Moving from Scotland to Spain

Hi,  would like to suggest to stay in Alicante . This is a very beautiful city with a number of places to visit. The people here are very nice and friendly. Here you will find all you need  at a very reasonable price. Have a lovely trip.
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Denia and Javea (northern Costa Blanca) are definitely the places to be right now... they have all the things you mentioned with lots of Spanish and Valencian charm, close to the hustle and bustle of Valencia, Benidorm, Alicante and Ibiza but far enough to be tranquil and without too many crazy tourists in the summers! 

Thank you Marryjohna1, your message was really helpful and it's good to hear there are lots of great places to stay in Spain!

Hi BehrouG, thanks for your post, it's very helpful to hear which areas have a bit of everything! I will look into those areas

You're welcome Mel.  These are the two videos that helped us decide to move to this area without even having visited!

This first one takes you through the entire year starting in January, showing both the tranquility of the low season and the crazy festivals and events in the summer:  https://youtu.be/MpDa-1lsLG8

And this one is about people who have moved there from other parts of the world and what they think about Denia:  https://youtu.be/I_q6KvGBoe4

Hi,

So you will need to be near a big enough airport for there to be low cost carriers to take you back to Glasgow. Valencia & Alicante have such flights, as do Barcelona and I assume Madrid. But these last two places will be expensive places to live.

Lots of people here are recommending the Alicante area, which is super nice, but has a particular vibe that you need to check you like. That area (and down to Malaga) is where the expat brits gather, so if you want lots of brits around you, and have shops and banks used to dealing with mono lingual brits, then this could be a good choice.

Valencia is a younger, cooler, hipper and much bigger city than Alicante. It’s on the coast and surrounded by mountains. There is a big public transport network to get you out and about. But most people seem to use bikes as their primary way of getting about the city. To my eyes, it’s significantly cheaper than Alicante. Not many brits, but the city is used to international business folk, so finding help in English is not impossible. It’s a very spanish place. People like spending time at the beaches, hanging out in bars and eating at rediculous times. Cycling in the mountains at weekends is a big thing there.

Swimming, being active, 1 hr from airport etc, suggest that you could do in southern regions of Madrid. Communidad de Madrid - not necessarily the city itself. Being close to Barajas would be convenient.

I know you have some flights to Glasgow from Reus Airport, and near Tarragona and they are quite cheap as it is RyanAir and that Reus Airport is not as popular as the Barcelona one, which not so far away, and Tarragona is a nice city not too expensive

Hi Mel,

I'm moving to a place just outside Lliria, about 20 minutes drive to Valencia airport. Having flown in and out of Valencia airport a few times recently, I find it efficient. Lliria seems to be a quiet friendly town and on the metro line to Valencia. There are quite a lot of lovely houses in nice towns/villages near Valencia airport or I recently stayed in a fantastic flat in Valencia itself near Angel Guirema (not sure of that spelling) metro station which is 20 minutes to the airport and lots of lines to other areas of Valencia too. You may want to be a bit more specific about what you want to get better responses.

Aysha

You pretty much described Valencia. AyshaK is correct as is Roland. The airport is very accessible with direct flights to Scotland. The preferred mode of transport seems to be cycling. We walk everywhere as our car collects dust. The Angel Guimera (Arrancapins) area is quite close to everything, including direct metro to the airport, and more reasonably priced than buzzing Ruzafa. There are also tons of bars and eateries and it's about 40 minutes to the beach by bus/metro or you can cycle in about 25 min. It is also close to the Turia which is 11 km long with bike and walking trails. Closer to the metro station (Angel Guimera), there is a huge gym with an olympic sized pool. Closer to the Turia metro station, there is another gym (Petxina) with a huge pool as well.  Lliria might be a little too quiet for you. Good luck with your plans.