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Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

Old Dec 9th 2004, 8:06 pm
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Default Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

I lived in Spain during the late 60's early 70's. I met some lovely Spanish people but found that in general they really didn't like the English.

I now read with interest that the Brits are moving to Spain in great numbers and buying up real estate which is pushing up prices to the extent that the local Spanish are being priced out of the market.

I'm curious to hear how this is affecting the relationship between the British expats and the local Spaniards. Do those expats that have relocated to Spain feel that the locals resent/dislike/envy them in any way? And how does that affect the Brits ability to settle in.
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Old Dec 9th 2004, 8:19 pm
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Default Re: Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

Hi
In the area I am the Spanish have welcomed us with open arms and it has to be said they are keen to sell to northern europeans, as they the Spanish seem to prefer apartments to houses, they will not lower the prices and will only acept the price stated this appears to be whatever nationality you are. But we are away from most expats here.
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Old Dec 9th 2004, 11:15 pm
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Default Re: Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

Originally Posted by pwwm
Hi
In the area I am the Spanish have welcomed us with open arms and it has to be said they are keen to sell to northern europeans, as they the Spanish seem to prefer apartments to houses, they will not lower the prices and will only acept the price stated this appears to be whatever nationality you are. But we are away from most expats here.
Pat


What part of Spain are you in?
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Old Dec 11th 2004, 8:41 pm
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Default Re: Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

Hola
We are on the Costa Tropical, 45 kms from Motril and an hours run from Almeria airport, in the foothills of the Alpujarra's place called Albunol you can find it on the map, look along the coast from Motril until you find La Rabita then go inland a bit.
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Old Dec 15th 2004, 9:12 pm
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Default Re: Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

In the begining when only a few Brits lived in Spain they were considered a curiosity - now in areas of high Brit population they are considered a pain


The Spanish need to remember that without tourism they would not have the employment opportunities that the industry brings

Quote from an ex Spanish language teacher " I do not like tourists " What she forgot was that the only job she could get was teaching tourists !!

Our current teacher thinks the British " live in bubbles " - he may be correct but again it difficult to learn a language when you are older and do not have an advanced level of contact with the language - such as in a working environment

I think many of the Spanish have a " small town attitude " they have not travelled far and are rather narrow minded


That's it !

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Old Dec 20th 2004, 10:52 am
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Default Re: Attitude of the Spanish towards the expat population

Interesting thread.
I've been fortunate to live in various parts of Spain - Barcelona, Calella del Mar, Torelló (Catalan Mountains), Madrid, Fuenlabrada (Greater Madrid), Isla Cristina (Costa de la Luz) - and have encountered different types of Spanish reaction depending on the area, but more importantly on the type of ex-pat you are. If, like the vast majority of Brits in Spain, you are retired or have purchased in the area, or have set up business or simply you've arrived with a bit of money behind you, the welcome can be mixed. The other type of person, who tends to be more accepted from what I can see, is the person who has arrived here with practically nothing and joins the working masses, absorbing not so much the language but the culture, customs and traditions too. I arrived 8 years ago with no job, not a clue of the language, no place to stay and less than 100 quid in my pocket. I had the added problem that when I first moved to Spain, it was to a Catalan area, so it was even more difficult to pick up Spanish as both languages were spoken on the street and it was nigh on impossible for me to distinguish which was wish. Yet 8 years on, through hard work and a bit of luck along the way I now have two businesses in Isla Cristina - one aimed at local Spanish people,trying to get them closer to the ever-increasing tourist and ex-pat influence now making an impact on this area, the other aimed at ex-pats, trying to bring them closer to the local Spanish community.

Respect is a two way thing and I've found that if you're willing to show that you are making a REAL effort as opposed to a superficial one, the Spanish will welcome you with open arms. There is no real resentment. As somebody pointed out before, prices may be driven up by foreign interest but it is the Spanish who are benefitting. I don't go along with the theory also put across in this thread, that Spanish prefer to live in apartments not houses. Think about that statement for a moment - they, like us, would probably not choose apartment over house if the circumstances were different. Many people have no choice but to live in an apartment. This is where the good part comes - the Spanish have found that they can sell their apartment, flat or even run-down scrap of land in the country at inflated prices to foriegners or to richer Spanish people from Madrid or Barcelona, then use this money to buy themselves a "chalet", what we would know as a villa, in the country.

There is a kind of resentment - but it's more regret of the situation rather than bad-feeling to foreigners. In an ideal world they would love to receive the money and business generated by tourism and ex-pats etc but not have to deal or see any of them. Most people know that this cannot happen, so accept the situation - the end justifies the means, so to speak.

I'm lucky in that, in my current town of Isla Cristina, even though I'm classed as "the guiri" (the bloody foreigner), I am classed as being different to the normal foreign tourist or ex-pat. I've been wholeheartedly welcomed into the community by people from all walks of life and I spend more of my time in the company of these Spanish than I do in the English-speaking Enclaves nearby.

Think on this - are the Spanish not a lot more tolerant of us than we are of our hordes of immigrants in the UK? Imagine thousands upon thousands of, say, Albanians descending upon Torquay for months on end every summer, causing havoc wherever they go, throwing up in the street, fighting publically, refusing to speak English and demanding a full Albanian breakfast in every pub & restaurant - what do you think the Daily Express might have to say about that?
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