In continuation from my first blog post….
So I leave Spain in September 2008 and ultimately end up living back in Southeastern PA where I’m from. I was busy starting my life over again, traveling to Spain only in 2010 and then in July 2012. One night in August 2012 all the stars aligned, and I met an amazing man named Brian organically at a bar, not online. Shocking, I know! To this day I ask myself how I got so lucky. If one event from that day had gone differently, I would have never met him. Sometimes it really is all about being in the right place at the right time. We quickly became a couple and began going on many adventures together, mainly outside the USA. How is it possible that it took until 2017 for Brian to explore Spain for the first time?? I suppose we can blame it on my mission to travel to new countries I had not yet been to. I will confidently state right now that I will never, ever go five years without setting foot in Spain ever again. It’s unthinkable! I’m physically not even capable of that anymore.
In June 2017 I finally introduced Brian to Spain and the places I used to go during my first stint living there. We based ourselves in El Puerto de Santa Maria in an Airbnb near the beach in Fuentebravia, rented a fun Fiat 500 car, and took day trips to various places I had been before. There are so many amazing day trips to take in Spain, even when you choose to stay in only one area. We visited Cadiz, Rota, Sevilla, Gibraltar, Vejer de la Frontera, Bolonia Roman Ruins, Tangier Morocco, Los Caños de Meca. Brian finally got to experience himself what I had been raving about since I met him. I was constantly making references to Spain and how wonderful it is but it is one those things that one has to experience themselves for it to all make sense. During this trip, he was sold – blue skies, amazing scenery, summer days that last until almost 10 pm, tasty tapas, great vibes, just to name a few. Being that he always had a desire to experience living abroad, even before meeting me, he was on board with my goal of returning to live in Spain.
Fast forward to late 2020. We had an idea in mind to try and move to Spain in the summer of 2021. Both of his sons would be done with high school by then, we were still in the middle of the pandemic and remote work was still in full swing. In late 2020 we put a plan together, in writing on a Powerpoint, for what we would need to do to move to Spain. I researched online what options exist for moving to Spain as non-EU citizens and found out about a visa called a “non-lucrative visa.” Once 2021 began, we started to put the plan into action, which included several things – selling our home, getting out of a car lease, getting rid of a lot of stuff, gathering all the paperwork that would be required to apply for the visa, deciding where in Spain we would live, searching online for rentals in Spain.
I knew that I HAD to be in the Andalucía region and we decided on Málaga because it had a lot to offer. I adore Cádiz capital and the villages in that province, but I would be close enough to visit, being in Málaga. Málaga is Spain’s sixth largest city with a population of approximately 578,000 people. There are many expats who live there, but to be honest Málaga city is very Spanish, compared to other towns in the Málaga province which have a heavy expat population with English spoken widely. Being in Málaga city we would have language immersion, great public transport, a very popular and well-served airport, lots of services and restaurants, and more. It turned out to be a fantastic choice, zero regrets.
To make a long story short (and to save for another day), we applied for our visa through the Spanish consulate in New York City and were approved two weeks later. We arrived in Málaga in September 2021 to begin the greatest adventure we would share as a couple, traveling like mad throughout Spain, making amazing memories, and meeting wonderful people who will be lifelong friends. I want to take all of my experiences and expertise to help YOU enjoy your trip to Spain and maybe even fall in love with it as much as I did during my two stints living there and my ongoing trips to Spain.
