Hello from Asturias, Northern Spain

Welcome on Expat-blog Ian! I have moved the topic on the Spain forum.

Ian,

It sounds as though you are living the dream. I would love to move somewhere that I can have a huge garden and where my girlfriend can paint and craft. From what I've seen in pictures, Asturias looks absolutely beautiful.

I am curious about the local donkey sanctuary. Could you elaborate?



-E

EmmaGee - hello

Asturias is a beautiful part of Spain, very green and mountainous with numerous secluded beaches. The weather is temperate with periods of rain and moisture and periods of sunshine and warmth.

It is extremely quiet out of season.

The perfect retreat from a stressful world .....but few employment opportunities in the current climate.

The Donkey Sanctuary is run by a Retired Dutch lady who three years ago came to Spain to open a sanctuary for old and retired donkeys. We help her with publicity to get volunteers and funding. It is set in 8 hectares of beautiful Asturias countryside and looks towards the Picos de Europa mountains. They might take the links off as I am a new member but here goes:

donkeyparadise.wordpress.com
paraisodelburro.blogspot.com

We also have a facebook page El Paraiso del Burro

I checked out the websites (which weren't removed) and became a fan on facebook. If I ever end up in the area, I would love to visit. I am an animal lover and this sounds like a wonderful organization. :-)

tell me, what is it like for motorycle riding - and what would it cost to settle there for my wife and me. we are retired - would love to relocate somewhere as you describe -

tell me more please - I have no need to work - how are the restaurants, cafes, living potential overall? how costly for an american to more there?

thanks

steve

Hi Steve

Many folks motorcycle here in Spain - there is a big culture of leisure biking especially from visitors who arrive by ferry. There are also big rallies for bikers here in Asturias but I am not sure of the details.

Restaurants and bars are plentiful but expensive in holiday areas, smaller villages and towns are plentiful and have good value meals and tapas - typical menu of the day would be choice of starter, main, dessert, wine and bread - 7-10 euros out of the holiday areas 10-16 euro in holiday areas.

House prices also reflect the areas - on the coast, a three bed detached house and some land could be 300,000 upwards, further inland 150,000 euros. Quality of life is good but doesn't suit everyone - suggest spending a few weeks out here for holidays to see if it is your sort of place - friendly, frustrating, family orientated, traditional, quiet, peaceful, rural, stunning...are just some of the words I could use to describe Asturias. Have a look at my blog for some information on asturias.  ianandluis.info

Where abouts are you at the moment?

Thank you - tell me, where do I find your blog? Somehow can't locate it -

Steve

steveberde wrote:

Thank you - tell me, where do I find your blog? Somehow can't locate it -

Steve

Hi Steve - my blog is ianandluis.info

I'll try and find a couple of links for you in English about Asturias as well - there are a couple of sites that I found useful when considering this area.

Edited to add:

infoasturias.com - English language button at top

@La Pasera hi  saw that the beautiful donkey sanctuary is closing and for sale. Such a shame. Good that lovely homes have been found for them but again a shame! Do you know if it's been sold yet?

@La Pasera hi, such a shame that the lady will retire now from the donkey sanctuary. Do you know if they found a buyer for the property? Hope it might be an animal lover to continue running. But good that they have found lovely homes for these absolutely beautiful animals. What a shame though.

@La Pasera Hello.  We are a couple of guys from Texas considering a move to Spain or Portugal. My brother spent a few years running a Casa Rural on the Camino in Galicia.  He loved norther Spain. We will be touring around for 3 weeks Sep/Oct just to feel things out. Sounds like you guys have a pretty nice life there.