How Are Things in Your Area?

This message was last edited by johnzx on 09/06/2012.

Sans problems in the Lorca area considering that a year ago many people were left homeless and temporarily jobless because of the terramoto.

The recession has caused a few shops to close but others have opened.

Have lived here over 6 years and never feel threatened. People are in fact very positive, friendly and helpful and  many of our Spanish friends have more than 1 job .

So can´t believe the  friends of OP.

The whole world is in a quandry . No country is strike or crime free but, apart from a few areas here where  foreigners have congregated in their droves, crime in Spain must come low down the list .

Have only ever seen here one inebriated Spanish guy, but more than sufficient drunk Brits !!! and never heard of a mugging . There have been a few burglaries at empty properties but life here is nothing on the scale camposol has mentioned.

Well....I am so glad I asked the questions that I asked (even though I was a little worried about the sort of replies I could have recieved).  Thank you all for taking the time to tell us a little about how things are in your area of Spain.  Do keep them coming. I have been reminded why we started to spend time there in the first place.  The weather was a good reason but it wasn't ALL about the weather.  As a nation, the Spanish are kind, welcoming and very tollerant (particularly with annoying children) and they are exttremely resourceful.  I think their resourcefulness (and the way they help each other out) will see them through these difficult times.  I have to admit, though, we are starting to feel quite depressed here, in the UK, mostly because of the dreadful weather!  We are lucky enough to live in a very friendly town where people are, for the most part, considerate and helpful...but we don't know anybody that can cook a paella from scratch using only twigs to keep a barbecue going under a huge paella pan.....in the street whilst the sun shines and in the garage when it rains...something we witnessed often when we spent time in inland Costa Blanca!

I am wondering, camposol, why you aren't feeling safe in your area.  Are you living in that vast metropolis specifically aimed at us 'foreigners'?  Could it be that you'd feel safer if you lived amongst the local, Spanish population?  Just very curious and, probably, making assumptions?!  I'm sure there are similar areas in other parts of Spain built specifically with Brits in mind where you'd feel very safe...

Right, I shall now look at ferry prices/rental prices and get our next trip to Spain sorted asap!

 Poor Campasol, I think you should move, it must be awul feeling vulnerable in your own homw

 Burglaries and the like are sadly a sign of the recession . I beleive they are also on the increase in the U.K. As people become more desperate they turn to crime.

Anyone desperate to sell their house ove here obviously has a problem.Our neighbours bought  7 years ago for 220,000 euros ( about £150,000 at the time) and have recently sold for 132,00 euros ( about £110,00 at the time). It actually sold quite quickly as it was considered very good value. They are working people and used it as a holiday home and the mortgage became unmanagable.

My friends and family that visit tell me that people wanting to go back to the uk must have their rose coloured glasses on and assure me we are better off here.We are of course retired otherwise it might be a different story.

Pearllinda, if Camposol actually lives in Camposol, then they are talking nonsense.  Camposol is one of the safest and friendliest places in Spain.

 Unfortunately, there are break-ins, there is street crime, there are muggings.  Just recently, a house near us was broken into whilst the family were in the garden.  Shocking but highly hyped by some.  I have never been mugged, robbed or even felt threatened in any way here.  In my village in UK (and I'm not trying to make this a tit for tat thread) we had our garage broken into twice, the garden shed several times and the house broken into when we were away for a week.  Every month, the local village paper would report cases of vandalism, thefts and house burglaries.  

Anyway, there have been a few bars and restaurants closed in our area but others have started up.  The good places appear packed most nights and, for some, you even have to book during March and April.  We haven't had any of the demonstrations (and certainly nothing like a riot) that some areas have had.  The Spanish people (apart from Carrefour workers) are friendly, approachable and seem to have a good way of life which rubs off on us.  Thhe main street always seems packed no matter what time of year, the shopping centres appear full and the supermarkets certainly are.  The range of goods available is increasing all the time and prices have not increased as much as they have in UK, even petrol has come down over 12 cents a litre in less than a month.  Inflation increased in Spain to 2.06% in April and has remained fairly low for some time.  Yes, the sun is out.  People here on half term holidays at the moment are in the pools and the water parks near us have quite large queues first thing in the morning.  The euro may be a basket case but, unfortunately, so is the pound.  If the euro is so bad, how come the pound is still down by nearly 30% from just a few years ago?  The pound has also dropped some 8 cents against the dollar in just a couple of weeks and, if the euro was as bad as everyone says, how come the pound hasn't gone rocketing up?

No, I can't see any reason why the OPs friends would feel the way they do about coming to Spain.  We had a nice weekend up in Benidorm a little while back and were pleasantly surprised how nice it was.  The old town retains a certain charm and we had a great time.  Then again, my only previous experience of Benidorm was watching the TV series of the same name and we were expecting the worst but the old town was really lovely.  Many of the farms around us are replanting,  houses are still being built despite the huge amount of resale properties on the market.  We seem to have more and more people moving here on a permanent basis and many others who express a desire to do so.  Yes, a lot of them are in their 50s and 60s and having taken early or normal retirement but we have some who do their work on-line so it doesn't matter where they are based.  At the pub last night (a very pleasant evening on the outside patio) I didn't overhear one customer complaining (unusual as there were quite a few expats) and a pint of beer at £2 and a large glass of wine at 80p didn't break the bank.  

The only unfortunate thing is the number of people who seem to be checking the bins more and more often.  That's the only thing I have noticed that points to hardship unlike UK where virtually all the shops in the town near us have been changed to Charity shops, pound shops, cash converters (pawn shops) or are boarded up.

Yes, it must be hard for those who have lost their jobs and I feel for them.  It doesn't, however, appear to be affecting the people around us as much as the UK press would have you believe.  Tell your friends to come out on holiday.  No good going to Greece, Italy, Cyprus etc becaused they are just as bad.  The USA is becoming unreachable due to the soaring costs - gone are the cheap meals, cheap hotels and cheap drink days, I'm afraid.  

Oh, and did I mention the weather here?  It's only rained about 4 or 5 days this year and no hosepipe ban either.

 We live in a small urbanisanation on the edge of ta small Spanish village and have been here for four and half years.  We  have been made very welcome by the locals and were asked where we had been when we went into one of the bars because we have not been into that one for a while but were still made welcome.   We get our fair share of breakins but we our selfs have been lucky so far *( may be something to do with the large black dog we have).  we would not move back to the UK as we enjo y living here the live is good and the pace of life is a lot slower except for the Spanish drivers but even they are angels compared to Italy.

If anyone reading this in the UK is thinking of moving out to Spain please don't let the news promsgrames in the UK put you off, it is a great life out here if take things here at face value and don't look for the goose that laid the golden egg because you won't find it here either.

Maddlemack, seems on the balance of the responses you and your friends should carry on doing what you have enjoyed doing for so many years.

As its a holiday sounds like you will enjoy it as much as you usually do. However if you were thinking of moving for work you might want to stay put or consider other parts of the world with many opportunities for the skilled and professional worker.

Go ahead and make that booking.

David

Crime figures, percentages don't tell the whole story. Certain areas will be targeted in Spain because thieves think we are all rich. Regarding the house sales situation-those with a house in the UK can afford to make a loss, it's the ones who want to sell up out here  and return to the UK who have the problem as they will find it difficult to find a decent house. I agree with the person who says people need to be wealthy to live out here, as price increases don't bother them. As for cheaper cost of living,  the first thing my daughter observed out here was that  the price of her weekly shop would be dearer in Spain, and the range of fresh fruit and veg was no better, and in some cases, not so good!

Yes, but you need to take into account the overall cost of living I think.  If I go to the Supermarket and buy fruit/veg/meat etc it will be about the same price as in the UK.  BUT my Council Tax in the UK would be about 2,000+ Pounds per annum.  Here in Spain my (3 bedroomed, 3 bathroomed, patio and two terraces) house costs 135 Euros per Annum.  I can buy a lot of fruit/veg/meat for the difference and if I also buy a bottle or two of wine in the Supermarket the difference is enormous compared to what I would pay in the UK.  Other bills are similarly lower: my water bill is 20 Euros a quarter for instance. Its swings and roundabouts but with  a bias towards Spain.

For anyone thinking of coming out here just now:  Here in Valencia at 0900 this morning it was 82 degrees in the shade, At the moment, it is 1600 and the sun is shining directly onto the thermometer.  The temp is 108 degrees!  So be prepared.  And the hottest months, July and August, are still to come.  :>)

If you shop in marbella its the same as uk [rip off] you shop at iceland its more expensive than uk[rip off] use the Spanish supermarkets they are less expensive than uk. If you shop like the local Spanish, now that is a differant game so leave all the uk habits behind and you will see the differance

We live in Sydney, Australia and would love to purchase a small property in Torrox Pueblo however the Spanish Government makes it difficult. I have never in my 40 years as a civil servant seen such lazy government workers, I believe that is all changing as they no longer have the job security. We have been renting apartments in Nerja for the past 18 months and even introduced our friends to Nerja last month. We found the supermarkets(Spanish) to be 50% cheaper than Australia and dont even mention the wines try buying an Australian wine in the UK, we pay the same here. To have a drink in a bar in Sydney you wont get much change out of $10, everything is taxed to the hilt. We found the weather to be too hot in May and would hate to be there in July/August however Sept/Oct/Nov was just beautiful. Beaches, I must say are so much nicer in Australia. Yes there are areas here you wouldn't live in however they are controlled by middle east gangs and they keep it amongst themselves, drive by shootings daily. You wouldn't want to settle in the big cities here it is so expensive for real estate etc and the employment situation although unemployment figures are good not many people have secure jobs most are on contracts. Both our son and daughter have moved to the beautiful North Coast where it is a lot easier to purchase property and have a less stressful lifestyle however they also earn the same wages that they did in Sydney, this is not the norm. We did see a bag snatch in Barcelona about a year ago and have never seen anything like that here though I am sure it happens. We have decided to keep returning to Spain twice a year however will only rent it makes more sense, Australia Government use to have an agreement with Spain for medical needs however that has disappeared since the Euro crisis and travel insurance is costly. Being retired we can only stay 90 days a year even though we receive the pension. I thought it strange that only a few days ago Germany was saying Spain needed a bailout and the Spanish denied it then next minute the deal is done, does make the Spanish look stupid. So yes the grass is not as green as they let on here in Australia, mind you at the moment it is as we have had a bit of rain,we have a labor government which are propped up by independents and a few greens and a few of there own who should have been made to resign, all politicians are the same. 

This message was last edited by kernaghan on 10/06/2012.

I go to the market on Camposol and buy a huge bag of veg which does us all week for €5.  How can that compare to the UK?  My wine in Consum is €4.25 for 5 litres and the beer (5%) is €0.65 a litres.  Sometimes I splash out and buy wine in the Bodega at €1.30 a litre.  I ate in the port last night and the house wine was €5 a bottle!

 If you go to the supermarkets in the tourist areas you will find it very expensive but if you look a bit harder you will find that things are much cheaper than the UK. For 2 people our supermarket bill is at most 30 euros a week including toiletries and that includes lots of fresh meat and fish. In London you can make that £100 min. Both of us live very comfortably for 1000 euros a month and that includes our rent. In London with mortgage payments it was min £2k and we went out a lot less than we do here. i really cannot see any reason why people would want to return to the rain and misery of the daily drudge there.

 If you go to the supermarkets in the tourist areas you will find it very expensive but if you look a bit harder you will find that things are much cheaper than the UK. For 2 people our supermarket bill is at most 30 euros a week including toiletries and that includes lots of fresh meat and fish. In London you can make that £100 min. Both of us live very comfortably for 1000 euros a month and that includes our rent. In London with mortgage payments it was min £2k and we went out a lot less than we do here. i really cannot see any reason why people would want to return to the rain and misery of the daily drudge there.

I think this thread has gone way off the mark!

I think the general concensus was that in general you'll be fine to continue to take holidays in Spain!!

Dustyjack-wish we had your waterbill! 20 euros a quarter? we pay about 30 a month, more in high summer, and we don't waste water. About other aspects- If a large percentage of the shopping basket is booze, then I agree it's cheaper in Spain, but for a standard trolley of food it's not, even if you shop in a Spanish supermarket.  Regarding IBI, yes it's cheaper, even more so in a village or the campo, where they pay a derisory amount in comparison to an urbanisation, which may as in our case be worse off in some aspects when it comes to amenities.

then i'd change supermarkets if you think they're no cheaper. I must be living in a different country to you if you cannot see the difference either that or you buying lots of english branded foods which are hideously expensive, a small bottle of dolmio tomato sause 4 euros spanish equivilent 60 centimos!!