`We can be door to door in three hours. You'd still be on the road to your cottage in Donegal'

For Jim and Angela Buttle, buying an apartment in Spain is a new adventure, a chance to create another home together and a rehearsal for living in a smaller home in Ireland sometime in the future. Jim was a bank manager. When he took early retirement 18 months ago, they began to discuss how they could make the best use of their new-found freedom. The idea of a second home was attractive. But a summer retreat in Dingle or Donegal summoned up visions of bumper-to-bumper car journeys.

They both love the sun, and knew Marbella and Puerto Banus well. Earlier this year, they attended a marketing evening hosted by a British company selling properties in Spain. "It was too pressured, and we didn't stay," says Jim. Dealing instead with an Irish selling agent, and knowing the venture was properly bonded, gave them the security they needed. Two months ago, Angela and Jim bought a two-bedroom apartment in a 104-apartment complex in Puerto Banus. They don't intend to rent it, so they and their grown-up children can get maximum use from it.

The 1,200 sq ft apartment they bought from the plans has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen, and a large livingroom. The 200 sq ft balcony will overlook two acres of landscaped gardens, and the beach is 300m away. The complex has a swimming-pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, gym and car-parking. "We could have gone for something at half the price," says Angela, "but we have the Killiney of the Costa del Sol. We want that exclusivity. We're also sold on the location. With direct flights from Dublin, we can be door to door with bags unpacked in three hours. You'd still be on the road to your cottage in Donegal."

They plan to spend six months of the year in the sun. There are 24 golf clubs around Marbella and Jim hopes to play on them all. Angela enjoys walking, swimming and horse-riding. "We will buy a car, and go up in the mountains for walks and picnics," says Jim, adding, "we can see the next few years passing very quickly as we get ourselves established". In the years ahead they may sell their home but they're not ready yet. "This is a very good way of us finding out how we will be in a smaller space and could ease the way to buying something smaller here when we're ready," says Jim.