bfg69bug

surprise, up i pop again it was me that said that madamme iris ... i never meant offence by it, it was a sweeping generalisation of the penionas on the coast

Arco-Iris

No offence taken bfg69bug, I think it's an hilarious description!

jdr

Go to the beach and write in the sand 100 times " I am a naughty boy "

bfg69bug

u got a stick or shall i think of my own way to decorate the beaches of the costa del sol ?

jdr

Ouch, use a stick

bfg69bug

hmmm.. a serious reply now.

i´m not sure i could say that everything has gone wrong for us in spain, i will however say that it is not what we were led to expect by all the tv programs / magazine articles and people we spoke to.

its not as good as we thought.

Mitzyboy

OK ... a serious response mate. I know I've seen the list, but it can't all be bad and I guess you get yourself eventually into a mindset where absolutely everything in Spain will annoy the hell out of you. So putting "the list" aside why don't you sit down and list the "serious" things that you dislike and see what you can do about them. You're obviously trapped here for some reason, but you've got to try and make the most of it otherwise you will end upp burning up.
Clearly your expectations were far higher than reality. Maybe its the area. Have a look to see if theres an area that would suit you better and move there.
OK, maybe you've already done all the above in which case I'll get my coat. But maybe if theres a glimmer of hope there you can pull things round

PaulLes

Hi We have a place 1 hour from the coast, it does get really cold in the morning and evening in winter, the difference being that 12-14 degrees in the winter daytime feels much warmer than the UK as the sun stays much higher in the sky, so feels like 18 degrees here. Although we have not moved over yet we have experienced every season there, 9 times in the last 12 months.
Christmas day we had our dinner on the patio in brilliant sunshine and 17 degrees but feeling like 20+ in the UK. As this thread seems to indicate, work is the main issue, Spain has a high unemployement with generally lower pay to the UK, but is slowly catching up. The only way for most expats to succeed is to have a skill that is in demand, in this case you can name your price; or to start a viable business. Also there are a vast number of Spanish relocating to the UK due to our, as they perceive higher standard of life and living . The problem with most people thinking of moving to Spain is they follow all the hype and tv programmes, have only visited in summer and see Spain with rose tinted glasses. All that said we can't wait to go and integrate within the Spanish way of life. Even if we downshift and work to live instead living to work and running around on the UK treadmill, it will be better for us, even if we have to live on love, almonds and olives

Once the sun goes down each days gone, no replays. Go in different seasons, if you love it, do your homework and just do it.

Paul and Les.

un-mundo

To be honest, Paul and Les, I've never been so cold in my life as I've been in Spain, over thirty years, during the winter. It's bloody freezing! The houses/apartments are built to be cool, because for rather over six or seven months it is pretty warm. People coming from Northern Europe are used to central heating and, in my case, also an open fire. We are used to spending most of the year trying to keep our houses/apartments warm. Big difference!

Wildly excited by my new woodburning stove, and it's made a huge difference. But nobody be silly enough to think Spain is warm in the winter or autumn -fine in the daytime, but God help you at night if you don't have sufficient heating.

bfg69bug

my house is that cold at night without the heating on that i can leave milk on the side for days before it goes off. thats how cold it is inside.

sunnysenorita

I also feel the cold in the winter time. My family accuse me of being 'nesh' but i'm sure if they were to experience living a winter here they would understand. It's often warmer outside of the house than it is inside. Showering on a cold winter's morning is not fun.

PaulLes

Yes i agree with all the cold comments at Xmas at night we huddled around the log burner in our jumpers, move a few feet away or go to the toilet and god help you, and yes its definatley warmer outside. Our old neighbour 70 has his door open all year with his fire blazing in winter, and its warmer in his house than ours, ,a run in the night to the toilet without slippers is also bloody cold. Reminds me when i was a kid and you jumped into a bed more like a fridge and thrashed about till you got warm, bit more difficult with the wife wrapped around you with teeth chattering winter in Spain brings it all back. Still theres nothing stopping us installing heating and a few rugs for winter. When you consider the UK has 75% cloud cover per year as apposed to 75% sun i know where i would rather take a walk, its the sun that lifts most of us. Like i said people believe Spain is the same as they experience on thier holidays. Most move to the Costas thinking it buzzes all year round only to find its just as seasonal in most places as the UK.

Ok in the UK were having some warm weather at last, but a sunny day last week at only 14 degrees brought out the usual short and tee shirt brigade. Walk along any sea front in Spain in Feb, theres the locals in thier over coats and us brits in our shorts.

Visit Spain at during different seasons, if you love it, the people, the language and culture you have all the reasons to relocate, and the weathers a bonus all year, just dont forget your slippers in the winter .

Best wishes to all.

Paul and Lesley