What keeps you in Spain
 

What is the biggest factor that keeps you in Spain?

The people, lifestyle, weather, chosen area, unable to sell the house, not wanting to return to UK, etc etc.

I read so many posts about what is wrong with living in Spain that I wonder how many people stay when they really want to go.

For me personally there is nowhere else that I want to live, I love my chosen area, the people in my town are warm, friendly and very much inclusive. Our lifestyle is not vastly different to what it would have been as retirees in the UK. The weather is a bonus but is not a good enough reason to stay. Not thought about selling the house but believe that we would not have too much trouble as we would not over price it. Have no reason to not want to return to the UK but cannot envisage doing so.



Rosemary

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

it's just home :)

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Nothing, I've left

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

what keeps me here is the reek of beer the women and the craic:thumbsup:

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

We've nothing to sell here and a house we could live in in England that we could have ready for us to live in with two months notice so we could in theory go at any time. But we're very happy here and to be honest the thought of going back to live in England fills me with complete horror. Strange really as I never felt it was too bad when I actually lived there.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Thought we were asking about Spain.:confused:


'Twas in the year of 'thirty-nine
When the sky was full of lead
When Hitler was heading for Poland
And Paddy for Holyhead
Come all you pincher laddies
And you long-distance men
Don't ever work for McAlpine
For Wimpey, or John Laing.
For You'll stand behind a mixer
And your skin is turned to tan
And they'll say 'Good on you Paddy'
With your boat-fare in your hand
The craic was good in Cricklewood
And they wouldn't leave the Crown
With glasses flying and Biddy's crying
Sure Paddy was going to town
Oh mother dear, I'm over here
And I'm never coming back
What keeps me here is the reek o' beer
The ladies and the craic.

Not to worry as long as you're enjoying London. :thumbup:

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

That is how I feel and did the moment that we moved in.

Rosemary

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

In the words of a Willie Nelson song, "Home is where your heart is".

Mine seems to have a bit of a wanderlust, but I have to admit to still having good feelings as well as happy memories of Spain.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Same here.
It was lovely, but was never home. I'm home now.:)

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

It feels like home for me too. I sometimes wonder if I will change my mind one day, for instance if I was on my own, or old and ill, at the moment I don't think so but you can never really tell until you're in that situation.

I feel sorry for the people who do want to leave for whatever reason but are unable to as they can't sell their properties. I remember what it was like wanting to move forward with my life and come to Spain, but having to wait for our house to sell, and it was very depressing.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

The weather, piece and tranquility, even a Saturday afternoon is dead:thumbup:

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

It's the only place where I feel totally contented.

We live a quiet life here, but that's the way we want it as we have already done the high living bit.
I never thought I would not want to go on holiday at least twice a year, but living here I don't....I now hate having to be away from home for even a few days!

I simply could never imagine leaving Spain, it's my home and it just feels right, I'm staying come what may!

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

It's uncanny, but I know several widows (and the odd widower) who have stayed on in Spain after losing their partners. Most of them seem to have had the choice of returning to live with family in the UK, but have chosen to stay despite the difficulties of loneliness and insecurity. And illness.

The most frequent explanation is, 'Why should I go back to stare at four walls when I can still get out in the sun.'

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

The real problem arises though, when they are so bad that they cant still get out in the sun, and then most prefer to stare at English walls, not Spanish walls.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

As a widow, who thought she would go back very soon after her great loss, I am still here 28 months later. Feeling settled where I am, not wanting to make any major decisions while dealing with loss, the changes and trying to adjust to new situation, the idea has been, gone and returned several times. Life would be easier for sure but on any visit back to UK I found the grey was so depressing that even if enjoying the visit I want home after a week or so.

I am waivering between leave Spain, where to go and staying put and long term implications.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Obvioulsy you are independant, I am thinking more along the lines of when that it no longer the case.

I have heard of a few cases , of differing nationalities, Germans, Swedes, Brits ,where more or less housebound people have been getting care from a friend or nieghbour, and for some reason or otherthe neighbour cannot carry on "caring" for them, either through becoming ill themselves or leaving.

That is when the start reality sets in, and from what I hear, most people wisely go back to a country where they at least understand the language 100 percent.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

And therefore maybe it might be a good idea to forgo the sun and return before you are unable to?

Seriously, if you are old, frail and houseband, and alone, how are you going to manage?

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

That is what I meant to say as well, but you get the gist/jist.

And sometimes it is not se easy to go back before, especially for the "I will never go back" group, they sort of see it a "failure"

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

It's true that in extreme cases, aged expats may be better off back home, but ordinarily Spain offers much more for its pensioners than the UK.

But I am talking about expat areas like Torrevieja, which has boundless facilities for pensioners. The Spanish council has built a giant social centre for it's pensioners, but expats with residencia are welcome and make much use of the facilities there, including an afternoon disco.

There are also expat social clubs galore, aimed at pensioners.

I read yesterday that Carrefour are selling all of the food products to pensioners without VAT, a saving of around 8%, I can't imagine that happening in the UK.

And pensioners get heavily subsidized holidays in Spain too.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Such as? In the village I was in, there appeared to be nothing for frail elderly people who had no family. There was a pensionista, but that is of no use at all to a housebound person who can't care for themselves.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

On the contrary it happens all the time.;)

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

The ability to enjoy yourself at fiestas etc without the Nanny State and do-gooders telling us what we can and can't do.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

and usually without the Yobbo p...s heads.

One thing here in Spain I have noticed, and I don't know if it's the same for others, I never feel like I want a holiday to some exotic place.

If I won a competition for a holiday in Barbados say, I would give it away

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

I would advise a frail and lone expat in a Spanish village to get home as quickly as possible.

But I was talking about an expat area where there are hundreds of thousands of others.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

A very valid point too, Spanish people seem to be able to consume great amounts of alcohol and go home without even considering getting into trouble, shame the same can't be said about the UK

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Nearly every fiesta has some trouble, you can read it in spanish newspapers. As for quoting fiestas as a reason for staying in Spain:unsure: There aren't that many in a year. What would have kept us in Spain was if we could not have sold the house. Didn't fancy locking and leaving.

I have seen a lot who move to Spain and don't think much about location when they are old. Couples stuck in the middle of nowhere. Only one of them drives, lots of steps, lugging gas bottles around. It is clear some only speak a smattering of Spanish...do they really want to be stuck in hospital with no common language.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

When we moved to Spain we thought well at least we won't be spending thousands every year on holidays. That lasted about 3 years, nothing like a bit of proper winter sun and seeing a new country/area.

If you ever win that competition, please pm me:lol:

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

That was only one reason of many for us to Spain. We have been relatively lucky I suppose in that we have been able to find work and make a go of it here. Many people may not settle here and return to the UK, but we have settled and wouldn't go back unless we absolutely had to.
We have actually witnessed very little trouble in our years out here and fiestas we have been too have been in general a joy without any hint of threat or trouble.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

If you can't go, can we be second on the list?:thumbsup:

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

For the past 5 years whilst living here I've been happy just to be away for short breaks, either within Spain or back to the UK to see family and friends. For 3 years before that we spent nearly all our holidays in our Spanish house as well, which we enjoyed. We didn't miss travelling further afield as we'd done a lot of it already.

Now, however, I am beginning to look forward to the time when we can start doing some long haul travelling again, in fact earlier this week I asked the OH if he would be interested in taking a "grown-up gap year" if we can sell our house in 4/5 years' time, as we intend to. Seems like a good time to go travelling before moving into rented accommodation, rather than leaving our own house standing empty or paying rent for something we're not living in. Even if it comes to nothing, it'll provide me with some hours of idle amusement researching RTW routes and prices!

I'm not entering any competitions to win a holiday in Barbados though, it's not on my list of places I still want to see as I don't like mainly beach based holidays.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Funny thing about living is Spain, the are two camps, the ones that dont want to go on holiday, and others although they are happy in Spain still need a "holiday".

I like my holidays away.

A holiday is to see places new, different people and in my view does a body good.

Your idea about taking an adult gap :Dyear. Good, and selling a property abroad, is a good idea too, it saves a lot of hassle for the family in the future.

I know a retired Spanish couple who own 4 houses in Spain who and thier live kids in the US, they spend thier lives going from one house to the other following the seasons sort of.

So where ever they are their other 3 houses are empty.:confused:

He is quite happy doing this but the marida is sick of the packing up, cleaning out fridge etc, unpacking, stocking fridge etc, merry go round that is their life.

Staying in a hotel and taking it easy for a change,is on her bucket list.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

My main reason for buying a place in mainland Spain was to have a base from which I could hop in a car and easily travel anywhere in Europe and most especially spend time in the lesser known areas of Spain itself.

It exceeded my expectations, especially the degree of diversity and contrast throughout the country.

Apart from my current location near Valencia, my favourite regions are Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia, Extremadura and the lesser known areas of Andalucia.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

Earlier this month we did a trip through Elvas, Caceres , Trujillo and Guadalupe.
Excellent, friendly, quiet, cheaper than the costas with good scenery etc.
We only met one English couple who were out visiting their Oz niece who was on a two month intensive Spanish course.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

I do know what you are saying here and I for one would never regard "going back" as failing, but for some of us there is nothing and nowhere to go back to.

While I'm sure we are all aware that getting old and frail here is going to have it's difficulties, there is of course always the option of employing someone to care when it's needed, it would cost no more than paying for the care in the UK.

At the moment yes there is better social care in the UK and some of it free, but for how long will that continue?
We all know that services there are being cut and that the whole structure of that care is unsustainable in the long run, it's quite possible that in the near future that it will have all but disappeared.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

[QUOTE=J And sometimes it is not se easy to go back before, especially for the "I will never go back" group, they sort of see it a "failure"[/QUOTE]

We are probably in the "I will never go back" group and hope we never have to. If that situation ever did arise for family or whatever reason, we would not see it as a failure as we have achieved a lot here.
Regarding medical care, we have had reason to use the Spanish health system on a couple of occasions and found it to be of a high standard. We are still working and who knows what will happen when we get older but returning to the UK is not in our plans. Perhaps the fact that we have lived in a small Spanish village and learnt decent enough Spanish to cope with nearly all situations makes it easier for us.
I appreciate that there are people who may see returning as a failure, but we are not among them.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

The only time I would think of people being a failure is if they only stayed a few months or those that started a business and lost everything. People are different, some can't see their way back but whinge all the time, others are genuinely content. At one time I didn't think we would go back but I never said I wouldn't. Death, divorce and illness sometimes makes the decision too

Personally, I couldn't think of anything worse than being stuck in a narrow minded small pueblo full of toothless hags and crude old men and poorly educated youngsters... Obviously we all like to chew the fat on here and put the world to rights. You can't do that in a spanish community however fluent you are. It's maybe ok for the locals having a discussion that Spain is a shit of a place but it's their shit and they don't like guiris criticising the local politics.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

:rofl:

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

We could go on all night discussing the pros and cons about staying in Spain or moving back to the UK.
I know we can go out tonight and walk back home late at night in safety and my wife is quite happy to walk about the village in the evening on her own. My in-laws however live in a town in Suffolk and will not go out after dark because they consider it unsafe.
Yep, maybe Spain can sometimes be a shithole of a place, but then again, so can the UK. It's all about personal choice, at the moment we are happy here. Nobody can predict what the future holds for any us.

Re: What keeps you in Spain
 

In the early 20s, the time when the peseta became the euro:ohmy: we purchased a small cheap casita a bolthole in the Spanish inland hills. At the time we really benefited from the tranquility, fresh air, good healthy food, slow pace of life and friendly people with magical fiestas. A complete contrast to the busy London full time job fast and furious, never having enough hours in the day to stop and think. Easy and cheap to get away half an hour from the airport each end. Wake up one day and be in Mijas for lunch later that day. Now semi-retired having moved to the country, the home in Spain although it has lost none of its charm does not hold the same benefits...it is no longer classed as a holiday home just a little get away for a change of scenery.