This post is not about the song made famous by Topol from the musical "Fiddler on the Roof".
Nor is it about the fabulous sunrises and sunsets we get down here in Andalucia either.
These celestial delights are just the starting point for an article about the continuing popularity of the area among northern Europeans.
[allmusicals.com]
"Sunrise, sunset!"
Look at these skies! All taken from in front of my west-facing house.
Sunset in November 2025 Sunrise in December 2025 Sunset in December 2025
Such heavenly sensations are not the reason I emigrated to Spain, but weather phenomena are part of the reason I continue to live here .....
Why people come to Spain to live?
Let's be brutally honest here, most of the half a million "guiris" who live along the Mediterraneaan litoral came here for the weather, 300 days of sun per year. A valid reason for sure.
The majority were retired and realised their pensions would stretch a lot further in Spain, even on the more-expensive-than-inland coast.
Property was more affordable than at home and the cost of living was lower.
A stereotypical "guiri" [Computer Hoy]
Booze was cheaper and the food was good and more nourishing than in their countries of origin.
They didn't need to learn the language because the Spanish on the coasts spoke adequate English to deal with most situations, whether a simple bar or restaurant transaction or a more complex meeting at the bank, the notary, the gestor or the lawyer. For other bureaucratic matters the immigrants could hire an interpreter.
"Life's a beach!" as the saying went.
Why I came to Spain to live?
I think my reasons are not typical for northern European immigrants. They were just different from those listed above. I don't think they were better reasons, it's just the way the situation was.
I was studyinng for a degree in Spanish and the university sent me and my "classmates" to San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa) for our "year abroad".
That was in 1970. I was 20 and Franco was still in charge.
[Spain.info]
I've written about this at length elsewhere, but, in summary, I was smitten by the slightly backward, old-fashioned and less sophisticated Spain of that period.
General Franco died in November 1975 - we just celebrated the 50th anniversary of his death last month - and the country changed almost overnight, yet I still loved being here.
Over the next three decades I travelled the length and breadth of this land on holiday or on business, trying to work out a way to come here to live permanently.
Then several circumstances - redundancy, divorce, early retirement and meeting a new lady - gave me the chance to emigrate. That was in 2008. And I've been here ever since!
So, to sum up my reasons for moving to Spain, they were ..... LOVE!
Love of the country; love of the people; love of the language; love of the food; love of the culture, history and geography; and the love for a fine woman, the "Lovely Rita".
Our wedding [HMR]
I am not saying that these are better reasons than the motives of the "guiris" on the coast, but they are MY reasons.
I shall remain in Spain until I die, hopefully many years from now.
My body will be cremated and the urn containing my ashes will be concreted into a nicho (niche) in the cemetery "wall".
[La Vanguardia]
When I die
My two kids, Amy and Tom, will inherit my property in Spain, currently two houses wholly owned by me.
If I pre-decease Rita, my wife, she will get "usufruct", my car and the contents of my bank accounts, two in Spain and one in the UK. She will be well provided for.
[By the way, If she dies before me, I get her car and the contents of her bank account in Spain. Everything else, her house and the contents of her German bank account, will be shared equally between her three children.]
[eficacia juridica]
My kids will get my two properties to share between them, notwithstanding the "usufruct", ie Rita's right to continue living in the marital home until she decides to move out or dies.
Back to the idea that prompted this article
Those dramatic skies ..... just like Spain, the country ..... dramatic!
The bullfight, flamenco, coasts and mountains, politics, and lately danas, drought, floods, ice and snow, tsunamis, and wildfires.
[Photo courtesy of CNN]
Interesting links
How to ..... ?
Sunrise, Sunset
Where there’s a WILL … the process in Spain - Secret Serrania de Ronda
© Diary of a Nobody
Pictures:
allmusicals.com, CNN, Computer Hoy, eficacia juridica, HMR, La Vanguardia, Paul Whitelock, Spain.info,
Thanks:
Paul Whitelock, www.help-me-ronda,com
Tags:
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