I can understand the attraction of Spain for many, climate lifestyle ,food,culture or whatever you care to add to the list. My question is 'Why did you choose Spain when Portugal offers pretty much the same?
Apart from Portugal having the Atlantic and most of Spain having the Mediterranean I can't see a great deal of difference.

Pretty much the same, well, apart from the language, culture, food...near identical.

And back in the day property prices on the Algarve.

pedantic I know, but Spain has a large stretch on the Atlantic

but more importantly most of Spain is nowhere near any ocean

We did actually seriously weigh up the pros and cons of moving to Portugal opposed to Spain as we like both countries.

We decided on Spain, the most important deciding factor for me was the language as I found Spanish an easier language to learn than Portugese, and I wouldn't be prepared to live full time in any country where I couldn't be reasonably competent in the language. At the time, buying costs for property were slightly higher in Portugal, we felt the infrastructure (especially public transport and healthcare) in our preferred area in Spain was better than the area we would have liked in Portugal, and the Algarve definitely gets more rain in winter than the area in Spain we moved to!

I agree about the language, I have some Portuguese colleagues who first sparked my interest in the country. The written language doesn't seem that difficult but the pronunciation I think is more difficult than Spanish. I actually prefer the Portuguese climate in high season especially on the coast where there is an Atlanic breeze. I don't know enough about each countrys' respective health care systems to make an informed decision but from hearsay I think Spain may have the edge.

Apart from the Spanish Atlantic Coast of course?

Spain has an incredibly varied climate. There is a bit of Spain for everyone's weather preferences!

On my visits to Portugal I am impressed by how much English the Portugues speak. And they dont like me speaking Spanish to them

Of course the country is quite a lot poorer than Spain and the economy is even more messed up. And I'm still trying to work out how to find good Portuguese food, in Lisbon it was terrible. But these things take a while of exploring to look beyond the tourist traps

I thought I might get some stick for not mentioning Spains Atlantic coastline.
You are correct about the numbers of Portuguese that speak English, I'm not sure but I think it's on the school syllabus from quite an early age and is compulsory.

As it is in Spain of course

The difference is that the Portuguese feel a historical connection to the British due to their help in the wars against Spain. And they were big naval and colonial allies

Also Portugal is a small country and smaller countries like to speak international languages to broaden their horizons.

The biggest factor in learning a language is the willingness to do so

Been to the Algarve a couple of times and wasn't impressed with it. Most of it is concrete like the spanish costas. Lisbon is a lovely place and some of the resorts around unspoilt.

Speaking generally the property there was always more expensive so I suppose that's what put the british off.

For me it was the language, I already spoke Spanish. Then I fell in love with a Spaniard! No getting away from it, Spain is my home now. I would like to visit rural Portugal sometime and see how it compares though, not much different to rural Andalucia I'm guessing.

I didn't care much for the Algarve and even less for the language which doesn't, even sound good.
The very rural areas I quite liked.
They made much of rural Spain appear quite modern by comparison.

I wanted Spain but Ted liked Portugal. The decision to buy in Spain was made because I speak some Spanish. But we have the best of both worlds as we are on the border and can see the Guardiana river and Portugal from our terrace. The nearest Spanish town is only about 5 minutes away and the nearest Portuguese town isn't much further across the bridge.
Kath

I would guess you'd not like me speaking Welsh to you

I've not hunted in Spain but Wild Boar hunting in Portugal can be fantastic, I've done so several times and like Spain, none of the animal goes to waste.

As for good food, well its the same in any country, you need to know where to go. Lets be honest there are some slops dished up in every country, including Spain.

The Algarve coast stretches all the way from the Spanish border to the western most tip of Europe and varies greatly throughout its length. The east and most western lengths can be very remote and wild but perhaps the prettiest coastal village is Fuseta about 20 km east of Faro. Only the central length is overbuilt like the Costa's.