me me

A quick lesson on how talkboards normally operate, be it living abroad, holidays, consumers rights, tenants rights.

Posters will usually write about the negative aspects for various reasons. They are angry, they feel resentful, want justice, to warn others etc.

If a poster is telling their story of trying to prevent their illegal house from being bulldozed, the posters who are not in that situation should know better than to post comments such as 'our house is not illegal/we don't know anybody who has an illegal house/we are really living the dream/we could never have afforded a house like this in the UK/we learnt Spanish and took good legal advice, so our house is fine'. Etc.

The replies usually will be what could be deemed negative by some, because maybe they don't understand the dynamics.

So it easier to understand, because I predict that there will be some strong replies to my post, I will give an exaggerated example.

OP. My grandad went into hospital, caught MMR and died in agony.

REPLIES

'mine didn't, he now lives in Thailand with his young wife'

'the hospitals where we live don't have MMR.'

'my grandad is 98 next week and looks like a 70 year old.

'I went into hospital last year and did not get MMR, and some of the nurses were quite tasty'. Lol.

Does that answer your question?

jackytoo

It's not a matter of if you live in Spain and love it or not. It is sound advice not to burn you boats in your sixties. Why sell a UK house when prices are rising to buy where they have not reached the bottom when you can rent.

....and it is a fact that if this guy thinks the UK is a rip off then he will get a nasty suprise when he looks at taxes in Spain. It's nothing to do with all the things you are bringing in to it.

johnnyone

Good post. For you it is a lifestyle choice not necessarily driven by the retention of wealth, after all you cannot take it with you.
I know many would not understand that concept but providing you carry out sufficient research etc., if you do not take the chance it's likely to be something you may later regret.
As much as I enjoy Spain life as an Expat is not for me but I fully understand your sentiment.

jackytoo

More than 20,000 pensioners on the CDS desperate to return to UK

http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-ne...-return-to-uk/

Horlics

I wonder what percentage of UK-based pensioners would say they are trapped in poverty. 5% wouldn't be a surprise.

Horlics

"and it is a fact that if this guy thinks the UK is a rip off then he will get a nasty suprise when he looks at taxes in Spain"

Can anybody be specific about these taxes? Possibly give an example based on a couple of scenarios such as resident/non working/non?

Reason I ask is because I am about to commence spending a considerable amount of time in Spain in a place that I am buying. I have a friend who lives nearby who's given me a lot of advice, going as far as to "open the books" on the financial aspects.

She gives less to the Spanish authorities, banks, lawyers, utilities, etc. in a year than the total of my council tax and water rates combined. I'd be interested to hear others' specific experiences.

Domino

one thing that has to be considered is what the level of service and quality of service does your friend get??

Rubbish/Basura charge - a large bin at the end of the street, you have to go to it with your rubbish, they empty 6 times a week but are not specifically clean about it.

Roads - once a developer has put a road in, like in the UK that is it. No repairs, even when it dug up for a water leak problem it is never put back properly. Main roads where the responsibility is one of the various levels of govt as with side roads, poorly repaired not long lasting.

Water - no warning if you should lose it, no tankers bringing much needed supply. You just have to wait.

Parks etc - only big cities keep any form of real maintenance, once the (EU) money has been spent there is little or no maintenance.

Access to Govt (local or national) from 0900 to 1330 (sometimes 1400) 5 days a week.

Oh and just remember that banks only accept impuesto payments from 0900-1130, you can't just walk in and pay a bill - you WILL get sent away, even if you have queued for 30mins if you are outside their time slot.

you pays for what you get. You really don't get much, so don't pay much.
very few govt type organisations will take a copy of anything, you have to get your docs copied, 20p a sheet and there are plenty of places that do it.

Horlics

Thanks for your reply. Here’s how it applies to my situation:

Rubbish –

Yes, the rubbish is a large bin that is quite close by, but not too close! I actually prefer the Spanish system to the UK one, which now involves 3 different large bins outside every house, and multiple collection days after which the bins are left scattered over the pavements and sometimes the roads.

Roads –

The road I am moving to is quite long and at one end is beautifully landscaped but not quite finished at the other. I do know that one community backing onto the road got tired of waiting for a pavement and cycle path to be finished, so they approached the council for permission to pay for the work outside of their premises. So yes, I can see that sometimes there are issues but in this case I am happy with the general level of upkeep in the surrounding area.

Water – my friend has lived there for 11 years and has not experienced this particular issue.

Parks etc – there aren’t many of them, but the ones that do exist are well kept.

Access to Govt (local or national) from 0900 to 1330 (sometimes 1400) 5 days a week. –

I’ve spent the last 5 years living elsewhere in the world and this is on a par with the service I’ve had over recent years, so I am OK with this. One thing I like about Spain and the part I am going to is that the Mercadona is closed on a Sunday, for example, i.e. general respect for work life balance. I see the number of supermarkets within 5 miles of my UK address offering 24x7 and wonder if it’s really necessary.

Banks only accept impuesto payments from 0900-1130 –

I can live with that.

You pays for what you get. You really don't get much, so don't pay much. –

And this is the key point. My post referred to the numerous messages I see about the shock UK people will get with the expense of being in Spain. I’m fine with “you get what you pay for” because what my friend gets for what she pays is OK and she isn’t paying a fortune. Again, she pays less in total than two of my bills (council tax and water (ok, they’re the big ones)).

Are there people who pay what they consider to be too much to live in a place? (This can be the case even if the services are good)

Rosemary

I think that as usual with anything about living anywhere the answer is definitely "it depends". If people have lots of investments, multiple houses, villa with pool, grounds, etc or live in an ubanisation this all entails more expenses. Taxes are extracted for their abundances, however the average person living in a town will not pay as much to live here as the people in the above situation.

Road tax, community tax and the water bills are cheap. Electricity is expensive, gas bottles have rocketed in price in the last few years.

Rosemary

Horlics

Hi Rosemary,

Yes, I am sure it does depend, hence my question about specific examples given different scenarios.

When I see the sweeping statements about how shocked people are going to be by the charges in Spain, it makes me wonder if I have missed something. Anyway, I will keep doing all the research I can to be sure of what applies to me in my particular circumstances.

I do hear a lot about how much electricity costs. I am working with a figure of +50% on UK prices when I calculate my living costs.

jackytoo

I was mainly referring to income tax and inheritance tax. But yes everyone's affairs are different.

Horlics

So I Googled. Age UK says that 16% of pensioners in the UK live in poverty.

That's the thing about that grass over there, it's always greener.

tebo53

Further to that the Trussell Trust now operates 400 food banks within the UK.

Their statement reads:346,992 people received a minimum of three days emergency food from Trussell Trust foodbanks in 2012-13, compared to 128,697 in 2011-12 and up from 26,000 in 2008-09. Of those helped in 2012-13, 126,889 (36.6%) were children.

Amazing isn't it considering the UK is a 'rich' country

jackytoo

I fail to see how pensioners are living in poverty on £210 basic for a couple plus council tax relief, free dental etc. not a fortune but hardly poverty. food banks aren't reliable indicators if they are there people will use them. I wouldn't even donate a can of peas to them
Pensioners in the UK always seem comfortable to me, they fill up the pubs for lunches, always buying plants at garden centres, not to mention holidays and millions taking cruises...everyone wants the grey pound. Don't believe charity stats, they just justify their existence and want more money.

According to my council tax bill it says even if you earn £300pw you could be entitled to a discount.

casa del sol

Yes....wherever you go you have to take yourself with you. I think the reason why people do take big risks without knowing all the facts and sell up completely in a country they were brought up in to put everything on black is because either they had to in order to make the change to buy or rent in Spain or they were convinced in their heads that what goes up never comes down.