Is living in Spain really that bad now???

Dear All,

may I remind you once again that this thread was a total wind-up.

there never was a fugitive from London seeking sanctuary in Spain.

but as always all information is welcome.

Valentinaradu it is probably just coincidence but the warm sun here has tempted me to leave the central heating today and go out where the sun has cleared the snow excepting some of the drift remains. The sun really perks things up.

what are we to make of Pitby's input??

it seems that she is advertising apartments again.

does that mean she is off to pastures new, or snapped a subsidence damaged bargain off the bank to add to her portfolio???

give us the facts, what have you got to lose??

if the pound recovers because Spain is even worse off than the UK you might even get a booking.

Regards

Norman

Max, very good, taken and returned in excellent spirit!

Obviously our friend ads can't take a minute from his quest for the "ultimate answer''

And good old Norman persists in reporting global weather fronts, while trying to seduce Pitby into letting him in on her supposed Spanish business empire

Valle del Este gets wetter by the day  so off to Granada for some "wet'' culture

Good news is the reseviours are full so the water charges won't be increased!!!!!!!!!!

As far as we are concerned, having lived in the UK for many years (not saying how many but I am a UK pensioner!) and having lived in Spain for nearly two years, we are still very happy with our decision to move here.  If we are doing weather reports: the temperature in Jumilla is now in double figures and the sun is shining, which can´t be bad.  From February 12th until March 14th we are able to go out with friends for a tapa and glass of vino for the princely sum of 2 euros, which also can´t be bad.  Of course things aren´t perfect, but on balance I think it´s fair to say that living in Spain is really good.

Sue

PS Norman, you may notice that I am advertising my book..... however it´s not exactly an Amazon best-seller yet, so hope that is OK with you?!!

 Dear All,

_______________________
N. Sands

Oh come on !!!         Herne Bay ??   Lets try to keep this serious

Is that near Herne Hill?

Dear All,

no it is Canterbury's sunny coastline and after a full sun spring day we ended with the proverbial red sky but no double figures.

Canterbury now has a high speed train service into London for our imaginary fugitive.

Regards

Norman

Whistler

I was only joking.   I know Herne Hill and Herne Bay only too well.  315GBP for 1 room?  362€?  We rent a fully furnished 4 bed house o.f.c.h. office, huge living room, 2 bathrooms, patio, kitchen/diner, sun lounge, gardens for 550€ (477GBP) per month, and we are looking around for something similar but cheaper!

The other advantage is that it DOES'NT have a high speed link to central London (unless you count Ryanair).

Dear Max,

steady on, the single room includes bills and the imaginary fugitive had a London salary and was quoting London rents.

the point I suppose is that your rent and lifestyle cannot be afforded without a salary, so you must do a Justin or a Techno and get on the web.

Good luck 

Norman 

As a follow up to Georgia's post, Microsoft is coming to Torrevieja.

Hi Norman,

Yes, EXACTLY!  What is there left to do in Spain to earn an honest crust?  There's the rub (and I'm not talking about massages).

I've just about had all of the vindictive B***S*** that I can take from everyone on EOS, who knock everyone who is either:

A) Doing well for themselves in Spain

B) Helping people on this, and other forums, about Life and Living in Spain.

C) Both!

FYI....

I work a forty hour week... if not more so!

Do I work on the web... No!

Do I work soley in an office... No!

Do I push a 'product' or 'service' down anybody's throat on EOS or anywhere else... No!

I have my own business here on the Costa Del Sol. It is not web based... in fact at the moment I don't even advertise on the web!

In fact, I don't even advertise, as all my work comes from satisfied customers referrals.

And seeing as Norman will want the 'facts'...

I now run my own IT Consultancy Business here in the area that I live... I could go on and on about what I do! However, unlike some, I won't talk on here about what 'could' have' or 'what should have' happened. If on the other hand some people want to know, then I will tell them 'what did happen' and how 'I took charge of my life and my destiny'.

Do I have satisfaction from my work... Yes!

Do I relax after work every day, either in the pool or my Hot Tub, or enjoy playing a round of golf now and again... Yes!

Do I appear happy with my life choices... You bet your ass I do!!!

Yes! Living in Spain is really that bad now!

And when things get better, thanks to the mass exodus of the ex-pat, never did any research, jumped on a Aeroplane, moved to Spain 'cause they thought they would never have to work again, where's the Sangria, pass the Sun Cream leave Costa Del Blackpool, move back to 'Good old Blighty', sign back on the dole, give us a house as I've got a pucker tan after living the 'dream-but-what-a-nightmare', wish I'd never left, never wanted to work again crowd.... then things will get even better!

As those of us who have worked hard to make a new life for ourselves, moved to Spain having already done plenty of research and realised that even though we would still have to work for a living, or can afford to retire having worked hard all our lives, that we would have a substantially better standard of life,continue to do such.. and continue to enjoy it... in the Sun!

Now where did I put that glass of Sangria... ah yes! Next to the sun cream right beside the sun bed. 

Hmm! Methinks this thread is back on topic now. 

Stop sitting on the fence, Technoape, say what you really mean.

(Just need Norman to come Stormin' in now.  Think I'll go and grab the popcorn).

As a follow up to Georgia's post, Microsoft is coming to Torrevieja.

That's great news that Microsoft are moving to Torrevieja.  Spain needs to attract more technology businesses like this.  It is still a technologically backward country, especially Andalucia.  We do have Accenture in Malaga and I think Oracle have a centre in Sevilla, but there's not much else IT wise down my way, with the exception of Gibraltar.

Technoape - come on now - what's your real name - Gates is it?

Na!

He hasn't got as many customers as me!

Besides which, when I fix something... it's something that actually needed fixing in the 1st place, and doesn't break anything else in the 2nd place!?!?!

to all pensioner ex pats/early retirees, especially those who say they would never go back to the uk;

how about the fact that  you must  pay income tax in spain from all your pensions, bank interest and other incomes from the uk, as you love spain so much? you know you should-your tax liability is here, because you live here. you must be aware of spain's economic position? taxes going up because a large number of people here don't pay theirs;  yes, we know income tax on certain types of pensions have to be paid in uk, but most have several pensions that are liable to be taxed in spain.  if you love spain as much as you say you do, pay up 'cos spain needs your money!  none of these excuses, we pay, so should you.lack of knowledge is a poor excuse-go on the net, phone the uk tax office, they 'll tell you how to exempt yourself from uk tax in order to pay it in spain. all you pool and villa cleaners  who supplement your hefty pensions with cash in hand and not a cent paid to to the tax office, shame on you- i hope you get found out and suffer the consequences. sorry, no use saying old pedro has been dealing in black money for 50 years with impunity, you know it's not right. all you residents with uk registered cars, paying no road tax in spain-you're illegal anyway, driving a car with no mot or tax( and if you do have these it can only be by fooling the dvla that you still live in the uk, by using someone elses address, which is fraud.) despite what the local police officer stated in the euro weekly news, you cannot be legally insured- do you want to have an accident before you find this out? those who really love spain, want to integrate etc, act as if you live in spain, not move here and live as if you were still in the uk, cherry picking the best out of each country, but committing to neither.you are no lover of spain, just a user, so do what you tell others to do when they dare to criticise spain , or write about some injustice they have suffered( and god knows, there are many) GO BACK TO THE UK-AFTER ALL YOU ARE LIVING AS IF YOU HAVE NEVER LEFT!

Having a bad Sunday, Camposol?  Me, I'm chilling out (literally as we had 3 inches of snow on Wednesday night and another 3 inches last night). 

I would love to pay tax on my pension in Spain as my allowances would be greater but I can't.  The Paymasters in UK tax my pension at source and they can't be paid free of tax, therefore I pay my taxes to the UK government.  Not sure about the OAP but I won't get that for another 5 years.  I also don't intend cleaning other peoples pools, sweeping out their living rooms, making their beds nor watering their plants when they are away.  I also intend to change my car to a Spanish registered one when I get over there as I couldn't stand the hassle of being stopped by trafico every other roundabout.  I also speak Spanish, shop in Spanish shops (especially those well known and old established Spanish companies called IKEA and Iceland) and have embraced the Mediterranean diet (San Miguel being my preferred way of dieting) but will continue to use butter on my bread instead of olive oil if, of course, that is alright with you! 

What I don't need, especially on a Sunday at home) are people who write posts that say to all pensioner ex pats/early retirees,

Perhaps you should qualify the first line a little bit and don't treat us all as if we are trying to milk the system.

Oh, well, back to the chilling out bit. 

you obviously do not understand what i said; you can arrange via the tax office for non residents in the uk,( tel:0044-1512102222) to have your pensions paid without the tax deducted at source -i know, i've done it!  they will advise you, send appropriate forms etc.also, i hate to tell you, but the tax allowances in spain are not as generous as the uk; there is a lot of misleading info given out by lawyers and tax accountants who do not understand  the tax concerns of ex pats. the allowance over which you must pay tax is about 6-7000 euros -not much!( its certainly not the 22000 euros  some state- that only applies to spanish workers who already have tax deducted at source, not for ex pats) and you will probably need to pay a tax accountant.  it is not a matter of choice, whether you like it or not, you have to pay it here. people do not realise the implications of not paying it until they sell their house or a partner dies. the  tax office in spain needs to get its house in order and clamp down on these non payers who are sticking two fingers up at them. i am not tarring all ex pats with the same brush, but i know from 9 years of living here that there are many doing what i described earlier, with no intention of paying tax

No, you can't.  Armed Forces pensions cannot be paid without having the tax deducted.  In fact, it would be great if it was as Armed Forces pensions are not liable for tax in Spain.  This little bit from the SCF Group

"Civil Service Pensions covered under the UK/Spanish Tax Treaty: Individuals who have worked within the British civil service such as policemen, people in the armed forces, the fire service, local authorities, the diplomatic service etc. are not subject to Spanish income taxes. However, it should be noted that people who worked for the National Health Service are not covered under the Treaty provisions and are subject to Spanish taxes whether or not tax has already been paid in the UK."

My NHS Pension (when I get it) will be subjected to tax in Spain and I have asked the NHS Pensions to pay it direct to a Spanish bank with no tax deducted.  This amount, however, will be under the joint allowance allowed in Spain so I will not be liable to tax even though I do not to declare it each year.

The fact that when I live in Spain does not exempt me from paying UK on the Armed Forces pension which will be taxed before I get it (probably why you don't have to pay tax on it in Spain).

Look at many forums and you will find that government pensions are treated very differently to private pensions.

So your sweeping statement of "you can arrange via the tax office ......etc" does not apply to me (nor anyone in receipt of Forces pensions).

Hi

You are quite correct Babaol. We are tax resident in Spain but my Civil Service pension MUST be taxed in UK. My OAP is paid direct to my Spanish bank and is accounted for on our  Spanish tax return.

Just for the record we also drive a Sspanish reg car despite living within 10 minutes of Camposol.

I agree some expats are working on the black but not all of them. I know quite a few who are struggling to pay their social security here in Spain.

Please stop making such sweeping generalisations. Most of us enjoy our lives here, accept that we are not living UK on sea and do our best to stick to the rules.

Jean

PS Living here may not be a bed of roses (though I am not complaining) but it still better than UK in my opinion. We certainly would have a lower standard of living.