Test Drive Spain

Where bold architecture meets bold wine — at Marqués de Riscal, art and Rioja tradition collide in spectacular style. Sometimes the best journeys begin when you risk it all for beauty, design, and an unforgettable glass. 🍷✨

Wondering what to do between Almeria and Granada? This is it.

We were in a bit of a hurry today with the dogs in tow, so we couldn't make the trek down into the gully, but even from the top, is absolute magic. The Puente Nuevo towering over the El Tajo gorge is one of those "pinch-me" moments that reminds us exactly why we love this corner of the world.

The deep history, the dramatic white villages, and that unmistakable Andalusian soul... it's easy to see why so many people dream of moving here.

But is the actually the right fit for your lifestyle?

Stop guessing and find out!

👉 Take our "Find Your Spain" quiz at www.testdrivespain.com to see if this region (or somewhere else!) is where your Spanish chapter should begin.

There are places of worship that impress you.

And then there are places that genuinely stop you.

The Mezquita de Córdoba is the latter. We've been fortunate — Hagia Sophia, the Vatican, St Paul's, Tikal, temples across Asia. But walking into a cathedral built inside a mosque, with Roman columns holding up Moorish arches, Christian altars surrounded by Islamic geometry, and centuries of history literally embedded in the walls around you — it's in a category of its own.

The museum pieces alone would make it worth the visit. The architecture makes it unmissable. The fact that it's in one of Spain's most liveable, most underrated cities makes it extraordinary.

This is what the Moorish South delivers that nowhere else can.

Córdoba, Andalucía · September 2025

Granada reinforced something we’ve learned the hard way.

Old towns are beautiful.
They’re also rarely a good living strategy.

Short term — or long term.

No parking.
No transport hubs.
Constant tourist flow.

And then the details no one mentions:
Cold in winter.
Stifling in summer.
No gas or bottle gas.
Often no proper heating.
Often no oven.

It sounds romantic.
Until you live it.

We struggled through Valencia’s El Cabanyal.
Granada confirmed the lesson.

The most liveable neighbourhoods are usually just outside the old core.

Better insulation.
Modern utilities.
Schools. Parks. Transport.
Far fewer tourists — and far more normal life.

Visit the old town.
Walk it. Love it.

But if you’re planning to live in Spain,
save money, save pain — and look just beyond the postcard.

We saw Granada at Christmas through our friends’ kids.

Lights in the streets.
Ice skating.
Snow sitting up in the Sierra Nevada.

They’d moved from Australia only days earlier.
Everything was still raw.

And you could feel the shift happen in real time.

The kids relaxed first.
Then the parents followed.

Suddenly Spain wasn’t an idea or a risk anymore.
It was just… normal life happening somewhere else.

We were relieved too.
Our advice had mattered.
Helping them scope their Alicante property gave them a base — Granada gave them reassurance.

And then something quietly important:
Christmas lunch with friends. In English. No effort. No isolation.

Moves don’t fail on spreadsheets.
They fail on stress.

When children settle, everything accelerates.

Spain has a way of doing that — if you let it.

We came to Güéjar Sierra for focus.
Snow village. Quiet streets. Time for some deep work to finish off the year.

What we found instead were stories.

A US guitarist watching the snow from his adjacent balcony.
He arrived 25 years ago to film a flamenco documentary.
He met someone. Got married. Never left.

A British private chef.
Now dating a ski-lift worker.

Neither came with a master plan.
Both came for a visit.

And sometimes… that’s enough.

Spain has a way of interrupting your timeline.
You arrive to observe — and life quietly rearranges itself.

Not every test drive ends in relocation.
But every test drive changes how you see possibility.

And occasionally, fate does the rest.

Our Swiss friends arrive every winter.
Three months. Every year.

They’re not chasing sunburn or sangria.
They’re escaping costs, cold, and the pressure of Swiss winters.

This is the Spain most people never see.

Cafés still open.
Markets still busy.
The sea still there — even if you only swim once.

We lived six months nearby in Canet d’en Berenguer.
No tourists. One beach swim.
And some of the best living we’ve ever done.

Spain isn’t seasonal if you live it properly.
Even coastal Spain.

Dénia works because life doesn’t stop when summer ends.
It simply gets quieter, cheaper, and more human.

That’s the rhythm worth test-driving.

✨ If your star sign packed its bags and moved to Spain… this is where it’d go.
But that’s just for fun. Want to know where you should live based on how you actually want to live?
Take the quiz: Test Drive Spain: Find Your Lifestyle Match 👇