Jaques2go

i have read with interest this thread, and though i was only living in spain a month, i have been visiting for long periods of time since l967 and have noticed huge differences in life in general but i feel within small communities which form such as when i was a child, brought up on the outskirts of manchester, where all my relatives were, everyone knew everyone else, people were very tribal, they talked about one another, "i see mrs so and so's got some new lino" or "that girl from mather streets run off with the milkman" etc. its just the way it is, but i have found that when someone had a problem, there was usually help around for them. It isnt like that much anymore in England where people move and travel so much and the way of life has changed, there isnt always the community spirit there was.
I think from what I have seen of friends/relatives in spain, small communities are formed, just like England years ago which in many ways is a good thing because the opportunity is there to look out for one another. When I first went to spain, very few spanish people could speak English and now most can - i think if we do come back to live, learning the language is a must for us. But in short, people do form clicks where ever you are, even on websites and you cant gell with everyone. My mother used to say that she didnt care if people were talking about her because whilst they were doing that, they couldnt be slagging someone else off

Dick Dasterdly

Maybe the best lesson to be learnt is to avoid all communities.
Although I've only seen minor problems myself on the two I have previously lived on I have seen quite a lot of bother and a few long term feuds on others.
Problems similar to those mentioned above,....problems between different groups or cliques over community control such as when one group want to let their properties and make money,(touristic), while a rival group prefers the community to be classed as residential with no commercial letting, in order to retain some privacy and peace and quiet.
Also seen bad trouble where there was an approx. 50/50 split between expats and Spanish with all sorts of accusations and bad feelings about whichever group had control.
To the best of my knowledge there are no expat communities here and the Brits are well spread out amongst Spanish weekend and a few resident homes.
The odd time they meet up there is generally a good atmosphere and touch wood I havent seen any upsets.
No way would I ever go back into any community,expat or otherwise.
Very happy here with my friendly,helpful Spanish neighbours.

Jaques2go

I feel its whatever lifestyle suits you as an individual, wherever you are.
We have neighbours in hastings who go out of their way to be difficult, where others are wonderful, people are all different...........I can understand the thing about letting property to holiday makers, which is why i think if we do come back to spain to live at some point, we wont live right on the coast, where that is more likely to happen - or on a golf course i would imagine. When i was looking for a place to rent for the month in october, i chose a flat which is 6klm from the sea, and usually let long term but i wouldnt like to live permenantly in a place where there were different people coming and going and all the turmoil that some holiday makers could bring - but thats just me.........

bil

We have found that we have more good neighbours here in Spain than in the UK.

You can live for years in a street in the UK and know no-one, but that seems impossible here.

Mitzyboy

Im really confused by this thread.

Spain is no different to anywhere else. And the Brits are no different to most other nationalities, including the Spanish. Why do you think, in general, that when moving to other countries more often than not the different nationalities flock together .... that even happens with immigrants in the UK.

As for "bitching", same thing. Happens with all groups of all nationalities. Hell, those of you that live in Spanish communities will probably find they talk about you behind your back as well!

Rotor

Exactly, why socialise with people you would not give the time of day in England?

There are a lot of expats who came on the equity from U.K house sales ,otherwise they would never have been able to afford , not having any business sense or usefull skills for Spain ,these are the ones I see getting bitter as the unskilled labouring work dries up.

twistedmelon

Totally agree, that and watching to many "place in the sun" type progs.
Also I've noted that many state "a better life" as a reason which means they are running away from their probs in the UK but sadly you can run but you can't hide.

Jaques2go

I had seen programs recently about people in Spain having to sell up for a fraction of what they paid, if they could sell at all, or rent out their big villas and move into smaller properties just to pay their mortgages, it must be a dreadful situation for all those concerned. So I can understand that there must be a lot of people who are very very worried, living under a cloud and not very happy with their decision to move away from the UK - but then its happening here too............however, at least we dont have this dreadful landgrab.............that makes me angry to watch some of those people suffering because of these laws, is anything being done now to change this situation out there - I know when i looked at a lovely house on Tossel gross they said it was "partly urbanised" and my solicitors answer to my concern of "partly" was to say well if you are worried buy another house..........I was worried that if the property wasnt properly urbanised i would end up losing it, so i didnt?

Mitzyboy

Tossal Gros is safe
I think what he meant is that although it is an urbanisation, the roads are adopted by the town hall, and a lot of the free land also. Therefore we pay no urb fees. Town hall have just built a picnic area, childrens play areas and a boules pitch. They are busy putting up rustic fencing and just resurfaced all the roads up here.

Mitzyboy

They have been building houses up here for 25 years since the builder bought all the land, and its becoming a very nice area now they are spending some money

Jaques2go

The house i looked at had been bought by a welshman who had never even looked at it and decided to sell it again, so that made me a bit suspicious at the time - the guy who was selling it offered to lend me a deposit - because the seller wanted it paid into an English account immediately, so again, i was a bit baffled - i had money in banco santender, more than enough for a deposit, my hesitation was why they were so desperate to get this deposit without giving me a few days to think about it.............i never make snap decisions, esp not under pressure...........but sounds like Tossel Gros is wonderful now, the other concern i had was this house was on the lst bend and the big motorway, though in the distance, could still be heard - i believe it gets very cloudy up at the top - when i was there 5 years ago, lots of Germans were selling up.............i love oliva - we went to look for the old moorish cemetary we heard about and not knowing how to ask, my partner stopped this spanish lady, crossed herself, rolled her eyes as though dead and said "cemetaria".................its amazing how a few hand gestures work wonders - she probably thought we were "loco"

Mitzyboy

The clouds sometimes in the winter are the price you pay for the view the rest of the year

Mitzyboy

Jaques2go

stunning views, takes me back, going round and round until getting to the top of tossal gros............

snikpoh

Karma - i totally agree!