Are you happy with spain, how long you lived here and where?

I have lived in Spain most of the time since 1980. I first lived in and around Torremolinos for about 4 years, After a stint back in the U.K. I spent 6 years in Benidorm then I moved to Cox near Orihuela where I have been for the last 15 years.

I love living in Spain. Where I live is quite rugged & is surrounded by wonderful mountains and views. I have made some very long standing frendships with a number of the locals (including my wife).

There are many dificulties which we have faced & are faceing but the magic is still here.

I would like to spend some time back in the u.k. with my family with a view of comming back to Spain.

see the pattern?

those that live here part time love it

those that have just arrived love it

those that have lived here many years seem somewhat indifferent.

its like the heat the first year i was here.

1st year. phew its warm, this is awesome

2nd year. phew its a bit warm

3rd year, wow its hot

4th year, holy shit its hot

5th years, holy hell who lit this sodding fire

6th year. mother of god, when will this relentless heat stop

ect

if you see the person one year in spain in manilva they are living i

i do belive the longer you are here the more your patience is tested, hence why it works in 1, 3 and 7 year cycles.

if you do a survey of expats up and down southern spain you often find the same answer.

we have been here 1, 2 or 7 years with the occasional one saying 20 (from my experience on the costa del sol)

 I wonder why people seem happier to settle for longer on the Costa del Sol than the Costa Blanca when both areas have large numbers of ex pat facilities.

Sometimes it's better to be in an area that is not full or ex pats.

 Mungry, I think your results might be skewed.   Most of the expats I know who have been here a long time don't use  forums like this - they are happily getting on with their lives! 

Personally I find the summer heat easier to cope with as the years go by, I've become acclimatized.   The same with the other things that might be considered negatives (bureaucracy always top of the list),   Annoying at first but after a while you just learn the tricks and go with the flow.

 I have lived in Spain for 10 years and it has become my home , i lived in a Spanish town for 8 years , where mostly Spanish lived but there was expats as well but the town itself was very Spanish, and now i live in Manilva in a urbanisation and i love living here as well but the 2 places are totally different , here most people live here part time and the winter has been very quiet but i look forward to using the pools and hanging out in the port in the summer  but i miss the lively and quirky parts of where i lived, so i think living in the real spain or expat spain is up to the individual and there circumstances.

on the red tape, yes spain certainly needs a bit of updating and less manana but than is that wrong really. .

Comadreja

i am in 100% agreement with you.

for every few people on here complaining that they are running out of money and all the paperwork on the house is messed up ect.

there is also a ton that are busy living awesome lives across spain too busy to sit whining on the internet about how sucky it is in spain.

 Well Mungry, reading through this thread I can't see that there is so much negativity?  The majority seem to be pretty content with their lives here.  Of course things do go wrong sometimes, and people need somewhere to have a good whinge.    But I think most people appreciate that the pros outweigh the cons.

Maybe the sort of person who ups sticks and moves to another country in the first place is more likely to get itchy feet again after a few years, and look longingly at the grass on the other side of the fence?

"I love living in Spain. Where I live is quite rugged & is surrounded by wonderful mountains and views. I have made some very long standing frendships with a number of the locals (including my wife)."

I see this comment quite often and am curious do you converse mostly in Spanish/English or a mix of both. I can’t see you fitting in unless your fluent in the language

'Just like 'Sandrain Algorga' we succumbed 5 years ago whilst on an inspection trip (which of course we definitely weren't going to do!!)  and bought (off plan) a two bed apartment with mountain views.  We're on a small development in an old country town of Cox which is 30 minutes from beach and same again from choice of 2 airports.  The development is made up of several nationalities: Spanish; British and Irish; Belgiums; French; Germans; and Dutch.'
 

We looked at Cox - it was the second place we looked at, and if we hadn't already have fallen in love with Algorfa we would have bought there. We often take a ride out to the Cox/Callosa/Rafal area, when we're going on the train, or just fancy a run to a typical small Spanish town. We can see the same mountains from our terrace in Algorfa!

I do Speak Spanish, Most of my close friends are Spanish & I have a lot of non Spanish friends. At home I speak to My wife in Spanish & too my kids in English. They are totaly bilingual. My children Love England but have only had Holidays there. We Love the hot summers and take every oppourtunity to go to different beaches. The last four summers we have had Holidays in the north of Spain  ( camping in Asturias , Galicia, Adora, & Cataluña. We have also had 3 fantastic summer holidays in Almeria... it has the most rugged and natrual beaches with great snorkling. The winter on the otherhand is short lived, we have great Christmas celebrations which in our case is a mix of Spanish and British traditions. I have a log burner in my home which we all enjoy on the colder nights.

One of the things we like to do is find all the possable places for walks, picnicks, rivers to swim in, any possible excuse to get out & have a good time with the family. Yesterday we went to Sierra Espuña in Murcia and enjoyed the Snow which is a real noverty for my children. Haveing a small family here is certainly a BIG plus, they are enjoying their lives and I think that keeps me focused on the positive side of life here.....and I realy do love it here.

A positive with the area I live is that the predominat Spanish community never seems to change, they are always their, dont move away so there is a stability in the friendships. The Bristish community tends to be more transiant and short term which is a bit painful at times.Its Nice to be able to get to British supermarkets & stock up on some of the typical english things & to be able to get fish & chips every now and then. Another positive is that the expats create work... after a while we sus out who the cowboys are and find the reliable people weather they are Spanish or British. We find out who are real frinds are, people who keep in toutch long after your move away from home (& not just foe a cheep holiday at your expence)... people who are willing to help out when things get dificult.

Im a long term resident and Im very happy in Spain. 

We purchased on one of the largest ex-pat communities in Murcia Region. Known as Camposol ( Country Sun) its full time home for over 3,000 Brits and many other nationalities. The reasons we purchased at Camposol are many but mostly because when we visited a few times we met many, many groups of people and couples out and about and found a "community spirit that many could only dream of".  You do get the odd moner and groaner like the one who posts on this site and has a name like "our town" . But encounter someone like that and we just move on elsewhere. This is a place where you will find lots of smiling people enjoying the good live. Yes, we can also have the Real Spain if we get in the car and drive for 10 minutes as the beaches are only 15 minutes away Lorca,Cartegena Mazarron Alhama de Murcia just 30 minutes away . We have travelled extensively all over Europe and several times round the med and we chose Spain because (apart from lack of  Jobs and terribly complex  bureaucracy). Spain has all anyone could need. The economy will improve and Spain will thrive again.. give it time

I know if we wonder up to the many local bars clubs and restaurants on Camposol we will meet other Europeans from "all walks of live" who have hundreds of life experiances and interesting stories to talk about.  If we go to the local pub in England its the same  group sitting in the same seats talking the same stuff and mostly maoning about the weather . Yes, this does happen abroad but  on places like Camposol and other ex pat communities its nice to know you can have the best of everything, weather, low cost food and drinks, events going on all the time , you can either join in  or not.  Many of the people we met actually never intended LIVING in SPAIN but changed their minds as "going Home" became more and more of an ordeal as time went by.   we only have one life so enjoy.. Good luck to MU tonite.

aliton

your message is offensive about my freind camposol and you are on my ignore list now

** EDITED - Against forum rules **

aliton

your message is offensive about my freind camposol and you are on my ignore list now

** EDITED - Against forum rules **



Just as i suspected....typed with one finger.

Aliton-you really should seek some help with your spelling! I would prefer to say I am realistic rather than a moaner or groaner!

We live on an Urbanisation not too far from Camposol and we love it, I came here to set up a factory for the internatinal company I work for and was due to be here for just two years. I was very fortunate to be asked by the Spanish part of our group to stay here and after some firm negotiation did just that.

I have been here for 10 years and in just 15 months will retire and enjoy some retirement time. Yes there are problems and ours at Mazarron Country Club have been similar but not as severe as Camposol but we have just got on with it and decided as a community almost 4 years ago if we want to achieve our aspirations we have to do it ourselves, we have done that and are not disappointed with the outcome.

Still some matters to complete but our decision to help ourselves instead of looking for others to help us has been inspirational for many of the owners who previously couldn't envisage a positive outcome to the corruption and red tape associated with this country.

We love it here, would like to return to the UK for our final days if that were ever possible as we are British and will never be anything else but this country is a great place to live, provides a wonderful lifestyle, an amazing climate, the urbanisations create fantastic community spirit if owners look beyong the negative and we shall be staying for some time to come.

Barry

Why would you want to return to UK for your final days?

It's quite common, wanting to return to the UK to die, actually. Several of our friends in their 70s and even early 80s feel the same. I think it's the unfamiliar rituals, and the fact that their friends may not be able to get to the funeral, as it has to be done in a matter of days. There's also probably an element of wanting to be laid to rest where relatives can visit the grave, or the plaque in the crematorium. Sadly, a lot of people probably won't bother after the first few weeks.

As I won't know anything about it, I'm not bothered where I die, as long as it's a good few years in the future.

yep

loads of people hit an age where they get incredibly homesick and just long for the english things they ran away from.

its a pretty new problem in spain because all those that came in th last few decades have got old now and they look round and there is no famility to support them.

Camposol is right. Why indeed!

We solved our potential longings for family closeness by bringing all our children and their families out here, and very glad they are to be here, even with the problems Spain has. As for dying, we have signed up for science to have the corpses.