6+ Months in Spain...advice

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Neotriz

Posts: 143
Joined: Aug. 9 2010

6+ Months in Spain...advice

Hello all
It looks like sometime around Mid July, I will be heading to Spain till the end of this year.

I have saved enough money to make this travel happen and this will be my first time out of the country for this long.

I am curious to hear of those who traveled in Spain for more than 3 months..any advice you would like to share?
(From my understanding, tourist visa expire after 90 days, though because of the economy, they are pretty lenient when it comes to this..is this true?).

I am considering to attend Carmen de las Cuevas (I've attended before...great experience) for the first few months, though I'd like to venture out of the flamenco school, and go for more in the independent route.

My Spanish is fluent so that is not an issue.

Any inputs will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 17 2015 21:49:49

tele

Posts: 1464
Joined: Aug. 17 2012

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

Are you going to southern spain? I can recommend looking for monthly rentals on pages such as milanuncios or rentalia and visiting local flamenco peñas

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 17 2015 22:43:56

Neotriz

Posts: 143
Joined: Aug. 9 2010

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

Hi Tele
Yep, I'm looking at places to be in the Andalucia region.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 17 2015 23:00:11

tele

Posts: 1464
Joined: Aug. 17 2012

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

I liked Granada the most, then costa tropical, Jerez and sevilla. Cordoba was a surprise how different people were there from the rest of andalucia, very cold an unfriendly, spent there about three weeks only because I had to due to renting a place. Ronda is beautiful but can't recommend it since it's very touristy and quite small. Andalucia is very rich and the landscape varies greatly, in six months you can definately explore it, the main thing is to make friends and have things to do, that will make it much more interesting. For one-two month stays rentalias rentals are quite good since there is no extra fees besides the rents, which can be much lower when you contact the rentals by e-mail and ask for one-two month prices.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2015 12:55:08

Morante

Posts: 2181
Joined: Nov. 21 2010

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

Bear in mind that Agust is holiday month for most Spaniards. It is also the hottest month, mid 40s in Sevilla. So Sevilla is empty: everyone has gone to the coast, Zahara de los Atunes, Caños de Meca etc, which is where you will find all the musicians and all the action.

Jerez has its Viernes flamencos, Cádiz has its Jueves Flamencos, in plan festival.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2015 13:50:29

Sr. Martins

Posts: 3079
Joined: Apr. 4 2011

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Morante)

I remember visiting Sevilla when I was a kid. It was so hot that I couldn't stop walking or else my sneakers' soles would start to get sticky and melt.

True story.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2015 14:14:52

tele

Posts: 1464
Joined: Aug. 17 2012

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Sr. Martins)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sr. Martins

I remember visiting Sevilla when I was a kid. It was so hot that I couldn't stop walking or else my sneakers' soles would start to get sticky and melt.

True story.

Spain is HOT, haha, I don't like spending time there during end of april to beginning of october

I wonder how the tourists survive there(granada sevilla cordoba for example) in the summer when even the locals go to the coast.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2015 16:30:23

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to tele)

Year before last we spent some time in Europe. Last stop before Spain was London, in early May. I bought some polo shirts, anticipating hot weather in Granada. I was glad I did.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2015 19:42:12

Leñador

Posts: 5237
Joined: Jun. 8 2012
From: Los Angeles

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

I arrived in Sevilla in beginning of September, got off the bus from the airport with a 40lb back pack and a guitar. There's a thermometer near the bus stop and it said 39. I got lost, wandered for over an hour till some sweet lady who owned a little coffee shop stopped me cus she said I looked like I was going to faint lolol she gave me cold water and had her brother get me to where I needed to go. It's funny now, but I felt like I was gunna die. Where I grew up gets up to 110F(San Fernando/Sylamar) but Sevilla was HOT! Loved it though, a awesome city.

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\m/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2015 20:37:25

Neotriz

Posts: 143
Joined: Aug. 9 2010

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Sr. Martins)

Thanks for the inputs guys!
I will avoid Sevilla, at least until it gets cooler down there.

quote:

So Sevilla is empty: everyone has gone to the coast, Zahara de los Atunes, Caños de Meca etc, which is where you will find all the musicians and all the action.

I am planning to go Spain around July...Do you think I should stop by there first to see the actions until September?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2015 15:22:03

Sr. Martins

Posts: 3079
Joined: Apr. 4 2011

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Leñador)

quote:

There's a thermometer near the bus stop and it said 39. I got lost, wandered for over an hour till some sweet lady who owned a little coffee shop stopped me cus she said I looked like I was going to faint lolol she gave me cold water and had her brother get me to where I needed to go.

Was it really a talking thermometer or something with a similar shape that you had rolled earlier? Your story is the usual plot of "getting high" kind of movies.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2015 15:30:33

UnderTheSun

Posts: 46
Joined: May 10 2014

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

I travelled around Andalusia for two years. I would recommend seeing Ronda, the villages around the national park Los Alcornocales, the beach outside of Nerja, Beneficio in Granada (hippie-village in the mountains), Plaza Picasso in Malaga. There is a place north-west of Sevilla called Aracena. Great villages around there!

Send me a PM if you want to know more, maybe I can help you out with some places to stay.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2015 16:19:46

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to UnderTheSun)

Ronda used to be one of my favorite places in the 1960s-70s, before the tourist busses started rolling in from the Costa del Sol. I still like it.

The Restaurant Pedro Romero across from the bullring used to be a fine old style Andalucian restaurant, with the heads of famous bulls and photos of the likes of Belmonte and Manolete on the walls. The decor may be the same, but when Larisa and I were last in Ronda, I asked the doorman if there was a table for two at 2 PM. He rolled his eyes and pointed to the tourist busses parked nearby.

Still, the setting is spectacular, the Parador on the main plaza is a great place to stay, there was a good traditional flamenco show in the basement of the museum in the "Ciudad" just across the Puente Nuevo from the Parador, and there were plenty of good places to eat where we were the only tourists.

The Hotel las Monjas del Carmen in Granada is a mid-price hotel, almost at the Plaza Nueva, with a good restaurant. It is near the lower end of the Cuesta de Gomerez, the street that leads up to the Alhambra, and it's close to the street that runs along the river and up to the Albaicin. Just a couple of blocks away is Bodegas Castañeda, a popular traditional place for tapas. You can stand at the bar, or sit at a table in the dining room.

Just under the walls of the Alhambra, with a magnificent view of the city and the Sierra Nevada is a nine-room hotel, the Carmen del Alcubilla del Caracol. The Alhambra is just around the corner, downtown is a moderate walk downhill, but I was breathing hard on the way back up.

Wherever you stay in Granada, of course you mustn´t miss touring the Alhambra, nor the view in the evening from the Plaza San Nicolas in the Albaicin. There is a fancy restaurant with an excellent view, but there is also an inexpensive restaurant in the Plaza itself. Both have outdoor tables, and you can sit on the downhill wall of the plaza for free, and take in the Alhambra with the snow clad mountains in the background.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2015 20:26:14

Jim Kirby

Posts: 149
Joined: Jul. 14 2011
From: Newark, DE, USA

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Richard Jernigan)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Richard Jernigan

Wherever you stay in Granada, of course you mustn´t miss touring the Alhombra, nor the view in the evening from the Plaza San Nicolas in the Albaicin. There is a fancy restaurant with an excellent view, but there is also an inexpensive restaurant in the Plaza itself. Both have outdoor tables, and you can sit on the downhill wall of the plaza for free, and take in the Alhambra with the snow clad mountains in the background.

RNJ

You're pushing all my nostalgia buttons now. Makes me want to check flight prices.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 20 2015 14:19:39

minorthang

Posts: 222
Joined: Dec. 25 2014

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

with u too jim some buttons awesome place im considering july its the only time ill have but hot cakes

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 20 2015 14:34:21

Neotriz

Posts: 143
Joined: Aug. 9 2010

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

Thanks for the inputs guys :)
UnderTheSun, I will sending you PM soon. Thanks!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 20 2015 16:03:05

Leñador

Posts: 5237
Joined: Jun. 8 2012
From: Los Angeles

RE: 6+ Months in Spain...advice (in reply to Neotriz)

quote:

I would recommend seeing Ronda

Not a ton of flamenco in Ronda but there IS a pena there and the people are very very nice. They do mostly malaguena granaina and fandangos type stuff.
The people in Ronda seemed noticeably nicer and more hospitable than average and the city is absolutely beautiful. Fun little night life there too. Go to Huskies if you don't want to remember the end of the night.

The owner Carlos is super cool and will give you free shots if you drink with him lol