Choosing the house was based on many factors but as everyone says - location, location, location!
We thought about, and probably hoped for, an isolated farmhouse somewhere in the middle of nowhere with plenty of land and lots of fruit and olive trees - just like some of our friends here. But is that really what we want?
What about when we get older and less mobile, less able? This is going to be the 'forever' house and we have to think accordingly.
Land area of 1100m² (a little over ¼ acre, more than 4 times of what we had in UK) with fruit trees, one of which is Avocado! Room for a spacious vegetable garden, a large enough building with good access and car parking space.
Electricity and telecoms, our own water supply, and connected to the sewerage system. With plenty of scope for the 'bells and whistles'. Easy walking distance to the village with shops, cafés, bars and a pharmacy. Very close to the railway and not too far from the highway.
Waking up each day to views from the bedroom window like this will make the effort all worth while - and this is just December.
Over that horizon is Spain.