30 Sep 2012 3:56 PM:

Hi Orangecat

we don't quite fit your criterion as I am 50 and my husband is 42, and I have a grown up son of 22 who lives in the UK. That said  in the Uk we were a professional couple who both worked full time ( I was a management and business development consultant and my husband was a HR professional and freelence writer)

We moved here 2 years ago (Murcia province) and initiially I was a self - employed English teacher but gave it up due the unpredictable cashflow (cancelled lessons) and the inflexible €250.00 self employed social security payment. My husband has been developing his writing business and although fiction is his passion, his day job is business writing for magazines, web content, training manuals, ghost writing, editing and proof reading etc.

We are mortgage free and live quite a modest life here compared to our lifestyle in the UK, my husband's clients are international so we are not reliant on the Spanish economy and that was a strategic decision we made before moving here so that if we fancy a change we can move somewhere else.

Please private message me for more information if you think it would be useful

Thread: Looking for opinions from young, professional couples in Spain

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06 Aug 2012 2:45 PM:

Je je je Norman I find incoherance is so boring...... and feel a meaningful response in the light of your last post is a waste of my siesta,  so as having the last word seems so important to you, there you go you have it :):):)

Thread: BE HONEST...Would you stay in Spain if it wasn't for the weather?

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06 Aug 2012 1:48 PM:

Norman

With reference to your comment about Spain bashing being a silly invention, I would suggest you go to Uk media websites such as the Guardian or the Daily Mail and in the search box type "Spanish Economy or Spain" and count the % of negative articles, and then read all the negative comments.

Also check out MurciaToday the online paper, as there is a British journalist who is advertising specifically for Brits with "My Spanish dream turned to a nightmare" type of stories.

Whether the Spain bashing I am reading is just a general trend or something more sinister intended to cause problems with the Spanish and European economies is, I agree up for debate but the negative tone of articles and comments about Spain is a fact not an invention.

Oh and by the way people with means and sense who choose to live in Spain rather than the UK or France usually make the best use of air conditioning and Spanish architecture and live to a Spanish time schedule which helps one cope with the couple of months in the summer that are very hot.

I repeat again I love Spain, and would not choose to return to the UK.   The weather here is an important factor but not THE  most important factor, we wanted the experience of living in a different culture and chose Spain for it's culture, the language (easier than Latvian or Finnish which were also on our list) the amazing scenary, the diversity of the autonomous regions, the friendliness and good humour of the people etc. etc. We are looking forward to living in and visiting lots of different parts of Spain and experiencing the weather and seasons too.

It is great to see so may like minded posts on here but disappointing  that some  (Norman) still keep trying to bring down the level of debate.

Thread: BE HONEST...Would you stay in Spain if it wasn't for the weather?

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09 Jun 2012 2:11 PM:

Guy,

Perhaps my point wasn't clear enough:

1. As far as I understand it, a person is classed as a resident in Spain if they reside here for more than 3 months at a time without returning to their native country, and are treated as a resident of Spain by the authorities in both countries regardless of whether they have gone down the official residency route or not.  This means that they are not legally resident in the UK even if they still own property there, and are therefore they not legally entitled to UK NHS health care. Until recently this has not been too much of a problem for people who have been telling their UK GP's that they are still resident in the UK,  even when they live in Spain for more than 3 months at a time, as no one has been checking . However recently  I know several people who have returned to the UK for treatment (not UK residents as they have lived continuously in Spain for more than 3 months  and they have been interviewed by their NHS practice managers regarding dates of arrival and departure from the UK etc and have had to lie to get treatment. At this stage the Uk authorities do not seem to be checking border control records but I suspect that is a matter of time.

2.. The Spanish health service is contribution based and the UK health service is residence based, so although a person can be a Spanish resident,  if they do not pay tax and NI in Spain they are not entitled to Spanish NHS health care nor will they  be contributing to a Spanish pension.

3. People who return to the UK every 3 months and then stay there for 3 months are enttitled to access the NHS as they are still UK residents

4. Tax residency status is different to the residency associated with where one lives and is a little more complex, though in essence it relates to where income is earned or pension is sourced.

My point is that people under pension age who live in Spain for more than 3 months without returning to the UK for 3 months, could find that their access to the UK NHS is closed in the near future as the authorities in the UK are taking much tougher line and in answer to your question "Why should the UK authorities care?" I would think it is because all National Health services are increasingly short of money and need to cut back on expenditure where ever possible.

The point of my original post was to offer our experience of the "system" for health care when under pension age and highlight the various pitfalls and benefits. As far as I can see the rules are fairly simple regarding residency and tax residency, and a good lawyer/accountant can sort out any problems or queries. What is clear from our experience is that it is not up to individuals to choose to comply or not comply with either Spanish or UK legislation,  though some seem to think this way.

We have already  had an unannounced inspection from The Hacienda (Spanish tax office) to confirm that my husband's business is legal and correctly registered for tax  etc,. they also wanted to check where his income is earned, to ensure he is paying tax in the right country and paying tax and NI in Spain just to access the Spanish NHS. So I think it would be naiive to think  "the authorities don't care" maybe it was that way once but times are changing.

You might also find that car insurance companies actually do expect you to comply with residency rules and if you have not then your policy may be invalid if you are unfortunate enought to have to make a claim.

 

 

This message was last edited by rowantree on 09/06/2012.
Thread: moving my mother to spain

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09 Jun 2012 12:29 PM:

I am not going to comment on the situation with your mother as other posts have pretty much covered everything I would say, however regarding your own health care I would like to share our experience with you.

Iam 50 (48 when we moved here) and my husband in 43. I have a health condition that means I need monthly injections and also regular access to a GP and a range of prescription medications. We planned to set up a business in Spain and  understood that we would be covered by the reciprocal EU agreement via E11 or equivalent for 2 years.  But were told by our local Spanish health centre that it is for emergency treatment only, and the Dept. of Social Security were most unhelpful in terms of clarifying the position. So we decided to go to a private Dr for a couple of months whilst we got on our feet (the move will probably be more stressful than you think, especially if you move to a Spanish speaking area, our Spanish was ok when we moved here but local accents plus subjects they don't teach you in your UK Spanish class such as dealing with Social Security terminology can make the early months tiresome as well as an adventure)

Example of private medication and treatment costs:

It cost me €90.00 for a 6 month supply of injectable medication (private prescription) and €30.00 for every injection, plus €50.00 a time for  regular blood tests at a private clinic to monitor blood levels and then another €30.00 to discuss the results with the private Dr. Other medication was about €6.00 a packet (still cheaper than a UK prescription)

After a couple of months my husband became self employed and so now  both my husband and I receive full Spanish NHS health care and make contributions to the State Spanish pension scheme.  But and this is a big but,  the monthly National Insurance contribution for self employment (Autonomo) is €250.00 per month regardless of turnover!!!! which can be a big outlay if your business has a bad month, tax is also calculated differently here too and paid monthly or 3 monthly depending on the size of business. (I can recommend a fantastic accountant and legal team who can help with this if you want further legal advice)

You may or may not manage to wrangle the system into submission and get 2 years full health cover(including GP and prescriptions etc  from your E11 depending on where you live but even assuming you do,  at the end of the 2 year period you either need legal employment with the usual mix of employee and employer contributions or one of you will need to become self employed otherwise you will not have access to the Spanish health service for either regular or emergency treatment..

Many UK  ex-pats we know fiddle the system by returning to the UK for regular visits and maintain that they are still UK residents even though they spend more than 3 months at a time in Spain, both the Spanish and UK authorities are beginning to crack down on this so this "option"  won't be available for much longer - Hope this helps and doesn't sound too negative

Thread: moving my mother to spain

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