Time and time again you see posters here enquiring about moving to Spain, but they never seem flexible enough to consider the capital. It has to be one of the best places to find work in Spain (in my limited experience, the best) yet most Brits rule it out straight away. Is it because they want a beach location? Or because they know a decent level of Spanish is required?

Don´t think it is anything to do with being scared, perhaps it just doesn´t appeal. For those that need work, perhaps they might consider it, but the majority here seem to have had their share of city life and now opt for something more relaxed, to chill out somewhere with less traffic, less pollution. If it wasn´t for work would you be in London by choice? I know I certainly wouldn´t want to live there! Madrid has a lot of pollution, I´m reading today of the government talking about restricting traffic in Madrid because of the "pésima calidad del aire". Also read recently of a top Spanish health official advising people to avoid going out into the street during the busy hours and only to take exercise in the fresh air.
Why subject yourself to that if you don´t need to? Doesn´t appeal to all, but a lot would prefer to be stuck up an Andalucia mountain, or a rural village somewhere, than stuck in a major city.

I think most are looking for a better more relaxed lifestyle such as a nice place on the Costas or a pleasant inland villa in a pretty,peaceful location, and most would definitely prefer to be away from the hustle and bustle and incessant noise of city life, which no doubt has more appeal for the Spanish than the Brits.
To move out of a large noisy UK city into a similar sized Spanish city must be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

Lot's of good things about London - like Madrid it has great museums, parks etc - in fact the parks in London are probably the best you'll find anywhere. I agree that not everyone likes it, but it doesn't mean that people only choose to live there for the work. As for Madrid, I take your point that it's not countryside, although it's close to some nice mountains and landscapes. As a city imo it's quite a good place to live - the public transport for instance is far better than UK cities. I did meet the odd Brit who worked in Madrid and hated it, but they tended to be the type who refused to try Spanish food/tapas bars and were obviously homesick.

I think you're right. A lot of migrants to Spain (Rumanians, Moroccans, Chinese etc) head straight to the cities because they know that's where the jobs/opportunities are likely to be, if they exist. Obviously if you're in a position to retire or take it easy, then the coast or mountain village probably appeals.

Indeed, lots of good things about both London and Madrid, and the Spanish forums I read seem particularly impressed with London parks London for me is good for a visit, but that´s about it. I´d hate to live there, or any other big city, and I guess many feel the same. I loved Sevilla, Granada, Córdoba, Valencia etc, enjoy passing some time in all of them, but again, I wouldn´t want to live there.

Madrid is too busy for me, I prefer being retired in a more relaxed place, and also where the weather is better, as for the Spanish language, its a doddle in Madrid, listing to the locals in Madrid is like music to the ears in comparrison to where we are

If is the city of Madrid, I can understand the problem of the pollution (although Madrid has many green areas), but the province of Madrid also has very beautiful mountain areas

We came from a small town and retired to a Hamlet....it's not even a village, our worst nightmare would be to live in a city!
Today we had to go down to the coast to Fuengirola and Torremolinos and we hated every minute of it!
Yes it was nice to see the Med as we drove along, but the amount of traffic and people would drive us mad if we had to live there, we much prefer the quiet of El Campo and the beautiful open views of the mountains.

Hi

If I were working then if I had to live in a city, I would want to maximise my wages. I have heard the wages in Madrid, although higher than surrounding cities, is somewhat lower than say London.

If it was a life style change then maybe I would think differently, but to me it was better to work in a country where wages had to be higher.

My theory says that you get 10% of your wages left over at the end of the week. Therefore I prefer 10% of a higher wage - meaning I could retire to a cheaper country where my pension goes further.

Davexf

Yes, it has, but if you are working and living in Madrid, that's where you'll be all week, you maybe able to escape to the mountains on the weekends. Also there's the old saying, "Nueve meses de invierno, tres de infierno". Couple that with the pollution (the mayor is asking people to leave their cars at home, take public transport as the pollution level is so high) and it's not anywhere you'd think of retiring to. As I said, maybe if it was the only place you could find work.

I have the same opinion. I once had to visit Benidorm for my work. I was open minded.. But I *hated* it. Madrid is beautiful, as is Paris, Seville and other European cities i've visited, too numerous to name. Nice places to visit for a weekend, even a week, but I wouldn't want to live there permenantly. I would live in Stockholm if it was as light in winter as in summer. I'd love to be rich enough to own a flat in each of these lovely places, and visit when I wanted. But home is where the heart is. And my heart, like yours Meg, is in the campo.

I'm one of those weird people who actually likes cities and would be bored witless if I lived in the campo.

I've visited Madrid and would be happy to live there, if it weren't for 2 things:-

1) the climate - cold in winter (had enough of that in the UK) and very hot in the summer

2) the price of property, either to buy or to rent.

The second is a factor which applies to pretty much all cities, especially capitals, which is why I live in a large town instead! I have to be within easy reach of a city, though, I like the choice of restaurants, shops, art galleries, museums, etc and just like wandering around. I also like to be close to an airport with a good choice of flights which tend to be around big cities.

So, It seems the answer to the OP is that Brits aren't scared of Madrid. They like it! They just don't choose to live there, each for their own reasons:-)

I spent my working life in cities, mostly London, without the option if living in the country and got so used to it that I couldn’t even consider living in the country if I was able to.

I can walk to banks, hospitals, umpteen bars and restaurants, and am only a short distance from anything I might need, including a sight of the sea.

I did try the country, but got frightened by the sound of silence. And I had to drive forty miles to get my Sunday Times.