Banny

Hello all , this is my first day here. As the title suggests I would like any "advice" from forum members living in Spain as to wether we are dreaming or not.
We have total funds of approx. £200k available and wondered if a move to Spain was even possible. We are looking to live inland and grow most of our own food, with chickens and goats etc (we already do). At present we have no income but will receive a uk pension in a few years. We are motivated and very handy people and not afraid to tackle most things. Before we start planning, any advice from you guys would be much appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Countryboy1

Hi there, I don't know what you mean by a few years for your UK pension, but whatever, take into account that you will need private health insurance and a vehicle. Also, as you will be entering "The Good Life" scenario, remember with age will or may come personal health mobility issues and therefore restrictions on your ability to work your land in the same way as you would be able to do whilst younger.
With luck though you may be fine and not have to face any such problems for many many years to come, so good luck.

tebo53

You will need to prove that you do indeed have your health care covered and that you have sufficient funds and income so not to be a burden on the state.

missile

You could buy a property for circa £100,000 with sufficient land to meet your aspirations but that will leave you precious little to last until your pension. You may be better looking for a suitable property to rent.

As has been pointed out you will need health insurance and thus your expenses will be higher than in UK.

You do have the advantage of experience of the good life in UK so I guess you will be more able than most to cope with the challenges.

Good luck :-)

olivefarmer

I would say very doable.

First do not spend more than a half of your budget on your house and land.

As already said you need money for a car, car repairs, dental treatment, health cover. Plus unexpected's like 600 euros none voluntary contribution to rural road repairs. You will also have fees for any reform work you do to your house even if you do the physical work yourself. make absolutely sure any property you consider buying or renting has a secure water supply. Mains electric is in my opinion a must too but others are hardier.

Chickens/poultry. From bitter experience you need a safe fenced enclosure as there are many semi feral dogs here just looking for an opportunity.

One solution to the healthcare area is to be a farmer and actually be producing something each year. e.g. almonds, goats milk/cheese and selling it. There are schemes for reduced autonomo (like Nat Ins) payments for farmers and their dependents. Otherwise bargain on about 280 euros a month - every month. That gets you into the Spanish health system. All these things have hoops to be jumped through but use a gestor and join a co op.

You might consider using your expertise to do something unique but be prepared for hard work. Hard work plus jumping through hoops can be very tiring. This forum and others have a wealth of information on various key topics like bringing your own (known entity) vehicle over with you. There are many plusses and many minusses.

Do you have an area in mind of Spain? It is a huge country with many varied climates. If not you may be best leaving someone to look after your "smallholding" and touring the country.

tony

200 thousand pounds seems quite a good amount , there are plenty of bargains at the moment so you should be able to get something suitable for about half of that amount.

Which should leave you enough to live on until you retire if you budget well and live on your own produce .

Good luck hope it works out for you !

Cheers Tony Agost Alicante

Retired in Euskadi

You live in Lancashire, so might be used to 'wetter' weather.
If you're thinking of 'inland' in southern Spain, then the 1st thing to think about is water. Then, can you stand the long, hot, dry summers?
If you might be thinking of more northern Spain (eg Asturias, Galicia or Basque country) climate is more akin to Lancs but add a few degrees and move your thinking forward re sowing/planting by a few weeks.
Middle of Spain is cold & dry in winter, hot and dry in summer.
Land to buy here in the Basque country is pretty expensive; cheaper further west.
Best of luck.

Countryboy1

Several people offering advice, but nothing from OP. I would at least have expected a brief acknowledgement by now.
Maybe the "dreamer" woke up!

Banny

The "dreamer" has been fully awake all the time that is why I sought advice from the people on here, can I thank those that took the time to reply and the person who e-mailed offering help. I will now go and write a hundred lines " I must spend more time sat in front of my laptop". Thanks again.

Lou P.

I don't understand how you live now, let alone how you expect to live here. You say you already grow (most of) your own food and keep goats and chickens, so you are and would expect to be partly self-sufficient for food, but that's nothing - it's all the rest that costs and costs and keeps costing and always more than one expected (wherever you live.) You say you haave no income - how d'you pay the bills?
All the different taxes, insurances, transport costs, water, electricity, gas (bottled) another car when that one dies, materials for building and repairing the house, tools.. ..what if you have an accident or illness - you'll need invalidity insurance but then insurance companies hardly ever pay, or only after a long battle (legal costs) and there are more and more burglaries in the campo.. If you spent 100.000€ on your home, then you need to pay for the removal or buy new stock here, you'd probably not do well the first year before you knew the place..
Where i live, at least 1/10 of the population works in France for 5-7 months of each year, on the fruit farms in the south, and others do seasonal fruit work but in Spain - Huelva to pick strawberries, Navarra for the asparagus, Malaga melons, etc. then they rush off to France again for the vendange.. They all have their olive fields (orchards? groves?) and belong to the cooperative, but the only way to earn a living an a pension os to follow the seasonal work on farms. Being handy is fine for your own needs and woul probably be a way to earn if you live near a foreign (British) community, but is unlikely to gain your much work with Spanish, as they already have people (esp. uncle, cousin, brother-in-law, etc.) You won't be able to go away to work, as you'll have to be there twice a day for the goats and fowl.
I wouldn't invest half my wordly wealth on buying a place, as you may never be able to resell it and remaining 100.000€ is nothing - could go in a year or two if you had bad luck.
Speaking as someone who's changed country so many times that i'm dizzy, I'd say stay put and just come here on holiday. If you desperately want to move abroad and have some land and animals, go to France, where there's much better social support, legal justice and medical care (in my opinion) a more even climate and fertile land, with water and leccy, is avaulable and cheap and you have a better chance of help or escape if things do go wrong.

Dick Dasterdly

Is your glass always half empty Lou ?

I think much depends on what sort of lifestyle the op expects. If they are naturally thrifty, make do and mend, possibly country born and bred, they may adapt quite well, without spending a fortune.
On the other hand some folk coming from urban areas who traditionally spent half their lives shopping might well struggle a bit.

As regards the actual farming and home grown produce, there is nothing better than being able to make use of local knowledge and the occasional bit of help as well if you get to know your neighbours well enough, as farming and growing in Spain often requires quite different skills and knowledge to those required in the UK.

Lou P.

Not at all. It's easy to encurage other people to take risks with their money, their future, their lives, but they're the ones who'll have to cope if it doesn't wok out. I've been mostly self-sufficient for food many times in my life and have been a small-holder and worked on farms. If you just want to produce your own food, that's a very different proposition from earning a living as a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Banny don't give much information, just the dream, and I've seen an awful lot of British people go for that dream and come up against harsh reality.
To come to a country with such high unemployment, when you are neither young not yet retired, with apparently very little idea about the life other than the obvious attractions, seems to me to be very risky indeed.
If you are going to do it, how about investing your 200.000€ (or pounds sterling) to give you an income or an annual gain, then spending a year or two in Spain renting and learning more bout the place? Then you'll still have your capital available once you know more.

jonboy

Lou P. Thank you for your posts, to me they sound well grounded. A useful contribution, others may disagree but useful none the less.

missile

I agree with all you have said bar Please tell me where one can invest safely to get a reliable return better than inflation, over two years?