What’s it like living in Archidona?

What’s it like living in Archidona?

Diana has lived in Archidona 11 years and runs the Facebook group “Archidona Help and Info” which is the only FB group dedicated to Archidona.

We thought she’d be the best person to ask all about Archidona.

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Hi Diana! Thank you for doing this interview.  First of all, I’m interested in your story. How did you end up coming in Spain? 

Hi Frank, you’re welcome! I came to Spain after many holidays here at my parents’ holiday home, we absolutely fell in love. Going home got harder each time so I started to research housing, work, schools etc, which turned into a 2 year process. I wanted to get it right.

I know you’ve lived different places (we actually have a few places in common). Can you tell us about those, including the things you liked/disliked, and the reasons you decided to move on?

This is a long list so apologies, but here goes:

Frigiliana/Nerja: This was the first place we moved to, we found jobs here so it was a no-brainer but when we saw the place we knew it was absolutely right for us. There were lots of families with young kids like ours and we were made to feel incredibly welcome by the locals and the expats alike, a great start to our Spanish adventure. The only downsides were the humidity, not as much in Frigiliana, but it was bad in Nerja. We only lived there for 6 months, so didn’t experience a summer there, but when we have visited in summer, it’s crazy busy everywhere you go, so that wouldn’t have suited us at all. We moved on from there as we bought a franchise of the company we worked for and they didn’t want 2 branches in the same area.

Antequera: We could have moved anywhere in Spain with our new business venture, we chose Antequera because my parents lived (permanently by this time) in Fuente de Piedra and we knew this area well. We found a great campo house which suited our business and off we went. The business didn’t go quite as well as expected and the house we were renting was expensive, so after a year we decided to move on from there, to a more affordable house, still renting. We never really integrated in Antequera, partly because we were in the campo, and partly because our kids didn’t go to school in Antequera. I just couldn’t get on with the schools there, my daughter went to one for 3 days and it was an awful experience (compared to the Frigiliana school, which she loved) so I took her out and put her in a school that had other British kids in it in nearby Mollina.

Campillos: This was purely a financial decision, some friends were moving out of their rental house and it was half the price of our current house, yet still the size we needed. Campillos is a pretty little town, again very friendly, very Spanish, we only knew a couple of other expats living there. One of the issues for us is that’s it’s miles from any motorway and that drive down the long road from Antequera was a bit much. Also the house we moved into was awful, not in any fit state for a family to live in (there were other issues too, but not with the town). So we decided to look for a house in Mollina, where our daughter went to school.

Mollina: We lived on an urbanisation on the outskirts of Mollina, so it was lovely and quiet. We were surrounded by a few Spanish neighbours, but a lot of the properties were owned by expats, mostly as holiday homes so it was super quiet in winter. The town itself has a population of around 3000 with about 1000 of that being expats, so if a town with loads of English speakers is your thing, this is certainly the one for you. A lot of the immigrants are housed on one of the 3 static caravan sites in Mollina, yes 3!! But there are quite a few in town too. The facilities there are great, with a big supermarket, lots of smaller shops, an English shop, a weekly English market, big chino/todo shops, banks and loads of bars and restaurants, some of which are owned by expats so you can find your sporting events to watch fairly easily. For us there was a bit too much gossip from one bored, retired expat in particular, who caused problems for us and many other people. He’s no longer with us so I imagine Mollina is a pleasant place to live once more!

Salinas/Archidona: With the issues we had in Mollina, we decided to look for somewhere to move to, our kids were no longer happy in school either and were happy to change schools. I saw the next rental property in a Facebook group minutes after it was posted, it was someone asking if they thought they should rent out their lovely house as they had to go back to the UK. Not someone actually advertising it for rent, but I contacted them straight away and went to see it. This house had a rental apartment with it too so it was the perfect place and we moved to Salinas, a small hamlet on the outskirts of Archidona. Salinas is fab, it’s right off the A92 and A92m motorways and has loads of lovely restaurants. For a small place it has everything you need like a small food shop, butcher, baker, farmacia and a ‘todo’ shop. We loved it there.

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You ended up in Archidona. Why Archidona?

We ended up in Archidona for the above reasons, the right property came up just when we needed it. It turned out to be the best move yet and we’ve been here for 11 years now. We moved from Salinas into Archidona town itself for our kids. They had always gone to school in town and all of their friends were here, they were getting older and more independent so it made sense to be where they could walk to go to school and meet friends. It was purely the property that made us land here, if that property had been in Antequera, we would have happily gone there instead, but we have fallen utterly in love with Archidona. It’s about a fifth of the size of Antequera and a much smaller community we found easier to integrate into.

What are the Pros and the Cons of Archidona as a place to live? What do you love about Archidona?

The practical reasons are the large medical centre, good industrial estate, choice of good schools, big supermarkets, lots of local shops, the new part of town has easy parking (the old town not so much, but it’s still doable).

Other reasons are the community, both Spanish and expat, I couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome. When we first moved here there weren’t many non Spanish people here, just a small handful, our kids were the only expats in their schools. Now it’s hugely popular for people to buy holiday homes here, the property prices are really reasonable for a town with such great resources. There are also lots of expats moving here from other parts of Spain and towns and villages nearby, it’s definitely getting more popular, but it’s still a mostly Spanish town.

The only tiny con I can think of is the motorway access, it’s a 5 or 10 minute drive whichever way you go to a motorway, and there are 4 ways to get to one, which is hardly any inconvenience at all, but it’s the only thing I can think of!

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You have a popular Facebook Group page called Archidona Help and Info. Why did you decide to start this page?

I started the group, purely for my own benefit, I hardly knew anyone in Archidona and I needed to be able to ask when I wanted things (recommend a plumber, electrician etc) so I started Archidona Help and Info before I even moved here. That was about 12 years ago. It’s been a fairly quiet group for most of that time, but the past few years have seen it grow hugely as people are finding Archidona. We now have a great community, with around 60 English speaking expats who actually live and own holiday homes in Archidona, plus a few more who aren’t on Facebook I’m sure. The group is over 800 people as we have lots of members from surrounding towns too.

For someone new to Archidona, can you give some tips? Best cafes, best restaurants, things to see in Archidona, resources for expats (are there any meetups for expats for example?).

Where do I start with tips, I love everything here. All the restaurants are great, mostly Spanish food, we’re not very international, but great quality and always a friendly service in all of them. Arxiduna in Plaza Ochavada is one of the higher end ones, they do Spanish fusion food, great for special occasions. San Isisdro near the poligino, is also fab, it’s very much a family fiesta type restaurant and is packed on special occasions, they do Spanish barbecue and some Italian food too. More every day restaurants are Bar Central, the oldest bar in Archidona, Bar Picasso next door, close to Plaza Ochavada, RRR and Cevera on the main road in the newer part of town, and just down the road from them are La Placita and Cafe Bar Miguel on a little square with loads of outside seating, Hotel Escua is on the main road out to the motorway, they do great food and are obviously a hotel too.

For things to see, Plaza Ochavada is beautiful, it’s an 8 sided square, one of only 2 in Spain I believe, and home to a few bars, restaurants, the tourist office and the town hall. Archidona is nestled against the 5 peaks of the Siera de Gracia mountains, great for walking, climbing and caving. We also have La Hermita de Virgen de Gracia (patron saint of Archidona) which is a church/hermitage near the top of one of the peaks which was once a Moorish mosque. There are some wonderful countryside walks on the outskirts of Archidona too. There is really something for everyone. As well as the main town of Archidona there are also 3 hamlets, the aforementioned Salinas, as well as Huertas del Rio and Estacion de Archidona, so lots of beautiful places to explore.

There are loads of events on throughout the year here, as well as the normal fiestas, ferias and saint’s days, we have a dog feria which is quite an event! Socially, we have a meet up for coffee once a month and people from all over come and join us for that, it’s not just for people from Archidona. We also have various classes for Spanish and decoupage to name some. Look out for announcements in Archidona help and info for those.

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You’ve been in Spain for quite a long time now. What advice would you give anyone thinking of moving here? What do you think is the most important thing in being content in Spain?

Learn that language, I know that’s what everyone says, but it’s true. If you want to feel like you’re on a permanent holiday, surrounded by other expats on the coast, with no need ever to learn Spanish, then go for it. For those who want to fully integrate, live inland, work or have kids here, the language is essential. No one expects you to be fluent, just making the effort will be appreciated, don’t be that expat who says thank you to a waiter, or checkout person in a shop, at least make an effort and learn the word gracias!! You make life harder for yourself if you hide away in expat enclaves. Sit at a bar and chat to people, they are dying to know all about you, learn some sentences and expand your vocab, also learn potential replies, it will help a lot.

Do you think you’ll always be in Archidona Diana? Where/what do you see yourself being/doing in 10 years?

Great question Frank!! The answer is I really have no idea, my youngest 2 kids are leaving school this year, one moves to Loja to live with his sister, the other is moving to the UK for college, along with us still renting, we are pretty much free to go anywhere! At the moment we live in a 2^nd floor apartment with no lift, I am no spring chicken and my mobility is worsening, so that won’t be practical for many more years, we should also downsize at some point. But the rent is so reasonable here it would be hard to leave. I think it might be a case of coming across the perfect property, and if it’s in a town we like we might go for it. Rentals in Archidona are seriously sparse, so when the time comes that we have to move, I’m not sure we would find anything here. But you never know. Any property developers out there, property is priced really well in Archidona, so if you want to add to your portfolio it’s a fabulous place and I know some really great potential tenants for you!

In 10 years I’ll still be working, my husband currently works in the UK, but hopefully by then he will have found some work in Spain. I genuinely have no idea where we will be living, but I suspect I will still be working hard as a social media manager marketing businesses online for my happy customers.

Thank you for this interview Diana!

Related: Living in Antequera (compared to Nerja)

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