Is living in Spain really that bad now???

I've been in Spain for 17 years now and I consider myself a guest here. This country has given me everything: a beautiful wife and family, a life full of sunshine, and the opportunity to make the most of myself. I'm deeply grateful.

An aside- Might rattle a few cages the thought of banking staff being tens of £k better off when it was the Banks that got us into this mess in the first place........ but better not go there!!!........

praguepix, that's why most expats opt for CDS and Marbella, the weather there is considerably better than the rest of Spain.

Believing ALL of Spain is like the CDS is something most Brits incorrectly assume. Be it the weather or lifestyle. I am not complaining just explaining.

As for signs of the recession.....yes, there are shops around here offering huge discounts on big-ticket goods, that's true, but a visit to a shopping mall such as La Canada in Marbella gives an entirely different picture. The carpark is packed and shops are bustling. Whether people are buying as they used to in the good old days is another matter.

praguepix, I've also noticed how busy La Canada always is.  I was reading in Sur In English that the reason La Canada is doing so well is that people are going there instead of Marbella town centre, because it is free to park in La Canada.  Parking charges in Marbella are a joke.  There are lots of empty prime location properties on the main shopping streets of Marbella now as a result.  So I wouldn't read too much into La Canada being busy.

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oh yes!. Is there any other job that rewards failure so well? (with the possible exception of Spanish judges!)

 Generally we have the same weather in the Costa Blanca than the Costa Del Sol.

This year is has been far drier and far warmer, so i would disagree totally with Floella's statement.

and....most expats now choose this area for value for money and infrastructure not the CDS.

 Dear All,

well today is starting well, buds on the daffodils and out of the light wind, half-naked sunbathing would be possible.

and of course do the rewards go to those most deserving???????????

Regards

Norman

Go to Plaza Mayor at the weekend and also there seems to be no sign of a recession.

Part of the answer is the fact that Spain has so many funcionarios (civil servants) and they are all still in work and getting paid and to some extent enjoying the recession as they benefit maybe from lower interest rates and can also take ful advantage of all discounts etc.

Someone told me that Spain has in excess of 4 million funcionarios all with jobs for life!!!!

Other countries have had to reduce head count in its public offices - where is the money going to come from to pay all these people?

I also believe this to be one of the reasons Spain will not embrace technology since it would do away with a lot of these paper shufflers.

Also lets talk about saving the environment - what do they do with all the photocopies of everything in duplicate - triplicate? where do they file it all?

 Generally we have the same weather in the Costa Blanca than the Costa Del Sol.

This year is has been far drier and far warmer, so i would disagree totally with Floella's statement.

and....most expats now choose this area for value for money and infrastructure not the CDS.

Georgia

I chose the CDS because my family has property here. We live in a quiet area, no high-rise, no night-life, burger bars etc. and very few other immigrants, British or other nationality.  It's not always about 'value for money' aka comparative cheapnessalthough obviously you hope to get vfm whatever you pay.

We would pay more for peace and quiet, wherever we chose to live!

.

Well I'm in Lorca & on monday the fleece came off along with the jumper &a hat went on whilst repointing my wall monday morning. I've only seen rain on 7 days since before xmas & now @5,30pm it's still @ 18c in the shade. Yes we're still geting a frost early in the morning,something I didn't foresee when I first came here 8 years ago, but personally I find the weather here far better in autumn,winter & spring than anywhere else. That's why it's called the city of the sun. It's 2nd for hottest places in Spain & i must admit it takes some sticking @ when your working in the summer!

http://www.weather-in-spain.co.uk/pages/weather-extremes/hottest.php

Georgia, as you reside in the CB and I in Murcia I do not see how you can disagree with my statement. I don't know your area and you certainly don't know mine.

Where I live, at sea level , just inland from the coast,  it has been very cold to a degree that many of my mediterranean plants have probably not survived. This year has been  extremely wet as well. But then so has CDS whilst your region apparently has been drier and warmer.

Still wouldn't swop my area of Murcia for CB or CDS even though I am sure both have certain charms missing in other locales.

We certainly had rain in plenty. The really heavy rain began here on December 21st and seemed to continue without a break for a month. But at no time did it freeze although we were grateful for a log fire in the evenings.

Although last summer it was very hot indeed here, between Marbella and Estepona, the sea breeze prevented it from being unbearable.  I believe , from reading other posters, that it is much colder in winter and hotter in summer inland.

It suits us just fine here in this rather rare and quiet part of the CDS, just a few minutes from the glitz of Marbella. I know that other areas are equally -perhaps more - beautiful but being able to see Gibraltar and the coast of Africa practically from the terrace is priceless. That and seeing the lights of passing ships at night.

Took a look at Gus Lopez's weather website and considering it said that two towns within the same province had extreme opposites of conditions (Salorino, Caceres.  Almost unbelievably, the driest town in Spain is located in the same province as Spain's wettest town: Caceres in Extremadura.), I reckon that it's a bit presumptuous to make weather generalisations!

Good to hear that in the main you seem happy with your lot however. Mind you having seen the photos from Manilva where floods took hold, my heart goes out to those poor souls who have major damage to their homes. Does the Spanish government assist with emergency funding in extreme situations like this I wonder?

Even within the area of Lorca town the weather is different. !!     Guslopez and I live about 10 km apart.     We have had heavy rain on a weekly basis and he has had none since before Christmas. Guess it depends upon which mountain range the low clouds hit. 

No wonder weather forecasters rarely get it right !!

Yes, Floella I can sit here & watch it rain north of the mountains in Lorca & south east behind the Almenaras, without seeing any here. Last year we had far more rain than this but this year the floodwater canals , where they send the water out to the low lying areas to prevent flooding in Lorca, have been running with water far more than last year. At one point the one in front of my house was 12 " from the top & it's over 4' deep. These last two years are the only times we have ever seen water in them. I'm due to be flooded one year, apparently it occurs every 20 years approx. & the last was in '89 so possibly it will be next year or the year after. Until after the rain last year I had never seen a worm in the garden( I thoght they didn't exist ! ), & in various places I've been down over 2 metres, now I can find them within 12" of the surface. Last year , in the summer, we were consistently getting temps. above 40c , 3 or 4 days @ 45 & one @ 46c. This was the 1st time that I've had the temp over 40, more than once, since I've lived here. Add 15+ degrees to that if you're working outside & it's uncomfortable to say the least. The trouble is you become acclimatised & now anything below 25+c to me, is cold!

 Dear All,

that is of course true, Justin for example, wears artic clothing when filming for EOS if there is no sun.

I shed the jacket and pullover yesterday in 17', but the sun was unreliable, warm again today but no sun, the daffodils don't care they are in full bloom.

I remember not wanting to get off the plane in Cairns, Australia into oven temperatures, flopping exhausted into the hotel pool and complaining of the bath temperature. However it was a different story by the end of the week, the bath wasn't warm enough.

Nevertheless Spain does seem to have had a change for the worse.

Regards

Norman 

normansands

just a blip I would think?. I'm sure Spain's normal fab weather will be back very soon. All the other rubbish going on can't stop that!

Oh I do hope so. Where I live it is raining quite hard yet again and for miles around me sky is completely grey !! 

One does acclimatise and I have always been a cold bod but when holiday makers are also wrapped up then I know it's not just me for once. Just returned from UK and felt warmer out of doors than here !!

crikey, I never thought i'd hear that!.  This is warm for UK in march though.

It's actually humid here today!  The sun is breaking through quite low and heavy cloud.  Walking on the beach was exhilarating today. The beach was completely deserted. You have to walk quite a few minutes o get to the sand, no roads running alongside the shore and it's so peaceful.  No beachbars, no hotels,just sand, sea and dunes.

We find people here are very friendly. It seems it would be impossible to be Greta-Garbo like and be alone here. Having a handsome dog to walk is of course a great ice-breaker. Today we were invited to meet up for mutual dog-walking by a Spanish couple whose house we passed.. Not a day passes without us having a conversation with a complete stranger. I wonder if it's the same in areas away from the coast where there are very few foreigners?