It's -2 here in the UK - How are you getting on in Spain?

Hello All, Newbie here!
Great site, very informative, it has helped me learn a little regarding what life in Spain would be like.

Well with the UK's Government and Police run state, you need permission for everything you do and think and frankly I do not wish to live here any longer. The weather is the biggest pain the backside other than the Government, as well as the British mentality and the whole country going on rapid decline, therefore I would rather work and pay my hard earned money into somewhere other than Britain.
I've got a career in administration, being a PA to a dept of the Home Office and my partner is an Electrical Engineer. I have decided to take the TEFL course and think I would do well teaching children. My partner is looking into what type of employment he could get with his qualifications in the electrical field.

We have an ideal 'dream' of living and working in Spain, in a small community a couple of hours drive from the coast where we can buy an old car for visits to the coast and grow our own veg. I would love to work for a small school, perhaps private teaching children English. We would wish to live out of the coastal boundries and don't fancy any of the costas.
We are both learning the Spanish language as we speak (excuse the pun)....and I remember quite a lot from my schooling. I think Spain would suit us both as we not only love the sun (yes, it's -2 here and snowing and surprise the council haven't bought enough grit to cover the roads) We envy the Spanish lifestyle as well as the food!!

Reading through some of the posts with regards to the cost of living, I have noticed a lot of them are from 2008, as this is ever changing, I am wondering if any of you could spare the time to give me the low down on cost of living and the comparisons to what life living and working in Spain is to that of the UK, how you get on with the local people, what the Spanish really think of Ex Pats and what the positives are to living in Spain. Also, it would be interesting to know what you found to be negative and what is better or worse than how it is in the UK. Is it all 'manana manana' and would I get work teaching English?

Thanks.

Hi Misskg, I think the best thing for anybody considering moving to Spain is to spend a little time living here yourself first as everybodys opinion would be very different depending on whether their cup is half full or half empty! There is good and bad things about living in Spain, the good thing is mainly the weather the bad thing is the bureaucracy that has to be dealt with, worse than the UK I can assure you. Hope this helps

Hola

Welcome to Eye On Spain

Hi missKG,

                   The best piece of advice has already been given to you by KP. If you are able, come over and live here for a few months before committing. Find the right area first, then the house.

Over many years I have seen people come, people stay and people go. The 'dream' is possible but you need to be flexible. Sometimes what you think is your ideal does not always become reality. However just a move to a new area or environment does the trick.

The bureaucracy does drive you mad - take a deep breath and count to ten - is my advice.

Importantly, you are doing the right thing learning Spanish. It will help you no end especially dealing with bureaucracy and making Spanish friends.

The cost of living generally is marginally lower that the UK (depending where you are living) so of you say it is on a par you will be quids (euros) in.

Hope that warms you up a bit. Although living inland, as you intend, can be chilly here too.

Good luck, come on over.

KP

Not sure that I totally agree with you re bureacracy.  Last year we succeeded in buying a new apartment in Jumilla, after renting for over a year, changing the padron, getting connected to Iberdrola, Gas Natural, Agua and internet (though admittedly that took a while because it is a new build and we were the first people requiring internet here!).  This is in spite of not speaking fluent Spanish!  Prior to this we also sorted out residencia and SIP cards.

Last year I completed my Self-assessment form online, and a year later I am still battling with HM Revenue & Customs trying to get it sorted out.  I have also had problems with my UK bank, trying to change the address etc.  This is in spite of speaking reasonably fluent English!

Good advice though, as we certainly found it helpful to rent somewhere first.  I would add the following to the good things about Spain: friendly, helpful locals; lots of lively fiestas; good, comparatively cheap vino, fresh fish, fruit and vegetables; menu del dia, meaning that pensionistas can occasionally eat out even with the poor exchange rate!

Misskg.  The most important thing if you plan to live away from the costas is to speak some Spanish, so you are doing the right thing.  Good luck!

Sue

You have to remember that Spain does suffer from bad weather too!

At the moment most of the north of Spain is knee deep in snow.  We live on the South coast but half an hour inland it was snowing in the villages there too.  We are going up to Granada this weekend....to see the snow!

We have had non-stop rain for 4 weeks now and it does get very cold.  Spanish houses are not built for the cold.

Spain is a huge country so the advice given here already is very good.  Try it out first, don't burn all your bridges at once.  Spain is suffering from the highest unemployment in Europe so getting a job is practically impossible.

We initially dreamed of living in the wilds originally but we're grateful we didn't in the end.  It can be very tough and basic services aren't always available in many inland areas.

Do LOTS of research before committing to anything!

Best of luck.

Justin

Another good point made by Justin.  As he says, Spanish houses aren´t built for the cold.  We have bought a new apartment, which admittedly is a lot warmer than the old one we rented previously, however the best advice we received was to buy a south-facing property if you plan to live there all year round.  On sunny days (not as frequent at the moment!), the sun shines through the sliding doors leading onto our balcony and our living area gets really warm, so we don´t need to switch any electric fires on.  When it gets dark, all our shutters are down to keep in the heat.  Hopefully our next electric bill will be a lot cheaper than last year!

Sue

The snow is starting to melt over here in the UK but we may get some more. It's one degree as I post this.

-1 here at the moment.... very very depressing!

We had a lovely morning and afternoon here, however when we were walking home from town at about 6pm it started raining again.  Still, I did notice that the temperature displayed outside the Farmacia was 12 degrees, so I won't complain! 

Some parts of Spain are having bad weather though: snow in the north and a lot of rain in the south.  I have noticed that they have stopped showing the UK´s weather on Spanish TV as some regions in Spain are getting very bad weather now!

Sue