Would it be practical to live in Spain and commute weekly to the UK?

[gingerjedi]

My dad bought a big 6 bed Villa to live in and an apartment to rent out, he used commute to Toulouse and stay in hotels on a weekly basis.

A mixture of housing and job market collapse means he now lives in the apartment and rents out the villa, he couldn't be happier and wonders why he didn't think of this in the first place.

[wurzel]

No. Not if you are relying on cheapo airlines. I tried doing it weekly in the other direction but gave up and just settled on coming home every few weeks or so. TBH, some airlines are worse than others but you'll always be at the mercy of air traffic control strikes, bad weather, flight crew stuck in traffic etc. Also never depend on RyanAir - they have a tendency to cancel your reservation and stick you another flight at very short notice (with the proviso that you can get your original seat back if you pay a premium).

And the weather can be sh!t in winter in Spain. You can get some pleasant days but from my experience of working in Alicante for 2 years, forget the beach between end of October & March. Costa Del Sol also seems to get a lot more rain than the Costa Blanca so if you don't like the rain that may be the place for you.

[Sysman]

I've thought about it some more, and the best way to know what it is like is to try it.

So I'm going to rent a holiday villa close to Malaga for a month and try a commute and see how it pans out and at the weekends suss out the place.

Three months gives you a better idea of how the commuting and your time work out. Six months would give you an even better idea.

[AtW]

Also never depend on RyanAir - they have a tendency to cancel your reservation and stick you another flight at very short notice (with the proviso that you can get your original seat back if you pay a premium).

Never used them, and never will...

[Moscow Mule]

I've been to Spain for Christmas before (parents have friends who live near Malaga). The air temp was ok, but the water was Baltic. It also rained a couple of days.

I wouldn't fancy it.

[Sysman]

I've been to Spain for Christmas before (parents have friends who live near Malaga). The air temp was ok, but the water was Baltic. It also rained a couple of days.

I wouldn't fancy it.

I once went to Mallorca for the last week of March. Same story. The temperature was OK but the water was so cold it took your breath away. I did get a tan in the first couple of days which was pleasant but it rained from then on (predictably the sun came out during the trip to the airport).

[Fred Bloggs]

Did a tour a few easters back based around Barcelona and Valencia, it was friggin' freezing and boy, did it rain! It was much better weather back home that year.

[KaiserWilly]

Perhaps buy something like this.

5 bedroom villa for sale in Andalusia, Málaga, Mijas, Spain

or this one

4 bedroom house for sale in Andalusia, Málaga, La Cala De Mijas, Spain

You can live in Spain and commute to work to Gibraltar. It's a 10 min drive and 2-hour wait queue at the border.

KW

[bren586]

Doing it all on budget - flights and hotels - get old, very quickly