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Our Place in Spain  (This page is under development as we get time)   Altos Del Limonar, Torrevieja   Our house is the upper floor of an attractive two bedroom duplex style property situated close to the salt lakes and a few minutes drive from the town centre and the beaches. The apartment consists of two bedrooms, fully tiled bathroom, fitted kitchen, lounge with shaded balcony to the front, and a large roof terrace. It is built on an established development which includes a large communal swimming pool. Although for us comfortably apart from the bustle of the town centre, all the usually expected amenities such as supermarkets, bars and restaurants can be found close by. A comfortable 25 minute walk for those in reasonable health will take you to town or there is a regular bus service which operates close to the complex. The Development The dream of a place of our own in Spain was one that we had harboured for some considerable time. We wanted a small place that we could use for holidays and were attracted to the "Duplex" type of development which provides a lounge, kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom, a roof terrace and a covered porch. In addition, we were attracted to The Costa Blanca because of the climate that prevails in that part of the Spain together with reports we had read on the quality of the beaches, golf, food etc available. The particular development we chose, Altos Del Limonar, was in a well established part of the town of Torrevieja close to the salt lakes where it was reasonably easy to see how the finished development would be and to establish that parts of the development such as swimming pools etc had already been constructed. It was close enough to the centre of town for convenience but far enough out to allow us a choice should we wish quietness. Various web sites we visited, together with literature available to us convinced us that this was our thing to do. Front View   July 2001 In July our place was nothing more than a piece of ground. We had access to the plans for the next phase of the development and could see how the overall development of the urbanisation was going. This image shows the view from our plot back towards the phase of the development that was being completed at that time. View from our plot On the plot Although this was a short visit of four days, On day 1 the land was simply a piece of scrub-land but by our last visit on day 3 the land had been cleared and the foundations marked off. The mechanical digging machines were also beginning to dig out the foundation trenches for the block slightly off camera to the left.   This is a view of the block that was currently under completion. We were allowed access to these almost completed apartments at our leisure which gave us time to see more that we could had we been restricted to the show house. It gave us the opportunity to see the "actual" build quality rather than having to make a decision based only on a possibly false show house. Almost completed phase   Swimming pool for our phase Having heard stories about promised amenities such as swimming pools being delayed or even not completed at all, we were delighted to see that all pools for the urbanisation had been built (although this one would not be commissioned until the phase of building was completed). Other amenities in the urbanisation include green areas, play areas and tennis courts. These, in previous phases, were already in use. The upper floor apartments of these "Duplex" buildings have roof terraces as standard in the build. This gives a 45 square metre increase in the overall living area of the apartment and an ideal location for the sun-worshiping members of the family. It is typical to have Bar-B-Qs, garden furniture, umbrellas or gazebos and even showers installed on the roof terraces. On a roof terrace like ours October 2001 Our trip in October indicated that substantial work had been done on our phase of the development. The foundations for all the apartment blocks had been completed and some of the buildings had been taken up to roof level while our block was having the concrete supporting columns poured while we were there. We considered the work to be continuing well. Our foundations go in Planting matures around pool The swimming pool planting appeared to be maturing well and we could get some idea of how the finished area would look with it's palm trees and grassed surroundings to the pool itself. The pool appears to have a shallow part sectioned off for younger users. January 2002 This photograph was taken by friends who were visiting their house. Although not one of our visits, we were impressed and eagerly waiting for our trip out in March to see for ourselves. The construction seems to be well under way but still a long way to go. Construction well under way March 2002 We were surprised and delighted with the progress that had been made. We had been given photographs, taken in January by friends, but even in the short time from January to March there had been a lot of work done. We could really see now how "our place" was going to be at the end of our wait. General view of our street Close-up of our access stairway Although the stairways were incomplete it was possible to get access to the upper floors of the building although a temporary ladder had to be negotiated first before the stair was reached. It was an excellent feeling to be standing on the porch of our "place in the sun" even though it was still very much a part of a building site. During this visit we met a fellow Scot who was now resident in the urbanisation and who appeared to be happy with his move. We got some good information from him and agreed to meet again in the future. Looking down from our balcony Our lounge develops It is difficult to see the place other that a building site but it was nice to see the shape coming to what had originally been a piece of rough ground on our first visit, then a set of trenches with concrete in them during our second visit. It was particularly interesting to note that wall and floor tiling was well under way and yet there were still unplastered walls and even huge holes in walls to allow materials and workers to access other parts of the building. From kitchen to lounge Lounge developed This image is taken from the apartment next door but shows the way the work is going. The open arch is the access to the kitchen and back door to the roof terrace. Overall, we were delighted with the progress being made. This was reinforced when we received our regular progress update from the agent we used for our purchase. Next visit will probably be when we take possession of the apartment. April 2002 These photographs were taken by friends who were on holiday and visiting their own property close to our place. The stairs have been completed and much has been done both inside and outside the apartment. Stairs completed Our Roof Terrace The access to our roof terrace was available for this photograph to be taken. The progress on this part of the building since our last visit is excellent This image shows the progress inside the house and is taken from the second bedroom towards the main bedroom with the bathroom door showing on the left of the hallway. Through the hall June 2002 The stairs tiled and railed This image shows the mosaic tiled risers and the marble tiles of the stair treads together with the painted bannister rails. The typically Spanish narrow street is taking shape although the final road and pavement covering is still some way off. The street from our porch July 2002 The porch nears completion Again we are indebted to friends who were on holiday and gave us an update on the progress on our apartment together with furnishing us with these images. The outside finish is well under way. The interior and exterior tiling is complete and all doors and kitchen fittings are either installed or are in the apartment awaiting fitting. The stairway is complete but the exterior finish remains incomplete - presumably until the final road surface has been laid. At this stage the swimming pool has been filled with water and is in use. This is a good sign as it indicates that all major construction work has been completed on this phase. This is likely to be the last visit to Altos Del Limonar until we go out to take over the property on completion by the builder. Finish incomplete until road laid November 2002 Finished and Furnished Our apartment has been completed at last and we were absolutely delighted to take possession of our "Wee place in the sun". We had a first class "moving in session" with our agents, builders and furnishers all providing excellent service. The overall business took just 1 day and this allowed us to relax for the rest of our stay. The relaxation often took the form of shopping to add those things that make a house a home. All the stuff that we take for granted in a home like pots & pans, crockery, cutlery plus food and drink have to be bought - we had a great time Dining Area & Kitchen On the front Terrace And often the relaxation took the form of just doing nothing. Although it was November, for three people from Scotland the weather was first class with temperatures often in the mid-twenties during the day and although it often got cold at night, for us it was great. Looking forward now to many happy holidays until we can retire and spend even more time over in Sunny Spain.