bil

Sorry me me, but you just aren't reading what I wrote.

Money buys health and a whole lot more to boot. It won't help you if you have the wrong attitude tho.

Read what I said again.

me me

Well said Pugsy, You have hit the nail on the head.

me me

Money does not buy health, mental or physical- When the big C is out to get you, no amount of money will help.(Patrick Sways).

The health money can buy, is not usually lifesaving, it is to make life a lot more comfortable.

Any serious complaint is usually foisted onto the National Health service anyway.

me me

My folks said exactly the same thing. My mum bought a trouser suit in the sixties, and said that if she wore that in Spain she would be classed as a prostitute. My mum especially hated the Spanish attitude.
My grandfather was a strict man (although with me he was wonderful) he thought education for women was a waste of time).

Mum visited Spain when she had no other choice, but she would NEVER have returned to live here of her own free will. My brother thinks I am mental for coming here, and would rather have his nuts cut off than return (his words) My Dad thought the same.

I seem to be the only one in the family who loves both countries, the others are divided into 2 camps, they hate one and love the other.

Spain is less sophisticated than UK, no doubt about it.
Of course in the sixties the differences were more marked. There is still a huge difference in attitude, though.

I have tons of cousins in their 30 and 40s, not one of them have ever gone topless on a beach and would never do so. Not one has lived with a partner before marriage, not one has been a single parent.

Of course, some will say that we are goody goodies, but that is not true, just normal rural Galician people.

jackytoo

Good post Pugsy

I think the main reason for people returning is economic. Jobs are rubbish (if you can find one). The only decent paid jobs were in the property sales area and now that had slumped. I don't know anyone who doesn't work in one way or another servicing the Brit community. Now they are leaving it is a downward spiral.

Second reason as Pugsy said, Spain is not everyones ideal place. Being able to speak the language fluently does not suddenly change the place. Infact, the more fluent one gets the more aware you are that there are a lot of things that are crap in Spain.

lcortez

I think whats coming out here,is that there are as many reasons for people to stay/go as there are people,its not as simple as "work/language"

Contrast MeMe's parents opinions,with the opinions of my parents,who where pretty keen to return to Spain!
They couldnt stand the antisocial attitudes in London!

Stay or go,depends on a lot of things;money,work,where you finish up in Spain,missing/not missing family,have you got any friends?Lifestyle,standard of living,ability to intergrate/speak the language,and probably a lot more besides

The question is so subjective,that it would be impossible to boil it down to, two or three simple reasons!

Londonuck

There was a woman on the BBC site yesterday, who lives over there in Spain, moaning about the price of food and general cost of living. She said she doesnt, and never will, eat spanish food and her British butcher costs a lot more. Made me want to headbutt the computer. Surely there is some sort of Spanish tv programme taking the peeeese out of us?

Note to self... learn spanish - write sitcom.

bil

Money DOES buy health. Poor people have on balance worse health, and a shorter lifespan.

Money buys you access to the best doctors and the best treatment, and it does so very quickly.

Money is the most wonderful substance on the planet. It is pure crystalline freedom. A small amount buys you freedom from thirst, freedom from hunger. A large amount can even buy you freedom from justice.

Mitzyboy

Im not sure I'd agree Bil.
Without going too far into the story, I used to own a shipping company, and I did very well out of it. But to do that I worked all hours God sent, and although I was very well off I had no time to spend to myself apart from the once a year two week holiday, and I spent years afterwards battling with minor stress related illnesses.

So to get that money in this day and age you have to work so bloody hard ... and that in itself can make you ill. Money isn't everything.

me me

Money does not buy health, the unemployed in any big city in the UK have the worst health. It is not lack of money, it is lack of ambition, routine to get out and jo a job, lack of hope that is the cause of most health problems. Most smoke and drink, they are the laziest cooks, they live on frozen pizzas, burgers and such and do not tax their bodies in any way.
The healthiest people are the ones that have stuck to the Medeterranean Diet. This is based on cheap fresh ingredients, and usually eaten by working people.
As for you saying that a small amount buys you freedon from thirst and hunger, that is true, but we are discussing EXPATS from a wealthy country, and the very fact that we are on a forum using internet and computers, means that we are not in such dire straights. We are not starving or dying of thirst.
As for access to the best doctors, you do have a point that money could be a factor, but that is not buying health, that is paying money to right the wrongs that have been done to the body. It is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. It may get you into the most expensive rehab clinic, but is the most expensive always the best.
Look how many stars have paid a fortune to go to the Betty Ford Clinic, only to fall of the wagon again and again.
With a terminal complaint no money on earth can fix that, cancer of the pancreas for example. The ones that belive that money is the solution to all problems are sadly mistaken. Money is great, it helps, mega money is better and helps more, but it is not a magic wand. The rich mother who loses a child is just as devasted as a poorer one. The sorrow is still the same in a mansion as a two bedroomed council flat.

bil

Hey ho, again here we go.

For the average person, money does buy health in the sense that a rich person has access to a better diet, is more likely to exercise, more likely to have med checkups and is more likely to be educated and healthy.

Some people will never be happy no matter what they have.

However, which is better to be miserable and rich, or miserable and poor.

Mitz, if you insist on working yourself to death, that is your choice, and has nothing to do with what you are earning.

Tell me which is better. Earning a small fortune but stressing yourself out with overwork, or earning a pittance while still working all the hours god sends??

At least with the money in the bank, you have choices. Money gives you choices.

Meme, saying that it is basically the fault of the poor is pretty damn patronising. I've been short of money and on the dole, and it grinds you down really badly, really fast. Me, I had an education, and the kind of support and backup that meant it was temporary for me. Had I not mad that, then with no money to back me and no hope, I too might have slid down the slope instead of climbing out.

Money and health. It isn't just about closing stable doors, it's about a whole lifestyle. If you are the child of a rich family whose health has been monitored and checked from conception, you will stand the highest chance of reaching old age fit and in good health.

If you are the product of an impoverished family, living in unhealthy environments with only the kind of money that buys cheap, unhealthy food, then your old age is unlikely to be that good.

pjj

hi gang ,ive just got back from a 2 week holiday at my place in spain and what a excellent time ,we had having met more friendly spanish people this time around who are willing to except us as friends as well my brit friends who have learnt to speak spanish it was great. we are back here in the uk now and im thinking what the hell am i doing here , every body i have spoken to in the last few days seem to want to leave uk because they have had enough of there country. having been talking to new people in my area in spain there seems to be alot of new faces arriving , theres also alot of faces that are still there that have been there since i brought my place 4 years ago and they are working plus not wanting to go back to the uk they are not earning no where near the money some of them were earning but they have said they are more happy than ever. me and my girlfriend are still looking at moving too spain in the next 8 months we are giving up good paided stressfull jobs to move to spain for a better quality of life where we will earn no where near the salarys we earn in the uk but i think our lives will be alot better away from the rat race of the uk , i think there is a small percent of people coming back to the uk and a lot lot more leaving the yuk uk .

bil

Well, according to what I have read, about 70% of people who leave go home again.

Interestingly, that applies to people who move within the UK too.

As for people wanting to leave, boy have you hit the nail on the head. I've heard figures of 1 in 3 giving it consideration.

montgomail

Three years seems to be the acknowledged time span for getting the urge to go back to your roots. This I've discovered from others in Spain (and probably applies to immigrants elsewhere). Once you get past that itch - which apparently is very difficult, then there is more chance of wanting to stay with the new way of life.

So quite a long honeymoon period, but when the mood changes then it is probably family and finances that force the decision to stay or return.

bil

Dunno. I think that those are part, but if you fail to integrate, learn the language and so on, then the risk of return mushrooms.