Enjoy our quick guide to Montroy, a small town located in the Spanish province of Valencia along the Alcalans Valley.
Being only 25 minutes away from the beach and Valencia City, Montroy is an ideal destination for those who are seeking to experience the rustic side of Spain.
It is also the top choice among hikers and those who take a lot of pleasure from walking.
Below we feature an expat interview with Simon Creed of Azahar Properties who covers the Montroy area.
Specifically, we asked Simon on the advantages of choosing Montroy as a place to live and the value for money that you can get if you decide to stay permanently in the area.
Simon, thanks for helping our readers. I guess we should start off by asking what would you say would be the advantages to living in Montroy compared to other Valencian towns?
For example Montroy has a great Sports Centre that does a lovely cup of coffee and has elevated, countryside views from its terrace. Real has a supermarket that stocks a lot of English products, so you don’t have to go too far for your Bisto gravy. Monserrat is the largest town out of the three and has more shops and restaurants to choose from.
All of the towns have a street market on different days of the week, Montroy’s market day is Monday. Monserrat has a huge market and car boot sale on Sunday mornings.
Would the area not suit certain types of people, i.e. are there any possible downsides?
The only thing I would point out is that this area of Valencia is still very Spanish and life here is still very authentic. There is a British expat community here who regularly meet up socially if you wish to connect with them. Many Facebook groups exist in this area too so that’s a great way to initially meet people. There are also many Dutch, Belgian and French who live here permanently so you could end up with a good international group of friends, which we find as something that makes life a little more interesting! The locals are also quite chatty so integrating isn’t so difficult if you want to. Learning basic Spanish makes the integration easier as a little language goes a long way.
What are your favourite things to do in the area?
There are some fantastic countryside walks, cycle rides, horse riding and great running routes together with various sports facilities around Montroy. The surrounding landscape is rural with fields upon fields of orange trees, grape vines, almond and pomegranate fruits to name but a few. Early in the morning and evening Montroy comes to life with people out for their evening strolls or just simply walking the dog. It is a very outdoors lifestyle here so you must take full advantage of it. Valencia is actually known as the ‘city of running’ because of our lovely warm climate, nearly all year round.
Can you give us some insider tips to the best bars or restaurants?
One of the best restaurants in Montroy is La Terrasa restaurant – Telephone: 96 255 6182. It is located next to the school in Montroy, right at the top of the town. It does a wonderful ‘Menu del Dia’, and even take-away paella, you just have to bring the paella dish back clean the following day! It has a 25m size swimming pool with panoramic views looking across Montroy and its castle and out towards the neighbouring town of Monserrat.There is also a very popular Pizza restaurant, IL Birbone Especialidad Italiane – Avenida Blasco Ibáñez, n. 70, Montroy, Monserrat, Valencia – Telephone: 962 55 54 44. It is run by an Italian family who offer a delicious menu for a very reasonable price cooking from an open central Island and a traditional pizza oven in the middle of the restaurant.
Are there many facilities such as doctors and dentists, shops etc?
There is a medical centre in the centre of town who are very accommodating. We speak as the voice of experience as they have looked after me and my family for the last decade with no complaints. For emergencies there is a 24-hour medical centre open in Monserrat. There is also a very good dentist who offers a professional service and speaks fluent English so no problems there. Montroy has butchers, bakers, post office, pharmacy and a supermarket together with some other essential shops. Montroy is also famous for honey production and you can buy a good choice of honeys and honey-based products here.
What are the nearest international schools and how good are they?
There are many international schools in this area. One of the best and closest to Montroy is Ausias March in the nearby town of Picassent which is about fifteen minutes by car. The school has a fantastic reputation locally, well known for its hard working attitude towards education and learning. Lessons are taught in English and Castellano.
Coming onto buying property, what is the market like now in terms of prices going up, or down or staying the same?
Prices are holding now since the crisis and now really is the best time to buy as much more confidence is back in the market with sales being made regularly. As demand increases we will start to see prices rise with the continual added confidence being demonstrated. Montroy is a 30-minutes drive to Valencia city, 30 minutes to the beach and 30 minutes to the airport area. Therefore with its great facilities and neighbouring towns giving good variation, it is seen as a key town to purchase property from all international buyers. Montroy is also popular with the Spanish as it is within the commuter belt to Valencia city centre.
Is this a good time to buy and are there any repossessions or very cheap properties still available to buy?
There are still some cheap properties still coming onto the market here in Montroy, but the good offers get recognised and with increased demand they are getting purchased at a much faster rate now, so you have to be quick.
What urbanisations are there and can you describe each one and how they might differ from each other?
The largest urbanisation in Montroy is Balcon de Montroy, this is located approximately 6km outside the town centre of Montroy. Then you have Urbanisation Las Valletes which stretches between Montroy and Monserrat. Other than this there are many residential areas and roads with houses around the area of Montroy.
How much are the typical property prices in Montroy for apartments, villas etc?
It is still possible to purchase a good quality three bedroom villa with a swimming pool for under 150.000 Euros.
Any tips and advice to people looking to buy in Montroy or surrounding area?
Some very nice areas of Montroy are Palmeral and Sabotxa as they have beautiful views. There is a small river running through the valley and Palmeral is less than 3km from the town centre of Montroy.
Simon, thank you so much for taking the time to help our readers with your experiences in Spain. If you want to contact him, you can find his details below.
Montroy 46193
Valencia, Spain
Tel. +34 962 129 633
Mobile: +34 629 163 386
Skype: Azahar.Properties
Email: enquiries@azaharproperties.com
Website: https://azaharproperties.com/
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