Retiring to Spain, your experiences please

[ruthcasares]

Hi Everyone,
I am currently researching an article about retiring to Spain and would like to hear about your experiences. In particular what were the main problems that you encountered and how did you resolve them. Also what are the positive aspects of moving to Spain on retirement?
Thanks,
Ruth

[joe]

I've been to Spain once as a side trip while on a visit to Aix-en-Provence, France. Myself and a friend went to Barcelona for a few days. I don't know if I'm in your target age range, since I won't be retiring for another 40 years or so, but the main problem I encountered was confusion on the bill at a restaurant and the stated "special" on the restaurant's menu. My Spanglish was good enough, so I was able to straighten it out, but had it not been I would have just had to eat the extra charge. This was all resolved through the restaurant owner, who perhaps found me somewhat endearing (or amusing) since at least I was *trying* to speak his language instead of throwing a temper tantrum in mine.

Other than that the trip was without any hiccups, aside from my companion's distaste with our sleeping arrangements ;)

[ruthcasares]

Thanks for your reply, yes they certainly do appreciate it if you make an effort to speak the language, it is only polite really and unfortunately I am sure there are plenty of incidents were they take advantage of those who don't.

Ruth

[everyann]

I've been to Mallorca and Barcelona. I can only imagine what it'd be like to retire as I'm many many years away from that. The people of Barcelona were great! I only had one bad incident involving a cab ride. We were staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar, I believe, and a couple of us that got in the cab spoke little Spanish but attempted to tell him where we wanted to go. We showed him our hotel card key with the name and address and we were on our way. About a half an hour or so goes by and we're all wondering what happened? Our last cab right was only 15 mins tops. We ended up on the other end of Barcelona where the OTHER Hilton was. Needless to say we knew the driver was trying to pull a fast one on us saying we just said Hilton but as we approached our Hilton he knew we were going to have someone translate to him that it was ridiculous and we weren't going to pay his meter that ran for over an hour.

So, my advice is to ask around about how long it takes to get to your destination or a common route you can ask the driver to go and if you can...bring a map. That way you're not being dragged all over Barcelona. Ha.

[sunnews]

You can find a lot of information on the Spanish Sun Newspaper website.

[nieves22]

Hello.
I live in Barcelona for 7 years.
My mother was looking for some information about retiring visa, but it seems to be a little
bit difficult.
In the 80s many Japanese people went to live near Malaga, but I heard that most of them had to come back to Japan. The problem was their "Spanish" level because many people in Japan think in Spain people understand and speak English, but the reality is... you know!

And now the prices are high in Spain, and it's not so attractive to live in Spain, I guess.

[bigal73]

My wife and I left the UK over two years ago, to live in Spain. We live in a large village/small town called Periana, inland from the Costa del Sol and abot one hour's drive from Malaga airport. Wev are about 1500' above sea-level, which is supposed to mean it is a little cooler but that doesn't seem to have applied during the last few weeks and we have just had at least one week of temperatures in the 90's.

This is one thing I would warn prospective immigrants about. I have known, particularly elderly, residents who have given up and gone back to the UK, either for good or for the really hot months of July and August.

As for other comments, in this thread, I wholeheartedly agree with those who say the locals will appreciate an attempt at the language and are only too willing to help. If you want to become a little more proficient, there are many teachers around, who will give you lessons at reasonable rates. For the last year I have been attending for one hour, twice a week, at E6 per session and with assistance from the staff in shops and bars etc, things are improving.

I can only really speak for my area but have found that 'incomers' are usually welcomed, particularly if they try to integrate. Going back to the language problems, a stationery store in our village has an ex-pat British customer, who in 20 years here, has not attempted to speak one word of Spanish. Needless to say, he gets very little assistance, if any, from the owner or his staff, whereas we who attempt to communicate in Spanish, find that the staff can speak a little English and will help all they can.

The Spanish people in general are wonderfully warm and friendly and I have no regrets about moving here and have no intentions of moving back to the UK.

Think about a move carefully, think about it again and then do it!
bigal

[nieves22]

Originally Posted by bigal73

This is one thing I would warn prospective immigrants about. I have known, particularly elderly, residents who have given up and gone back to the UK, either for good or for the really hot months of July and August.

bigal

I've heard about this, as well.
In the south in Spain, the prices are cheap. but the hot summer is very hard to live for erderly people. Sometimes reaches till 40 ºc.

[nieves22]

Originally Posted by bigal73

thing I would warn prospective immigrants about. I have known, particularly elderly, residents who have given up and gone back to the UK, either for good or for the really hot months of July and August.
bigal

Yes, it's true.
I've heard about this.
In the south of Spain, the prices are low and you can afford, but the hot summer make them very hard to live there.
Sometimes reaches till 40ºc or 45ºc depends on cities.