Dick Dasterdly

As Aggie says you are prone to huge exaggerations and misqoutes, in your desperate attempts to prove a point.

When have I described Spain as a living hell ?

Having said that I've heard plenty of Spanish refer to it as a living hell for much of the year and an ice box for the rest.

Had my only criteria been to move to a pleasant all year round climate, nowhere in Mainland Spain would even have appeared on my shopping list.

marqueemoon

To get back to Lemon Drizzle's original post, why did people move to Spain in the first place?

Personally, I am a bit of a wanderer. Not sure if its because I had lived in 6 different English towns by the time I was 10, and even more different houses, but I often get urges to move somewhere different!

I travelled a lot through Europe after Uni and getting fed up with my job, working at whatever was available. On my return I had an incredibly long 10 year stretch with the same company before redundancy arrived, which was great because I was free to go anywhere! Not financially free, but without an income to hold me.

After trying France I went back to England, just picking a town at random, and worked there as a postman until the thought of carrying tons of Xmas catalogues for another winter persuaded me to up sticks again. Nerja was unkown to me but seemed to fit the bill, although Galicia was almost my choice, being beautiful and green but a bit wet for my girlfriend's liking!

Basically I chose Spain because I hadn't lived here, and Nerja was more or less a lucky dip. I didn't research jobs (in which case I wouldn't be here!) but I don't regret it. You get by, or move on!

JLFS

A "wherever I lay my hat" type of person.

Cheers,

marqueemoon

That's about it JLFS

I said elsewhere that I have a rescue dog (from the UK), and from Spain a rescue cat, canary and goldfish. It doesn't make uprooting easy!

Dick Dasterdly

Likewise, I've stopped off in some really weird, rough as a badgers ass joints, during my travels through the backwoods of Spain and have to say I enjoyed that experience and all it involved far, far more than I would have done so in some fancy 5 star luxury purpose built resort.

Dick Dasterdly

I should have added for the benefit of the topic and bil especially, that is one of the main reasons I am here,....to see and experience the vast diversity that Spain has to offer, possibly the most diverse country in Europe.

jackytoo

I love warm weather but I don't think it is reason enough to live in a country if everything else isn't right for you. eg why do some multi millionaires live in Scotland, or Alaska There are lots of places with far better climates than Spain too. Of course there are more chances to have a BBQ in Spain than the UK (don't you get sick of them!) but there are times when they have to be cancelled for high winds and in 35C who wants to be stood around cooking on one. Nice to have a pool to swim in but it is only a short season of 4 months (at the most) of the year. Our main terrace for eating out faced South West which meant in high summer either sitting under a huge parasol or pulling down the blinds which then excluded the lovely views. Only ok. after 9.30pm. We also had a large wrap around terrace upstairs, scarcely used....to hot, too cold, too windy.

Winter in Spain and the UK are both crap. Best to choose your country for other reasons and take a few holidays to the Caribbean or South Africa etc. in winter.

JLFS

So you have been to my neck of the woods then? lol Galicia. because there are some "rought as badgers ass joints there.

bil

Oh Aggie don't be so stressed. It implies you are batting on a sticky wicket.

The use of hyperbole is a simple litery exercise designed to amuse and make a point.

For example, Helen of Troy was described as 'The face that launched a thousand ships'.

Do you think she did? Personally I think that after having her face banged against the hull of a ship in lieu of a bottle of champagne, she'd have quit, but there you go.

Most people on here are, I assume bright enough to spot the difference between hyperbole and straightforward factual reporting.

If you can't, I'm afraid that's your problem.

bil

Well, let's see. 95% of you photos are taken while the sun shines. Mine too from UK days, because photos taken on grey days look like sh'ite.

That's really not proof of anything.

You have 20 years at Vejer, and I have 2, so what does that prove? I don't rely on my own experiences, I ask my neighbours and listen to what people say. The winter of 9 - 10 was the worst for over 60 years according to people here who could remember that far back, and also according to weather reports too. So who do I believe, them or you?

It just seems to me that what you say are the words of someone who is desperate to prove they have made a good choice.

Me, I'm here partly because I wanted more sun and a more reliable climate, and that's what I have.

bil

Sheeesh, Dick, c'mon, I really thought you were brighter than that. That post was made tongue in cheek. Are you really going to stand there and treat it as a factual statement? You have to be kidding me. Is your arguement so weak that you have to stoop to that? It certainly looks like it.

As to Heat trap and ice box, it is perfectly possible to find places in Spain with a hellish climate, and anyone who goes there for the climate either deserves pity, or serious medication.

Spain has areas where the climate is far nicer.

Dick Dasterdly

Strange, you always used to be the guy who insisted on factual statements and sufficient evidence to back them up.

All of a sudden thats all gone out the window.

I wonder why ?

HBG

I followed a pretty blonde to Estepona, an even prettier one to Benidorm, but a brunette brought me to Denia and Torrevieja. I don’t think it makes me a bed-hopper, I’m talking about a 23-year period.

I don’t regret any of it and would do it all again, and I would love to do it the other way round, meaning that my time in Torre was up. I saw a pretty blonde sitting in a café just the other day, and my wife, the brunette who brought me to Denia and Torre, noticed me noticing.

bil

People live in some crazy places, it has to be said. If snow is what you live for, you'd have to be pretty dumb to move to the Sahara. Lucky indeed are those with the financial resources to live where they choose to.

Given the terrible climate you had where you were, you are indeed lucky to have sold your villa.

I'd query a couple of points tho. Why do people have to have barbecues in the blazing sun? Me, I would always have them in lower temperatures, be that the spring and autumn, or in summer towards the end of the day.

We aren't looking to have a pool for a number of reasons, as you say, it isn't a year round thing, it's an awful lot of expense and work, and so on. A small plunge pool-cum-jacuzzi tho is a different matter, and I'm giving that some thought.

BBQ cancelled due to high winds? More likely that due to rain, for sure. However, as I keep saying, compare the written off Saturdays in the UK and Spain, and I'd bet good money that Spain would be the safer bet.

twistedmelon

There must be a 1001 reasons why we choose to make such a big decision to up roots but I suppose the main one is that home is where the heart is.
The UK has,over the years lost it's identity and subsequentely so have the people and it seems to be a mish mash of cultures all bashing up against each other with intolerance and lack of community.
Spain still has it's identity and a sense of community and that has an immense bearing on the quality of life.