Living in Granada, Spain | Real Estate, Lifestyle, Cost of Living & Local Culture

Speaker A: Hi, I'm Vanessa. Welcome back to the Celina Global Living Podcast where we talk about the realities of life abroad, real estate, and what it takes to find your home in a new country. Today we're headed to Granada, a city where three civilizations have left their mark and you can still feel all three. Tucked beneath the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain, Granada is one of those cities that gets under your skin. It has a layered history that you can still feel in the architecture, the food, and the rhythms of daily life. And if you've ever been here before, you know that no other city feels quite like it. My guest today is Guillermo. He's a real estate agent and he has lived in Granada since childhood. And he knows the city in a way that most of us never will. Not as a visitor, not as someone who chose it for the lifestyle, but as someone who grew up in these streets, saw it change, and chose to stay. So today we're going to talk about what makes Granada unique, including the tapas culture that's still surprises people and the real estate market, what you get in the city for a, uh, two bed, two bath condo, and what you can expect to pay for a villa with a pool in the countryside. And we'll also talk about what foreign buyers need to understand about the city before they fall in love. All right, let's go. Hello, Guillermo. Thank you so much for joining me. I am so excited to learn more about Granada.

Speaker B: Hi. Hi. How are you doing? I'm, um, excited too, to show you some information about this lovely city.

Speaker A: Yes. Well, I'd love to start by finding out why you chose to live in Granada. Did you grow up there or did you find your way there?

Speaker B: Indeed, my parents find my way here because I was born in Barcelona in the north and uh, I came here with my parents when I was seven. So it was uh, not really my choice. But yeah, I will choose it anyway because it's a, uh, really lovely city.

Speaker A: Why do you love it? Why have you decided to stay as an adult?

Speaker B: Well, mainly because the half of my family, my father was from Granada, my mother is from, from the Barcelona and we have like, uh, uh, share families. But I grow here, uh, have my friends here, uh, I make my business here. We, we set a family, uh, business and well, I have just enjoying Granada and like I know the lifestyles in different parts of Spain. Definitely Granada, it's a really lovely place to live.

Speaker A: Yeah, I can't wait to get more into that. And you know, when people think of Granada, the two things that come to mind are tapas and the Alhambra. So what else should people know about the city?

Speaker B: Well, definitely the gastronomical interest is it's high and Alhambra is one of the main, uh, it's not a reason. It's more than one of the remains of the greatness of Granada. And more than tapas and Alhambra, there is a huge historical city. We have had here a lot of different cultures. And even talking about the actual culture, Granada is uh, is one of the, it's still been one of the most cultural cities even compared to big cities in Spain. We have one of the biggest and most famous festival of dancing and music festival and we have had a few months ago the Goyers Awards here. And uh, it's a really rich city. Not just tapas and umbra which are ah, also nice too.

Speaker A: Right. There's still good reasons to come. So how would you describe the pace of life? I mean I understand that Granada has a lot of tourism draw and it's also a university town and it's a mid sized city. So you know, as somebody who lives there, what is, what does it feel like to live in the city?

Speaker B: Well, to live in Granada, uh, compared to other cities, maybe through the largely size, it's less stressful because you don't have to spend a lot of time traveling from one point to the other. So all this time that you save for yourself makes it a little bit less stressful and a little bit more comfortable probably.

Speaker A: Okay, so it's a pretty compact city, right? Would you say most people are able to walk to most of the services that they would need on a day to day basis?

Speaker B: Yeah, mainly, yeah. Uh, well, depends on where you live or where you work. But usually around your, your area it's not, well it's not super common that you can't find your services around. There is a few condominiums or a few neighborhoods which are uh, uh, almost even 100% just uh, we say residentials and you have nothing around. But it's not really common. However, even in these places at 5 minutes driving you have everything.

Speaker A: So you know, when we think about Granada, we're talking, we're mostly talking about the city, but there are other communities adjacent to Granada and you have, you have the Sahara, you have the mountains and you. Granada, uh, stretches all the way to the coast in terms of the area. So what are some of the other villages or towns near Granada that people should know about?

Speaker B: Uh, well, indeed, Granada, it's a city in Granada. And the area it's a city and uh, a location which is super funny to rediscover year after year. Even myself. It's just funny. A, uh, couple of weeks ago I had to visit, uh, a client in a, uh, certain point. And sometimes I like to have a kind of short walk around and it was even a traffic jam in one point. So I say, well, let's discover. And I get another path. Just having a, uh, maybe 15 minutes, uh, walk away. And I remember a few villages that I have I haven't visited for maybe 15 years. And I just realized how beautiful is all these tiny villages all over Granada with super nice views. Depends on the point that you are. So as, uh, resume, what I will say is it's so beautiful and so rich that it's super nice to know every religion to make, uh, ultra local tourist tourism. Because there is a different richness in different points. Some of them super gastronomical, uh, places. Some tiny villages with terrific views, some medium cities with. And all history behind, like where Federico Garcia Lolca was born or where the last king Muslim, uh, King of Granada gave the keys to the Catholic. So there is a lot of different tiny things to discover. And I guess that you never discover 100% of what we have around here.

Speaker A: It is such a rich cultural area. And I think that is one of the beautiful things about living in Spain. You just travel out and there are all these little villages and beautiful other little places to explore. It's just so rich. It's so diverse. But you said something that I want to zone uh, in on. You talked about how it's very local. And I think Granada has a reputation for being kind of deeply, stubbornly local. And I'm wondering what that means for a foreigner who is moving there from abroad. Is it hard for them to integrate?

Speaker B: Well, indeed. I don't really know what you mean with that because I haven't hear that we are that local. Okay. Indeed, Granada is, uh, even historically, traditionally it's a city where it is a kind of meeting point from people all over Spain and especially from all over Andalusia, because due to the university city center, there is a lot of people from the whole Andalusia who came to Granada to study. So there is a lot of people who came back when they have their families to the old student city. So I heard here that we, uh, are that local. Honestly, you can enjoy the city wherever you came from.

Speaker A: How would you say that the tourism impacts your daily life? Are there times of the year when it feels like you're overrun by tourists or where, where regular people live in the neighborhoods where they live. Are you able to kind of avoid the tourist rush?

Speaker B: I think that in super, super high season there is a lot of tourism but mainly it impacts in. There is more people and it's maybe harder to, to book uh, a, a uh, table in a restaurant. But as it is not a uh, proper coast city, as could be Malaga Outro Molinos or some, some places like this which maybe attract a specific kind of tourism. I guess that the tourist that came to Granada doesn't really impact or bother to say something. The daily life in Granada is just more people and it's a kind of share culture. The you are just doing the same that the foreigners or the, or the tourists are doing in Granada. You are enjoying the having a uh, lunch, uh, in a terrace or you are enjoying going to some shopping center or you enjoy just walking around Granada, which is things that locals used to do.

Speaker A: Mhm. Let's talk more about that. So talk to me about the way locals embrace um, tapas culture. So what does that mean for you on a weekly basis when you out for tapas with friends? What is that experience like?

Speaker B: First of all, when we say tapas in Granada, we say properly tapas. It's not chips, it's not just a plate of olives. It's a proper dish.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And uh, this is a big thing in Granada when you go with your, with your family, with your friends. I guess that we have a culture probably because of the weather, because of the gastronomical culture, because of the sunshine. We are an outside culture and we love to share with friends, which is easy because you are super comfortable and with a nice weather, nice sunshine in a terras or restaurant or in the seaside or in the mountain, you have plenty of options. So for us to go and have some tapas is not just go and drink and eat something for us is to share your day to day, spend some time with friends and we really appreciate tapas. So better you provide good tapas because it's a big thing for us. It's a really big thing. Uh, it's one of the nexus, one of the points that sticks all together with your friends, with your, even your, your co workers, your, the people in your teams, you spend some time with them just sharing uh, some drinks and big uh, food. So it's not just drinking and eating, it's more than that.

Speaker A: Yeah. I'll never forget the first time I came to Granada and my husband and I sat down and we ordered drinks. And the size of the plate of food that came out with it. We were blown away.

Speaker B: It's a proper dish.

Speaker A: Completely different experience from where we were living on the coast of Del Sol at the time. And we're like, this is different. This is a different vibe. We like this. This is amazing. Yeah, I love that, uh, you know, how you highlighted how it's about sharing and sitting down. It's very communal, it's very warm. It's very like, come on, let's get in together and share and talk and eat. Switching gears just a little bit. I'm a mountain girl and I love the idea that you could in theory ski in the morning and then be on the beach in the afternoon. Now is that true? Because I've heard that you can do that in Granada, but do people actually do that?

Speaker B: Well, you can definitely do that because from Granada, uh, to the proper ski station it's as much like 60 minutes driving if you don't get a uh, traffic jump. But there is like 60 minutes driving. And from Granada to the seaside it's 45 minutes. So it's definitely possible. Indeed. I make a video in social media once that uh, I had to show to a client, a property in the coast. And the same day I went to the ski station at ah, the afternoon. So I make a video because I knew it. Of course I have booked the viewings and it's definitely possible. But to ski and then have a shower has the problems that has to have a shower in the sea when it's winter. So if you can swim in the frozen water, you are um, more than welcome to, to try to do that. But definitely it's possible you can do that.

Speaker A: Okay. And I hear the ski is quite good. Do you, I mean, how do you compare it to other ski locations in Spain? I mean do you have a lot of runs? Do you get pretty good snow? What, what are the conditions like?

Speaker B: The ski stations is really good. One of the points as, uh, I, I have been skiing in some other places in Spain, not all the ski stations, but in some of places. And I have been skiing a lot when I was younger in the, in Sierra Nevada. And one of the nicest things that has. It's almost the whole main mountain, it's skyevolved because it's not a, uh, uh, mountain, it's not a ski station. This kind of ski station full of trees and full of obstacles. So you can, you have a lot of skiable kilometers. This is one of the points that I think that uh, really appreciated for the People who loves to ski because you can ski a lot of different levels of uh, skill, ski skills and, and well the, the snow, it's really, it's quite good. We are the, the top of the ski station is at uh, uh, close to 205 uh to 2500 meters uh high. So it's really high and the snow is really good indeed. Uh, you have seen we still have the mountain full of snow and uh, the main paths are ah, usually support with artificial snow to keep all the perfect level of layer of snow. So it's, it's really fun, interesting and you can really enjoy it.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean I think that's such a magic location to be in a uh, cultural, like a rich cultural city. 45 minutes to the ocean, an hour to skiing. You can see the snow but you don't have to drive in it. I mean I think that is such a magical combination truly. It's funny, we're actually looking for something similar. We uh, were looking for a house in Italy and that's, that would be our dream scenario. That would be perfect. So I don't know if we can find that in Italy but yeah, I think that's, that's one of the really unique things that stands out about Granada. You can be in nature and the beach super easy. So let's talk about the cost of living in Granada and how that compares to other areas. Can you, do you have any specs for us? Maybe what a two bedroom condo in the city versus a villa just outside runs these days?

Speaker B: Well as in every place you know the cost of living is getting a little bit higher. Uh, but definitely Granada, like it's not one of the, of the regional capitals. It's probably a little bit more affordable. Ah, which is the cost of living, the day to day cost. Uh, not super cheap, it's just a little bit cheaper when you go to other places like maybe Malaga or Madrid or even if you go to the north, it's a bit more expensive. You can feel the difference but probably it's not M. The difference is not really big. And the cost of buying a property in Granada has a uh, I guess in every places you can choose whatever you want to, whichever area you prefer to live. But we have a huge range of prices. You can maybe you asked me for two bedroom for example.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: You can, you can buy a uh, two bedroom flat maybe between the cheapest 100,000, but you can even buy a uh, property with two bedrooms in the best location, maybe with a terrace and you can spend almost 400,000. So it's a big range. You can pay almost 4, 3, 4 times more for uh, the better area compared to the, to the worst.

Speaker A: Okay, so would you say for a typical. So for a foreign buyer coming in who wants uh, you know, decently updated, nice comfortable, walkable neighborhood, it doesn't have to be the penthouse above the Ritz, but you know, nice like middle class nice. Would you say that would be around 200, 250,000 for a two bed condo?

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, more or less. The average price could be 250. It's uh, a, it's a decent budget.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: To be able to find something in a desirable area.

Speaker A: Okay, and what about a villa with a pool? If somebody wants to be on the outskirts of town and have a little bit more space, what would they expect to spend as much as you want.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: 3 million if you want to. But let's talk about like average prices.

Speaker B: But again depends on whatever the pool is, share or private. And, and how far do you want to go from Granada? Uh, because you can find uh, maybe an, a small villa with uh, even an independent one. Because with village you mean a non unattached house, just a uh, proper villa with garden maybe around it?

Speaker A: Yeah,

Speaker B: maybe the right, in the right location. 180. €180,000. Still up to not much more than 1 million. You can find some special things, but yeah, the around more or less the same that two, uh, bedroom, uh, flat. 200. 250. You can find Right. Places if you want to came closer to Granada. The price, Price, of course.

Speaker A: Yeah, um, price goes up. Okay. But that's pretty accessible. I mean I think for most people thinking about a villa with a pool, if they could get that for under 400,000, that would feel like a big adjustment to life in the United States for sure.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely.

Speaker A: Okay, so let's talk about social life. I love that we talked about the tapas culture and obviously there's lots of different lifestyles even in Granada. But for a typical Spanish family living in Granada, what does a Saturday look like?

Speaker B: Well, depends, uh, on um, your lifestyle. Like Granada is that open to a lot of different kind of lifestyles. You can find a lot of different Saturdays, for example, for a uh, young student, Saturday probably the Saturday morning could be hangovering because you have the options. But if you have like me for example, I have a little boy and we spend a lot of times the Saturdays in a playground, uh, uh, going to uh, making our shoppings, uh, it's really common that if you want to go to make some shopping. So you want to go to the playground or garden or even we love, we, we love to go hiking or depend on the season, go to the seaside. You have plenty of things to do. And it's usually if you want to make something outside, even if you are going to make your shopping, you say well uh, it's kind of a little bit late, let's have something outside. And you can have some drinks, uh, or some tapas or some rations which is uh, you know, it's a, it's a little bit bigger than a tapa. You can pay for it and with a uh, couple of things, you, you, you have a nice time outside. So it depends on what you, your lifestyle is. You can make from a uh, super uh, local cultural thing to go to the mountain and make some nature adventure activities.

Speaker A: Yeah, there's a lot of diversity there for sure. And is there a sizable LGBTQIA community? I mean would, would a gay couple coming from the United States feel welcomed in Granada?

Speaker B: Well, as you know my uh, I have been uh, involved in, in the foreign community because my, my wife is British so I know a lot of uh, communities uh, of expats and even they have some even Facebook Facebook groups to get in touch and to share uh, language to improve their Spanish or just to spend time together. Some of them with uh, children. So uh, it's a big population ah. Of foreigners that are living in Granada.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker B: This is what you ask?

Speaker A: Yeah, that helps for sure. And where are people actually buying. Do you find that foreigners are buying apartments, like historic apartments in the center? Or are they looking in the peripheral areas for places that have a little bit more space?

Speaker B: Again, I'm sorry to can't give you an accurate answer, uh, because. But that, that's our reality. Depends on what you want to do, depends on your lifestyle, depends on what you prefer for. To do for living. We sell a lot of two, three bedroom flats in the city center. But also who prefer to enjoy more space or some open area. Maybe they prefer to drive 15 minutes, 10, 15 minutes to buy uh, a house in a village close to Granada. There is some villages which are literally uh, apart from Granada, from one street. So one side of the street, for example Armilla, one side of one main street is Granada and the other side is this village. So you can go walking even if you want. It's not common but you have to pass down the motorway. But you can definitely do that. So what's more common? Or maybe uh, three four bedroom house in these areas Close uh, to Granada or maybe a uh, two three bedroom flat in the city center. This is like the two more common properties.

Speaker A: Okay. And is there anything that you see foreign buyers consistently get wrong or underestimate about buying property in Granada that you would love to set them straight on?

Speaker B: Maybe to choose the wrong real estate agent could be one mistake that they can um, can do. Luckily there is a lot of professional people. But what you can find everything and, and to find someone who knows the market and who speaks at least decently English and Spanish and someone who understands how the purchase process goes, it's one big thing. But well, so depends on the area that the foreign clients came from. Sometimes this is really common. I get, I guess that in the, in the United States the survey is really common, right?

Speaker A: Yes, yeah, yeah.

Speaker B: And in Spain it's absolutely unusual. So it's not a uh, definitely it's not an standard thing. So when some people came, some client came from, from whatever that they, they are used for this survey. Sometimes I advise, well if you want to be 100% sure, you can hide a um, uh, professional service to make sure that everything is fine and well at least make your decision but with the right information. And indeed this is one of the services that we provide. And finally we had to prepare this service because a lot of foreign clients I'm related with, my wife and I have some clients especially from the uk but they are not used to find the property which can have something and this is a useful uh, service usually and the service of making the refurbishment to fix something if it's necessary. But maybe it's the only mistake that they can have to don't choose the right person and don't and don't know which are uh, all the extra expenses of buying a property.

Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. I always tell the story. I have two friends who purchase properties using the listing agent that they just found online because they liked the property. And that agent never bothered to say hey, by the way, you're also going to get a tax bill 30 days after closing. So uh, you need to be prepared for that. And both of them were caught by surprise and one of them bought a million euro property. So imagine they got, and this is in Catalonia. So it was a hundred thousand euro tax bill that they were not expecting upon close. So you know, I don't think it was malicious. I think you know a local agent who's used to dealing with local buyers, those buyers know what to expect and they just didn't think to mention it.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Foreign buyers don't know what they don't know. So it is so important to work with an agent who is there representing your interests, who understands what you're going through as a foreign buyer and how things might be different for you from the way your mortgage is structured to understanding the costs, like you said, to just the timeframe and the process and the culture around it. Definitely I agree with you 100%. It's so important that you work with the right agent. And I'll include the contact form to get in touch with Guillermo in the show notes. So you can definitely reach out to Guillermo if you're looking to buy in Granada or in the surrounding villages. Um, I highly recommend him. And, uh, Guillermo, by the way, is going to be our local guide when we bring our expatsi group to Granada in a few weeks. So hopefully we'll get to see some property together and maybe I'll get to interview you again face to face. So, yeah. So Guillermo's my. My go to contact in Granada. Is there anything else, Guillermo, that you think people should know about Granada if they're thinking about where they want to live in Spain?

Speaker B: Well, maybe I think that we was talking about that when we talk first time. Probably not. Not just to go to Granada when you want to go wherever you want to. To go. It's interesting. Uh, what I prefer to say is, well, let me know what are you waiting for? Because sometimes you know perfectly sure that people say, well, yeah, I'm looking for some property between two, three bedrooms and 200 or to €300,000 just in Granada or towns around there. But this is a huge range of properties that match. So what I could advise is try to be as more accuracy as possible and try to see yourself living there and, and try to feel what are you waiting for? Which is the, as we mentioned, which is your lifestyle. What are you waiting for? What would you like to see? If you prefer to see the city center live or do you prefer to see the. Maybe the ski station, the skyline, or whatever you prefer. And once you know what would you like to live, then let's try to look for the property that match it and when we know what match you. Super, uh, important to try to make a, uh, little research of the different areas because depends on the area. The life experience could be a little bit different.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's really good feedback. I think that most of the time when you're dealing with a foreign client, they are moving for a lifestyle and probably for many of them, for the first time in their life they can live wherever they want. And so the world is their oyster. But that's also quite overwhelming, I think. And I think that's really great feedback to think really specifically, what is the lifestyle you want to live? What is you, what do you want your day to day life experience to be? And then let's figure that out and then we'll find the house that fits that. But the neighborhood, the village, the, you know, those streets, that matters more. You can find the house, but you can't. And you can move the house. Like, you can change a house, but you can't change the location. So start with the lifestyle and the location. Great way for us to end. Thank you so much, Guillermo. It was so great to talk with you and I look forward to seeing you in person.

Speaker B: Uh, my pleasure, My pleasure.

Speaker A: As we explore Granada. Um, thank you very much.

Speaker B: My pleasure.

Speaker A: I hope you enjoyed this episode and that it gave you a little bit more insight into what your life could look like if you chose to make Granada your home. Make sure to use the form below if you'd like to contact Guillermo to talk about buying real estate in the city. And if you're not quite ready to buy real estate and you're still exploring where to live, make sure to follow me. I am here to help you explore the best places to live abroad and then connect you with the right local experts to make that dream a, ah, reality. Until next time, keep traveling, keep exploring, and keep living. Be the life you dream about.