pjj

hi everyone as you know im looking to spain soon , im just wondering for those of you that are living in spain are you happier in spain and what makes your life out in spain better than the uk ?

spain

there have been threads on this before....

a lot will depend on your financial circumstances and mainly if you are retired or have to work, many many many people can not find work or if they can they cant earn enough to sustain themselves here

good luck with your move over

rugbymatt

I agree, there are so many threads about this.......


No direct criticism pjj, its just that a thread starts at least once a month on this.

Its a good question, just done to death, and very hard to answer as its kind of subjective really.

Mitzyboy

Thats true to say

To sum it up, life is different, not necessarily always better. And a lot depends on if you have to work for a living or not.

Frankly, retirement here can be good fun. Life is much the same as the UK, although we are able to be outside more obviously.

I would not like to have to work for a living here ..... the negatives would just far outweigh the positives and unless you have work set up then I just dont think its worth the stress

pjj

no offence taken but dont take me the wrong way rugbymatt but this forum is for people who are looking for advice and there loads of people who have join this site recently who have moved to spain or are looking to move to spain who might not seen this question asked ,

rugbymatt

absolutely, and not taken the wrong way at all.

Lionda

Everyone is looking for something different. For me - I'm bored and am looking forward to going home. Just my opinion, you asked

Rosemary

Our life here is much the same as it would be in UK except that we can plan things more accurately because of the weather. Waking up to more blue skys than grey skys obviously helps with the feel good factor, Saying that, my OH is 62, born in August and last year had his first experience of a birthday spoilt by heavy rain.

Agree with Mitzy about being retired here. Working hours are very long, pay is low and the heat is less bearable and less enjoyable when working. I know many, many people do work here and are managing but many also are finding it hard to earn enough to stay or find that the way of life that they thought they would have is greatly diminished by the long working hours.

Some people come over totally prepared and still have so many negative experiences that they return to UK with a bitter and negative attitude towards Spain. Others come over totally unprepared and have nothing but positive experiences so settle and are happy. Then there are others who have a mixture of negative and positive experiences, enjoy the life for a time and then make the decision to return.

If the majority of your boxes are ticked by Spain it is a positive experience but once some of the boxes are not ticked it can become a draining place to live.

Every individual will be looking for something different, everyone will have different experiences and that is why there are so many threads on the forum that end up going around in circles and do not give anyone a definitive answer.

Hopefully there is enough information on BE to help people to make the right decision but Spain is a huge place so sometimes people just end up in the wrong part of Spain for them.

Good Luck

Rosemary

coralsoft

Perhaps you might get the useful information you´re looking for if you listed the factors in life that are important to you and people could give their experiences related to those factors. That way you´re more likely to find out if you´ll be happy rather than if someone else would be likely to be happy.

For example, cheap home help is a major factor for us, since we have 5 children a large house and I work long hours away from the house, but it will not be if you´re planning on looking after yourself. In the UK, we wouldn´t be able to afford that help.

Mrs eddie

I agree with all the posts.....
I'm in the process of sorting stuff out to leave Spain for the UK after 2 wonderful years. I do not want to leave...so I would say personally for me I am much happier in Spain....weather, lifestyle, the social life, the beaches...planning weekends as weather fab (most of the time)
But it's purely down to the individual & circumstance.
Do your homework & make sure, that for you.... it's worth the risk.....as coming out here is is expensive & then returning is more expensive.......but for us we are gutted that we have no money to start again from scratch but it WAS worth it.
Hope it works out for you xxxxxxx

pjj

! i think its nice to hear when some one makes the move abroad and they are happy and life for them is a lot better because i find on this forum theres alot people always putting down spain and you read a lot of negative points far more than good , but its a feel good factor to know that they have made the move and things have worked out and it makes people like my self want to give it a go , i think one major factor that is important to most people is money cos you need money to survive where ever you are and i think the main reason alot of people return from spain is because of money/lack of work but the life style appeals to alot of them

pjj

hi mrs eddie having read your thread on the forum my heart goes out too you and your family that really is that you got to go back when you are so happy is there no way you can stay in spain ?

XTreme

My way of life here is totally different here to the UK.....but the environment in which I live is probably very different to most of the other Brits on here.
The work I do is exactly the same in terms of what I'm doing.....but in terms of where I go and what I see compared to the UK it's totally different.

Mercedes

Are you retired or will you need to get work? If you have to work, what do you for a living?

bokeh

Three points:

1. Financial: Common sense really but most people seem to ignore this. Don't commit to any outgoings (mortgage, loans, school fees, etc) until you know what your income is going to be. This should be real income, not some figure plucked out of the air. If you lived in a one bedroom flat in the UK and suddenly believe you are going to be able to afford a 4 bedroom house in Spain (based on your UK earnings) you can be certain you've made a mistake. It hard to be happy if your finances are a mess due to the stress this causes.
2. Communication: Learn Spanish, at least the basics, before you come. Don't believe any nonsense about just picking it up once you are here; the only way for an adult to learn a language to a reasonable level is hard academic study. If you can't communicate semi-fluently in Spanish this is going to accept you financial and social possibilities dramatically.
3. Acceptance: You need to be open minded and willing to accept that things are don't differently here, especially administrative matters. If you do all the paperwork at the start, rather than putting it off, things will be easier later.