We have been doing research on Spain for several years now. It was our intent to do a vacation in Spain. The research was focused on a short stay and was geared to more tourist type locations. It is only recently that we decided to retire and move there for an extended period of two to five years. Our research has refocused to reflect our long term stay in Spain. We need good public transportation, close proximity to an international airport and of course be an area of interest to us. After looking at different locations we determined that Alicante is a perfect area for us to call home base.
Alicante has a population of approximately 330 thousand and is a port city on Spain’s southeastern Costa Blanca. in It’s old town section, Barrio de la Santa Cruz, there are narrow streets, coloured houses and a lively nightlife scene.

There is a steep climb which leads to medieval Castillo de Santa Bárbara, set on a hilltop with sweeping views of the Mediterranean coast.

There is an international airport and the comprehensive public transportation includes high speed rail access. This will allow us to move throughout Spain and Europe fairly easily. We enjoy cycling and there are very good bike trails throughout the area. This will be our first stop and hopefully we will make this our home base from which to see Spain and Europe. The next thing we need to do is develop our plan to relocate there and determine the logistics of this move.