BUYING A CAVE . . . PLANNING

"Failing to plan is planning to fail"

Do not expect to move to a rural cave village or area and expect to find work. These small villages were in days gone by traditionally very poor. The reasons why so many unreformed caves are still in abundance is that many locals moved to find work in the larger cities, some moved as far as the north of Spain and even to the south of France. Cave regions have traditionally been agricultural and in the late 70's and 80's a large majority simply left the area as they could not find employment.

These traditionally poor villages are now experiencing a new lease of life with the expatriate moving to the area, pushing up property prices and investing in the area simply by living and spending. However work is very difficult to find, speaking the language will be almost essential if you plan to work in construction or the catering / hospitality industry. The alternative option is go self employed, there are opportunities for internet based businesses and if you have a trade such as electrician/carpenter etc you may be able to set up a nice little business catering for expats and / or the Spanish. If you do need to work as part of your life changing move do plenty of research into opportunities and possibilities before you take the plunge. Employment is out there but can be almost impossible to find.

Check, check and check again every detail involved in the sale of your cave, a good agent will be able to advise and put you in touch with a solicitor specialising in property sales and the laws/documentation that surrounds them. Spain has gained a reputation for "horror stories" mainly on the coast but the fact remains that in the past caves were more often than not sold using a "private contract" this means that in a lot of cases the cave will not have any escritura (title deeds) this can be rectified using a professional solicitor and should not pose any further problems in relation to the sale. Speak to the neighbours, find out about boundries and where they start and finish (or rather were the neighbour thinks they start and finish) Your garden may be on the title deeds but if the neighbour has used it for the past two decades they might be reluctant to give it up no matter what the paperwork stipulates.

Check the access with your neighbours too, in hamlets and rural villages access to your cave may be by passing in front of the neighbours cave. Imagine the neighbours unspoilt little corner of the village for over ten years and then we come along with big noisy 4 x 4s! It's a small point but worth considering any bad feelings that may arise before your money is handed over. In 99% of cases there wont be a problem (such is the Spanish nature in rural cave villages)

Planning the journey down . . . we know what it is like to get lost in France! Use in car navigation or print off a route finder from recources on the internet and cross reference a good map on the way down. Keeping change and smaller bank notes in the car is also useful and quicker for paying at toll roads. Expect to pay around 80 euros per vehicle in toll fees through France and Spain although these can be avoided by taking B roads etc.

The big move is probably the most exciting thing you have ever done and there are a million things to cancel and arrange before you have even left home never mind the cave sale itself! There are a few online forums on the internet like this one which are good places to ask questions and get advice from existing cave dwellers and others planning the move. A whole host of information can be gathered from such places from people with a broad range of cave situations.

The language. Speaking Spanish is mentioned several times throughout this site and we even have a whole section dedicated to it. Learning the basics makes life so much easier, I remember having A4 sheets of paper with phrases, numbers, months of the year written on them taped to every door in the house before we left the UK, it was something that worked for me and was a little less to learn upon arriving here.