The Capitans Wench

Problems not quite what I would call it.

Never the less you cannot say something is 100% reliable when it clearly is not. It may have been in your case but that does not happen to everyone.

The Capitans Wench

Thank you so much for that post. I have spanish but not confident in using it at times and certainly not to ask for medical help. Since his unexpected death I have said the two things needed when living in foreign country is a good sound basis of the language and a will. They will not make everything better but sure will help.

Rosemary

I think that in the emergency situation your second language is difficult to bring to the forfront of your mind because your mind is in such a whirl with what is happening. In that situation it is hard enough saying your name and where you live in English let alone Spanish but I agree with you that it is important to at least have the basics and I also agree regarding the will.

Sorry that you suffered in this way, if you ever want to offload feel free to e-mail me. I was a counsellor in the UK for CRUISE so I promise not to say anything inappropriate.

Rosemary

jdr

I know someone that used it and was passed around like playing pass the parcel, no one knew the area, ambulance arrived after about half an hour, they live about five mins from the hospital.

Mama_Carol

CW. I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

Our situation was bad but nowhere near what you experienced. I cannot even image what you went through.

JLFS

there are plenty of cases cited in the British media about failing emergency services, reatction times and mistakes.

I personally have heard some terrible tales, but there does not seem to be a much attention drawn to them, a close family friend lost her leg to gangreen, whilst she was under the local health centre for what started out as a blister.

It was getting worse and worse, but no one thought to send her to the hospital untill it was too late to save the leg.

No follow up,no inquiry to make sure that it did not happen again, in the UK this type of incident is what keeps the newspapers full.

Big Mac

I genuinely do sympathize with the very tragic incidents posted but am at a loss as to how they can come under the heading `where to move to in Spain' Perhaps Spanish Job started this post to see how many tangents he could create. From skate parks in Spain to gangrene in the UK. Anyone seen such a diversion from an original topic in so few posts?

JLFS

The gangrene incident was in Spain not the Uk.

The Capitans Wench

Errrr and your purpose of posting ? Not related to the OP post at all. At least we are talking about events that have happened in Spain and are relevant if you have no or little spanish.

Yes I have seen such deviation, it is fairly normal and usually the thread goes back on topic.

agoreira

I knew what you meant, but perhaps they couldn't believe such a thing could happen in Spain!

JLFS

The tangents seemed pretty relevant to me, usually the posters on here are worried about what would happen if their language skills are not up to scratch, but they have every intention of improving, wether they achieve it is another matter.

As the OP is adamant that he does not want to learn Spanish, the forum members were just giving their take and personal experience.

Some make very tragic reading, ans should be an eye opener to the things that are taken for granted when conversing in ones own language.

montgomail

The OP appears to have been trolling but at least some useful advice has been posted as a result of this thread.

margaretmwilson

We have an apartment in Los Altos, 4 miles from Torrevieja. The majority of people who live there are English with a few Spanish & Swedish. If you were only going for a short period of time you could get away without speaking Spanish, however once you go further afield into the surrounding towns you would need a little bit of spanish, even if just to order a cup of coffee and a sandwich. On the actual urbanization all the bars and restaurants are english speaking. Like other postings, when there are emergencies that's when the problems arise.

goaty

I hope the OP falls flat on his face, I have no sympathy for anyone who goes to a country and makes NO effort to learn the language of that country. I know a lot of EX-Pats are not the brightest sparks, but surely they must realise how easier their lives could become. As people have commentated, real life emergency situations occur, and you have to rely on someone else because of your own stupidity.

Cape Blue

Just shout louder in English - normally works.

They don't like it up 'em.