|
| So
you've visited Sitges and now your dream is to live there, eh? |
|
|
| Well,
it gets a lot of us the same way, and some of us actually take the plunge!
Sitges is a wonderful place to live, but it's not for |
| everyone.
This page is based on my experience and whilst I'll attempt to be as accurate
and neutral as possible, please don't take it as |
| gospel. |
|
|
| Before anything, you
should consider this: You came in the summer on vacation and it was
buzzing with people and you had loads of |
| fun but remember this, Sitges
is only lively for 6 months of the year. The 300,000 people packed into
Sitges in the summer drops to a |
| mere 30,000 residents in
the winter and a good chunk of those vanish until the following summer. |
| Many of the bars shut down
and most of those that do stay open, only open at weekends. For the whole
month of November even the |
| winter bars shut. It's the
traditional business owners get away month in Sitges. Overall, from late
October to early May, Sitges is a |
| ghost town and you'd better
be someone who likes bumping into the same faces all the time. Sitges life
is a village life. |
|
|
| Personally I love winter
in Sitges. It's a good time to talk to the friends you didn't have much
time to see in the summer because either |
| you or they were working
all the time. That said, it can drag on and can get boring at times, but
then there's always Barcelona to go to. |
| Another thing you should
consider is that Sitges is very transient. You will make new friends but
before you know it, they're moving |
| away. It happens all the
time. Don't underestimate the impact of it. Of course it can make life
very interesting too. Always meeting new |
| people. |
|
|
| Ok. You're still convinced
Sitges is for you, and it may well be. I love it all year round, so you
may do too, but you should stop and think |
| about the down side because
for as many as enjoy Sitges life, an equal amount can't take the peace
& quiet for 6 months a year. |
|
|
| Once you decide you're going
to make the move, your first priority is to find somewhere to live, either
rent or buy. I strongly suggest you |
| rent for the first year
to give yourself time to aquaint yourself with Sitges and get a feel for
whether it's for you or not. |
|
|
| Long term rental.
It's going to depend on your budget as to how easy it is. Apartments for
600€ are available but very hard to find and |
| usually out of town. 700€
will make your search easier but you're still not looking at anything particularly
great. 800€ and up and you |
| won't have a problem. |
|
|
| If you are going to buy,
you've decided to buy property in Spain's 3rd most expensive town. (Only
the city centres of Madrid and |
| Barcelona are more expensive)
Prices have also soared over the last 3 years, which doesn't help. Want
an apartment overlooking the |
| sea? You'd better be a millionaire.
A villa, a multi millionaire. Maybe just a town house away from the beach
will do you? They're under |
| a million. Oh well, at least
you can get a decent apartment for a mere half million! Yes you can buy
cheaper, but you're going to need |
| to have a good, hard look
around. |
|
|
| Port Alguadolç
Advisory. You may come across what appear to be bargain properties
in Port Alguadolç but watch out. All properties |
| there are leasehold and
the leases run out in 2022, at which time you will have to pay a fee to
keep your property until the next |
| leasehold expiry date. We
don't know how much the fee will be but you can count on it being a tidy
sum. |
| Note. This only applies
to Port Alguadolç and not Alguadolç addresses. 'Port' is
the key word. |
|
No parking in Sitges.
Another thing you should give strong consideration to if you are a car
owner or plan to be one is that since 2009, the entire town has been pedestrianised.
The problem is that there is nowhere to park your car. Finding a private
parking spot that's available is near on impossible. Municipal car parks,
of which only a couple do long term parking will set you back 200€
a month. Almost all of the streets surrounding Sites have been turned into
blue zones, meaning you have to pay to park. The nearest free parking from
the town centre is well over 1 km away. In fact, it is what made me decide
to leave Sitges after 11 years here. The nearest I can park to home is
1 km away, (2 kms if I want to park for free) and being a frequent driver,
I simply couldn't live with that.
If you think it'll be ok
living out of town, remember you can't park anywhere when you want to come
into town either! |
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| For a list of Real Estate
Agents in Sitges, see GoSitges.com |
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|
