Enjoy our quick guide to Antas, a municipality located in the Spanish province of Almeria.
Antas boasts a number of prehistoric settlements where the remains of people from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman and Medieval times were found around the town.
With the large town of Vera located in close proximity as well as the presence of a dual carriageway along the coast , Antas is now a busy and lively community and continues to lure people from northern climates and from South America who had settled in the area.
Below we feature an expat interview with Vicky Ranschaert of Mola Mola who covers the Antas area.
Specifically, we asked Vicky on the advantages of choosing Antas as a place to live and the value for money that you can get if you decide to stay permanently in the area.
Vicky, thanks for helping our readers. I guess we should start off by asking what would you say would be the advantages to living in Antas compared to other Costa Almeria towns?
Anyway, there is a lot to tell about Antas. The town dates back all the way to the early bronze age with Argar. One of the first people making bronze as opposed to copper, that was more usual in that day. They then became quite powerful. In Antas you will also encounter remnants of a Roman history.
The town sits on the border of three rivers: the Rio Antas, Rio Aguas and the Rio Almanzora. Now these are more dry river beds, until the rain showers in September pass by. The Romans started cultivating the land, and there are still ruins of Roman villas and parts of the huge aquaduct to be found throughout the village. After that the region was occupied by the Moors until the town, in its actual form was founded when the Spanish Catholic Kings reconquered the area. I am not going to bore you with more history, but it is an interesting town.
Antas has a historic centre with small cobbled streets and around that centre you will find all amenities. Antas covers a big area and is actually the sum of numerous smaller hamlets like La Huerta, Aljariz, Los Colorados, Fuente Abad, Jauro, Los Raimundos etc. The most beautiful of those are up in the hills enjoying fantastic seaviews of in the midst of the mountains on the road to neighbouring Bedar.
It is still one of those places left to be discovered by foreign tourism. It is not that Antas really needs the tourism, because it is reknown for its fabulous oranges and lemons, that creates a beautiful landscape. The export of fruit and vegetables makes it a thriving town and unlike the Poniente area of Almeria, the landscape is not ruined by a sea of plastic!
Would the area not suit certain types of people, i.e. are there any possible downsides?
It is a fantastic village with several festivals throughout the year. Some of the best restaurants of the area (notably Bar Mi Casa). Young families will find it a paradise for their kids to grow up, as it has a good school and kids can still play in the streets and in the countryside. Even for the elderly, it is a safe choice. There is a good functioning medical center and a huge new under construction and to be opened later this year.
The only age group that might not find what they are looking for might be teenagers, but the entertainment on Mojacar Playa is just 15 minutes away. Antas has three direct accesses from the A7 motorway and is thus easily accessible from both Almeria and Alicante airport and the entrance to the AP7 in Vera is at 3 minutes from the town, so Murcia airport is also easily reached.
What proportion of the local population are Spanish?
90% is still Spanish.
What are your favourite things to do in the area?
Barbecuing or making a huge paella with a large group of friends in the enormous area around Cabezo Maria. There is a play park, around 10 to 15 naturally divided barbecue/picnic areas. You can climb up the hill and visit the chapel or catch the pokestop on top, if you are in a different age group.
Going out for dinner to Bar mi Casa to try out their new designer tapas.
The annual Feria in September is also a must. Dress up flamenco style, eat outside on the square, traditionally roast chicken and then some cocktails and vinos dulces to continue into the night.
Can you give us some insider tips to the best bars or restaurants?
El Milindurrio: the food is not bad and it has a free indoor playpark for the kids.
Bar Mi Casa, that I mentioned before.
Josemar: good Andalusian food and great traditional tapas.
And there is an unbelievable steakhouse, if you are into meat, run by Uruguayans and I can’t come up with the name!
Bars: there are plenty. They get to know all the locals head out to cafeteria Leo, next to the square (Era del Lugar).
Are there many facilities such as doctors and dentists, shops etc?
Yes. (see above)
What are the nearest international schools and how good are they?
It is not officially an International school: at 12 minutes, on the road from Vera to Vera Playa. Valdeserra, private bilingual school. Keep in mind that most public schools in the area are also bilingual.
Is crime an issue for expats?
What crime??? Now and then we have the odd break in, about once every two or so years.
Coming onto buying property, what is the market like now in terms of prices going up, or down or staying the same?
To be honest, the market was stable for the last two years, not going up and not going down. As this is a market that was firstly discovered by the British, I am now starting to notice that because of the Brexit and the GBP being very low, the British that are selling their houses are lowering the prices as they can offered to. At the moment is not a trend, but we expect that this will prevent the prices from rising in the next six months, at least.
Is this a good time to buy and are there any repossessions or very cheap properties still available to buy?
It is the best time to buy. You really get good value for your money now. There are still some interesting bank liquidations, but mostly in larger complexes.
What urbanisations are there and can you describe each one and how they might differ from each other?
There are really just a few small, about 15 townhouses, urbanisations in Antas. It is more the place to encounter a fabulous old townhouse in the center, a great villa with a huge plot or a small cortijo to renovate.
How much are the typical property prices in Antas for apartments, villas etc?
Apartments are between 50,000 euros and 100,000 euros. Cortijos between 80,000 euros and 200, 000 euros, depending on the state. Villas from 200,000 up to over a million, depending on the property.
Any tips and advice to people looking to buy in Antas or surrounding area?
They will just love it. The local people from Antas are lovely and very welcoming.
Vicky, thank you so much for taking the time to help our readers with your experiences in Spain. If you want to contact her, you can find her details below.
Ronda de las Buganvillas, local 24
04621 Vera Playa (Almeria)
Tel. +34 950 133 949 and
+34 658 956 858
Email: Vicky@mola-mola.es
Website: www.mola-mola.es
Here is a video showing Antas.
Contact us to be featured – we want more expat interviews for our newsletter and website. You don’t need to be an estate agent, we want to hear from anyone who lives in Spain whether you are working or retired.
Leave a Reply