Living in Spain - the good things!
 

My wife and I started to think about retiring to Spain a couple of weeks ago. So we have been looking on discussion forums to get a feel for what we may encounter. I realise that Forums can be places for people to get things off their chests.....

So taking into consideration

the falling £ v €
falling property prices
hassle with Spanish banks
hassle with Spanish mortgages
repossessions
being ripped off by all and sundry
corruption in local govt.
general state of the Spanish economy
etc

Can anyone say anything good about Spain that would make someone want to move there now.

Thanks.

You can call me al

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

I can give you loads of reasons to leave the UK :)

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Well I can see your point with a few of those, but being ripped off by all and sundry is really down to you. I dont feel as Ive been ripped off seriously at any time

Most of those apply to the uk as well :D

At the end of the day it depends if you are retiring here or needing to work here. If its the latter at the moment I cant say many nice things to you other than it can be a more relaxed and outdoor lifestyle if you can get a job.

If you are retiring then Spain has a lot going for it still

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Spain is a great place to live. Ive been here for 13 years. Iam however going home but for reasons that I miss family which in return is making me depressed a little. If I had all my family in Spain I would stick it here a bit longer.

Ive never been ripped off here at all.Somethings are more expensive though such as Internet and shopping in general but that's swings and roundabouts as car tax is cheaper and theres no council tax here, but as a whole the wages are less in Spain too so you will never become a millionaire quickly.lol.

Weather you take for granted,I do anyway and I actually get sick of the summers here by mid August but overall it does beat what's in England.

With banks I have been a member of LaCaixa for many years who's staff do speak english and the online bank accounts are in english too and they are very good. Bigger banks like BBVA are hopeless and unuser friendly and non spoke english when I was a member with them 12 years ago.That's just my personal opinion however.

Sometimes you can get frustrated with the time it takes for people to do things though but that's just their way of life and even my spanish friends go on about the relaxed service you can have.I would advise learning the spanish basics as this will go a hell of a long way in getting things done a bit quicker believe me.

Life is what you make of it and you can have a very good life over here.More people seem to be happier and there isn't as much stress in the air as there is back home.The country in whole isn't as disciplined as the uk. Ive no experience of buying property here but I have heard of a few bad stories in the past so dont jump in with two feet and explore all options and check things out in fine detail before you make that step as sometimes it may come back and bite you on the bum.

Good luck.

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

No council tax:confused: depends where you live, around the 1000 euro for me including basura.

You will get lots of good things from this forum just wait. Stuff like living outside most of the year:rofl:

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Yes, €1,000 is a lot more than I pay in UK. Plus some of the urbanisation fees I have heard quoted are scary. Then if you live in a block of flats you have la derrama to pay. A guy I speak with is having to dig very, very deep as they have some very expensive lift repairs to cough up for. But no, no council tax!

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Where do you live, in someones shed ?
I was paying 1,200 quid ten years ago.

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Really? We were paying in excess of 2,500 a year (thats pounds, not euros) for a 4 bed house (one bedroom so small it was used as a wardrobe, because the other rooms didn't have enough space to hang clothes, and if you put a single bed in there was barely enough floorspace left to get into the room.)

We have just had a letter saying that we need to find 263 euros as they feel they should have been charging us all 80 - 90 euros a year more, and they have made it retroactive for the last three years.

My very real fear is that the Spanish government will realise just how much money the UK governments make from council tax and parking charges, and then we will all be screwed.

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Thanks for the comments so far. I am trying to get a balanced view so all comments welcome.

We leaned a lot when we were looking for somewhere in Italy. You really have to learn some Italian.

I have already started to re learn my Spanish, last used in anger O' level 1965, suprising how much you remember!

The biggest benefit we see is the warmth and a generally better life style (and the possibility of a pool so my wife can get exercise for her bad back).

We are trying to see it as being attracted to Spain rather than driven out of England. But yes there are reasons to leave.

We aim to retire, rather than work, though we do have some novel business ideas!

So please keep the positive comments coming.

Cheers

You can call me Al

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

All the negatives - and some of the positives seem to be about money - I know we all need it, but there are surely other reasons to live in Spain?? I know alot of retired folk used to come to Spain because it was cheap - well they used to. I think it still is a little cheaper than the UK but not so much.

The reason we came to Spain was not a financial decision. It was because a dislike of the UK, the weather, the outdoor life, the space, the scenery, the carefree attitude....

Jo xxx

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

I came for the cheapness and the weather. I bought a small business and a home (flat) and either would have cost five times as much in the UK. I don’t think the cheapness is the same nowadays, but the weather is.

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Hi

When we lived in CDS we had a pool but only could really used it for a 3-4 weeks of the year.

Just thought I'd add that as one of the negatives of having a pool.

Unless your wife is happy to swim in coldish water - I couldn't bear it myself and I am a hardy Northerner.

All the best.

If you have a few bob - it's a great place to retire. I might do it when the time comes...

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

pool if unheated is about the end of May to mid September. that's because I am hardy:D

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

Thanks for info on pools. Easy to think pools would be usable all year round.

I too am from up north and quite hardy but wife is delicate little flower.

Anyone use solar panels to heat pool?


You can call me Al.

Re: Living in Spain - the good things!
 

If you need people to talk you into it, you're probably not making the decision for the right reasons. In that case I'd advise to stay where you are. If you want to get away from Britian, rather than moving to Spain, there are plenty of countries to choose from, apart from Spain.