betris

bill it annoyes me when they say the poles are taking over.they dont know history.the poles saved the day in the battle of britain.if it wasnt for the poles we would be all speakng german.then they were stabed in the back by the british and slaughted in there thousands by starln

steviedeluxe

If you're young enough to learn the language, it may be worth a go. For once I agree with WhiteLinen. It seems that native Brits are written off as lazy and feckless by their own people. Very sad.

bxpuser24710519

If you only want the rosy version you won't get it, people normally tell how it is for them and it ain't all good. Just the same as everywhere else. Single mothers hahaha yeah takes two... about the fathers ???
I was an employer and found most native candidates that bothered to turn up did so or they would not get their dole money. Work NOOOO they did not want it. Any Polish I know are damned hard working and reliable.

Brits and others have taken over areas here and don't think that all the spanish are happy about that either. Yes it sad that many ex pats here are no credit to anyone and not even trusted by their own. It is true many are.

I came here for different reason to most, I was lucky and still am, not to work nor claim from any country either.

If you have a good command of the language, have a tidy sum you can lose or have work already lined up it may well work for you. If you are committed to the move good luck. Life is what you make it no matter where you are. In my changed circumstances I am going to male the best of life here that I can.

celestine

I would agree that life is short and often to not take risks in life leads to regret, however to approach a new life with 'rose tinted specs' will only lead to heartache and disappointment. As people have previously posted the quality of life here will depend on many factors as will the cost of living and your lifestyle. The sun can be a wonderful thing to wake up to but the weather is not always favourable or pleasant and in the summer months you will spend most of your money trying to keep cool, whilst in the winter months attempting to keep warm. The cost of maintaining your home here is much higher as house maintenance is an annual event and much more time consuming due to the building materials used to construct the houses and the extremes in temperature. Living here is very different to venturing on to a plane to experience a relaxing holiday and the isolation can often be overpowering.

Your attitude to immigrants is stunning and as previous posts state you will become an immigrant once you leave the UK, not everyone here welcomes 'immigrants' here either!

Driving without due care and attention, speeding, drink driving, driving whilst disqualified or uninsured, using mobiles whilst in charge of a vehicle, drinking on the streets, drug use etc exist here too, they do not go away when the sun shines.

I hope that whatever choices you make turn out well for you and that life in the sun is all you expect, I think people who have attempted to live the dream are just trying to say that maybe a more realistic approach to your move is more advisable.

My final point refers to 'single mothers'. May I point out single mothers are not always single through choice and do not always exist on benefits, neither do they exist only in the UK. There are plenty of women raising children alone in Spain too!

jackytoo

What a good post, karma for you

bil

Really? Ever had any experience in employing Brits like I have?

I repeat, if the brits are so good and so willing to work, they how come there are jobs left for immigrants?

betris

CW i was winding you up the other day by way.

missile

It is not easy to earn a living in the hospitality trade here in spain. With your possitive out look on life, I hope you find the happiness you seek.

agoreira

Nope, but I've had experience of working alongside hundreds of excellent and dedicated workers. It's absolute nonsense (although not unexpected from you) to write off the whole of the UK workforce as absolute lazy tossers, how does the country ever function with such a workforce. Unfortunately, there will always be some reluctant to work, and whilst not excusing it, I can understand why they don't want the low paid jobs the Poles are taking when they get paid far more by staying on the dole, or whatever they call it. I know such a character and it's unbelievable the benefits he gets for his family, he'd need to be a brain surgeon to bring home that amount of money! It makes no sense to work in some freezing field picking veg to earn less than you can by staying at home in the warm. Perhaps the reason you ended up with deadbeats says something about your selection procedure, or the type of candidates you were attracting.

bil

Absolutely. It had to be our fault, eh?

I'm not saying there's no good workers in the UK.

It's just that when someone says 'the Poles are taking over,' I say, the only reason that they can 'take over' is if the incumbent workers won't touch the work.

Say what you will, there is a big slice of the workforce that is only fit for pet food.

Mataroni

I've lived in Spain for 11 years and see that things are very different here. If you don't work you're not entitled to any unempolyment benefits should you lose your job. Great because you don't end up paying to support lazy lay-abouts!

I love it here, but you've got to be prepared to integrate and learn the language. I did both Spanish and Catalan classes.

I see that a lot of people on here live in Andalucia, which is a very nice region, but depending on where you live is like 'Britain in the sun'. Which is all very well, if that's what you like.

JLFS

You do actually get dole when you lose your job, but only according to what you have paid into the SS.

Although I agree that there is a lot of scroungers and lay abouts in the UK, and quite honestly I did begrudge paying my taxes to help support the "professional" bums, I still find that I am still shocked when I hear some of the hard luck stories about people losing jobs in Spain.

I would have thought that you would have the same feelings as me, as you live in a mainly Spanish community, and would see lots of genuine cases of real need amonst the locals, who may have fallen on hard times due to crisis, ilness or whatever.

lou25

Hi Maggie!
I couldn't agree more with you here about the negative remarks!
I have found exactly the same problem, I have actually stopped coming on here quite a bit as I hasrdly find it helpful, when I do look things up or ask a question I find I get all negativity and actually a lot of people ask me why I'm even doing it...I mean isn't the whole point of this site to help each other out if we choose to move abroad?That's the reason of this site and I think some people use this to voice very negative opinions and basically give a bit of abuse at times.

Although saying that this is only a small proportion, I must say the people on here that have helped me have been very helpful and given me great links and advice and I really appreciate it very very much.

At the end of the day someone has the guts to get up and make a move and needs a little bit of support or help, if you know the answers give them, but don't then make it into a negative argument. Of course it's not all rosy were not stupid, but what's the point in going into it negitive-you wouldn't bother would you.

You have to stay positive and be prepared for the hardship, as yea sure it is hard, i've done a move abroad before and know all to well but if someone asked me about it I would tell them the most important thing is to weigh up the options, stay positive and go for it!!!!

Mataroni

I DO see the hard luck stories here in Spain too. I made a comparision of having a 'neverending' supply of benefits in UK, whereas here you have a time limit. Also here people have different work ethics, on the whole.

However, there are negatives, such as special help being given to immigrants here, and local born people being denied them. As with any system there are positives and negatives. I believe that more help SHOULD be given to single parents and other groups here. But you can't have everything. It is kind of ironic that many of the people on here who complain are retired and living off pensions from Britain though!

bil

Costa de la Luz. Definitely NOT 'Britain in the sun' thank goodness.