bobd22

Re the business, sorry to be blunt but I don't think many people really want a British style B&B in Spain - I certainly don't. Self contained apartments definitely but I think most people want to do their own thing and really don't want that level of contact with the owners.

If you really need an extra income, buy a property in the UK, leave it in the hands of a letting agent and live on the proceeds of that.
​​​​​​[/QUOTE]
I would agree with both points you have made. We like to go away but we either book hotels on Booking.com or for longer stays apartments usually through ab&b. Much better than traditional B&B. Keeping property in the UK is a good plan one never knows how plans can change. Also let some rent build up a reserve pot for maintenance and after a while you can start taking some income. We do that use a letting agent who keeps on top of things re maintenance and lettings so far worked ok. As for UK and life in Spain well yes at the moment the UK is dire for a variety of reasons. I'm sure it will get itself back on an even keel at some point. I would agree Spain for me is better currently. There are good things and bad things in all countries for me I have no dislike of the UK I just currently prefer my retirement life here in Spain, I suppose it's horses for courses.

Lou71

I concur. We have been landlords in the UK for years and it works very well most of the time. Our flats are fully managed but we always give the tenants our contact details because agents can sometimes be too slow to sort out any maintenance issues and we like to fix problems immediately.

I would strongly advise against taking on a very hands on business like B&B with its never ending regulations.

I think life in the UK is going to be very difficult for quite some time.

bob_bob

I think airbnb has had a big impact on smaller hotels and B&B unless they offer something different like teaching Yoga/painting et al Why pay sometimes more for a bedroom and breakfast than you do an apartment.

Stingychips

Stay in the UK. Use Spain for holidays. Most people that move out to Spain don’t last. Wages are crap and survival can be very hard.

Lou71

I agree that the failure rate of UK nationals in Spain is sky high but that is mostly because they get involved with ridiculous, hare brained schemes and businesses that are doomed to fail. Said hare brained schemes were well documented in those irritating TV programmes 20 odd years ago.

The OP is retiring so there is no reason to fail if they find a more viable alternative for an income top up and one of them obtains an EU passport. Hence my recommendation of a buy to let property in the UK.

Ronnyone

I do think that it is easier to be pessimistic about UK if you are from there whilst optimistic about Spain. The vast majority of expats only understand Spain within a UK frame of reference. They often have absolutely no idea about anything in spain but residency, property, and tax. I doubt many watch Spanish news programmes so have little idea of the state of the country. Some of my workmates were going on about how awful the weather is in uk compared with Spain totally ignorant of the fact that Spain at the moment is suffering one of the worst winters ever with snow, rain, below zero temperatures and really strong winds.

Rosemary

They also forget that the houses here are built for the heat not the cold so in fact people in the UK are more comfortable in their heated insulated homes than those in Spain.

Rosemary

Moses2013

I think you are right and it doesn't help the OP when people say how bad the UK apparently is either, there are also enough people in the UK who still make enough money and live a happy life.
The image of Spain is always the same and very few probably do watch Spanish news. I'd also agree with weather and my colleague was telling me how freezing it was in his rented apartment in Madrid and soon people will complain about the heat. For foreigners the first image of Spain could even be the old stone finca with no heating and they say it's charming, the same people might look at a cottage in the UK and would complain it has no heating. There are also people in Spain who live in Bilbao or Zaragoza and have no problem with wind, rain or cold and prefer it to other parts of the country.

Ronnyone

My friends in uk are talking about strikes and unions and everything assuming that we don't have any here in Spain. Tomorrow is a massive gathering of unions in Madrid to protest about the government meanwhile in Castellón there is a fairly frightening picture emerging of what a coalition government would look like as anti-abortion takes the agenda. Do Brits realise that if Vox gets in power its likely they will tax non residents more plus introduce language requirements for residency( as in France) plus other anti'immigration laws because they are the far right and their most favoured topic is immigration and we are immigrants who buy their property and don't adopt their culture. So it's not all rosy here if you pop your head over the urbanization wall!!

Moses2013

It did make the news, very few will have seen it https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-abortion-move
I suppose it's just natural that people see the worst of the country they left/ or plan to leave and everywhere is better at first. People who move abroad often continue to watch the local news from the country they left, so will never really know what's happening in the country they live now until they are affected directly.

bobd22

My view is that any country will have plusses and minuses for living there full time. Spain is no different and ones personal situation affects this. Someone retiring to Spain is very different to. Someone wishing to move work and bring up a family. Where one chooses in Spain to locate are all factors affecting a new life. So many people have holidayed in a country like Spain then watch the UK tv program's about moving abroad and think life is going to be one big holiday. Reality is just like life in the UK one has to live within their means and its not one big holiday there are all the things to concern you for living just as in the UK. Some things cheaper yes but some not so etc. Being retired I think my pension does go further here in Spain but then we own outright with reasonable pension. Rosemary makes a good point the houses especially small village houses are very cold in winter even though its quite warm outside. Yes people in UK think of the quaint rural finca or pretty village houses bedecked with flowers they see on holiday and think how quaint. Most in UK believe we expats all live in the lovely large villas that they see in place in the sun, they don't realise many of us live in little village houses. I try and explain to people I know yes we live in Spain but not in a large fancy house but a small basic village house argh but they say you will have a pool and orange and lemon trees in your garden? Errr no we do have a village pool in the summer for a couple of months. I find people in the UK have been blinded by a brief lovel holiday on the costas in the summer where you don't need to speak any Spanish or do little more than order your food and drink in the sun. Or believe everything they see on A Place in the Sun. I also find many that live here see Spain through rose tinted specs everything's brilliant yet everything in the UK is bad. I find that very frustrating I didn't leave the UK because I disliked it i simply wanted to retire somewhere which for much of the year has better weather hopefully my pension would go further and allow us to travel around Spain and see it while we can. As I said previously it's simply horses for courses suits some but not all very dependent on ones situation and view of life.

UKMS

This isnt just a Spain thing it happens anywhere with a significant number of expats, although it does amuse me reading some posts where people run the UK down into the ground and on one hand dont want to be associated with the UK but on the other hand for example happy to use the UK as a safe investment hole or for other convenient financial reasons.

Moses2013

This is another good point and while Spain might have been cheaper many years ago, I don't find this to be the case with everything (depends on location). Of course I can only compare with how we live in Ireland (Galway) and where we have property in Spain (Girona), but for me moving permanently would not mean my money would go further. In any case I enjoy both Ireland and Spain, so for me it's more about giving up one lifestyle and not about cost savings.

bobd22

Yes I'm sure it's the same in other areas where British expats are. Sometimes it can be amusing other times just simply annoying. We lived in Cyprus many years ago for a period and loved it, I think it was that which made us fancy a life somewhere warmer for most of the year in retirement. However that was 40+ years ago so seemed very different also that was a miliary posting so administration wise very simple. When you move outside of such a bubble it's down to yourself to sort everything out. Sites such as this help with that.

gtmillwall1961

Hi There I am moving to Lanzarote in the next 2 months just wondering is it hard to get a 7 day street license I have all the right paperwork and have an Irish passport Thanks Gerry