Hi Larkswood - sounds good to be so close to Spain as well - best of both worlds. The wind seems to be cropping up a lot which I hadn’t factored in…oh to have a crystal ball (and a lotto windfall might be good too :)). Thanks a mill 
We lived and worked in Spain for 9 years - Benicassim, Malaga and then Logroño. We rented and there was always a great choice of properties.
Benicassim was a great place and although a holiday spot, there was a real population (mainly Spanish) in winter. A long paseo and blue flag beaches. Excellent train and bus links.
The white villages around Malaga are pretty but there is a huge British population and the evenings in summer often sit at 23+ degrees and it is very humid. When there is a drought, the water will be turned off over night and no filling pools. The winters are wonderful and the people lovely.
Logroño was our favourite destination - it is the heart of the La Rioja region and is a small safe city with lots to do - great wine - but the nearest airport is Bilbao two hours away.
We decided to try France - we live near Pau - for 6 months before going to live in our final Spanish destination - Castro Urdiales which is on the north coast of Spain.
But…or should I say and…we have stayed in France. We can visit Spain easily as we are near the Pyrenees.
Spain is much cheaper generally. Train and bus services are excellent and cheap and the health service is good. The people are great and the tapas culture is brill.
Having said that, France is greener and calmer and there are ‘real’ seasons. The health service is excellent and all the villages seem cared for. We are still renting and the protection for tenants is very good in France. Both languages have been a challenge. The temperatures here in daytime summer are hot but evenings are generally cooler. People are people and both countries have a majority of good people.
Being vegetarian, neither country has quite embraced non meat eaters yet and Spanish salads are definitely better. Paper work is the same in both countries - a mystery!
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I get the impression that your definition of ‘too hot’ probably excludes anywhere south of the Massif Central, let alone Spain in the summer. We’re on the southern edge of it, in the Lot Valley and I think you’d find here uncomfortably warm forseveral months of the year. On the other hand we can leave home just before 10 am and have lunch in Spain or be on the Med. Maybe the Pyrenees would work - cooler at altitude but closer to Spain.
We love both countries, but where we live is wonderful and, so like many of our international neighbours, we only visit Spain in Jan or Feb.
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Hi,
Spain has better weather, for sure. This summer has been dreadful in France but in Spain it is the usual heat and sunshine. My former colleague moved to Spain from the UK and is very happy there. She moved for the better climate and isn’t complaining. I moved to France and surprised to find that this summer the weather is really cool and not that sunny. We had 3 sunny hot days in Charente in May !! The rest of the month it rained and it was cold. Must be a record of some sort. In June we had about 2 weeks of sunny weather instead of 4 weeks and July is no better, I am afraid. Friends who have booked a holiday on the west coast of France have not even swam in the sea as every day was cool and grey. A disappointing summer so far, really.
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This year has been very cool compared to normal in France.
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Just to back up what Mat says, this year is very unusual weather wise. I’ve been here for over 15 years (Aveyron and Tarn) and this is not normal. June, July and August for us usually mean wall to wall sunshine, 35+ and sleepless nights. This year it’s been like living in Brittany or Normandie, and thé grass is still growing when It’s usually yellowy-brown and acting dead for those 3 or 4 months 
As for the original question, if you want 20 something dégrées in the winter you’ll have 35/40+ dégrées in thé summer. If it’s 25 degrés in the summer then you’ll bé in for wet cold long winters. And factor in thé various local/régional winds into your météo calculations as they can change everything !
Courage !
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With a budget of max 70KE, you’re going to struggle to find a house in a warm area AND near to the sea with a lively coastal area in France. Basically, warm and near the sea means choosing the coast south of Bordeaux (les Landes or the Médoc regions) or else the Mediterranean basin. I’m not saying it would be impossible, but it will be challenging.
Of course, if you are prepared to compromise on any of these, prospects become much better. It should be borne in mind though that the Atlantic coastal towns are pretty quiet in the winter, given that winters can be quite bad weatherwise, thereby attracting fewer tourists.
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Budget is everything if location is important and the move away from cities thanks to Covid means there is now a shortage of certain properties in many areas.
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Hi sunnilife - thanks for sharing and for all the info. I must have a look at some of the areas you mentioned. It would be lovely to proximity between France and Spain if the weather was good. I totally hear you on the food front - myself and my daughter are gluten intolerant and don’t like meat - choices aren’t great and are even more limited for vegetarians/vegans - would be a good business venture idea to set up in terms of restaurants and shops Many thanks
Hi Tim17 - that’s what I’m seeing alright that there’s definitely lots of townhouses …perhaps a balancing act to determine whether to look at buying now or next year …oh to have a crystal ball Many thanks
Hi RicePudding - yup I agree. I think as well with less coastline than Spain, it’s at a higher premium in France. I don’t mind quietness in winter months but I’d hate to travel from the rain in Ireland to more rain in France - within my budget it’s definitely a challenge alright. Many thanks
Hi An_droo - good point re the much higher temps in summer if 20+ is what I want in winter (now if only I could buy two houses that would be my solutions :)). Interesting what you say about this summer being so different this year and also the micro climates make it all a bit more complicated. Thanks a mill for the info and I’ll definitely keep all that in mind
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Hi Juliacat - thanks a mill for that. Info on the bad weather I think helps me to think more clearly re Spain. Like your friends, I’d be so disappointed to head on holidays only to be greeted with the same weather or worse than back home (every time I’ve gone to France (Vendee region) we’ve had rain - but then again we also went to Spain (Salou) two years ago and it rained a fair bit too (maybe I’m a bad luck charm with a rain cloud over me :)) . Fingers crossed the weather improves for you soon and hopefully this is just a one off and you’ll have a warm Autumn to look forward to. Many thanks
HI DrMarkH - sounds so nice being able to travel within both countries in such a short space of time. Hadn’t thought of the Pyrenees but might have a look now. Best of both worlds, France, Spain, coast, mountains, sun and snow. Wishful thinking but who knows. Thanks a mill
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That is certainly a factor in FR. In Normandy it is clearly ‘The Paris Effect’
The agent who is handling my purchase said that they are extremely busy. I found, myself, houses being sold from right under my nose or vanishing from my faves list, chop-chop.
@Lauren_Red, be aware that Spain does not ‘do’ small towns and villages in the same way as FR and UK.
As @sunnilife says “Spain is much cheaper generally. Train and bus services are excellent and cheap and the health service is good. The people are great and the tapas culture is brill.” That is a good precis of Spain.
He mentioned a magic word, “green”. How blissful it has been to be somewhere where green exists. Truly, a balm to the soul, I find.
I find there is a profound difference tho’. In Spain, after all the rigmarole with ‘papeles’ and queueing and getting to sit at a desk only to be told “falta un papel” [“there’s a form missing”], if your bits are all present and correct you go away with the residency card/empadremento/Certificado de Responsibildad Typo II/permit to park a skip in your hand that very moment.
Here in FR I waited 4 months 8 days for my Carte Vital and it’s over 4 month and counting for my CdS. Two months in to the wait for the C.V. I got a request from an office in Le Mans for a mug shot and a signature. I could have given them that at my original r.v at CPAM St Lo.
€70k does seem rather small, as a budget for what you seem to want, where you want it. I have found, in rural, provincial Normandy, that places at that price need more work than mere ‘refreshing’. I have been extremely fortunate to buy a place that is absolutely plain vanilla, in a town with no pretentions to be anything other than an ordinary French provincial town.
In this case and with my flat in VLC, the sellers were under pressure to sell. Sheer luck to being at the right place at the right time.
Non-meat eaters defo have a more difficult time in SP. The uproar when a SP minister dared hint that the Spanish should maybe cut back on the amount of ham they eat!
It’s an old joke but stll a good one
Diner “I am vegetarian. I don’t eat meat. I would like an omlette, please”
Waiter “Si, senorita, one om-a-lette.”
Diner “Waiter! There’s meat in this omlette!”
Waiter “Noooo senorita! - is no meat. Is 'am!”
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Renting is definitely a good idea.
Before we moved to France 20 plus years ago we took some long winter rentals over the course of a couple of years. We knew what the weather would be like during the summer but were able to check out the weather, and local facilities, off-season.
It changed our ideas on where we wanted to live.
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Hows your CDS application coming on Grahame?
had similar in France… renters at the Gite we were guardiens for asked a local restaurant for a vegetarian salad - they were given salad composée. They told us the next day that the salad was fantastic - hadn’t the heart to tell them that the composée element was gizzards 
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I recommend Spain, but the north coast. You’ll find the Basques claim a strong affinity with the Irish – mysterious less-often-spoken native language, literary and musical heritage, culture of myths and legends long subject to a very dominant neighbour but now largely free of its shackles; on the other hand the Basque provinces are the most crowded. The Galicians can boast the spectacular shrine at Santiago and claim an actually Celtic heritage, occasionally wearing kilts to prove it. Asturias is backed by the beautiful Picos de Europa mountains. And access isn’t hard from Britain, with the ferry to Santander and good air connections to Bilbao (though as usual it’s more elaborate from Ireland and you can be at the mercy of the low-cost airlines for routeing).
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An analogous situation happened to one of my friends in Munich in 1990, in one of our then newly discovered local eateries, although it was Speck. According to the waiter “Speck ist kein Fleisch”