The practical know-how for living on, visiting or moving to the Granada coast — residency and paperwork, healthcare, transport, property, driving, schools and more. Plain English, kept up to date, no ads.
Your NIE (foreigner's number) and your padrón (town-hall registration) are the first two pieces of paperwork almost every new arrival needs. Here's what each one is, how to get it, and how they fit together.
Moving here → 02How healthcare works on the Costa Tropical — the public Andalusian system, your local health centre, the region's hospital in Motril, and when private cover makes sense.
Health → 03Which airport to fly into, how to reach the coast, what the ALSA buses cover, and why almost everyone who lives here ends up driving.
Transport → 04Where people live on the Costa Tropical, how renting works, and the step-by-step process — and real costs — of buying a home in Spain.
Property → 05What it actually costs to run a home on the Costa Tropical — electricity, water, the orange butane bottle, internet, and the local property taxes owners pay.
Money → 06The coast's best beaches, when the sea is warm enough to swim, and what each month is really like — from quiet mild winters to golden September.
Coast → 07Whether you can drive on your home licence, when you actually need an International Driving Permit (IDP), where to get a genuine one, and why to avoid the online sellers.
Transport → 08If you move here with a car you'll have to put it on Spanish plates — and every car here needs the ITV roadworthiness test. Here's how both work, and why most people use a gestor.
Transport → 09The weekly street markets are the cheapest, freshest way to shop — what's on offer, whether you can haggle, and how to do it like a local.
Local life → 10State, semi-private and international schooling on the Costa Tropical — how the system works, how to enrol, and how children pick up Spanish.
Moving here →