A Taste of Marbella

For those who have just relocated to a new country the first couple of months can be rough emotionally. Family members and friends left behind, familiar faces and places are no more. Becoming the resident of a home at the Costa del Sol may be very appealing on paper, but there’s a lot more to being an expat than just acquiring a year-round tan.

Before buying a property in Benehavis, Marbella or Fuengirola it’s a good idea to make contact with a few resident expats to find out what their settling-in experience was and how they overcame homesickness and feeling a little lost.

Good cooking is the route to man’s heart

Joining classes when first settling into a new permanent home in Marbella is a good way to make friends and to learn about local culture. Start with language tuition and follow up with cookery classes, for sharing the preparation and consumption of a meal are two of the most enjoyable but also socially helpful activities Marbella freshers can undertake to make new friends and possibly potential business contacts.

Marbella offers interested gourmets several excellent cookery classes and wine tasting excursions. Schools like “A Taste of Spain”, “Cooking Holiday Spain” and the “Wine Academy” offer more than just food and refreshments, but a chance to get to know other expats, make contacts, have fun and relax after the stress of moving home and country.

Before enrolling, find out what is included in the price, for this can differ considerably. The instructor should be English-speaking and it should be a private cookery class that is “hands-on”, not a lecture style demonstration by an experienced chef for students are less likely to engage with each other in such a setting.

Preferably, the menu prepared should be a three-course meal accompanied by wine to give students a rounded view of Spanish cuisine and home culture. There should be a printed sheet/folder with all the recipes prepared during the course, so students can practice at home – preferably by inviting each other to take the cooking in turns, for this is how to make valuable first connections when first settling into a Marbella or Costa del Sol home.

The cost of cookery and introductory wine classes can vary greatly, depending on what is included and how large the groups are. The smaller the group, the more private tuition individual students will receive – and this means the course is more expensive, when the group is very small. Typically, a cookery class with six or more participants will cost around EUR 160 to EUR 180. For one on one or tuition for just two people calculate around EUR 220 to EUR 250 per person.

Showing off at your Marbella house warming party

You could, of course, rely on old favourites like beer and the usual bottle of plonk, but to make a real impression with your new neighbours and the first friends you’ve made among Spanish locals and expats, why not show off a little and organise your own wine tasting?

Armed with knowledge gained at the Mijas Wine Museum, you should be able to put together an entertaining program for your house warming party. The Mijas Wine Museum is open all year round and can be found in Mijas, C/ San Sebastian. The museum runs introductory wine courses as well as tastings (tel. 952 590 380 / 952 486 367).

Making a move

Although Spain is a long way off from a full economic recovery there are none the less signs that the housing market is heading into better times at long last. Property portal kyero.com published last week that a report by the Civic Circle Opinion showed that home mortgage lending is improving.
 
Data showed that in 2010 mortgage lending stood at 620,433, while mortgage lending in the final quarter of last year reached a balance of 574,919 or 79.4% of all home loans and 38.8% of all loans granted by financial institutions for home purchases.

It seems therefore that now is a good time to make a move to escape the floods, rain and storm back home and enjoy life in a Marbella property instead.