Bulgaria vs Cyprus for Expats?

@JimJ

Aye, I am. :-)

I still have Cyprus residence (my Spanish too) and I lived there for many years.

It's a beautiful country, and we really enjoyed living there. We were lucky that we had a flat in a good-sized city (Limassol) that was a short walk from the Mediterranean Sea. I used to swim at 6am nearly every morning, and the Med is lovely. Now, I have to rough it in the school pool next to the Plovdiv Regatta. :-) That's something that I do miss, and I don't feel the Black Sea (or the school pool) is anywhere near as nice (and many Bulgarians agree as they'd rather drive to Greece instead). There are some lovely beach-adjacent properties in both the larger towns (Paphos, Larnaca, Limassol) and some very nice villages.

I'm a huge fan of Bulgaria (and I spend 95% of my time here), but I don't think I can say it's "better" than other EU countries. Cyprus, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, are wonderful countries that are deservedly popular with tourists, expats, and retirees. You can have a fabulous quality of life there. If I'm honest, I would DEFINITELY still be living full-time in Spain or Cyprus... IF I had the money to do so! :-)

And that's the key difference. Cyprus (and most of the mentioned countries) are substantially more expensive than Bulgaria. Both for initial property purchase, and ongoing cost of living. Cyprus is probably even more expensive than the others because it's a small island, so pretty much everything is shipped over... and electricity, in particular, is noticeably pricey. (I've had 1,000 euros bills in Cyprus when it's high summer and you need the AC on to survive.)

Limassol has had very dramatic price increases ("Limassolgrad" explains much of this), but all of the island has gone up. I think a brand new  flat in downtown LImassol might be 4,000 or 5,000 euros per m2. Our Spanish city (Elche) is maybe lower at 3,000 euros, while a big city (Madrid, Barcelona) is around 10,000 euros!

For comparison, our brand-new flat in a tip-top location in Plovdiv (Bulgaria's 2nd city, so Barcelona is a fair comparison) came in at under 1,000 euros. Plovdiv summers are not quite as hot as Cyprus or Alicante/Elche, but still pretty brutal. 24/7 AC over July/August came in at less than 80 euros per month this year. And we can still do a big shop in Lidl for 60 euros, and have lunch for two for 15 euros. This is WAY more in Cyprus and Spain.

Overall, it's about Bulgaria's bang-for-your-buck being pretty much unbeatable (especially in the EU). But if this place sucked, then the cost savings would not be sufficient recompense. However, while Bulgaria is very different from the others, it's very charming in its own way. And it has low population and wide open spaces, with some spectacular scenery.

Plovdiv is a delightful small city with the Rodopes 10 minutes away. Shipka is in the Balkan Mountains with Kazanlak's Rose Festival, and the Buzludzha Monument within 15 minutes. Bansko is very charming and the Pirin National Park is fab. (Those are just the places we know.) Plus you get a lot less aggravation here, better/easier healthcare, and quicker/easier navigation of bureaucracy.