steviedeluxe

http://www.spanish-property.net/10-t...in-spain/3027/

I'm sure others here can add more.
Perhaps 1 ) A free snack or aperitivo with your drink
or 2 ) Ham in everything, even "vegetarian" dishes
or even 3 ) Daily rubbish collections

jackytoo

Pushing your mate Graham Hunt again

steviedeluxe

Am I? Previously you've accused me of pushing the people behind "The Corner" !!
Haven't you heard all the posters accusing me of posting too many links (from 100s of sources)? If it's interesting and relevant to Spain, I post it! Sorry if it doesn't conform to your "Spain bad, UK good" agenda.

mikelincs

Nos. 1, 3 and 5 are available in the UK, as is good coffee.

steviedeluxe

1 and 5 are far less common though. I'd get strange looks if I asked for a Montado de jamon in 99% of British pubs or bars. Not even saying that's a bad thing - you could twist it around and state you miss out on chilli con carne or a baked potato if you live in Madrid.

cricketman

Good coffee, where?

In all my time in London, I found one place that served good coffee, which had Portuguese owners

The coffee in places like Costa, Cafe Nero, Starbucks etc is terrible

1, 3 and 5 are very uncommon in the UK. You dont need a car in London, but the city isnt compact like a Spanish city, it can take nearly 2 hours to get from one side to the other, and that is on public transport

Lynn R

I agree about the coffee - not only is good coffee very hard to find in the UK, but even the bad stuff is ridiculously expensive compared to here. £2.70 per cup was average when I was in Manchester a couple of months ago.

We really rate Not Having to Drive as one of the good things about living in Spain. Barcelona is the only Spanish city I've visited which is so big that you really need to use the Metro to get around, most others are very walkable.

Stevie's point about the jamon in vegetarian dishes is very true, though - the bane of my OH's life.

cricketman

When I lived in Barcelona I used the excellent free bicycle scheme to get around - Barcelona is full of safe cycle lanes

And it hardly ever rains

jackytoo

Coffee again I could count on one hand how many times I buy coffee and I certainly don't pay that even in London. still if you will patronise Starbucks etc! I sometimes go to an auction house near here, tea and coffee (good) at 50p and great home made cakes. there is good cheap coffee all around.

What I miss is aguafuerte. Nothing compares here.

cricketman

Just because it isnt important to you doesnt mean that it isnt important to other people

Without 2 good coffees a day I would be a zombie. I actually drink tea in the UK, the coffee is too depressing

jackytoo

Not Suprised you get strange looks would you go into an Italian bar and ask for a pork pie

Dick Dasterdly

Not much to brag about there.

Daily refuse collection ?

Did you see the state of Madrid's streets a few weeks back and quite a few other cities.

Having control of ones own rubbish as in the UK helps towards preventing it being scattered far and wide around the streets as is common in Spain.

Also outside dining is not such a one way thing. While my Spanish pals are huddled indoors burning expensive air con in mid -summer, myself and many other N.Europeans are enjoying the great outdoors and al fresco to boot.
It certainly doesn't rain all the time up norf, but those long spells of excessive hi temps in Spain become very oppressive and restrictive of outdoor activity.

As for the food variety and quality, placed on a European scale I'd think Spain must be close to bottom of the league.


I have to agree with you about the Aguafuerte J2, but there again Spain is much more in need of it that the UK.

jackytoo

There are pros and cons to weekly/daily rubbish collections. Liked the idea of taking it to the skip in Spain daily. On the other side if you are elderly or disabled and had a walk up a steep hill it's not so good. Wouldn't like the smelly skips close by either. Don't like the idea of having 3 containers here in the UK. Spoils the effect of tiny cottages if they have to have them on view.

Lynn R

I agree - I wouldn't want to buy or rent a property anywhere close to the public rubbish bins here. Where I live, other neighbours/family members will always ask any elderly people living near them if they want their rubbish taking down when they're taking their own - I do it myself, although they often say no as they like to be independent.

Not having space to store all the wheelie bins is a real problem for a lot of people in the UK, it makes streets of terrace houses look a real mess with all the bins outside the front doors.

cricketman

Not everywhere in Spain has skips

We have plastic bins here in Oviedo. The dustbin men put them out at 8pm and then take them away again at 11pm every day