where to live outside of Barcelona or Madrid?

[matt]

hi all, i\'m currently living in amsterdam but i\'m heading South with my girlfriend in three months to Spain. The main reason we are coming to Spain is to learn the language and we\'re thinking that a smaller place other than Madrid or Barcelona would be perfect for this. the question is where? Does anyone have any advice on where to live other than the two big cities? any suggestions would be much appreciated.



cheers,



Matt[addsig]

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[Sibsie]

Hi.  I\'m about an hour from Valencia which is a lovely place.  My nearest town is Javea or Denia on the Northern Costa Blanca.  My actual village is quite teeny but that\'s the way I like it.  Good to see some more people venturing away from Madrid and BCN.  There is quite a large Dutch community in Javea and it\'s really friendly.  All the Dutch people I\'ve met have settled in really well and most of them only intended to stay a little while but have been there years.  It\'s incedibly scenic and has a much better climate than BCN or Madrid.  Housing is VERY expensive to buy but if you shop around and you\'re coming out of the tourist season you can get some reasonable rental deals.[addsig]

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[matt]

thanks for the tip! we were actually already thinking that valencia could be a good place to stay - although i should mention that we are actually a kiwi and a new yorker who just happen to be living in amsterdam. I wonder if you could tell me a bit more about Valencia? I guess i will probably go the TEFL route as that seems to be the easiest way to get work. is there plenty of work to be found in Valencia & affordable rental accomodation etc? or will we find that it is an expensive place hard for foreigners to break into? I don\'t speak spanish yet, although i will of course learn - my girlfriend luckily does.[addsig]

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