I first went on holiday to Spain as a kid in the late 70s, I don't recall much about the place from those days, but I've been a regular ever since. In the 90s, I started to holiday there with my now wife, and for about the last decade or so, we've talked long and hard about buying our own place in the sun in Spain.

Around 2017 we had some significant changes in our lives, so we figured it would never happen if we didn't start getting our act together. So we began to look for a house. It took five years to find it, but in April 2022, we found it, purely by chance!

Between 2017 and 2022, we had countless trips. First to the Alicante region, then the Malaga province. On each trip, we got more despondent as every house we liked (and could afford) was in a village that didn't quite hit the mark. We were close to throwing in the towel on a trip on April 22 after three days of viewings in three villages that didn't stack up. Every trip over cut into our available budget, and house prices were only going up.

Then by pure chance, we stopped for lunch in a village a few miles from the coast that we'd never heard of. And that was it! We'd finally found where we wanted to be. We were due to fly out that evening, so we frantically contacted local agents and set up some viewings.

One agent showed us a house that was nice but not for us. As we headed for the door, he said, "I took another house this morning just down the road from here. It's over your budget, but I have the keys. Wanna see it?" Sure, we said. Thirty minutes later, we were discussing our first cheeky offer!

The house was perfect. Almost exactly what we wanted, it needed a bit of work but was generally in excellent condition, as the present owner had reformed and extended it in the mid-2000s.

The cheeky offer was duly rejected, and negotiations started. Long story short, fifteen minutes before getting on the plane home, with the help of family and friends to get us over the line, a deal was done. We were finally going home, having bought a place in the sun!

After wading through the Spanish legal system nightmare, we got the keys a month or so later. We then set about making the place our own; new furniture by Ikea (of course!), new aircon and a fresh coat of paint.

We've had the house for over three months now, and I've been at it most of that time. Part-time Life in Spain is everything it should be, relaxed, outdoors and above all else, warm!

There are loads of pictures, including some the previous owner did during the reform, in the Casa gallery.