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My family hopes to spend our sabbatical year (ten months) in Asturias, Spain. It is a long way away from our main home, so there will not be any preliminary visit -- just showing up with our children and enrolling them in a local school. My concern is about finding a suitable place to live. Obviously there is a rental market, which is somewhat impacted in Asturias. With all these constraints, we seek some degree of certainty.

I communicated with some rental agencies that were not willing to discuss the prospects with me remotely, even though we are willing to pay for some amount of vacancy in advance of arriving. SabbaticalHomes.com has no inventory in that part of the country.

What other techniques or resources could help us find a place to live?

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  • There are a lot of scammers in the online listings. I wouldn't sign up for a flat here until I'd seen it personally. Have you considered staying in an Airbnb or hotel or something for a couple of weeks while you find a place to rent?
    – Aaron F
    Feb 2, 2020 at 20:52
  • @AaronF Hello. Yes, and we may have to resort to that, but I am concerned that August might be a bad time of year to start looking -- right before the school year starts many are away on vacation.
    – Aaron Brick
    Feb 2, 2020 at 22:52
  • That's true. August is possibly the worst time to look. If you come over then, bear in mind that the weekend near the 15th of August is when all the towns have their annual summer party, so accommodation can be hard to find. You might find things easier if you came out in June or July. You could also start the process of applying for a NIE earlier rather than later, as I hear that it can take some time (I have no idea how it's done these days - was a lot easier when I got mine)
    – Aaron F
    Feb 3, 2020 at 15:39
  • @AaronF Thanks for mentioning the NIE, which I hope to get next week. I agree with you about the summer season, and it's very good to know about the festivals. Not sure if it is possible, but it sounds like I should try to go earlier.
    – Aaron Brick
    Feb 3, 2020 at 19:29

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August is the worst month to find anything for rent in Spain. The rentals' prices are much higher at that time in tourist zones like Asturias.

I would look at online sites like idealista.com . If you find something interesting you can contact directly with the owners or the rental agency and ask them the details you want.

It will be easier if you can speak in Spanish, since many of us don't have a high level of English.

Regards,

Pablo

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  • Gracias, Pablo. Sí, parece un poco grave. Investigaré lo que se ofrece en Idealista.
    – Aaron Brick
    Feb 19, 2020 at 16:57

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