Mopsy
I retired last Christmas and moved to Spain with my husband in March. After selling our London house we set off to a flat we had arranged to rent for 6 months in a small town called Oliva (midway between Valencia and Alicante) where we had already spent several happy holidays. We found a house we loved almost at once and bought it. I can say honestly I haven't regretted our big move for one minute. Our quality of life is much better here than in London, the weather is great most of the time (although everyone here says the summer was dreadful, there was quite a bit of rain !) and almost everything is cheaper than in London - including property. We've travelled round Spain quite a bit and I really think there's something for everyone here. Although there are some Brits (and others) here, Oliva is fairly Spanish (English is not widely spoken, my nearest neighbours don't speak it at all, I am trying hard to learn Spanish but it's nearly 40 years since I was at school ....).
It's very much a town, I have never liked the country much, and for us it was a case of RETIRING not MOVING abroad. We wanted to be near the health centre, shops, public transport, etc, and other people. Although I love my new home town, I can appreciate the sheer exuberance of Benidorm, and the utter peace and quiet of some of the little villages I've seen (and honestly a few of them are straight out of spaghetti westerns). I can even understand why some people just want to settle down on an urbanisation with lots of other Brits.
I wish you lots of luck, I think its a great idea to rent first, if I would presume to offer any advice at all its just to do a bit of travelling round when you get to Spain before you settle - and maybe learn a bit of Spanish !
Best wishes
Sue