What’s it like to live in Murcia (Spain)?

Hi everyone! I’m so thrilled to say something true about the typical dreamy cliché “living abroad near the sea.”

I’m a blogger and internet nomad originally from the European heart – the Czech Republic. You can follow me on my journey on IG @lifeisabeachcocktail or on my blog!
I appreciate it very much Seya, I love your blog and I’m so happy to write about my experience in Murcia for your readers..

Find me on social media:

What to expect in this article

Moving to Murcia

I moved to a smaller region of Spain called Murcia, one and a half years ago, with my boyfriend and our dog. We are working online, so we wanted to travel and discover new places and also try a cool opportunity to live abroad.

Because of our work, we don’t need to stay in one place, and living by the sea was my dream many years ago. We have never visited Spain before, so moving here was an adventure as well. We didn’t even know how to say hi in Spanish! 😀

The Covid situation

Because of the Covid situation our “travel future” didn’t go how we expected at the beginning.

However, we still made one bigger trip to Valencia, a trip around this province and we enjoyed the last cultural event – the Spanish carnival. We managed it all during the 4 months because then there was a very strict quarantine.

What to visit around here?

Anyway, I was still happy because our new home is a few steps from the beach and I love it for the evening walks. We live in a small and calm village, so there surely is a peaceful atmosphere/

In summer there are amazing markets and many people are coming here to enjoy their holiday houses.
Nearby there is a beautiful natural regional park named Calblanque and a lovely town called Cabo de Palos where you can find the wonderful and famous lighthouse, stunning beaches, and many marvelous red-orange cliffs.

You can also discover the famous and the biggest saltwater lagoon in Europe, called the Mar Menor, with an interesting piece of land almost sunk in the sea called La Manga. It is a very popular place and I think it‘s something really special.

Lastly, Cartagena City with the old roman theatre and nice port is very beautiful and Spanish too, same as the capital province city with an extraordinary cathedral – Murcia.

Food is certainly amazing here!

I love the quality of the stuff which you can buy in supermarkets and local markets are so good too. Everything is fresh because this region is very agricultural.

You really have to try “Café Asiatico” – which is typical Murcian coffee and “Caldero”, which is an old fisherman’s meal similar to famous Spanish Paella.

Next to that, I also recommend the drink “Tinto de Verano” from the red wine because it’s not that sweet, like the legendary Sangria. And seafood Paella is the best.
Of course you have to try simple but perfect “Salsa de Tomate” served for a breakfast in almost every cafe.

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Sea

It is always nearby, and you can feel the salty taste everywhere. I love it!

Weather is excellent

They say that there are 300 sunny days in Spain during the year, so it’s not often raining. This means, that the “winter” weather is perfect for sports and all outdoor activities. The sun is really bright, so when it is 15 degrees and it’s a nice day, you can even try to bathe in February.

Summer is really hot. Not because of the temperatures, but because of humidity. I remember the days in summer when it was “only” 27 degrees but 98% of humidity. On that occasion, it’s ideal to spend the summer days on the beach.

It’s a „green“ region.

You can see a lot of palm trees and all kinds of plants everywhere, which is so refreshing! And I think you can grow your own plants during the whole year.

Indeed, it’s a smaller region, but there are many things to do and many amazing places as well. Beaches are clean and marvelous almost everywhere.

Food

As I said, the food is so fresh and delicious. The prices in the restaurants and cafes are not high, and it’s so great, therefore, it is inviting you to spend a lot of time here.

Real-estate prices

Real-estate prices aren’t high (not talking about the big cities) same as food and other basic things. Comparing to Czech Republic there is a more comfortable life according to Spanish payoffs. You can enjoy your life more, plus you can rent a house with a garden or patio for an affordable price, which is ideal for dog owners

People

People are more sympathetic and more cheerful, and they just don’t hurry. You can learn a lot from them and I love their southern mentality and sparkling social connections.

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The Weather

One disadvantage is that some of the places are only good for the summer holiday. Even though there are a lot of people in the summer, you can only meet two people in the winter daily. Everything is closed or there is no public transport, etc.

The winter is extremely problematic here too. There is literally “no winter” for me (in Czech Republic it is normally snowing and freezing). It is around 10-15 degrees but unfortunately in your house as well!
Lastly, many houses here don’t have any heating. You have to use your air-conditioner or electric heaters and then hopefully it will be around 16 degrees at your home. While in CR the normal temperature during the winter in your home is 21 degrees)

English

Unfortunately, the Spanish people do not speak English much. You have to know basic Spanish to manage the necessary things, which was pretty hard in the beginning without any knowledge.

Slow offices

The Spanish offices are really messed up.
I always thought that in my country it is slow or bad but well, I wasn’t right. There is always missing information or non-helping articles and everything is really slow. You have to wait months to solve your problems. In general, it is not only offices, but the same is all agencies and services. It’s just their slow life of living.

Insects

There are insects everywhere. There are big cockroaches, mosquitoes, and ants whenever. Many homes aren’t prepared for this either.

My online tips:

Because we are not working in an organization, but by our own, I really appreciated Instagram to contact new people in our location.

You can also use our new app named Flaminger (App Store) for meeting new people
The FB group „Czech people living in Spain“ helped me a lot to know about the differences or get to know important stuff.
Carrefour – For your online grocery shopping, which can be perfect if you don’t have a car
Milanuncios or Vinted – For buying second-hand things
El País in English – to follow basic news, we read it mostly because of the Covid measurements
Idealista – The best real-estate app!
Preply – This platform is for learning foreign languages cheap and quickly

I love it here!

As always, there are some disadvantages if you live abroad, so don’t forget about that and read about it beforehand. Some people think that they will start their dream if they live abroad.

Anyway, I fell in love here, as people are happier, and they are enjoying life more. You have to stop organizing everything here, so it’s a calm feeling.

In addition, the weather is amazing! I can’t imagine life without the sea and sun now. Even though I’m here shortly, I love it here. I hope we will make friends in the future.

You will find me with my drink on the beach! Adios!

If you have any questions about my experience don’t hesitate to contact me.

With love,

Ann

www.lifeisabeachcocktail.com