When I lived in north Devon, I saw and observed a lot of sheep. It always amazed me when they were put into a new, lush green field, they would gather at the gate to try and return to their previous, dried out or muddy pasture.

We’re not like sheep, are we?

Probably.

You're not taking this seriously are you

Well my nose is cold!

You know how your nose gets cold in the winter - well that's me now. Just returned from warm and balmy Costa Blanca North to an almost wintery UK. It's bloody awful. Wet, grey and cool.

Damn straight. I HATE the UK weather. Cold, wet and grey, you wait all year for summer, and pray that it falls on a weekend.

I have been in the UK for thirteen weeks and will be staying a while longer.

I like my UK house for being near the city centre with its art gallery, theatre and historic churches (twenty minutes walk), and if I don't want to bother to do this I can buy most of what I want within five minutes walk. I like the variety and cheapness of the shops and I even like the weather in summer (although this one has been particularly dire) because Spain is too hot in July and August. I like the fast food shops just roiund the corner from my house for when we don't want to cook and I like the regularity and availability of the public transport (because we're near a city).

I like my Spanish house for being in the middle of nowhere in a village in the mountains with a breathtaking 360 degree view. I like the village being typical in culture and architecture for this part of Spain, and I like seeing the traditional farming methods still being practised. I love my Spanish neighbours who are so friendly and helpful. I love the blue sky and sunshine even in winter and the wonderful flowers that cover the mountains from the end of January to the end of May.

So we're going next year to be spending winter and spring in Spain and summer and autumn in the UK.

I like different things about each place. I also dislike different things about each place.

As to those who don't like Spain at all, I think it can be for a variety of reasons, from not speaking the language to not liking the people, from not liking the food to not liking the lack of choice and poor quality in the shops.

Why don't they go back? Most can't afford to. I am very lucky to have a modest house in each country.

When I slowly walked past the chemist’s this lunchtime, on my way to the cashpoint, it showed 43 degrees. I looked up, expecting to see a clear, blue Microsoft sky, but it was actually cloudy. The hidden sun was right overhead, so there was no shade on the way back.

I don’t hate it here, I love it, I just get het up in July and August, there will be more clouds tomorrow and maybe some rain shortly.

an almost perfect post.
i too love spain. i also hate spain. there are so many things about spain to dislike, but there are also so many things to enjoy. do i like the valencian sun this past 6 weeks? hell no, far too hot. but do i like the fact i'm siting outside writing this reply? hell yes. i dont have friendly neighbours, but then, nor did i in belfast (apart from the mad tv presenter that lived across the street) i love spanish food, but then, i also miss the decent chinkies and curry house down the road back home. i miss the nights in winter in the pub , but love the fact i can go and have 4 beers here for under a fiver. i love the fact that we're guaranteed eons of good weather each year, so i can wear shorts for 6+ months on end. i do miss the friendliness of the people back home, who have gone through so much, but then, my neighbours may not be friendly, but my friends cant get their spanish neighbours out of their house. swings and roundabouts me thinks. i just think spain has a slight edge.
saying that, my work had dried up dramatically in the past year, so i am struggling to survive, and that makes me unhappy. would it be better back home? i think it might, as its who you know, not what you know - very much a spanish trait too in these climes. do i want to go home? no, but i may have no short term choice. man cant live on air alone......but i certainly dont think things in the uk are better than here in spain.
DD

Nearly everyone I know is trying to sell their spanish house. Some have already gone back, others are waiting to sell. Would be great (for some!) to have a house in both places. I find it strange that some posters get annoyed and tetchy if someone says the slightest negative about spain. I have had friends stay with me and some love it others say they could never live in spain, I don't hold it against them! Not everyone goes back for financial reasons. Spain is not as nice as it was for those of us who came out 10+ years ago.

Yipeeee!! rain? i wish

When I arrive back in UK I think, strange but nice to be back, see family and friends, food,shops etc etc.
When I arrive in Spain I think ah it's good to be home.
Home is where the heart is, so I guess the moaners hearts aren't in it.

AHA!!!

What have I always said? Go somewhere else because you are getting away from where you were and all you do is take it with you.

Im not getting tetchy about someone posting something negative about Spain. You've missed the point completely.

If one completely concentrates on nearly every post on how this is crap in Spain and that is crap in Spain, how the people are unfriendly, how the food is rubbish, the cuisine is non existent, its more expensive than the UK, the UK is wonderful, the weather isnt as wonderful as you think etc etc then it tends to give a very unreal impression of Spain. Your description of cuisine for instance. One thing I love about Spain is the fact that I can go out and go to any one of maybe 40 restaurants nearby and get a decent meal for less than €10. I can go to a very local restaurant LIKE HERE - Theres plenty of choice and its fine quality.

So .... its not the fact that its if someone mentions something negative, its the fact that some people have nearly nothing positive to say about Spain, coloured by their own personal circumstances, and make wide sweeping statements which aren't actually always true.

A balanced view is always needed.

• Spain is not a culinary desert
• The Spaniards dont all want to throw us out of their country
• Although some areas of Spain will be as expensive than the UK, its clearly not the case overall

But this is the problem, isn't it.
Whenever someone posts about Spain, they're really only posting about the immediate area, the few square kilometres, where they live. They're not talking about the entire country - which I personally doubt anyone here has actually visited.
So when you post and say "I love Spain, because ..." and someone else posts and says "I hate Spain, because ..." neither of you are talking about the country, or it's people, or it's politics or anything except the town or village or piece of the campo where you spend your time. I wouldn't be surprised if either party (you or the complainer) moved 20km then the roles could be entirely reversed: You'd hate that new location (maybe no cheap restaurants etc., maybe all the faults the complainer disliked) and the other person would love it - for the same reasons you love where you live now.
It's not the country as a whole, or the people as a whole that posters here love or hate, it's the choice (or sheer dumb luck) about the small part of it where they happen to be.

[QUOTE=Mitzyboy;7899660] One thing I love about Spain is the fact that I can go out and go to any one of maybe 40 restaurants nearby and get a decent meal for less than €10.

A balanced view is always needed.[QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more.

When we first started looking judgments were made that turned out to be a mistake - for example our view that Oliva was not a place to live!

Since that first view we have done several trips to the area from Gandia to Denia. We now know that there are at least two areas of Oliva we would quite like to live in and boy has Oliva got a great (very cheap) market on a Friday.

Our research has put us off the hills at the back of Oliva and Monte Pego and Adsubia. My mother-in-law couldn't cope, she simply wouldn't be able to have a good walk. Don't get me wrong she absolutely loved Monte Pego but after a week she knew that the staggering views couldn't make up for the isolation if you had no transport.

I've got nothing against the UK but I would like a lot more sun and some consistency about the weather. At the moment on a daily basis we are having brief bouts of sunshine, thick cloud, thin cloud, sun, wind and rain - often all in the space of a couple of hours.

Yes I know you can have too much sun but if I find that it's too much I can always take a holiday in the UK.

At present we are stopped from making the move because we cannot sell our home but by next summer hopefully the mortgage will be paid off in any event.

Our research has made it clear that it is not a good idea to buy property right now so it will be a long-term rent that we will go for first (well, six months)

Off for some more research at the end of this month in Les Deveses. Anyone with any insider info about that area please PM