I was talking to a friend at school this afternoon, asking about the English family that started in September - turned out they returned to the UK in December!!!!

I have also seen here and on other forums a pattern where people are moving over for just a few months and then moving back without a trace.

I can't believe it's just down to lack of work. Is España 2010 so scary, or do today's migrants not have any staying power?

Depending on where you are in Spain I think the Red Tape and Language does make it scary !! What looks like a mundane and quick enough task in the UK can be a daunting, drawn out process in Spain... Of course if anyone comes over to Spain thinking it's a breeze they usually get a rude awakening.

But yes you need staying power, determination, patience and have a sense of humour to get by - but many younger ones do need work - and there isn;t much of that about is there ... ANYWHERE ?

Probably because they read forums like this one with posters saying how good it is and there is plenty of work if you look for it etc! So, they come on down and find it is not so.

A bit of that, and it hasn't stopped raining for months!

It is good













If you don't have to work!

Yup

Oh yes, that.

What's 60 days of rain got to do with it, Soon be the end of May and posters will be writing they are on their balcony (in shorts) and it's 32C. The rain will be forgotten Gas bottles in the basement, no logs to buy....bliss!

It may have been us.

Our daughter started school in your town in September and finished the end of November.

We are still in Spain though and very happy now.The area just didnt suit us.

Dont remember any other english speakers at the school in Aspe though.

I reckon it could be then - people do just assume, don't they?


A similar thing happened to us a few years ago when we moved from one end of town to the other - most of the people on the little urb were holiday home owners - the only people who lived there were English & couldn't speak Spanish

We bumped into some Spanish neighbours on the beach about 9 months later - they said it was good that we were here for a holiday - they had heard that we had gone back to the UK!

Of course, we explained that we'd only moved nearer to school - everyone just assumed we'd left & they thought it was a shame

The English neighbours had just shrugged when asked where we were - I imagine because they either didn't understand or couldn't explain.

I don't think the astonishing amount of rain would put too many people off as (1) it's been a hard winter in Britain anyway and (2) we all know we have about nine months of great weather to look forward to. It's all down to economics and paying the bills though and when times are tough people are forced to go back but I've not many, if any, who wouldn't stay if it was possible to.

there are 13 schools in Aspe, I don't think it was you. They had two boys and my friends husband apparently helped them load the van!

If they are a family like us,, with kids and have to work.

It is more difficult than you can possibly imagine.

Often the parents don't know the language, the school system is very different, they have no family or friends nearby.

They usually have this idea it will be GREAT and have days at the beach or lying by the pool. And life in Spain is not like that in reality.

Day to day life is hard. I found it hard to manage in the heat, cooking for a family, shopping for food and learning the language. The first six months were awful,, and I hated it.

We are now in the North, with a climate similar to the UK. Fortunately, my husband works and can provide a stable lifestyle. We have been one of the lucky ones and as time goes on, it gets easier.

So stamina is required. As well as having the financial stability which Spain really does not give (job prospects etc).

Moving to Spain, is a dream for so many in the UK, but the reality is very different. Sometimes, uprooting yourself and your family is the only way of moving forward and getting it out of your system.

Definitely the first few months are the hardest.
That's what I kind of think.

I am there now, in shorts, it`s only 22.5c at the mo though.

20 here