Domino

thought it was a discussion

Fredbargate

When I returned from Bilbao at the end of May there were snowploughs clearing the road just north of Madrid

tommy.irene

We are crying over €200 .. Its a bonus giving to us and can be taken away anytime.. Its not a right like the BANKERS one.. all people rich or poor [ like me ] get it..

cricketman

It snows for 4 months a year in the villages based in the mountains close to us. Apparently the coldest city in Spain is Soria which averages 3c in January, 2c less than London

Still, pensioners dont come to Spain to move to Soria

tommy.irene

Your right Cricketman they come to live somewere warmer that the UK in the winter, ..

me me

And For a start, I know more about Spanish life than about 99% of posters on here.

And FYI there are hundreds of thousand of Spanish pensioners who get a lot less than the UK equivalent, and there are no top ups available to them.

And for some Spanish pensioner the amount the receive is laughable it would not be allowed in the UK, as there is a minimum amount a person gets to live on.

rugbymatt

Not for some it seems eh?

cricketman

Since you know so much about Spain then you will know that the minimum pension in Spain is around 800 euros a month, as long as you have worked and contributed for 35 years.

My in-laws get 5,000 euros state pension between them. If they were in the UK, they would get around £600.

The Spanish system rewards those who have contributed the most. Those who have not been working get much less, many people would say this was fair. For those who have no right to a pension because they havent worked, they can claim around 530 euros benefits

Countryboy1

It's a money saving, political act seeking popular support in the UK, plain & simple. Nothing in principle wrong with that, all political parties do it. As far as I was aware though the WFA is a measure to help with home heating costs during the winter with no arbitrary, temperature measurement criterion. In fact there is another special cold weather payment for really cold temperatures.
Who in Spain doesn't find it necessary have some form of home heating on during the winter months? True it may not be for the extended periods as those in the UK have to do it, but it's the same principle, ie; help with winter home heating costs. The fact that Spain can sometime be less cold than the UK in winter has nothing to do with it. Fact, it can get cold enough to have to keep warm by putting the heating on. Ergo entitlement to WFA.

Domino

PERHAPS THE UK SHOULD PICK UP THE BILL FOR ALL PENSIONERS IN SPAIN, IRRESPECTIVE OF NATIONALITY

now wouldn't that bring tears to the green eyes of the Chancellor and all the DM readers

jackytoo

...and that is the problem. Unless they were public sector or professional workers most Spaniards never managed that with Spains high unemployment record and being paid in the hand.

bobd22

Yes I agree you could tell the way George announced it in the house he was smling very unusual for him well more of a snear I suppose. The whole house cheered. I suppose in one sense it is fairer than the old way where you got it if you had claimed it in UK before becoming an expat, at least this way all expats treated the same.

Domino

was he looking ever so hard at Nick Clegg when he said it ?? - after all his wife is Spanish

cricketman

I dont know about "most", but certainly "many", especially in the South

It is another debate whether someone chooses to be paid cash in hand or not. In the current climate then of course it is very difficult, but permanant contracts were very easy to come by in the 70s and early 80s and again in the late 90s to late 2000s

Everyone complains about their own fate. My in-laws complain that their state pension is only 5k per month when they think they should have more due to their high contributions. My auntie in-law got laid off at a few years ago and complained that she only got a 100k euro pay off when it "should" have been twice that but the company got away with paying less because they were in financial difficulty.

If only they knew how the British have to live!

bobd22

He knew he was on a winner when not even Ed Balls started to whine,