Ok. FYI I'm not a white anglo-saxon christian, I'm a beige anglo-celtic atheist. My father was an immigrant who helped make the UK great by helping build its motorways. He was spat at, had doors slammed in his face when looking for accommodation, and called a thick mick. There was no-one arround to stick up for his human rights. He didn't even know he was entitled to benefits when he was injured, because the boss didn't tell him. Do we really want to go back to those days?

If you have any hard evidence of that, I'd love to see it. I can't find any stats and I haven't lived in the UK for years, but it does sound a bit Daily Mail to me.
Are you sure about that? According to Wikipedia the only positive discrimination quotas in the UK are in the Police Service of N Ireland (to ensure equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants) and Labour Party selection lists to try and increase the number of women MPs.
Who are "our people" and where do they get treated like dirt? I know you aren't racist and I respect your opinions which is why I'm curious in this human rights/fluffy bunny thing. I am proud to have known people who worked in human rights organisations like Amnesty International; do you regard them as fluffy? Maybe you should meet them!

Perhaps we have different ideas of what "human rights" are but to me, they have to include the right not to be discriminated against because of their colour, gender, nationality etc, and the right to justice. Shouldn't countries like Britain set an example to other less enlightened nations, even if a small number of people abuse that?

How did we get from dirty minded priests to this..

It's called debating, we have the right to deviate!

You admit to being a deviant?

Absolutely!

[I]"We bought in Altea primarily because my aged mother, now deceased, lived there for 35+ years and it seemed a good idea to be close at hand when necessary, whilst not actually staying with her - for both our sakes"[I]

Indeed! Hence our plan to move, on retirement, a little further inland where we will hopefully be able to enjoy both the convenience of being fairly close to a myriad of restaurants and a thriving arts scene, whilst at the same time having a bit of land - not much - to support a few fruit and olive trees and maybe a small pool.

I think the thing that has struck me, not just in Spain but amongst expats everywhere, is that they all seem so wedded to an image of some sort of 1950s England, even amongst those that only left a couple of years ago! It's all gone to hell in a handbasket since those pesky "forriners" have been allowed in, apparently. Which is obviously completely rubbish. The diversity of the UK is one of the things, one of many, that makes it GREAT Britain, and it makes my blood boil to hear people who don't even live in the UK anymore, moaning on about how awful it is. Spain, especially, seems to have become Daily Mail land for expats, which - to me - is about the worst possible demographic.

The only thing that sucks about the UK and other Northern European countries is the godawful weather. In my opinion.

I entirely agree with your sentiments about "Great Britain", though maybe not so much so with your "godawful sucks" americanisations which seem a little out of character with your post.

I promise you, not all the British expats in Spain are like that! I would even suggest that they are a minority, most people just get on with their lives and appreciate the good and bad things about both countries.

But the ones that are like that, tend to be older and maybe not very good at communicating in Spanish. They tend to congregate in places and on forums where they can find other people who talk and think the same way as they do.

But I am one of the oldies, and I hate it, Poca! A chum of mine lives down south in a cave house, has done for twenty years, and even she is sick to death of the parochialism of the local Brits in her area so she and her husband are planning to leave.

She speaks fluent Spanish and has, effectively assimilated, but the Brit influx of ghastly right wing stereotypes has, essentially, changed the area for her and they've had enough.

It's a shame, I think, that Spain has become something of magnet for leaden headed Brits with a Liitlejohn attitude. And it has, sadly.

[I][/The only thing that sucks about the UK and other Northern European countries is the godawful weather. In my opinion.
I entirely agree with your sentiments about "Great Britain", though maybe not so much so with your "godawful sucks" americanisations which seem a little out of character with your post. I]

Well there you go, you see! Time moves on and we take on americanisms just as we enjoy Indian food and culture, and other scary " forriners" ways. Good, on the whole, innit!

Apologies for not getting the formatting right.

far too many of them are "living a dream" based on their past holidays when they visited Spain for a week or two, had no responsibilities just making sure they caught the bus to the airport at the end of the holiday. Everything was waiting for them "back home". The dog/cat, the medical, the job, the car, the house the family etc etc.

moving to another country to live permanantly is something entirely different. They just can't cope. They miss their Corrie and the other mindless pap pumped out as Public Service Broadcasting - thats why they are so bereft at losing it from the latest satellite changes. They laugh at the Spanish for the way they "talk funny", make no effort to learn the local language, go home every 3-4 months to get "essentials". They gyrate around other like minds, like fly's around a piece of bad meat. They have to ask why the can't get the same benefits they had in the UK (!), they have to go home to get the simplest of medical treatment.
That is why so few last longer than a couple of years - the holiday becomes too tedious.

`

I have lived in Spain for 12 years and I can honestly say that I don't recognise the caricature expats being described here. I guess I must have lived in nice places.

I see that some of you are having a "tolerant" day (not) whatever happened to the "live and let live" attitude.

I think some are way over critical about other expats, What is wrong with anyone wanting to watch TV which they have always done, it is available here in Spain, so why not?

I would not want to be without it?
There are 24 hours in a day so what is wrong with watching a few soaps to while away the time?

And could anyone please tell me what is the difference between watching a bit of British TV, meeting with other expats, playing bingo etc and spending hours and posting thousands of posts on websites for BRITISH EXPATS, especially when a lot of those posts from the latter are slagging off the former.

Just curious

Quite.
Far too much of the holier than thou attitude, though fortunately the number one participant seems to be awol at present.
I live way out in the sticks with only Spanish neighbours and can hardly recall when I last visited a beer and bingo touristy resort.
However I've enjoyed a bit of it in my time and for those who still prefer that lifestyle the best of British to them as far as I'm concerned.
It would be a boring old world if everyone was expected to conform to the same type of lifestyle and standards.
Everyone to their own.