jayjaydee

Thanks so much to all you lovely people who have replied.
A lot of it is that it is not often where i live that the weather gets unbearable, so when it does we notice. If it was sunny most of the time it wouldn't be surprising.
I have taken on board some of the comments: man-made fibres, air-con, ceiling fans etc. Even something as simple as walking in the shade.

I have always felt that a lot of people have what's called seasonally affected disorder (SAD); we all feel better when it's warmer, when the sun's out and when we can take off more clothes (no, i'm not a naturist lol). We all feel like hibernating in the cold months.
Living in Spain has been a dream of mine for years and i'm about 12 months, give or take, from realising that dream.

Thanks again.

Moses2013

All I know is that I'm glad we picked a cooler area of Spain and it's only a holiday home, so we avoid summer anyway. If you know you can escape for some winter sun, we actually enjoy the summer here in Ireland far more. For me it's not really the heat but we have stunning beaches here, it's less crowded and you have something to look forward to. I'm not retired yet but as long as I can still drive, I think I'd keep it that way.

Lynn R

You are quite right, I always used to feel very down in the winter in the UK, and when we had one very wet and dreary winter here (2009/2010, I think it was) when it didn't seem to stop raining for months, I started to feel just the same way. The longer hours of daylight here help as well, I used to hate going out to work when it was still dark in the mornings and coming home in the dark too, might as well have been a mole.

Hope you get to realise what you want and it works out well for you.

Notdunroamin

Not wishing to burst your bubble but you are aware of the financial requirements you will need to fulfil after Dec 31st.?

Basically it will quadruple to some €30,000 pa for an individual or €37,000 for a couple, and​​​​​​that's for each of the 5 years it will take to acquire permanent residency.

Lynn R

This year's figures for third country citizens are €25,816 for an individual and €32,454 for a couple.

Joppa

That's not too bad for those who are comfortably off, and those retiring with a good company/job-related pension, such as a teacher couple. Yes, you will have to fund your healthcare for life. It's those who rely on state pension and perhaps a modest company pension who will be priced out of retirement and long-term stay in Spain.

Moses2013

Well at the moment nothing is official and with Covid these figures seem unrealistic. Spain has so much empty housing and relies on tourists from the UK that I'm sure the UK and Spain will come up with something. I remember when we had pounds and now we have Euro, so anything can change.

Eric S

Not true! The north (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country) is quite different from the rest of Spain. Much greener and cooler. In the summer it's nice and warm, but rarely gets above 30 degrees and almost never over 35. Barcelona and the rest of the coast in Catalonia is also not quite as hot as the south.

I think most people from the UK just go to the south and they think that all of Spain is like that.

- Eric S.

Moses2013

You are right and many haven't even explored the UK, so you can't expect them to know Spain:-). At the end of the day most Brits are only focused on maximum amounts of sunshine, or where can I get more house for my money (Those also end up in France). In one way you can understand it and many retired just want a place in the sun. The area around San Sebastian and Bilbao would be too wet and grey for retired Brits during winter overall and although hotter during summer, some parts of the UK even see more hours of sunshine (less than 1800). Pontevedra would be a lot sunnier and winter is not so long but again the rainfall might put Brits off. For me it would actually be scary to live near Almeria and you have so little rainfall that desertification is becoming a huge issue. In our case it was more the balance and with around 2500 hours of sunshine/630 mm rainfall I'm happy we picked the coast in Catalonia. Everybody is different but for most Brits Spain is this part:

Cats-R-Us

We had a holiday home on the coast (Alicante) for 14 years. When we moved over permanently we moved after about 3 years as it was too humid and have lived high in the mountains of the Altiplano de Granada for 16 years. We live in a cave house so do not find the need for air conditioning but we still use a log burner in the winter months as it does get cold and we even have snow some winters (perhaps not for long but we do get it). We were told that you have begun to settle in Spain when you put on a jacket when the temperature goes below 20 degrees.

SanNico

I don't think you ever get used to the extremes, but your comfort levels move up the scale. This will be my first Spanish winter, but many years of Italian winters made me realise that it's a very different type of cold. Anything below 18 for me requires a jumper and/or jacket, but in the UK I still find 12 degrees pleasant. The biggest difference I have noticed in Valencia is the mosquitoes, there aren't any. We went further South to Benidorm last week and we were eaten alive. Do the mozzies only know about the map above?

Chipmonk

Mosquitos are just an individual place thing. I live high up in a block of flats North facing and never have them. My ex lives one street down on a lower floor and always gets them. There is nothing clever you can do to avoid them. Hot weather followed by rain always increases their numbers and I guess living where there is green and shade (moist) probably means there are more

Moses2013

There is a good Interactive Mosquito Alert Map here:-)
Mosquito Alert

el collado kid

That's a good point about the cold,In the winter i can be outside with shorts on and when i go indoors i have to put a tee shirt and jumper on.And you will need good central heating because the houses get very very cold which we did not think of.The point about mosquitoes we are going through our first summer with all mosquito nets removed and it is going ok,by the way all are windows and doors are open all the time in the summer.

Barriej

We arrived Wednesday evening on the ferry to Santander and we are now home in Xirles (inland of Albir) in the mountains.
It's warm 28c in the shade and got to 36c yesterday.

We've spent most of yesterday and this morning moving boxes from the van into our store room.
And now we have to bring the boxes up to the second floor. We are both dripping from the exertion.
Made sure we were up early to do all the hard work.

The fan is on in the flat and the shutters are closed on the side the sun is on.
I'm glad we didn't buy on the front of the block as that's in full sun all day long.

As to getting used to the heat. I think you learn to tolerate it and adjust your life around it.
In the Caribbean we started work at 5am and finished at 1pm. Too hot after that.