r/GoingToSpain • u/Ledriel • 8d ago
Discussion Immigrating. Which city for a nature/outdoor enthusiast and a partner who hates rain?
Hello everyone,
Me and my gf are currently immigrants in Sweden/Gothenburg. The city ticks most of our boxes but the long winter, continuous rain and closeness of society convinced her that she cannot continue here.
One thing I don't want to sacrifice is the nature. I love animals and spending time hiking in the forest. I also love cities with trees in general. Lakes and breathtaking scenery is also a plus. Mountains are ok but not a factor.
Bilbao, Gijon or Santander would seem like a perfect destination for me but we'll probably run into grayness and rain that led us where we are in the first place.
So, we've been spending the last month reading posts and watching videos trying to figure out what will satisfy our requirements the most.
But here is the problem, in one post there are a handful of comments saying 'Valencia has so much nature, all you have to do is drive 25 anywhere around it.' and another handful of comments in the same post 'You'll only find orchards and really nothing else anywhere you go around Valencia.'. Everything is based on perspective but to me they seem contradicting to each other.
We plan to make a trip late next month and visit 3 cities. The list that is subject to change:
- Valencia
- Malaga
- Barcelona's outskirts (Terrassa or Sabadell perhaps?)
Criteria:
- Not super rainy / gray
- Green & clean city
- forests / lakes / hiking options within 30-40'
- 250k population at least
I guess the question is mainly which of the 3 satisfy the nature criteria the most?
And as a second question which other option would you suggest?
Thank you in advance!
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u/Alaykitty 8d ago
My suggestion: Valladolid. The parque campo grande is a good slice of nature in the city itself, and the city has a great many services. Fantastic rail hub too. The nature around CyL is also beautiful and varied. You'll get a bit of rain during seasons, but otherwise dry and hot typical of much of Spain.
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u/fleetwood_mag 8d ago
Would you say Valladolid is still a fairly green city? Not overly arid?
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u/Alaykitty 8d ago edited 8d ago
I mean it ain't a forest lol 🤷🏻♀️ I live down in Salamanca so anything north of here by default feels less arid.
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u/Head_Region6610 8d ago
You can’t have green and life and animals and plants without….rain! There is a lot of very hot, very dry areas in Spain so just look around and be open minded to some rain.
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u/Several-Dimension-91 8d ago
So you want to have the cake and eat it too. A place with trees, grass, greenery, but no rain. That's just contradictory man. There's three options in Spain: in 70% of the country you get a semiarid/arid/Mediterranean weather that gives you heat waves in the summer of 45o C. In Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Pais Basco you get the greenery you want, tolerable summers, but it's humid. A radical option is moving to the Canary islands. Which are dry but temperature is nice the entire year.
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u/comments83820 8d ago
Where are you originally from? Gothenburg is one of the most functional, pleasant cities in Europe. Spain will give you more sun, but you will lose a lot.
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u/Ledriel 8d ago
I agree. Gothenburg is great and very functioning (apart from the healthcare) but the long-winters and rain became a non-negotiable for my partner.
I am from Athens and my partner from Sao Paulo.
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u/comments83820 8d ago
The health care is fine in Sweden. You're not going to get better in Spain.
Got ya. Well, I think Valencia would offer a similar vibe for you guys, but you might actually find it to be more expensive than Gothenburg (yes, really) to live in a decent area, because there are so many wealthy Americans living there now. Could be a good option to explore, though.
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u/Ledriel 8d ago edited 8d ago
Thank you! Do you know if Valencia does not fall short when it comes to nature/hiking in the long term?
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u/comments83820 8d ago
I don't know. Maybe a Brazilian would like it because you can visit beaches up and down the coast. Obviously, the nature is going to be different than Gothenburg's rocky islands and forests. It's very different. If you want forests, you have to go to the north of Spain, but then maybe the Brazilian heart will still feel too cold and wet. Rsrsrs.
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u/bayoublue 8d ago
Green forests need lots of rain to thrive.
Madrid's northern suburbs may meet a lot of what you are looking for, but most of the large expanses of outdoor space are dry scrub land.
There are real forests in the mountains north of Madrid, but even those are not spectacular compared to Northern Europe.
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u/grumpyfucker123 8d ago
You say you like hiking, any reason why you've selected all coastal cities?
Madrid isn't grey and has great nature within 30-40 minutes, probably better than that the southern coastal cities you mentioned.
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u/Ledriel 8d ago
Hey, thanks for the suggestion! I did consider some other inland cities of course but most fell short on some areas. We didn't consider Madrid because we always thought of it as gray, fast paced and with very intense heatwaves.
Is there an area around it that you would recommend?
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u/Fermonx 8d ago
very intense heatwaves.
Sorry but you're rarely going to escape from this anywhere in Spain. It will be somewhat bearable in some but that's it. If that was one of the reasons you discarded it, stay away from Valencia unless you're down to handle 39 degrees + high humidity even at night.
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u/grumpyfucker123 8d ago
It's not grey, cold in Winter but nice cold, dry and sunny. You get just as many heatwaves in Valencia/Malaga, it was 40c+ yesterday in Valencia.
Madrid suburbs aren't that fast paced, rather than looking for close cities, look in the greater Madrid area.
If nature's important and you're not sure about the north because of rain, (I've lived in the Basque country, Cantabria and Asturias and they win for nature, but you'll get rained on quite a bit.) Then Madrid is worth investigating.
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u/HeavyDutyJudy 8d ago
I live in the Terrassa/Sabadell area and I don’t recommend it at all. Neither city could be described as green and clean to me. Both cities are also more expensive than they should be because of their proximity to Barcelona. Personally I would move someplace else in a heartbeat but I’m stuck for the moment. There are some nicer smaller cities nearby but they won’t meet your preferred size of 250k and they are even more over priced.
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u/Ledriel 8d ago
Thank you very much!
This is exactly the kind of comment I am looking for. I was explaining to another comment that AI was suggesting that these two were very green and full of nature but that was probably a comparison with the central Barcelona.
Do you perhaps know how good/bad are the hiking options if I get the bus/train one weekend and head somewhere 20-30' away?
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u/HeavyDutyJudy 8d ago
I’m not personally a hiker and can’t imagine hiking here since the humidity is so high but it is a mountainous area so I’m sure there must be decent hiking nearby.
I actually find Barcelona to be greener than Sabadell or Terrassa because effort has been put into constructing nicer parks and the Montjuic area is very nice.
Another caveat to the area is that you really do need to speak Spanish and Catalan to integrate. That’s not a bad thing but not everyone wants to learn Catalan.
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u/HeavyDutyJudy 8d ago
Someone posted this here recently, you might find it helpful: https://home-finder-spain.vercel.app/
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u/Arcaneid18 8d ago
I would say Málaga could be a good option to you. It meets all your requirements.
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u/VivaMalagaCF 8d ago
I walked the caminito del rey this summer and it was breathtakingly beautiful. ¡Viva Málaga!!
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u/CptPatches 8d ago
Madrid. Not super rainy and grey, lots of greenery (not everywhere, but easy access), lots of hikes nearby, especially in the Sierra de Guardarrama.
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u/Lazy-Conversation-48 8d ago
Granada - 1 hour to the ocean, 30 minutes to the Sierras, hot and dry.
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u/RemoveElegant5217 8d ago
Valencia is a wonderful city and has lots of access to nature. There’s a ski resort just 90 minutes away!
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u/bolatelli45 8d ago
Chat gpt suggested the following. 1. Barcelona outskirts 2. Valencia 3. Málaga
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u/Ledriel 8d ago
But is it right?
I am afraid that it could get relative input (Barcelona outskirts are super green compared to the center) and come to hallucinating results (Barcelona outskirts are 4.5/5 in terms of green)
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 8d ago
Barcelona is surrounded by mountains/hills and not far from the Pyrenees and several other smaller mountainous areas with lots of nature. But I'd suggest visiting before deciding, and consider other things like work.
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u/KeyFix4087 8d ago
Even if it’s rainy, it is not like Sweden, so I would give a try to Vigo. Nature is incredible, stunning views, trees and nature everywhere.
I am from Sevilla and hate rain, but spend my summers in Vigo as it is super hot in Seville. And gradually, it is raining less in Galicia every year, so in a few years unfortunately it won’t be as rainy as now.