! It’s powerful to deal with, particularly when you’re working a enterprise. For instance, in Spain, the whole lot needs to be notarized. Whereas within the UK when you needed to alter one thing within the firm’s deeds, you possibly can do this on-line for a low payment, right here, it’s important to sit in a notary and wait, generally for a lot of hours and pay a excessive payment.
Sean explains; “The forms is the one factor that may drive individuals to surrender and return residence. It’s very irritating and much more difficult when you don’t communicate the language. It may be gradual, it may be complicated, however it’s important to take it as a part of residing right here.”
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Seasonal employment
Many roles, particularly in hospitality or tourism, are momentary and infrequently low paid. Whereas that is altering, the job panorama stays difficult, with momentary, seasonal contracts supplied for the height season, and little or no for off peak occasions.
Sean is optimistic that that is enhancing and feedback, “it will likely be fascinating to see how this progresses, as we’re getting much more entrepreneurs transferring from abroad. Since COVID, a variety of youthful, working age, proficient persons are coming over right here they usually wish to be busy and create Marbella as a enterprise hub. That will be very optimistic for the youthful individuals getting into the job market if it occurs, however for now it is very important be reasonable when pondering of your job prospects.”
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Restricted public transport exterior of cities
There’s no practice line to Marbella. The truth is, Marbella is the most important city in Spain to not have a practice line and this does trigger points for residents with no automobile or a driving licence.
There are native buses and longer distance buses which hyperlink the cities on the Costa del Sol, however they aren’t very frequent, or very dependable, and don’t serve a variety of the residential areas. There are taxis, and a low degree of Uber and Bolt automobiles, however actually you want a automobile, except you reside in Malaga, or probably a city like Benalmadena and Fuengirola that are on the practice line.
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Language barrier
Transferring to Spain clearly means not everybody speaks English and this may be difficult, significantly when you’re making an attempt to take care of the general public well being system and take care of the native authorities and officers. Nevertheless, as a result of degree of worldwide residents and vacationers, English is usually spoken and there are translators within the hospitals and plenty of police stations to assist. However it’s vital to grasp that you could be have to pay for translators, and issues which will have been simple at residence might be more difficult in a Spanish talking atmosphere.
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Droughts, water restrictions and wild fires
Latest years have introduced some severe drought circumstances and issues about whether or not the reservoirs might address the water wants. Fortunately the rains have are available time, and there was excessive rainfall in 2025 which averted water restrictions being put in place. Nevertheless, that is an ongoing challenge which is more likely to worsen and can have to be managed by way of laws and new know-how similar to de-salination. The new dry summers additionally trigger a excessive danger of untamed fires and naturally this will trigger injury to property and wildlife, in addition to being uncomfortable for residents and vacationers.
