Is living in Spain Boring?

I have just read the article about ex pats drinking to excess in Spain. It suggests that many have found life in Spain  boring and that they just drink to pass the time away.

Being retired we should have time on our hands in Spain and hope to find plenty of things to fill that time.Obviously the first few months will be taken up with finding our way around and hopefully making new freinds but what happens after that?  Have other retired people on here found they are kiling time? or have they found plenty to keep them occupied.

I would be interested to hear othr peoples views and experiences

I am sure we all know people who do in fact just drink all day, but there are plenty who don't. 

I think there are a whole host of reasons for it:

If you retire in UK and stay there, you probably find it hard to fill your time there if you don't already have hobbies to pursue and perhaps a garden to tend.  You  probably don't end up drinking too much because it is prohibitively expensive, but you generally have many friends and possibly lots of family to keep you busy.  Here your family (particularly grandchildren) who might take up your time are not available and possibly you don't have enough outside interests and the booze is temptingly cheap.

If you move from a house with a garden to a brand new apartment with no garden at all, you have little to do around the house, so maybe one answer is, look for a property which needs work!

You have to make your own amusement and find new friends, starting more or less from scratch.  If you happen to fall in with a crowd who spend all their time drinking then that is what you are likely to end up doing.

If you want to avoid it there are plenty of things you can do to occupy yourself more productively:  bowls, golf (although this is very expensive), tennis, gyms, aquaaerobics, walking groups etc for physical activity.  Craft classes - pottery, painting etc.  Writing groups.  Charities: every area has charities and they are always looking for volunteers for fund-raising etc.  Then there are the masochistic sort like us who seem to want to spend our retirement up ladders, with drills in hand or chained to a sewing machine.

We have a wide circle of friends, and we enjoy socialising with them, but it rarely gets out of hand - alhough we do have some photos of certain celebrations.... but they were in private!  We are certainly not killing time - in fact it is frightening how fast it goes.

I couldn't agree with you more. I think retirement is what you make of it, it needs planning and it needs work especially in a new country where family and friends are not readily available so you need to start again, and that takes effort. But I think a lot of it is down to the type of person you are. If you have been proactive in your life, making things happen, trying new things then I think a new life in Spain is an adventure to look forward to, if you tend be someone who waits for things to happen to them, then yes, retirment in Spain could be difficult after the novelty of the sunshine has worn off.

I suppose it will be interesting to ask me the same question in 12 months time, when I have lived there permanently for a year.

BORING ?? I don't have time to be bored !!

Quick rundown of my week............Monday evening I do a quiz ( do drink 2 shandies during this ), Tuesday am , pilates plus coffee with friends, Wednesday evening, participate in Quiz ( more shandy ) Thursday am, Irish road bowling plus coffee with friends, Friday am, Unisex slimming and Recreation club meeting, of which I am chairperson,  Friday pm, participate in another quiz, Saturday FREE, Sunday Irish road bowling and usually lunch with friends.

Then there are ALL the usual things like washing, Ironing, cleaning, shopping and cooking AND I bake cakes. Once a month I have my hair done and also a manicure. In the summer I swim and sunbath. I use the internet and play on line games and read a lot and knit and do tapestry a bit. Then we have to socialise and have friends round for dinner ( it's such a chore ) and I'm never too busy to stop for a chat. My husband is Presidente and whatever you say about that position ( and I have said a lot!! ) it's never boring.

Living in Spain boring ??.......NEVER, but as always, LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT.

Yes Karen,

Life certainly is what you make it. Day off today and stuck in because of cold wet weather, how boring is that??  

But just booked flights for long weekend beginning of April so feel better now  .

Hi Alcupulco,

The biggest difference for me here although i am not retired(39) is that we have many friends that are,people seem to mix more here as they are all in the same boat ie settling in a new country.

My retired friends are always out ,here, there and everywhere,they are always coming back with stories of this new place and more activities they have found.

They always ask me if i have been here or seen this and i always have to say no as i am at work all week.

I don't think they ever get time enough to be bored............ 

Most people when they first get here draw breath and sit and watch, as soon as that wears off they are off to find new adventures....

Hi Candy, quite right, I do actually do a bit of dancing.I get bored just doing exersises and dancing does the same job but is more interesting.

It is most encouraging to hear about all these active people, especially the more mature ones.

I have often thought about whether I'll get bored when I move over to Spain. We're both under 35 and we have a 7 week old baby. We're moving over in June and I sometimes wonder what we'll do all day, after the initial 2 or 3 weeks of sun bathing on the beach, lounging around on the solarium reading a book and sipping a long cool drink, what on earth are we going to do all day long?

Maybe this will be the opportunity to actually fill our day doing some we actually LIKE doing, unlike in the UK where we spend all day working, get home in the dark, sit in the house with the heating on and then do it all again the next day!!

We are so excited about changing our life and cant wait to get started.