I think it would be wise to have a plan prepared in case, also would your home be a good golf users rental?

No chance of renting it out really. It is close to 3 golf courses but with a mortgage of over 700 euros a month it would not be viable.

UK Unemployment just announced up by 137,000 people between August & October (November not included), now just under 1.86 million
Job seekers claimants figure up last month by 75,700.

well, i intend to finish off the house upkeep in the new year (painting, gardening etc) then hopefully we can find a renter, although we tried last year and had no interest. we might look into holiday letting as we have friends nearby who manage property as a living.

on the book front, yeah, i'm considering it! loads of photos, loads of stories, just not sure if theres still a market for another 'driving over lemons' or 'a year in provence'. i could call ours '5 [****** cold] winters in the sun'.....

I see Golf properties on rent in the summer months for 500 euros a week!

every cloud has a silver lining !

O.k, give me all of the photos and all of the stories.
I'll put it together, publish it using a Print On Demand system and bank the cash and think of you as I spend it.

Its funny (not really) but one of the Gov representatives was on the TV the other day saying the figures were wrong and unemployment was well under the 1 million mark....... the presenter challenged it, he dismissed her and then said her figures had come from a bad source, to which she said..... "They were the figures the Gov released this morning!"


Cocks, the lot of them.....

ahh, you're just too generous!!

Not looking good in the UK certainly at the moment, but Gordon has closed most of the escape routes. The worlds verdict can be seen from a currency that has collapsed by a third, and a stock market that allowing for inflation is less than HALF what it was when Gordon the Great Leader assumed control of the engine room in the Titanic.
Now that he has taken over the role of Captain, all he can think of doing is repeating his tax and spend policies that got us into this mess. Full steam ahead - I see no icebergs!
In fact, that might be the right policy, but Gordon the Moron has already spent all our reserves twice over. Which is why the worlds markets are dumping the UK. We have to hope (and it is a slim one) that at some point they think the upside outweighs the risk - but with interest rates down to 2 percent and falling that is a slim one.
So heading out for sunny climes may simply not be an option now, as he has debauched the currency, destroyed the economy, devastated pensions and pensioners and generally looks like taking us back not the 70s but even the 50s - rationing and the lot.
Capital Economics calculate the rate of inflation for pensioners is close to 13 percent (of course that is nationwide, in the South it is 1 or 2 percent higher.)
General inflation still running at over 4 percent, on some very dubious figures. If you take out the reduced cost of borrowing it has not come down at all.
Because of the way the Government chooses to calculate unemployment. it understates the number by between 1 and 1 1/2 million. If the anticipated 1,500,000 increase does occur next year - we will get close to or exceed the levels in the Great Depression.
So regrettably, I don't see any easy answers.

I guess there is a BIG difference between living in a relatively new detatched villa on a largely brit-owned development, and living in an a tiny apartment in seriously close proximilty to the locals of the city you live in...

It comes down to two things, I think...

1. How much money you come to Spain with in the first place, that will allow you a certain level of comfort and isolation from whatever you dislike about Spanish culture - whether caca or noisey neighbours...

2. Whether you have to work here or not and what skills you have to work in the first place - your language abilities and whether your skill is in demand etc etc..

agree 100%

I know someone over here who was a teacher in the UK and took early retirement. Her retirement pension is £20,000 a year, most couples could live on that quite comfortably in Spain Can't see a problem

The unofficial unemployment figures, ie those not massaged by the Government ( I use that word tongue in cheek) put it at well over 2 million.

I am qualified computer engineer, I have 25+ years experience and a degree in Electronics, I am 53, I have applied to over 250 companies since being made redundant in Nov, not one interview.

I have no future in this country, I now have been informed that my Dole money is to be reduced to 56.50 a week due to my now having to pay towards my Council tax as I have a 2 bedroom house and only one occupant. The fact that my young children stay with me at weekends has not been taken into account.

Every attempt I have made to get help or support from the Job centre has been thwarted, I attempted to get help to train as a teacher, no help, I enrolled on a training course at my expense, only to be told that if I did so my dole money would be stopped as I was thne not available for work.

WTF am I supposed to do, this inept government say they are bending over backwards to help get people back to work

Its a complete lie, they are doing nothing, the only thing they are good at is borrowing money and spending it on crazy wars.

My eldest son works for a major tax/auditing company, his view is that we have not see the worst yet, and when we do hit rock bottom it will take years to get even close to being a stable economy that will attract foreign investment.

My advise, it you are able, weather it out in Spain, unless you're a teacher or a money/tax adviser there is nothing left for you here.

Yes, two of us are living off one pension and we could do that reasonably comfortably when we first came here.

We wouldn't be able to both live off it in the UK then and can't now, but in the UK we will be able to find some p/t or temporary work, whereas here in rural Andalucia, unemployment is at 20% for Spaniards, so there is no chance of an expat who speaks pidgin Spanish getting a job. When we first came here we didn't need to work.

Neither of us is at State Retirement age. My husband is 60 next month and I am a year younger. He had to leave employment due to his health.