Services Available on or near the Plot of Land
Unless you want to live in a large-scale development (and then not always), you must generally take account of the fact that local utility services can be somewhat lacking.
* Electricity
Practically every village in the area now has an adequate electricity supply. In some areas, the infrastructure is somewhat elderly, so some problems can be experienced. However, the local authorities are working closely with the electricity companies to solve these problems.
Outside of urban areas, electricity cannot always be taken for granted. Non-urban land and ruins some distance away from urban areas may have no electrical connections available for 1km or more. This can have a substantial effect on the cost of building.
* Water
Water is a problem in Andalucia. Supplies cannot be guaranteed at any time, no matter where you live. For example, Mojacar, which has a large number of hotels and holiday apartments, was without water on Christmas day 2003. The higher the altitude, the less likely you are to have an adequate water supply. Curiously, the water tankers in the area rarely seem to experience this kind of problem, so the lack of mains water (which the politicians assure us, especially at election time, will soon be a thing of the past) can be solved by having a water tank built (we provide one as a matter of course for each house which we build) and having water delivered by tanker.
* Town sewerage
Some villages now have mains sewerage ! Some have had mains sewerage promised to them (those elections again). Most urban areas outside of the bigger towns have to use individual septic tanks. We construct one with every house that we build.
* Telephones
With the coming of mobile telephones, the fixed-line telephone service is one utility where the availability has decreased rather than increased over recent years. At one stage, 'cortijo phones' were installed in more remote areas. These which were mobile phones in a box on the wall, but had normal telephone numbers, and therefore normal charges. These are no longer offered, probably on the basis that Internet access must be available to all, and it is almost impossible to sustain an Internet connection with these phones. Until the promised wireless broadband arrives (do not hold your breath), the only way to have high-speed (or any speed) Internet access in many country areas is to buy a satellite system and pay the higher charges.
Depending on your lifestyle and expectations, the lack of one or more of these services may be quite acceptable. The one utility which, in our experience, causes most problems and discomfort, is that of electricity. Solar power is insufficient a lot of the time during winter. Wind generators are usually more useful, but there are also weeks with little wind. Even with a combination of the two, it will still be necessary to have a petrol, LPG or diesel generator to run appliances such as washing machines. Finally, a good solar/wind/generator system can cost quite a lot of money. Hydrogen cells may solve the problem in the future, but they are not a practical option at this point in time.