Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Well guys, Ive been in Benidorm, Spain now for 12 happy years and to be fair moving back home has been on the cards for a couple of years now but Ive been frightened to make the move. 3 weeks ago my 5 year relationship broke down and my girlfriend ended things and moved back to her parents in the uk within a week, yes a week!!! We live 11km from Benidorm where I work and although Iam lucky to have a full time job everything is now paid out from my wages with little over 80euros left to spend per month. The other option I had was to move back into benidorm,sell the car and cut down perhaps internet,sky tv which would not only give me back a bit of social life but I would have more cash. Third option is to move home.
Im 36 years old now,37 next week. I came here at a young 24 year old. I dont really have a career ond only done bar work previous to moving out here to do hotel Entertainment which I have done for 12 years in Spain. I realise going home wont be a bed of roses but I guess Ill be close to family and I have a good chance of getting work in the Royal Mail as my brother is a manager and they have a preference of hiring family members. I know they had a recent strike but they are definately recruiting in the spring at the Leeds branch and he said my chance of work would be likely. Going from Hotel Entertainment to getting up cold early mornings to get to the sorting office is a vast change but ive gotta start somewhere in life and I can always do a 2 year evening college course to help me get something better.

End of the day my wage here has never improved in Spain.I was getting 900 euros a month in 1999 and im getting 926 in 2009. I find this is the same for a lot of people here too. things are getting dearer and im going nowhere. theres no promotion here and I just seem to be doing the same thing every day.Benidorm is now like Blackpool in the winter.All the big caberet bars are shut and at the moment we have 27 people in our hotel that holds 600. Maybe my long term split could be the kick I need in life and its not as if Im running away because ive had chance to think. Im on my own here at xmas when I could be at my parents and visit my nieces and old mates. I do also have a few months rent saved up and cash to buy a car in the UK to get me going and I know there is a recession back home but I know people that have returned and found work so Im pretty sure im doing the right thing. I know its only me that can decide but I would love your thoughts on this.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I think know where your heart is at the moment

let your head follow it

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

spainboy,

What a good post. Obviously you are leaning towards moving back home. I am in the same boat (leaning-wise). A few years older than you, and have been in the US over 20 years, where I have had a good run, but still want to move home. Only you know what is best for you, but if you are comfortable with the move then I say do it. What is there left for you in Spain? Maybe think of 5 years from now, do you want to be in the same position, or do you want to be home where you can make a go of a new life with family and friends around? I know it is not as easy as that, but you are young enough to start again, and to be somwhere familiar with family, which does beat being by yourself. Think of it as a new start and an exciting prospect.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

By the way, I spent a lovely holiday in Benidorm as a teenager, where we hung out with the junior Barcelona football team, and had a ball!!! Sober I was not, but had a grand time..............

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

It's your decision, but on that sort of money I think you are going to really struggle, is it worth it? Once you answer that question, best of luck in whatever you choose :)

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Spain can be a very lonely place when you are on your own. Go for it :thumbup:

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Best to see it as a new adventure..it doesn't have to be forever !!

Living and working in the UK is not bad really (its only doom and gloom if you have that mindset anyway) ..OK there's not much sun but other than that, you will at least be able to kickstart a new career if you work hard enough.

Then you can alway come back for holidays and maybe retire early here after you've made a few bob.

All the best Spainboy. :D

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I have spent many happy years in Spain and the Canaries and seen lots of people come and go.
Most of them lived very happily in Spain, and for many years never gave a thought to returning home,.......yet quite often after 9 or 10 years they would start to think about it, and gradually begin to feel drawn back to their roots.
I realize that the events of the past 2 years have forced many peoples hand,and no doubt most would probably have stayed on much longer if able to.
In my own case fortunately, I did not burn my UK bridges and enjoy more and more, my time back home, where I have found that things are not as black as they have been painted in the media, and in my own area at least there are many positive factors.
On the other hand I dont think I would be so content without regular spells in my pleasant Spanish bolthole.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

If you are getting less money now than you were 10 years ago, the future doesn't look too bright, times are set to get much harder. Unless you have any special reasons to stay, I'll certainly give UK a try. Certainly this year the UK tourist industry has done OK, and it looks like more will be staying home again this year, there should be chances of a job.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I am with Lynne and most of the others on this, if you don`t follow your head you will always have that "what if" hanging round you.
Good luck. ;-)

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Good luck in whatever you try and do. If you know you have a guaranteed job at Royal Mail in the Spring, then go for it - at least you will be close to family and (old) friends. If the job is not guaranteed, try to take a short holiday and apply for jobs without burning your boats, so if you don't get work, you've something to go back to. You say you're willing to do evening courses - why not start improving your Spanish (I don't know what level you are at) with the possibility of taking the DELE either there or when you move to the UK in the Spring. Also - never say never. Try and keep a Spanish bank account and a movil active, so if a better job turns up (or you fail to get what you're after in the UK) there's always the option to return.
It's been a very cold December in the UK, so if you return soon, it'll seem nice and wintry. Re-learn your snowman making skills!
Incidentally, you were on the board a few weeks ago telling us your boss couldn't find someone to work out there. Could you make him an offer - you find "young talent" in the UK who fancy working out in Benidorm for a season or two - and in return you pocket a finders' fee? Not going to be a massive earner, but it may help with a few pounds from time to time..

Once again good luck with whatever you choose to do. Also, whichever country you end in, make sure you get your pension contributions (via national insurance) transferred over.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

They do not transfer, they are different pensions claimable at retirement age.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I think you should definitely go back. It will be a new start and possibly a new relationship at some stage.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I would not rush anything at this stage, not after 12 years there, and only five of those with the departed one. What about the seven years before that? Happy years, were they?

I know Benidorm quite well, and if you’re on your own, it’s not a bad place to be. Maybe it’s not the first thing on your mind right now, but Café Benidorm used to cheer me up when down. I can hear Tina Turner singing right now, and I’m miles away.

Depending on your own circumstances, rents, especially at this time can be very cheap, but you would know that. I would say that you’re earnings are about the national average for Spain and not bad for Benidorm, in the winter.

Carry on as normal and see what happens. The UK won’t run away.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I'm sorry to read about your situation.

But it could be worse.

I'm guessing in the time you've been in Spain you haven't paid into a retirement fund or planned a financial fall back.

Nobody can really tell you what to do, but from what little you've written its sounds as if you would be in a better position returning to the UK.

You never no once you step off the plane you may realise you actually missed the rain, cold and misery.:rofl:

I personally feel moving to Spain to work is so full of hassle and insecurity that anybody wanting to do it is crazy.

But each to his own I guess.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I say "Go for it" :thumbsup: Give the UK a try. We came home at the end of July and are really happy that we did. It's great to be back with family, I am also back in touch with an old friend I really missed and can now see often :thumbsup: Even my daughter and her fiance came home in November - and he has been in Benidorm 13 years and watched the slow decline :thumbdown: They are happy and even enjoying the snow :lol: My daughter is working already and her fiance has a gig lined up (he's a singer) and is networking for more. Whatever you decide the previous advice of not burning your boats, i.e. keeping a bank account open and a Spanish mobile is a good one :thumbup:

GOOD LUCK :thumbup:

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Hotel jobs are going mad here at the moment, don't ask me why but they are, the OH is looking to move on from here, the owners have basically given up and its not a good place for her to further her career, and in just 2 days of looking we found 40 jobs just down here in the Southwest, actually in Devon alone.
I am pretty sure part of the problem is that all the Eastern Europeans that normally filled the jobs have gone home to take advantage of the weak pound, it was no longer prudent to work here and send money home, they got so much less for it, and as a result jobs are starting to flood the market. Pay is the issue, some jobs are simply rubbish pay, but its not all bad, as an example a well known hotel down here are looking for an assistant head of housekeeping, starting wage..... £18,000. Receptionists are starting on £17,500 and an assistant duty manager (the job the OH is going for) is a starting wage of £21,000. For hotel work down here thats a good wage.

Good luck.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Thanks for all of your kind posts. I totally understand what you are saying here. I was happy for 7 years before I met my now ex partner but I also think benidorm was different back then. It seemed to be full of life,the hotel was always full of regular guests who I knew year after year and I seemed to have had a lot more friends. I have been at the same hotel for a lot of years but it seemed to have all changed in Nov 2006 when it closed for refurb two and a half years and incidentally pretty much coincided with the recession and the decline in brits on holiday here. My work partner went back to england as of a lot of holiday reps that I knew were going back as they getting older and then because the hotel closed I went on the spanish dole for 2 years so I lost further contact with friends etc.
The hotel reopened this July as a beautiful totally reformed now 4 star(as opposed to 3 before). Very nice but lost it's character and its regulars. The hotel had gone from 400 regulars to now 27 people on average right now and fills up with Spanish at the weekends. I dont now have a work partner and my job has lost its spark. Its just not how it was and everyone predicted that when it closed. I also have no pension scheme and although I totally love Cafe Benidorm myself, even that isn't what it used to be. Benidorm is like Blackpool in the winter and that's now the best way to describe it. I hardly even know anyone now when I go out.

I think it is a good idea to keep bank accounts and mobiles open though and I guess sometimes I have to make this jump blind on the hope I do get something. Its a big risk I know and im still not 100% on taking the chance if im honest but if I dont do it now I never will and I have to keep drilling this into my head. 2 friends (inc my workpartner for 5 years and one girl who recently went back last week) have both told me they dont regret the move back whatsoever.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I can't offer any advice, but good luck whatever you decide. Hope it works out for you.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

At least you return with the experience and the advantage of knowing another country and another language, something that doesn't have most of people

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

You won't be returning to much because the country is FuLked, I'd stay where you are and see if you can find a job in another place in spain.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

People seem very upbeat to me. Seem to be abundant jobs in the agency windows :confused:

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

What bit of it is "fulked"?

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I dont believe that.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Nor should you! :);)

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head. ~Terry Josephson

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I definitely agree with that one;)

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Life is what you make it.
Always keep your glass half full,..........at least......:D

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

One thing that is getting right up my nose is the ITV news.

Those two readers keep over emphasizing certain WORDS in SENTANCES and TONIGHT the women reads "Today DEATH,DESTRUCTION and MAYHEM in snow Hit Britain", oh shut the ....... up, its not that bad.:frown:

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I remember quite a few occasions when I got on a plane at Alicante or Malaga and vowed that I would never come back to Spain. I also remember an even more difficult journey with two dogs in the car that were heading for quarantine in the UK, and I was adamant that I would never return.

Yet return I did. And I didn’t come back to Spain because things went wrong in the UK, I usually did quite well and then returned with a pocketful of money to start again.

For the past 12 years, I’ve settled down in Spain and seldom think of a return to the UK. I make fewer trips back to visit friends and family, and when I touch down at Alicante I know that I’m home again.

That’s why I think the OP shouldn’t worry too much about making a decision at this time, either way, either place is only two hours away.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

mmm interesting...why?

:)

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

That pees me off too.!!

To really enjoy life in the UK, you should NOT read a newspaper or watch the news..:frown:

God I hate the UK media....:thumbdown:

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

hey, im also in my 30's, entertainer but i live in mallorca. i can understand your choices right now.
the uk offers u a security blanket finding a job with help. A language and legal system u understand. basically knowledge of the country there are very little down sides apart from instead of working in a job that u like and pays the bills u now must change to a job u may not like to pay the bills.
There r other companies that pay entertainers more(u need 2nd language) ie iberostar. but how long do u wanna do the job? u can advertise to rent out a room, share costs. or relocate and cut costs, find a normal job in spain and keep your pride.
u really have just one decision - go to uk:-things will be easier and run risk of living a 'grey' life. or stay in spain :- certain uncertainty, hard work, sacrifices but u may just keep the colour.
have a great xmas. the grass isnt always greener.x

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Frustrations with Spanish burocracy, homesickness, a green eyed lady, and that silly feeing about the green grass being greener. And once, toothache.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Just be careful as regards getting help if you're going back to the UK without a job. You won't qualify for Job seekers allowance as you haven't paid NI for a long while there. If you live with a partner who (for example) has a part-time job, you could always apply for tax credit. Otherwise, you'll be going down the road of supplementary benefit (may have changed its name) and housing benefit. If you think Spanish bureaucracy is slow and cumbersome...try claiming benefits in the UK - you'll faint at the size of some forms, and you'll have a lot of explaining to do regarding intention to work abroad again. Obviously if you end up unemployed for a long time then it makes sense to claim the benefits, and they will maintain the pension contributions. But if you possibly can get in a job - even if the pay is rubbish, you can always claim tax credit to top it up.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

If you can, shun the news. I stopped buying newspapers long ago, tho perversely I enjoy reading el Pais, at least the bits that I can understand. I also prefer to avoid UK TV news. It´s either saccharine, depressing, infuriating or a combo of all three.

So far in Spain the beaurocracy has been minimal to zero, and I have to say, sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side.

Moving back to the UK? Well, I hope to god I will never be put into the position where I have to consider it. One piece of advice I would always give is this. Make good and sure that you take a good hard look at the UK before you commit. It ain´t the same place you remember, and just as you risk looking at it with rose tinted glasses, beware of the risk of looking at Spain with whatever the opposite of rose tinteds might be.

Personally I´d rather be broke in the sun than in the rain, but possibly that´s just me.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I would rather be broke in a place where I understand the Social Security system. Sod the weather!

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

Agree! :) If I was broke, I'd much rather be broke in UK than Spain. It's easy to say you'd opt for the weather, but I'm guessing if you were absolutely skint, your first priority would be to get some dosh! :) As many have found to their cost, being broke in Spain is not a lot of fun, it ain't nowhere near as generous as UK when it comes to handouts.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I had a christmas of three Spaniards all on the internet looking at how much rent is, jobs pages, benefit payments etc etc.

After about 5 hrs of arriving in the place they now want to live here.

Since there jobs arn't so great, one has finished his paro payments and is unable to find legal work.

They even looked at cleaning work just to allow them to settle into the UK.

I guess when you live in a country, its true the other side can seem greener.

Having listened to there personal circumstances and compared them to what they would get in the UK, apart from council tax, I'd have to say anybody wanting to live in Spain and work don't realise how lucky being British is.

I had to virtually drag them to the airport, although there didn't seem much point as Ryanair refused one to fly and we had to pay a large sum of money to fly Easyjet they managed to return home after some 18 hours in the airport.

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

I think different people have different viewpoints and different experiences, and we're never going to agree on this. I had a far better lifestyle and my money went a lot further when I worked in Madrid (supposedly one of the more expensive places in Spain). Public transport especially was far cheaper (and much much better) there than here; most basic things in the supermarkets such as rice, olive oil, beans etc. were cheaper, although posters here claim prices have gone up a lot. I've also met plenty of Spanish who dislike the prices, the bad food, and the grey skies of England (to be fair I've met the Spaniards as well as other nationalities who liked things about England such as the music scene and job opps in their field). Others on this board have differing experiences. There again, I'm someone who prefers the British climate (especially in summer) as 40C is too much for me. So maybe I'm different to most.:huh:

Re: Moving back to the UK, your thoughts.
 

My printer packed up on the 23/12.

I need it for work so on Boxing day I trundle off to Currys with one of the friends, I got a HP deskjet F4580 for £39.99, my friend was more impressed though with the TV's.

Also the selection of shops such as B&Q, Wickes, Tesco,Morrisons,Asda my friends wife almost fainted when see started reading the Argos catalogues.

They liked the quietness of the UK, no moto's or shouting in the streets, no graffiti.

Apparently its the first sleep they had being so warm as well.

We tried to explain that the evenings and lifestyle here is different, people don't tend to walk from there houses and talk to others.

We explained that in the evenings we usually drive to places to walk, that could be mountains, near the sea or bars etc.

There response was that nothing is stopping us or them from walking from there house, not talking to others especially other spanish is no hardship as its mainly gossip or bragging and they have had enough of that.

We no a few Spaniards in the community, so there planning to visit again in the next few months and we'll arrange some food and drinks and meet talk about the differences.

They no that the UK is not paradise, but they are fed up of working and paying into a system that does not help you in rough times.

Although UK taxes can be higher at least you get something for it, whilst in Spain they explained it as the govt takes and never gives back.