it is, isn't it?


to be fair, it was partly down to mis-management

the owner insisted that she could rely soley upon reputation to bring hoards of students in

wasn't prepared to be flexible as far as hours & different courses were concerned - or keen to improve advertising




I just found out yesterday that the bookshop we have ordered the kids schoolbooks from has closed down - spanish owned - a bit of an institution here - been here for years - the website has disappeared & everything!

one week before they go back to school - we now have to order them from another shop - not much chance of them getting here in time now


we only took the list in a couple of weeks ago & they took our order - surely they must have known....................

wow, i'm really surprised, i cant believe how many have gone back now, i wish all the best of luck and hope you are all settling in ok and are happy to be back, good luck with whatever you all do in the future xx

Good luck to the ones who return but shame on the ones returning who slagged off the UK constantly whilst you where over there.

I wouldn`t let you back in.

Didn`t work in Spain? Then try another country! You left UK for a reason ..........

Thats right, you can be the official chucker outer.

Fortunately I am very happy here in Spain and it is all working out for me, but if for some reason it all went t*ts up I must admit the UK would be the last place I would go. Like you say, I left for a reason. Italy would probably be my next stop.

I think one of the biggest problems, at least for those on UK pensions, is that the UK hasn't joined the Euro, therfore people just don't know how much money they are going to get each month, so it's impossible to budget accurately. We were getting less when we left Spain than we were getting 4 years ago, despite the annual pension increases.

I`m rolling my sleeves up!

Exactly!!

Same here. We are in the UK. We work, never stopped - one of us is self-employed .......... so ditto to above!
We have a young family so hits hard.

Sorry to hear it. I just hope it works out in the UK.

I must admit we are still hoping to make the move so that I can join my OH out in Spain and live there full time, but that hinges on a couple of things yet.

I would hate like hell to go back to the UK, and would do almost anything rather than return.

As fer returning expats, well, they do say that 70% go back within 3 years, so the crisis must make that worse....

having recently been over to Spain I was surprised to see how many Spanish places had shut down, even in the newish shopping centre. Also there used to be a large bowling place with arcade and mini golf, thats gone too, apparently it went to being open everyday to only weekends then closed its really sad and hopefully it wont be too long before this global crisis comes to an end !

Do you mean La Vital?
It seemed to take a bit of a hit after La Marina opened, as many people liked to take the trip there where there is more variety (well, as much as you can get in a Spanish shopping centre). The one opposite Carrefour has struggled as well.

La Vital has never seemed that busy to me, apart from in August.

yes La Vital

Like you say, opposite in Plaza Major, well they were struggling even before La Vital opened

Wow Mike! This is a surprise, I haven't been on here for a while as I haven't had a connection so the last I remember is you saying that you had moved to Albir. Hope you are settled and happy back home in Lincs. We have met Sue and Ian and they are a really nice couple, we also count them as good friends glad you met them too Stay happy and positive

Incidentally... only got my internet connected today, had a long wait but at last I'm back in touch with the outside World Decided to use TalkTalk as told BT more expensive £17.74 a month including the phone line and lots of free talk time on the phone. I know a few people who are with TalkTalk and they haven't any complaints so we'll see how it goes

It was the exchange rate that really did for us in Spain, and I notice it has only got worse since we left.