pjj

hi everyone as most of you know on here me and my girlfriend are making the move to spain in a few weeks very excited , but i cant help but still read about how many are moving back to the uk and how many people are struggling to pay there morgages out there and are even handing there keys back to the banks just to get away from the misery of it all ,tell me you guys and girls who live in spain is life getting a lot harder out there ?

spain

its not only Spain where things are a lot harder at the mo...but course English people in England cant leave to go back anywhere...over the last few years there have been lots of expats leaving Spain and heading back to England and people I know are struggling to pay their mortgages in Spain and some have even considered handing the keys back (incl a Spanish friend of ours)

good luck with the move over, it wont all be a bed of roses.....you just have to be realistic about things

valenciatim

As long as you don't have to find work here and have a nice steady income from the UK or somewhere else, it's fine!!

Econ

Most people will tell you it's getting harder * everywhere *, you would need to be very lucky or wealthy not be be finding things harder of late, that goes for Spain too.

Someone I spoke to in the removals business in Spain was telling me they are busy with many British moving away... but not generally to the UK, they seem to be spreading out to other places with only some of them going back to the UK.

rugbymatt

I cant say about Spain, obviously, but personally, I think things are getting easier here. Yeah I know, the news and the Daily Mail will tell you all sorts of guff, but from what I am hearing from REAL people and what I hear in passing, from other people who I speak to, they feel work is starting to increase and that there is definitely more out there.

lic

Where is here?

Cos it doesn't seem to be getting any better in the N.W. of England

rugbymatt

Ah you see, there is your problem, you live in the North West!

scampicat

Except the abysmal exchange rate means your fixed income is a third less than it used to be and prices in Spain are rising at a rate of knots.

I have been in the UK for five weks (England and Wales) and without fail every supermarket I have been in has been cheaper than the Spanish ones, and with really good special offers and BOGOFS; the Co-op has really good local produce too. I got six low energy lightbulbs for £27p from Morrisons! Other shops follow a similar pattern, especially DIY shops - I have found in Spain that quite often you either can't get the product at all or it is horrendously expensive. They seem to have put prices up for the recession instead of down. Also Spanish supermarkets never seem to mark down food that is going out of date - they just let it sit on the shelves until it goes mouldy.

Spain imho is no longer the cheap place it used to be.

Mitzyboy

Oh dear ...... 6 low energy light bulbs here in Oliva cost me €18

pete_l

One thing to bear in mind is that britain has a vast welfare system. Whether you think that's good or bad, it does mean that when you fall on hard times, there are many, many organisations, grants, hand-outs, loans, payments and benefits you are entitled to. Provided you are not too proud to claim, are prepared to put up with al the faffing about and haven't made any fundamental mistakes then the state will provide.

However, what you'll find in Spain (and probably most other countries whether in the EU or not) is that these safety nets don't exist - or have far more stringent qualifications. In Spain expect the benefits people to simply shrug their shoulders and tell you to go back and live with your parents, or that there's no money, or that you haven't paid into the system, of that you can only get pay-outs for a limited time, or other things that I haven't thought of.

That's why so many brits are headed "home" - 'cos that's where the money is, if you haven't got any of your own.

Mitzyboy

Yes ...... when I came here the rate of exchange was 1.38 and rose subsequently to 1.49 ..... now its under 1.20 so we lost a lot of income

Yes, of course prices have gone up here in Spain.

So of course I'm not as well of in Spain as I was when I came here.

But I do go back to the UK, and I was there last month and people should compare the whole package, not just supermarket costs.

Here I pay €400 a year "council tax"
I pay €100 a year road tax
I pay about €120 a year water
My supermarket bills are cheaper, and the quality is better

So although this isnt supposed to be a comparison test, I'd say yes it is harder than it was, say, two years ago ......... but its damned better than the quality of life and cost of living that I would experience back in the UK still.

me me

Very true, the welfare state in the UK is a strong pull for expats who are struggling in Spain. Despite the reports that the British pension is the lowest in the EU (which I dont belive), there are top ups with housing benefit and council tax benefit. It may be cheaper to pay 400 a year community charge in Spain, than pay nearly 2K council tax. But when the chips are down, you will always have to pay the 400euro tax in Spain, whereas you can claim full relief on the UK council tax. Ditto for the rent. For folks who have fallen on hard times, the UK comes up trumps.
Spain does not look after its own people, but then again we dont, think this is bad. I do because I have seen the way people are helped in the UK.
When I tell my family about the benefits to be had there, that there are people who have never worked a day in their lives and still claim benefits, they think I am crazy or a liar.


Regards,

JLFS

HBG

Those of us who are intent on staying in Spain are only able to because we have a 'UK' income to sustain us, mostly some sort of pension. Without that, we would also be going back, because in the UK the state looks after us, and the Spanish state doesn't, not even its own, at least not properly.

Unemployment in Spain is at chronic levels and the 'manufactured' jobs, like road repairs, are for Spanish people only. With more people leaving and fewer people arriving, British businesses are closing all over the place, I could quote umpteen example here, and that's apart from the bars.

I think that the actual living costs, taking everything into account, are about the same, the Spanish cheapness from years ago has gone.

The weather in Spain is still better than in the UK.

lynnxa

just about everyone I know that is still doing OK here has an income from another country

rugbymatt

Its all about Aldi and Lidl with you innit?