Things That I Like And Dislike About Spain

I don't think my comments regarding Benalmadena were 'adverse' acer they certainly were not intended to be, I really like the place myself. Having lived nearby for 8 years we have spent a lot of time there both business and pleasure.

Was merely pointing out that the large tourist connobations on the Costa del Sol were not really representitive of the rest of Spain.

Shopping patterns have changed considerably due to the internet and supermarkets selling practically everything.  In the UK old household name retailers have been replaced with pound shops, money lenders, fast food outlets and a plethora of things aimed at mingers, munters and chavs.

I don't know what the 'real Spain' experts think of their traditional inland villages, what I do know is that the very handy SuperSol that we have used for years has now closed it's fresh fish and deli counters and now resembles an under stocked Tesco Express. On the bright side an Englsh and Irish pub have closed their doors for good, along with one of those eat as much as you can, for next to nothing places.

Out of town shopping malls were always going to become popular world wide, ever since the first one opened in the USA, like it or not..  

Yes, you are right of course, and I am partial to the odd trip to a mall myself.   The first thing I do if I fly into San Javier is to head for Dos Mares.  I do really like the Coveran branches around me though, and I don't find them that much more expensive than Mercadona, so I hope they don't start to disappear.   So, I guess access to smaller supermarkets would be one of my likes.....

And of course I do shop on line - even if I feel a bit guilty afterwards. 

I've found two tailgate gas struts for my BMWX3 for £27.99 on-line, these are EU manufactured and have a 2 years warranty, BMW ones are £60.00 each.

One of our dogs has a leakage problem, to get a further supply of capsules from the vet ends up costing circa £100.00, I have factored the identical medication on-line for £55.00.

I don't feel at all guilty.

I just wondered if anyone has been in La Cala de Mijas lately. Going back 12-15 years we used to dine there every night, sadly all the restaurants that we used to frequent appear to have changed use to curry houses, pizza parlours etc, on the evidence of our own eyes last year. It appears that we are in the minority when it comes to eating out, we know of good restaurants a 20 minutes car ride away, but we prefer to walk, and have a couple of drinks with our meal, any ideas guys? 

Thought I would read this post as we are considering moving to Spain to retire and was looking forward to hearing about the nice and bad things that folk have already experienced. Am pretty disappointed to just be reading about, well, apart from the very first post it all seems to be tit for tat, school ground argument stuff! Got as far as page two then gave up. Hope this is not an indication of what the Brits already living in Spain are like!

Well, in that respect Spain is no different to anywhere else, in that it's best to avoid/ignore the whingers and those who act like they're still in the Fifth form. 

But it is a fantastic country with masses to see and experience, so don't get dragged down by these guys.

I don't disagree with acer, but I did glance back over it and there is still some interesting stuff about specific places.   You just have sift through it all.    If you want detailed descriptive stuff you might find the blogs more helpful.   Some of them are really interesting and give a good idea of life in Spain.  But the other thing you might like to do is to start a new thread posing a question e.g -  what is the best place to live, how much will it cost etc.    This one, about things one likes or dislikes about Spain was always going to be a bit rambley and guaranteed to start disagreements.   Don't be put off, there is lots of interest on here. 

When someone tries to give a realistic view of Spain, they are called doom mongers 

The thing is it is not the stress free land of milk and honey  some think it is.

Some think it is an escape from the rat race when all they are doing is joining another one.

Whatever mundane things you did in th UK, you will do in Spain, with better weather

All the boring things such as tax have to be sorted.

Rules and regulations are different to the UK and no one will come to your door and inform you.

You have to do research over a long time, or you could be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

It is no longer a place for those who like to live under the radar, tax cheats will be flushed out.

Don't expect everything to be better or cheaper

Don't try and cherry pick the best of each country

Despite all advice to the country , people still insist they want to work in Spain, when there are no jobs, and they want to bring children at ages when it will be detrimental  and disruptive to their education.

They just want to live their dream, without considering everything else.

If you have a good income, are not looking for work,  have straightforward finances, and don't have children  of  10 years upwards,  then Spain might be for you.

If you are struggling with money in the UK, forget coming here you will struggle more and have no safety net

MagicWriter2015,

I'm pleased that you appreciated my inoffensive OP, sadly you are on your own, but thanks anyway.   

Hep I see you have broken the golden rule on here ie don't mention anything negative about Spain.  If you do, the resident bullies will come after you.  I haven't been on this forum for what must be well over a year, because of this problem.  I got fed up with the self righteous bully boys on here, and from what I can see so have many others who used to visit this forum.  Spain has changed over the last 50 years and to it's detriment.  I am familiar with Spain as I first visited in 1963 and lived in Barcelona for 2 years whilst working as a model.  Since then I must have visited at least 200 times and travelled throughout Spain extensively.  I love being by the sea, but unfortunately this attracts a "certain" type of Brit usually which means when I visit Spain now I live inland a bit, which is more enjoyable.  I cannot abide the Brit bars and their culture.  What I see mostly  is  Brits living in the sun in Spain, but bored to death and at the same time drinking themselves to death.  I see them as unhappy people who cannot be bothered to learn the language and immerse themselves into Spanish culture.  They want Sky TV, everything with chips and loads of booze.  As one poster said it's like Margate on sea with the sun and I cannot disagree with this.  I do visit a fabulous vilage north of Barcelona often with about 150 residents(I am not saying which one as I don't want a Bit invasion) and I love it.  But you can keep the costas thank you.  I have many Spanish friends and generaly speaking, they are not enamoured with us Brits I can tell you.
 

" I got fed up with the self righteous bully boys on here, and from what I can see so have many others who used to visit this forum."

Sooz I have to agree with your take on this. Several times after I had offered an opinion or advice to a poster I had been subject to mean spirited comments basically becuase some people on the forum can't abide a differing opinion , or they do not like my Americanized english (being a Yank its what I know) I had thought this was a forum for ideas and thoughts about Spain ,but some think its just a forum for a Brit's viewpoint. If I feel I can help a poster I send them a private message . I have seen people attacked for asking the simplest of questions about Spain which to me seemed strange , why else would you come to a forum about Spain if you did not want to learn about Spain?

The wife and I purchased a condo near Punta Prima  six years ago and we have been visiting several times a year since then. We are currently doing our paper work to get our permanent visa which is a long an tedious task for non EU and hope to be retiring to our new home this summer.

Being  a non Brit I  actually like the Brit bars and have had some interesting conversations with your expats. My neighbors are Brits and  have been extremely helpful and kind to us. That being said what we love about Spain other than the weather and cheap wine are the small villages ,the great food and meeting the people. Like most places the people you meet  are a mixture of kind and gracious (we've met several) to over bearing jackasses (met a couple of those as well) just like home!!

I must agree with Camposol "Whatever mundane things you did in the UK, you will do in Spain, with better weather"

It is what you make of it, an exciting adventure in a new culture or a day on a barstool its up to you, or as Confucius said  "Wherever you go, there you are"

I write from the Basque country, because it's not usually represented in 'ex-pat forums'.  I look at expat websites from time to time and see that most comments are from long term 'residents' who now and then like to think they've got all the answers, though their comments are often helpful.

I was recently in Calpe for 5 days with our local 'club alpino' (mountaineering club) where we did some serious mountain walks/climbs, up to 1600m (none of which involved anything extraordianry other than the will to get to the top).

Marvellous.  I took a day off in Benidorm, Easter Sunday, to have an English breakfast (rare in my part of the world), Sunday mass at 11.30, a sangria for the 1st time,  2 hours on the beach to read an English newspaper.  A day well spent. Even met people from my village here in the "calle de cogño" as they call it, because there are Basque bars serving 'pintxos' (tapas down south) and if you meet up with someone you recognise you say (in Spanish) "cogño, que estas haciendo aqui?"

It confirmed my suspicions.  Let those who only want costa life enjoy it; fine, but personally not for me.  There's much more to see and do up north, here in Euskadi/Euskal Herria/ Basque country as well as other parts of Spain.  The only thing we haven't got here is 300 days guaranteed sunshine, but then is it so advantageous?  We have water for the allotment and green mountainsides with shade to walk all year round. At least when I enter a shop here, they don't talk English to you.  And we're not surrounded by bars advertising English soccer matches.

So, those who don't yet know other parts of Spain, get out a bit more.  It's a rich country.