Why do we get so many new members wanting to move to Spain?

Why do we get so many new members wanting to move to Spain? We constantly see posts by new members, often ones with no prospect of a job in Spain, often young parents with very young children too. They don't seem to have any knowledge of Spain, the areas for example, the laws, we are expected to make their minds up for them in some cases. 'Where shall we live?' is seen a lot! Get over to Spain, see for yourselves, only YOU know if you'll enjoy a certain place. I like one place, others like another, we can't tell what will suit you & your family.

A young acquaintance of mine told me on messenger recently that she & her husband have decided to move to Spain, after spending two weeks in Torremolinos, so she was asking my advice. I don't know much about her to be honest so I asked what work she & her husband do. She said her husband sweeps streets in Bristol & she is unemployed. I can't explain just how I felt after she said that, however does she think they are going to cope in Spain? THE GRASS IS NOT GREENER IN SPAIN! There aren't handouts!

Unless you're retired with good pensions & money in the bank not many will survive in Spain these days. The prices in the supermarkets have shot up. Yes, the markets are great for fruit & veg but do you have a car to get to them unless the market is in your town centre? Yes, you can get a lot of cheap stuff from the likes of Dompte's & the endless Chinese bazaars. But the health situation, certainly where I have my property (Valencian community) isn't giving residents free care unless you work, have paid into their system or if the female is of pensionable age then the husband can piggyback of the wife, so to speak.

This week I heard another friend just can't live in Spain anymore, no work for them. They did gardening, held keys, cleaned properties like all too many do. These people are just one couple of many who are using my local forum to say 'goodbye, we are going home'.

So, I'm wondering WHY young couples who have no job prospects, no Spanish, little money,  likely with young children, with no idea where to live, choose to go live in a new country that  they know almost nothing about.

Personally, I'd be sh*t scared to do it! 

Permission to copy & paste next time I get asked some such dumb question?

On a brighter note, though, the streets in Torremolinos do need sweeping, and my missus found a euro coin on the floor today, so maybe there's hope for your aquaintances yet!

Permission granted, Roberto.  I think many realise how much time I spend on the forum helping (or very much attempting to) but whenever I see these questions I have to draw breath. I really do want to help but it's an impossible dream without resources. It's so hard to know how best to answer without someone saying 'did you HAVE to say it with that attitude?' I guess the best thing is... is not to answer, is that what we should do?

On another note we get specific questions but each community does have its own laws sometimes. Remember the SIP discussions? It was the Valencian community that had that. So ... we need to know where you are in Spain or where you are going to be in order to help, I've spent so much time searching members posts to see IF they've ever mentioned an area. I would think only a handful would bother to look. So ... we constantly have to ask where are you in Spain or what area are you enquiring about? I request members fill in their location on their profile yet some have said they don't want to disclose that. WHY? However can we ID a member calling himself 'Roberto' from Torremolinos?    

I hate the threads with the subject 'help needed' ... with what I wonder ... we need to click to find out. Please help us to help you.

Oh & Google is great, use it. A good % of what I post is because I Google myself for answers for others. If I can do it anyone can, try it! Don't expect it all to just fall into your lap. if you can't find answers we are here (& getting older by the minute.)

Wait a second.......I know what you're up to here.............you're just starting a rival thread to my Just Curious, because you're jealous of it's 133 replies and over three thousand views to date, aren't you? (Did you see what I did there? I snuck in a crafty link to MY thread, so those viewing yours will still go to mine, so you'll NEV ER catch me up....mphawwww!)

By the way, my real name is not Roberto, I may or may not be a "himself" (don't be fooled by the mention of the missus, it could all be part of a deliberate ploy to mislead), I have never been to Torremolinos in my life, I know nothing about Spain (but like giving inplausibly sensible answers to questions about Spain)  I'm not even a real chimp and I sometimes say "yes".

My husband and i are retiring to spain soon.  We have owned our property for three years so know the area well and understand the financial climate.

My daughter in law and her husband wants to live in spain to be near us.  She has two very young children.  4 years and 3 weeks.  It is very difficult to explain to her that she should not give up her dream but the situation she is currently in makes it practically impossible. I dont want her to think we dont want her but also dont want her to make a mistake and lose what she has.

Caz

Caz, I can understand your dilemma concerning your daughter in law & her husband. But putting themselves at such risk is bad isn't it? 

Roberto or maybe Roberta, I've always quite liked you.  Please tell me the pussy WAS yours though!

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...............but you still have to mow it!

or even worse

The grass is always greener over a septic tank!!

or if the truth be told

The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.

i have read many of those threads and thought to myself "are you stupid". I seriously thought about moving out to spain a few years back,i am 42 and a ceramic tiler by trade,i had finnished my mortgauge and also own a flat outright which i rent out and at the time i had around 50k in the bank.I could of sold my house bought a villa had £500 a month to from the flat as a cusion and with the sale of my wifes company would of had about 250k in the bank.BUT after doing my homework decided it was too risky which has proved right,i would have lost money on the villa i would be struggling to find work and my savings would be taking a pounding,i still believe it would have been a good move as far as my kids education was concerned.but for now i will keep to having my 3 weeks in the summer in my chosen area of  the northern costa blanca (baladra)

AH-ha!

I see it now Roberto!

Your Just Curious thread is an attempt to beat my Will the Ex Rate ever go up thread.

My Will the Ex Rate ever go up thread has 237 replies and 16,023 views.

In your pipe dream my friend.

Which brings me on nicely to the myriad of new threads lately More is talking about in this thread.

I agree, some people seem to join, post something along the lines of "we are thinking about moving to Spain but know nothing about the area, don't know if there are any jobs, and really don't know anything about Spain at all."

Therefore, when I read these threads, the thought that comes immediately is "then why are you thinking about moving to Spain in the first place!"

These people really do have a pipe dream, and should research, research, research and research some more on this forum, get most of the info they need, and then maybe ask themselves the question "Do I really want to move to Spain!".

When I answer such, and that is as More said becoming a little tedious, I just say the same thing:

Do some research on-line of Spain, it's culture, it's laws, possible areas of employment (if needed) and the areas of interest where you think you mike like to move to, and then conduct a few trips to the areas of choice.

Repeat several times and then having done all the ground work, ask pertinent questions that you haven't found an answer to after some extensive research, and then we'd all be happy to help.

Answers on a postcard please to:

Me, Here, and There, Somewhere in Spain.

Ha ha, you apes, good posts.  I like the way you link! 

Well, certainly no one can honestly say I'm not here to help! Some seemingly cannot stand me though they don't know me. I've actually met many members so have good friends on here & on other forums so that's THEIR problem, not mine, do more posting yourselves. Many thanks to EOS for editing out a offensive personal comment towards me from one member yesterday.

We can't pull rabbits out of hats & please ------- can we have a better search facility, Justin, if you're looking in, as so many times I try to search for a member's posts or a subject when I know they're here & nothing shows. Yes, I do get grouchy sometimes & maybe, after posting on & off for a long time & feeling MASSIVE concern for others, some posts can come over ... certainly to some, it seems ... as 'whatever' others want to call them. I certainly don't spend time trying to upset anyone so look to yourselves for your answers if you have decided I do, please.

BUT ... why are new members thinking of Spain  though rather than another country? Is it because they ... for instance ... had a whale of a time in Benidorm last month? What exactly IS the attraction, I wonder? Spain is very near the UK for getting flights, for being only around 2 + 1/2 hrs away. Cheap & easy to reach by many means. Actually Cyprus would've been my 1st choice but initially  ...before the permanent move ... I'd not want a 4 - 5 hr flight each time I went. Flights to Spain from my area of the UK (to Alicante & Murcia airports) are three times daily from my local airport (Bristol) using Easyjet plus a Ryanair flight now goes. I much prefer the Cypriot food, there's more I love about the place, having lived there many years. They drive on the correct side too which always helps.  I do not want to move to Spain now permanently, certainly not to where we've bought into, it just hasn't proved the place we thought it was going to be for us. Our property ... though a 2 bed, 2 bath detached house ... is proving too small in some areas & privacy around us is nil, coupled with our community lacks a lot & we can't seem to change the feeling but we now have a Spanish car (for the past year) so hire cars are not our worry these days &, when here for almost 6 months spread throughout the year, we certainly enjoy it.

Being retired with money in the bank too is great for US! We are not 30 yr olds with young kids who need to work. I just wished we had used our money better, maybe just rented for a few months at a time in different areas & not just in Spain.

Think I might have digressed slightly at times, sorry.

The pussy was real - nice of you to remember, More.

I think the answer to the question in the title is a little obvious. I don't think these new members are the idiots they seem, rather, they are doing precisely what Techno suggests, that is, from a vague idea, they are starting to research the possibilites in a way that wasn't available to some of us here by typing into Google something like Moving to Spain. Among the over 5 million results they will get will be EOS, up there on the first page. When they visit the site and find there's a forum that's easy to join and post on, it's an obvious step to post a very vague and simple question to get started.

The ones that are truly stupid are the ones who post things such as "I need to buy a car, please help". See Just Curious for more on this! (Like what I did there, Colin?!)

Just an observation which may have some relevance but I'm not absolutely sure but the younger you are, the more likely it is that you don't necessarily think of all the what ifs in life, hence the new members taking the stance they have perhaps.

Sometimes that can be a good thing (less inhibited) but equally at other times not so!  When I personally look back I am grateful for naivety in my youth as it didn't hold me back in life, but at other times I wish I'd had an old head to confer with (or had EOS for that matter ).

Now in hindsight I would definitely say to young families do your research and rent first if at all possible, especially where young family is concerned, and also allow yourself a realistic financial cushion to make provision if things don't turn out the way you had hoped. Retain a get-out route if required! It's a time of insecurity for many right now, so I also wonder if there is the running away factor using the logic that it's always greener blah blah......

Perhaps we should be asking those youngsters themselves as to the reasons why they want to move and discuss the pros and cons to each reason. Each to their own however and whatever their choice I wish them well.

Trouble is reading the blog about Zapatero's state of denial and the impacts on Spain doesn't exactly encourage anyone to take risks right now does it? And moving abroad at times of economic downturn does incur risks no matter which way you look at it.

Exactly, ads! Things we all did in our youth was done without too much thought I think, we didn't worry the way I can do now for very little.

Anyway I need to go out to look at garden furniture with deep cushions.

Well that's one thing that doesn't require worrying about...... so enjoy!

Dear All,

the other day here a local landlord phoned the LA to ask why they were paying his tenant £115 per week when he was only charging £95 rent????????????

given this level of real life training why should an out of work youngster wait to go???

who needs research, its bound to be much the same, isn't it????

Great realism More if I may call you that.

Regards

Norman

It was the thought of young families in tow where my concerns were focused,  Norman.

Dear Ads,

I rather think that Spain's attractions are not exclusive and all may aspire irrespective of our "concerns".

as for families the benefit culture here is such that children are a "meal ticket" and the more the merrier to the extent that only very high salaries are a temptation to change to work culture, even that is tempered by the thought that if anything goes wrong how easy is it to get back "on song".

Regards

Norman

As ads said Perhaps we should be asking those youngsters themselves as to the reasons why they want to move and discuss the pros and cons to each reason. Maybe Justin could arrange a sticky  .. as forums tend to call these threads (so it stays permanently at the top of the page).

Ads also said I also wonder if there is the running away factor using the logic that it's always greener blah blah...... I agree, ads! Certainly those with lack of money, menial jobs with no prospects & young families want more from life & I think believe Spain will offer them this. Rather naive maybe though. Too many, who initially had jobs to go to, are returning because they've lost them recently. I personally know three couples who are returning soon & they are not young either just not quite of retirement age so need to work.

Our members TRY to impart what we know on these young families but, after asking endless questions not just on this forum .. I see the same names posting the exact same question on other forums (as if what they've seen here isn't what they crave to hear, maybe) .. they possibly still go ahead & I, for one, wonder how are they coping as we generally never hear from them again.

 When i first came here i was 33 with a young Family.

The reason i wanted to get away from the UK was because of the way things were going back then for Children growing up.

Gun crime,knife crime, the way kids have to wrapped up in cotton wool now, metal detectors in school,drugs and how you cannot let your children stray more than 2 feet from you for fear of lurking predators.

Also as an adult, a drink in town was turning into a "life in your own hands" experience!!!

In Northampton there was a group of eastern Europeans hunting women at night and is was publicised in all the bars and on the National news, i wouldn't let my wife go out for a drink with her friends, walk the dog after 4 o'clock and the Kids were velcroed to us at all times.

I had a very dissapointing experience with Northampton General Hospital when after suffering a broken jaw,cheekbone and eye socket playing football i was sent home because a surgeon would not come out and they had to call the police to A&E as two rival gangs had carried on their fight in the lobby.

Teachers in the local schools couldn't control certain kids and when i asked at a parents evening why, i was told that they were restricted so heavily by the PC regulations and Health and Safety issues that the kids knew this and took advantage!!

Teenage pregnancy and binge drinking for 14 year old was "en vogue"

Female colleagues were not allowed to do viewings alone or late in the evening.

I used to open the offices in Bridge street in Northampton and usually the first job was to mop up the sick and urine when some individual had decided the night before that our window looked better decorated with their internal fluids.

I used to work 45 weeks a year looking forward to the 2 weeks in the sun as the British summer time generally failed to materialise again.

I used to work 6.5 days a week and watch others sit on their bums all day or hang around the town centre playing "terrify the elderly" or stay at home trying to knock out as many kids as possible.

A friend of mine was stabbed and nearly killed standing up to a gang of 16 year old lads out of their heads of cider and dope walking through the park at night.

I was burgled twice in six weeks and threatened with a knife when i caught them the second time!

That's why i left (and i was offered work from an old colleague)

anyway.......i think that's enough.......and by the way.....i lived in Wooton Village just outside the town, this is a lovely picturesque village and very desirable (supposedly).

In Spain i have never felt the need to cross the road to avoid anything or anyone, can anyone say that in the UK??????

so........to answer your question......i used to meet plenty of 30 somethings with 2.5 children, desperate to escape......so many have left now but in my opinion it was well woth a try.

The people generally moving here are the retired with decent pensions, i imagine escaping my experiences above.

as they say......Neccessity is the mother of all invention.