Dick Dasterdly

Hmm, it's all a question of priorities.

Now which area has the best pubs ?

jackytoo

Yeah. and the cheapest wine and best climate....bugger the kids education

bostonlady

So True...as the OP'er. I think I would LOVE to know the best pub IN the best area (warm, not humid). I am sure you guys can agree on that...


For some actually ? see my post on page 11

angiescarr

The ability to rush to judgements is almost a prerequisite on this forum. Come to think of it I'm not sure you'll fit in Bostonlady

angiescarr

Then you might like to look at Tarifa if you can go anywhere on the mainland because the Med is more humid than the Atlantic. That said I know nothing about the Canaries.

cricketman

It is very humid up near Barcelona and Valencia (well, at least in the cities from my experience), but there is hardly any humidity in the Costa del sol, the heat is very dry

It is more comfortable at night in Cádiz province. However, I wouldnt recommend Tarifa, the wind would drive you crazy! A high proportion of the time it is difficult to even walk on the beach

Gran Canaria is known to host World Wind and Kite surfing championships. Asturias on the North Coast is also good for surfing and wind surfing. You would get a great "Spain experience" because you would have to speak Spanish up there, but the weather isnt always sunny (which I see you are seeking)

However, there are lots of good places all over Spain,it depends what you are looking for.

If sun and wind surfing are the most important than Gran Canaria, although as a foreigner it could feel live living on holiday for the years you are there, rather than being part of the wider culture. And it is a small island, not a great cultural experience for your kids

In my opinion, if you want a cultural experience for your children, then stay away from the areas where the millions of tourists go every year, otherwise they will end up like an American I know who has lived here for 2 years and thinks scampi and chips is Spanish food. Go to one of the cities within an hour drive of the beach, so you can go there at the weekend. Seville and Granada for example would be good choices in the South, expecially if you could escape Seville in July and August and camp out on the beautiful Cádiz or Huelva coast

tommy.irene

Gran Canaria all year sunshine with 9 days of rain.. what wind im in Playa Del Ingles... lowest tempture 20* in winter...

angiescarr

Sounds like good advice to me. But I must admit I'm biased towards this side of the country and away from, large conglomerations of 'Brits abroad'. (the same would apply to all races by the way )

Rosemary

Agree with you about not living in a holiday area. However, I think that I would say that there is more chance of "mixing" with the Spanish people in a smaller town than in a city. I quess it really depends on what aspects of the Spanish culture a person wishes to experience. If it is the magnificent buildings, art galleries, museums etc then they would need access to the cities. Whereas if they want to experience living with Spanish people in a more laid back and tranquil setting then a small place would prove to be better.

There are so many things going for both aspects so decisions can be difficult.

Rosemary

amideislas

That is one of my few peeves about the Americans.. they often seem to have little understanding of the rest of the world, or how good they have it. Always complaining about how terrible everything is in their beautiful country, yet at the same time enjoying a better standard of living, lower taxes and other burdens, lower unemployment, with stronger and more effective rule of law than most of the rest of us.

Well, I know it looks bad through your eyes, but just consider this: we have 22% unemploment (official), in some areas 40% or more. Racism exists here, too, in fact, it's virtually imposssible for Blacks and Asians to land a "good" job regardless of their education - and it's even written into law that employers are obigated to give Spanish nationals priority for any available jobs. I think even you would admit that this would be considered an illegal violation of civil rights - even racism - in the US. But it's perfectly OK here, nobody disputes it.

And what do you pay in taxes? We probably pay 3 times what you do. We have 18% sales tax, and taxes are levied on all of your income and assets worldwide. That's one reason why Europeans lead the world in tax evasion.

In fact, one of your first actions upon arriving here should be to find a solicitor (or "lawyer" as you call them, "abogado" in Spanish) with tax expertise - one you can trust - to help you sort through the complexities of the tax system here. Otherwise you might find yourself being levied very high taxes on anything you may be "presumed" to have in the US. Unlike the IRS, they can just "make things up" if they are unable to verify what you have and don't.

We have some Swiss friends that are constantly harassed and assessed higher taxes than they actually owe - they are considered "potential tax evaders" simply because they come from a place known for "banking secrecy" (despite the fact that it no longer exists in Switzerland).

But find a Spanish lawyer. The English and German lawyers rarely have a clue about how things "really" work here.

Related to Mrs. Obama? I reckon that proves that all Americans are all snobs?
OK here you go.. here's further proof:
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=4957
Using same logic, I think even you would have to agree this proves Diana and all other Brits are "snobs" by relation as well?

...and of course we know it's all true, since we read it on the internet.

Speaking of "minor niggles" and "internet" "wherever you live", be aware that unlike in other places in the world, it's not uncommon here for Europe's most expensive phone and / or internet to simply quit working when it rains or there's wind or other weather anomalies.

And better yet, even if it's out for an entire month (service is pathetically slow here), you still have to pay for it. The utility companies generally don't have the capability in their systems to provide any reprieve for loss of service - unlike in other countries, the law doesn't really require them to offer any refund or discount if it doesn't work, so why bother?

Another common misrepresentation is the "internet speed", which, certainly you can make the mistake of ordering 8Mb service, but you may find out that the highest speed the local infrastructure can deliver is about 600Kbps. Sorry, too late.. You are now roped into Europe's most expensive internet package for one year. You won't be able to change it until your contract expires, regardless of the fact that the provider can't possibly deliver the service you're paying for. Your fault for being so naive.

If internet is important to you, I strongly recommend before ordering it, talk to the neighbours (not the telephone company - they won't have a clue) to find out how often you can expect it to work, and what the actual speed might be. And NEVER buy their expensive "TV" service they try so hard to sell you. It's expensive, problematic, and only works about half of the time.

After years of dealing with these and many other "minor niggles" and eventually coming to the conclusion that there's simply nothing you can do about it, it's perhaps a bit of a stretch to say that people "rush to judgements".

But if you're referring to the continual backstabbing that takes place here (and often in life in Europe, and particularly Britain), then just have a look back through this thread, and take stock of who accuses who of what.

In addition to the usual barrage of complete and utter bollocks about how terrible the "rest of the world is" (completely dismissing the dismal and substantially worse conditions right here at present), more laughably, continuing with the predictable claims that all is "the best" in the world here, again dismissing the undeniable facts which prove otherwise.

The OP's nationality and all things associated with it are framed as the world's least desirable, the demeanour of the OP's nationality is said to be "snobbish", whilst at the same time wholly dismissing the widely-famed snobbish character of the nationality of those making such claims, and all of their previously posted implications of superiority in virtually all things compared to those greedy, unrefined and daft American "snobs".

Oh, and by the way, this behaviour doesn't exhibit any signs of "hypocrisy". Only a person who is "totally mad" would dare to make such obviously ridiculous observations.

And that, my friends, speaks for itself. Welcome to the refined and noble English character. I for one, have become increasingly reluctant to even admit that I'm English.

cricketman

Yep you've pretty much summed yourself up nicely

Rather impressively you've managed to give the wrong impression in every sentence you wrote. I'll tackle just a few:
1. Written into law to prioritise jobs for the Spanish. Are you insane? Can you point us to that law please?
2. Broadband being 600kb for a 8Meg line. Really? Actually it is written into Spanish law that broadband must be within 20% of the advertised rates. It always has been for me. I have a 10Meg line and receive 9.5 Megs download speed. Before I had a 5Meg line and got 4.5. In 5 years of relying on broadband to do my work, I have had 3 hours of down-time. When that happened I called Telefonica and they sent an engineer out within 1 hour. Not so bad for the backward Costa Del Sol!

angiescarr

Amideislas Please feel free not to That was quite a rant! I can't remember the adjective the electricity company used to describe your dealings, it was quite a few posts ago. But even at the time I wondered if they might have a point. I'm sure you have completely valid arguments but they are a bit confrontational and so perhaps get lost in the noise.
Stick or carrot ? I know which I think is more powerful. When it's hard to control your frustration I do believe that when you aren't getting the response you want it's often time to reassess your approach and maybe back off from losing it.

amideislas

EVERY employer is required to first make any available job to a Spanish national prior to considering any foreign labour. Anyone running a business can confirm.

If a Spanish national cannot be hired for the position, a good reason (e.g., "must speak native English") must be given, and the next choice must be an EU citizen. If that cannot be achieved, then the job may be offered to foreign labour.

In our first year here, we signed up for 4Mb internet and phone (about €90 per month at the time). Although the phone started working immeditately, the internet would not work at all (we already had a Telefonica router from our previous home). Upon calling them to complain, they told us that they could not turn on internet until the "installer" came to install the router and verify operation.

6 weeks later, a delivery man showed up and handed us a router (no "installation") and literally 5 minutes later the internet started working (with our old router).

As it turns out, the maximum speed was 600Kbps (as it still is), and when we called to ask about this, their answer was simply "We don't guarantee 4Mb service, but you aren't allowed to have more than 4Mb service on your contract.

So, since the best we can get here is 600Kbps, we requested the lowest possible speed, for which we were told we have already contracted for 4Mb service (a "special" deal they were offering at the time), and are obliged to pay that contract for one year before we can change the contract to a lower speed. Sorry.

By the way, we also had to pay full price while we awaited their router to be "installed". No internet, but still paying full price.

Further, the internet (and often the telephone, too) completely vanish whenever it's raining, or if there is severe wind. We can complain, and after 3 or 4 complaints, someone might eventually show up to repair it, but there will be no possibility to receive any refund or compensation for the lack of service. Several years ago, we went 6 weeks without telephone or internet, since telefonica never got around to responding to our complaints. They eventually fixed it, but we still had to pay full price for the entire 6 weeks without phone or internet.

We have some friends who run a small real estate business here, and because they are reliant on their phone and internet for their business, they've recently switched one of these new "wireless" phone and internet providers. They tell us it works even when raining, and they get full 6Mb of bandwidth (not something less) and free calling Europe-wide for only €79.95 per month. The initial equipment and installation cost is about €500, though. But we are considering it...

jimenato

I run a business and I can confirm that it is, at least in practice and almost certainly in fact, utter nonsense.

It is in direct contradiction to fundamental European law concerning freedom of movement of labour.

Here

But you are about to show us this Spanish law aren't you...

cricketman

[QUOTE=amideislas;9845006]EVERY employer is required to first make any available job to a Spanish national prior to considering any foreign labour. Anyone running a business can confirm.

QUOTE]

Again rubbish, I know people who run businesses - and I've been employed by a Spanish employer and offered jobs by two others.

Maybe you should heed angiescarr's advice

For your dealings with utility companies. Sounds like you've had lots of bad luck. Dont assume it is the same for everyone! Telefonica are known for their bad service but my experience has only been positive.

Here is a top tip though, never ever buy anything from someone offering a product over the phone. My OH has done that a couple of times from Telefonica and Vodafone and what you get doesnt match what they describe. We got our money back in the end, but it needed quite a few calls. However, as I said before, I had the same problems with NTL and 3 in the UK.