Moving to spain

I moved to Spain. Have zero regrets but day-to-day problems are still the same

Brexit has made it almost impossible for young families to move now unless you are very rich and can afford not to work

Reading through a lot of these negative comments regarding heat, bureaucracy, unemployment etc etc don’t apply to much of the North. Do your research to pick your area because the various communities of Spain are vastly different to each other. The Basque Country vs Granada are world’s apart.

Regarding salaries, they are lower but higher in proportion to cost of living. Very much a cafe society, wine and pintxo after work etc. Health services very good and various schooling options with the “concertada” (semi public) system. It’s an awful country to be self employed.

we did it. No regrets. My life is so much better!

Of course it has its challenges, and I’ve been here long enough to have a strong support network here, but I am much happier than when living in SE England (which I love visiting for holidays).

I don't know about moving there but we had a holiday to Malaga this year and were shocked at how much better it was there .
So much cheaper for groceries, eating out . The streets were spotless , no litter or graffiti that we saw . Much more general respect , no shouting , fights , anti social behaviour . And there were police regularly patrolling by car in the town and car / bike combo on the beach . Made for a very nice experience and really highlighted how awful Britain is now .

Yes..as I was quoting someone else, and that's the word they used. Hence my joke.

I’m half Spanish currently living in England.
i miss the weather, the food and my family in Spain.

i do NOT miss the bureaucracy, the job market, and the fact its currently too hot for about five months of the year .

seriously, climate change is bad and will get worse in Spain! Drought, flooding as seen recently.
it is genuinely unpleasant in summer without aircon in many places, and then I say summer I mean between May and October. Utility bills can be much higher than here !

You are living my dream!!!
What a gorgeous city Madrid is, could not think of anywhere better.
Enjoy!

Me too. I live in Toledo, but I've been in Spain for 12 years (so pre Brexit)

@virgo22 if you want flexible and more time to yourselves- that works far better if you go with a flexible job you can do anywhere working for yourself - it's pretty hard to go somewhere if you need a job and start wanting lots of flexibility etc right from the off - unless you look for part time and have huge financial reserves.

Go to Australia!

Thanks for the education! Of course I have heard of Plato, but don’t have in-depth knowledge, like most on here, I bet!

OP what work do you think will offer you more flexibility and allow you to go to the beach more? In a country where you do not have connections and I think do not speak the language? Sounds like you need a holiday. The daily grind will travel with you no matter what the weather is.

I suppose it’s obscure if you haven’t heard of Plato.
A platonic idea or ideal is a mental image of something in its most perfect form (which can never be fulfilled by reality), which seems to fit exactly with what the poster is saying.

Do enlighten me. I only know of the normal dictionary meaning, so if it has a very obscure, different meaning, why would the poster use it
platonic /pləˈtɑːnɪk/ adjective
Britannica Dictionary definition of PLATONIC
: of, relating to, or having a close relationship in which there is no romance or sex
They had a platonic friendship, not a romantic one.
Our relationship was strictly platonic.
platonic love

I think you might be correcting her without knowing all the meanings of the word platonic.

I live in Madrid. Absolutely love it. I have small kids and it's fantastic for them, sunshine 300+ days a year, always playing outside, good schools, very family-friendly culture with kids welcome just about everywhere. Gorgeous well-maintained parks and playgrounds, the city in general is clean, cared for, very safe. Last weekend I was wandering through Plaza de España watching my kids playing on a (free) giant wooden slide park, drinking a €2 coffee, with the sun shining, and I felt incredibly lucky to be here.

BUT - as pp have said, it's much harder to get visas now. We came pre-Brexit. The job market is challenging. Unless you have a very marketable skill, you need to speak Spanish to a good level or you'll be stuck with teaching assistant/ call centre roles that do not pay well at all. Renting is expensive and flats tend to be small. The bureaucracy is a nightmare, although made much easier if you speak good Spanish. I don't need a gestor, I do it all myself now. But if you hit a problem you will need to be incredibly persistent and patient to sort it out.

Salaries even in good jobs are considerably lower than U.K. although I think tax probably works out similar considering the equivalent of NI is largely paid by employers. That said, outside tourist zones, prices are much lower than in similar cities in UK. Coffee for a couple of euros, coffee and a tostada or tortilla for breakfast maybe €4-5, 3 course lunch for €15, fresh fruit and veg much much cheaper (and in season, MUCH tastier). It's true supermarkets are not as nice, and you can forget M&S style pre-prepared options. Biscuit aisles are a sad disappointment 😭 You cook more, or you eat out. In general though, I think salaries here do go further.

Ultimately everyone's experience is going to be different. I'd be bored on the coast, but then I wouldn't choose to live somewhere like that in the UK either. If I compare Madrid with pretty much any UK city I know well, it wins hands down. My kids are growing up bilingual. The mortgage on our apartment is 2.5% fixed for life. I can't even begin to imagine how much more expensive our life would be in the U.K.

As a veteran of several overseas moves, I definitely recommend renting your U.K. home and giving it a year to begin with. Your kids are young enough that you can risk it. But do your research first, and don't go without a work visa, no one will employ you. Happy to answer any questions if I can.

But that's the thing surely. If you can't get equally well paid jobs in Spain then your dream lifestyle isn't going to just materialise. I know you're talking about living off the equity from your house, but for god's sake don't price yourself out of a home in the UK.

Italy is exactly the same.
I could go on for days. Getting married, changing our doctors (as we moved a mile down the road 🙄), cancelling a phone contact, even handing our notice in..the thought of any of it again brings me out in a cold sweat and we were pretty fluent.

What about climate change? If things really do heat up, Spain will be on the front line. I'd go somewhere cool, like Canada or Sweden.

@catza this reminds me so clearly of what living in Spain is like!

"My NIE number needs to be transferred to a new surname. To do that I need to prove that I own property in Spain. The property is under my old surname. To change it on the register, I need to present to the town hall with a copy of my NIE stating my new surname... It's been an ongoing issue for 10 years because I cannot get off this bureaucratic Marry-Go-Round."

I lived in Spain for two years, with children in a Spanish school. Everyone in Britain told me what a 'fantastic lifestyle ' I must have. Spain is fine but the bureaucracy was truly like something from a horrific Kafka story. I've just spent ages trying to write what it was like but I've deleted it because it's just awful thinking about it.

What us DNV please?

My friend moved to Spain pre Brexit

Has a beautiful house, with pool, for the same price as a 2 bed semi.

Her and her husband have good jobs with an international company.
Their children were small when they moved but went to Spanish school and are fluent. However, she is having difficulty with the standard of the secondary school.

If you go to the real Spanish places you can often get a set 3 course meal for €15 with a drink, obviously wine is very cheap!

The quality of the food seems much nicer and they do have lots of family time at the beach etc. Late dinners and just seem so much more family orientated.

Where they live it's very safe, especially for the young teens. Kids "play out" and her children seem to be children for longer. No designer clothes and knife crime. In the summer the square is full of families, eating and drinking whilst the kids play .

I do think it would be much harder to move now. Wished we had done it years ago when the children were small!