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POLL : What were/are your main concerns when moving to Spain to live?
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 @ 1:00 PM

According to a HSBC Bank International report on expat experience, practical problems such as finding a new house or relocating children pale in comparison with more “emotive” concerns, such as making new friends.

41 per cent of the expats interviewed for the survey said that re-establishing a social life was their biggest concern, whereas 34 per cent were most concerned about feeling lonely in their new home.

The tendency to worry about settling in was particularly predominant among female interviewees. 48 per cent of women surveyed said they were most worried about finding a new social life, compared to 37 per cent of men, while 44 per cent of female expats admitted they were concerned about missing people back home, compared to only 29 per cent of men.

Although moving to a new country is undoubtedly going to provide some logistical obstacles as expats look to move their worldly possessions from country to country, it seems these challenges do not cause expats any major concerns.

What were or are your main concerns?

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5 Comments

MFraser said:
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 @ 6:39 PM

It's not so much finding a group of people we can get on with, more finding folk we can make really good friends with ie; like-minded

tamaraessex said:
Saturday, November 7, 2015 @ 10:12 AM

Yes, making good close friends definitly took me longer than it would have in my own language. Those subtle unspoken signals that tell you if you share a world view and aren't suddenly going to discover a massive political or religious difference, take longer to pick up.

vickya said:
Saturday, November 7, 2015 @ 10:27 AM

We met nice people, Spanish and English. We'd learned some Spanish before going over and went to classes there, free ones, which meant we met people and they even had social events,outings, that were very enjoyable.

Paperwork and permits were a trial but the real problem was missing family. Then when the economic situation changed, we came home. It turned out this was lucky as we both then had health issues that would have been hard to sort out in Spain because of the language, although health care while there was good.

Poedoe said:
Monday, November 9, 2015 @ 1:05 PM

We purchased over 8 years ago. we have many Spanish acquaintances & friends in Spain. our biggest problem IS THE BUREAUCRACY OF THE LOCAL COUNCILS. Our Builder ceased to trade the week we completed, he failed to do some of the work we paid him for, the utility meters that were never installed, the community hope that after so long the Spanish Courts will sort him and the many other builders that failed to complete the complex,s and we will soon have the Habitation Certificate. Plus all the community charges he has not paid for the renters he placed in the complex. Making friends is so easy if you get out and meet people. Most of the Local Shops & bars are very friendly. Just hope the Spanish courts will sort things out and grant the licence we have waited so long for.

Trooper said:
Saturday, February 20, 2016 @ 12:38 PM

Main concerns about living in Spain: Dogs and Cats and other animals being allowed in Bars, Restaurants, Cafe's, hotels. Why should people pay for a night out and have to put up with the noise, mess and other health issues associated with pet's. There is enough dog/cat faeces lying about the streets and parks that people have not cleaned up.