# Expat life in the Balearics beats the pain in the rest of Spain



## Editor (Aug 20, 2009)

Whilst the ‘party’ may be over in some parts of Spain with dipping house prices, a rise in the cost of living and an unfavourable exchange rate forcing many expat Brits to return to the UK, in the Balearics the British population is growing, the latest data shows. According to latest figures from the National [...]

Click to read the full news article: Expat life in the Balearics beats the pain in the rest of Spain...
Please come back to discuss the story here in this thread.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

According to latest figures from the National Statistics Institute, the number of British residents in the Balearics has risen in the past year bringing the official total to 23,773 people.

_The average age of a British expat in the region is now 46.6 years old. But the biggest expat group is still the Germans with a total population of 36,727 and an average age of 48.

As the total number of Balearic residents is 1,118,654, expats now make up 21.6% or one in five, the highest in Spain_.


That's an extract from the piece which confirms me in the wisdom of our choice of mainland Spain as our home. I don't really want to live in a part of Spain where immigrants from Northern Europe make up over 20% of the population. If I wanted to live in that kind of area I would have stayed in the UK as Polish and other Eastern European migrant workers made up more than 20% of the local population where I lived.

Some twentyfive to thirty years ago we used to spend six to seven weeks each summer in a finca in Ibiza belonging to a friend. At that time Ibiza was almost unknown, was very quiet but colourful and was home to a host of interesting and often eccentric Northern European immigrants. Signs of what would happen to this lovely little island were already appearing by the mid-eighties. Quiet towns and villages became venues for raucous drug-fuelled nightlife which shocked the locals and drove out many longstanding residents.

We looked elsewhere for our peaceful summer vacations - Mallorca seemed to have gone the same way as Ibiza.

It's all a matter of choice and taste. For some people, a heavily immigrant populated area is just what they are looking for when they retire abroad. I prefer my 'abroad' to be just that: different.
If I'd wanted Great Yarmouth on heat, I'd have retired there and bought a sun bed.
Others would disagree.
Sobre los gustos no hay disputos.


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## BGD (May 2, 2012)

I have to agree - others are of course free not to.

We moved to Spain to live in Spain, integrating as far as we can into Spanish lifestyle, culture, language and community; not in order to live in a "ghetto" estate of almost all Brit/Norther European ex-pats........so we deliberately chose to move to an inland, very largely Spanish, village.
Been here over 9 years now and absolutely love it!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I came here because I liked the island, at that time there were 17 English, now there are we believe five. 

It was purely the location that attracted us here, I was not concerned about the English population, large or small.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

BGD said:


> I have to agree - others are of course free not to.
> 
> We moved to Spain to live in Spain, integrating as far as we can into Spanish lifestyle, culture, language and community; not in order to live in a "ghetto" estate of almost all Brit/Norther European ex-pats........so we deliberately chose to move to an inland, very largely Spanish, village.
> Been here over 9 years now and absolutely love it!


 You have to remember tho that the spanish lifestyle, culture etc has been diluted, not by expats, but by the fact we're now in Europe. Those pretty little villages and that "riding thru lemon groves on a donkey" lifestyle dont appeal to the Spanish particularly anymore - they want mod cons, dishwashers, modern housing, plasma tvs, fast cars, pop music, fashion, iphones, hi tech, highly paid jobs........

Jo xxxx


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jojo said:


> You have to remember tho that the spanish lifestyle, culture etc has been diluted, not by expats, but by the fact we're now in Europe. Those pretty little villages and that "riding thru lemon groves on a donkey" lifestyle dont appeal to the Spanish particularly anymore - they want mod cons, dishwashers, modern housing, plasma tvs, fast cars, pop music, fashion, iphones, hi tech, highly paid jobs........
> 
> Jo xxxx


You keep saying that, and of course it applies to some Spaniards. But in my village (and others like it), people are incredibly proud of the pueblo, its local food, its landmarks and its traditions. Even _alcalainos_ who moved away years ago still feel a strong tie to the place and come back for all the fiestas and festivals. There are endless Facebook pages, blogs and YouTube videos about it. It's got nothing to do with commercialism or tourism, they just have a deep-rooted attachment to their birthplace. Just because they use iphones doesn't diminish this. 

Here they are celebrating our famous gazpacho caliente:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> You keep saying that, and of course it applies to some Spaniards. But in my village (and others like it), people are incredibly proud of the pueblo, its local food, its landmarks and its traditions. Even _alcalainos_ who moved away years ago still feel a strong tie to the place and come back for all the fiestas and festivals. There are endless Facebook pages, blogs and YouTube videos about it. It's got nothing to do with commercialism or tourism, they just have a deep-rooted attachment to their birthplace. Just because they use iphones doesn't diminish this.
> 
> Here they are celebrating our famous gazpacho caliente:
> 
> Sevillanas del Gazpacho - YouTube


I think what you say is true and it's also true of our village, as shown by its Romeria and other ferias.
But Jo is also right. Alcala today is not the Alcala of even ten years ago - nowhere is - and I'll venture to say few locals would want to turn the clock back.
IPhones, satellite tv, international trade have changed the tiniest most remote village and outside influences have changed the way people think about themselves and their lives.
This attachment to a place isn't premised on it not changing, though. It's a normal human attachment to the local, the familiar. It exists almost tribally in parts of our big cities....rivalry almost between North and South Londoners, for example.
This strength of attachment to a particular locality is common to most of humanity and is imo one reason why 'internationalism' is such an empty concept.
I have a very strong attachment to the county of my birth and upbringing, Dorset, although the village where I was born and brought up has changed beyond all recognition and I haven't lived there for donkey's years.
It's as normal as change is inevitable. Our loyalties are to family, relatives and locality, not exclusively but irrevocably.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Editor said:


> Whilst the ‘party’ may be over in some parts of Spain with dipping house prices, a rise in the cost of living and an unfavourable exchange rate forcing many expat Brits to return to the UK, in the Balearics the British population is growing, the latest data shows. According to latest figures from the National [...]
> 
> Click to read the full news article: Expat life in the Balearics beats the pain in the rest of Spain...
> Please come back to discuss the story here in this thread.


Where do you get the unfavourable exchange rate from? - it is currently over €1.23/GBP, the best it has been for ages.

This sounds like the story of over 1million UK Expats are heading home - just an advertorial for a Money company - this one is for Sothebys. Mostly rubbish as usual. The only ones who are heading out are those who should never have come in the first place - no job, no income, open a bar somewhere or prop one up.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I think what you say is true and it's also true of our village, as shown by its Romeria and other ferias.
> But Jo is also right. Alcala today is not the Alcala of even ten years ago - nowhere is - and I'll venture to say few locals would want to turn the clock back.
> IPhones, satellite tv, international trade have changed the tiniest most remote village and outside influences have changed the way people think about themselves and their lives.
> This attachment to a place isn't premised on it not changing, though. It's a normal human attachment to the local, the familiar. It exists almost tribally in parts of our big cities....rivalry almost between North and South Londoners, for example.
> ...


I wasn't implying that things weren't changing in the pueblos, just that you will still find a sense of community which I doubt exists in recently-built coastal developments. The arrival of modern appliances makes people's lives easier, it doesn't necessarily "dilute" their culture. Most people here can't afford them anyway.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

A lot of the Spaniards I know have, as Alcalaina has said, a very strong attachment to their hometowns, mostly referred to as "El pueblo" as in Where did you go this weekend?
El pueblo
Where to you usually go in the summer?
El Pueblo
But it *is* changing as holidays abroad become more accessible, more people move away from their hometown etc Or at least it was changing, now I'm not so sure...
For my part, in my husbands family where there are 15 people (brothers, sisters and cousins) in the same age bracket more or less and he is the only one who has left the area completely. The other still live in Bilbao or not more than 40 mins away.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I dont doubt that there are still some old white washed villages and cosy little spanish pueblos and I know Spain will develop with its history in mind, just as everywhere else in Europe. But as time progresses people want what others have and like it or not, its the modern conveniences and exciting life. So Spain is becoming the Spanish europe now, just as the UK still has its history, but is the British version of europe. As we all become diluted and mixed up, the whole thing will gradually become as one. 

I guess our own interpretations of Spain are all different and based on our ideals and where we go. I've always lived on the costa del sol, inland, so thats all I've seen althol. I have lived in a Spanish town, Alhaurin de la Torre, which is modern, clean and affluent, and I've lived in spanish villages. But the underlying factor for all generations is that of wanting better lives and sadly that means progress towards getting the trappings and leaving behind the donkeys and lemon groves. But yes it still exists.

the intersting ones are those white washed villages - in particular, Alhaurin el Grande and Benalmadena Pueblo. Now they look the "typical Spanish villages" and as such have been bombarded by expats looking for the real Spain to integrate into - to the point where most of the inhabitants are British/northern european, so not so Spanish afterall!!!! 

Jo xxx


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Well, here it's mules and cork-oak groves - and they still use them because it's the only way they can get the cork down to the lorries! A lot of my neighbours work on _el corcho_ during the season, and there are certainly more mules and donkeys here than expensive fast cars.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> I wasn't implying that things weren't changing in the pueblos, just that you will still find a sense of community which I doubt exists in recently-built coastal developments. The arrival of modern appliances makes people's lives easier, it doesn't necessarily "dilute" their culture. Most people here can't afford them anyway.


I don't know much about these 'recently built developments' but from the little I have seen I would say that a very strong sense of community exists within them. Not the sort you or I'd feel at home in but it's definitely there.
A sense of community isn't confined to inland towns or coastal villages as I'm sure you would agree.
We live in what our friends think is a 'posh' area on the edge of our village and nearly all our neighbours are Spanish or foreigners married to Spaniards who have been here for decades. There is a sense of community even in a street where the house plots are large and distances between houses are considerable. 
Yet we help each other out, swap books and CDs, pop in for coffee and a chat.
Tbh, I doubt there's much difference between town and rural area as far as community cohesion is concerned. I do think that we immigrants from a very different culture are understandably very much attracted to those elements of Spanish life and culture we find 'different' to our norm and tend to see them as deeper and more typical than they really are.
I think Pesky is quite right. Consciousness is changing as well as changes to every day life brought about by our increasing Europeanisation and the homologenity (spelling?) that accompanies it. Personally, it's something I regret but it's inevitable.
A good example of this is Prague. I loved Prague under socialism. It was grey, drab, sad, true. But for a foreigner from a different culture like me it was fascinating...gothic, spooky, haunted....
After the Velvet Revolution it changed quickly. Now it's a pretty European city comme les autres. I don't like it. But the Czech residents do.
But I can't expect the city to remain stuck in a time warp, a kind of wrap-around museum, to suit my nostalgic tastes.
I feel like that about places in Spain.


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## littleredrooster (Aug 3, 2008)

Editor said:


> Whilst the ‘party’ may be over in some parts of Spain with dipping house prices, a rise in the cost of living and an unfavourable exchange rate forcing many expat Brits to return to the UK, in the Balearics the British population is growing, the latest data shows. According to latest figures from the National [...]
> 
> Click to read the full news article: Expat life in the Balearics beats the pain in the rest of Spain...
> Please come back to discuss the story here in this thread.


Absolute Tosh.

The Balearics and people living there are affected by virtually all the same crisis and recession related factors as the mainland.
With regard to choice and diversity the mainland wins hands down, whilst the only Balearic island of any significance can be covered in a very short space of time.
Whilst I have nothing agaist the Germans,the biggest expat community there, I would much prefer to live amongst Spanish any day of the week, be it in a busy resort or remote pueblo of which few , if any unspoilt and uncommercialised ones even still exist in the restricted space of the Balearics.

The link smacks of vested interests.
I posted similar comments below the article.
Wether or not they are accepted for publication may well tell it's own story.

In any event I'm pleased to note that my views are not in the minority,.....just for once.


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

littleredrooster said:


> Absolute Tosh.
> 
> The Balearics and people living there are affected by virtually all the same crisis and recession related factors as the mainland.
> With regard to choice and diversity the mainland wins hands down, whilst the only Balearic island of any significance can be covered in a very short space of time.
> ...



Are you saying you'd rather be among Spaniards than Germans listening to this?






Beethoven would be so proud <3


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## littleredrooster (Aug 3, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> Are you saying you'd rather be among Spaniards than Germans listening to this?
> 
> Peter Wackel - Kenn nicht deinen Namen (Ballermann Hits 2009 / RTL2) - YouTube
> 
> Beethoven would be so proud <3


I'll definitely give that one a miss.

The Germans are so predictable and orchestrated, it's little wonder they make little mark on the World stage of popular music.
Poor old Beethoven would turn over in his grave.

Give me the spontaneity and freedom of expression of the Spanish every time.


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

littleredrooster said:


> I'll definitely give that one a miss.
> 
> The Germans are so predictable and orchestrated, it's little wonder they make little mark on the World stage of popular music.
> Poor old Beethoven would turn over in his grave.
> ...


They DO have some unique stuff in Germany, even musically, but you'll never find it in Mallorca. Mallorca makes me embarrassed to be German, no word of a lie!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> They DO have some unique stuff in Germany, even musically, but you'll never find it in Mallorca. Mallorca makes me embarrassed to be German, no word of a lie!


It seems that video was shot in Spain somewhere...the Balearics, perhaps? In all the time I spent in Germany as a student and later in life I cannot recall seeing one palm tree in any part of Germany.

Nowadays we see composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. as part of one 'classical' tradition. This encourages us to forget that many of the great composers were regarded as 'enfants terribles' in their time and were criticised for being too out of step with contemporary tastes.
Many of them, Mozart being a good example, were very popular not only in court circles but with 'ordinary' folk. They took inspiration for many of their works from folk tunes.
Some, such as Wagner, were regarded as scandalous and subversive.

We only preserve what is good or popular in the classical canon. No doubt very many crap works from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have deservedly been swept from the concert stage into the dustbin of musical history.

I personally find most German pop music dire. It is reminiscent either of syrupy desserts or sounds like a martial accompaniment for an invasion of somewhere. 
The fact that Nana Mouskouri was hugely popular in Germany in the 1970s says it all. (Apologies to you and Seb, no offence intended,I am very pro-German).

But I do like Lotte Lenya and Hildegard Kneff....


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> It seems that video was shot in Spain somewhere...the Balearics, perhaps? In all the time I spent in Germany as a student and later in life I cannot recall seeing one palm tree in any part of Germany.
> 
> Nowadays we see composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. as part of one 'classical' tradition. This encourages us to forget that many of the great composers were regarded as 'enfants terribles' in their time and were criticised for being too out of step with contemporary tastes.
> Many of them, Mozart being a good example, were very popular not only in court circles but with 'ordinary' folk. They took inspiration for many of their works from folk tunes.
> ...


It's definitely Mallorca. They have this thing called "Ballermann" which is full of German discos and clubs and the music is awful! 

I've been there, it was really, really, really bad. The lyric content was beyond worse than the droning beat. The only way to handle the music is to be drunk out of your head, which is probably why the formula is so successful. This leads to seeing several drunk Germans on the beaches at 11 am shouting and yelling song lyrics while their friends record it all on their phones to post it later on the internet.

I think that pretty much sums it up really. German pop music only sounds good after consuming x Liters of alcohol.

I DO agree that German pop music is awful, I don't understand how some of it can be so popular, but among the rough there are some pretty unique gems.

Another thing: in every country I've lived in I've met people who listen to one German band or another. They don't understand the lyrics and they don't want to learn the language, but they listen to it anyway because it's "cool" and "edgy". Maybe it makes them feel like "enfants terribles".


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> It's definitely Mallorca. They have this thing called "Ballermann" which is full of German discos and clubs and the music is awful!
> 
> I've been there, it was really, really, really bad. The lyric content was beyond worse than the droning beat. The only way to handle the music is to be drunk out of your head, which is probably why the formula is so successful. This leads to seeing several drunk Germans on the beaches at 11 am shouting and yelling song lyrics while their friends record it all on their phones to post it later on the internet.
> 
> ...



Somehow the words 'cool', 'edgy' and 'German' don't fit together.


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> Somehow the words 'cool', 'edgy' and 'German' don't fit together.


It's true! I felt strange writing that sentence.


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## littleredrooster (Aug 3, 2008)

I'm a great Marlene Dietrich fan myself.
She was the one who seemed to break the mould, though I believe there was unfortunately quite a bit controversy about her in Germany.
I had a German lady friend for a while, who was a lovely singer and did an excellent, almost perfect impression of her most popular songs.
I should still have some old tapes of her somewhere, as well as ancient recordings of M.D.herself.

....and for those of you having a romantic evening indoors,...


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

German pop music is bad - I totally agree and so is German TV btw.

The music showcased on here is a bad example. It's musical background for drunken idiots partying on Mallorca - you won't hear this music outside of these holiday resorts or special "Ballermann parties". Generalising Germany with this trash as an argument is like defining the average UK citizen via the drunken louts exposing their genitals and jumping off hotel balconies in said resorts (as seen on TV) 

There are actually some very good German artists producing fantastic music. This is produced in German and never reaches other countries. Sadly - modern pop music is mostly absymal and that's what the "kids" listen to and what reaches beyond the borders.

Just to clarify - this is not a patriotic response and not a reaction to "German bashing" - but I thought I should post out of fairness. I have left Germany six years ago and have lived in the UK and Spain since then. I am engaged to an English woman (who I will finally marry this year) and we will return to the UK shortly - I am rarely speaking German now. I see myself more in line with the British worldviews and I am sure I will get old in the UK. I don't see myself ever returning to Germany.


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

Personally I find this song embraces what Germany is all about, including the sarcastic self-deprecating humour that the British are known for.

^I also like Germany, it definitely has its positives, but at the moment I'm happier in soggy Scotland.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

littleredrooster said:


> I'm a great Marlene Dietrich fan myself.
> She was the one who seemed to break the mould, though I believe there was unfortunately quite a bit controversy about her in Germany.
> I had a German lady friend for a while, who was a lovely singer and did an excellent, almost perfect impression of her most popular songs.
> I should still have some old tapes of her somewhere, as well as ancient recordings of M.D.herself.
> ...



Yes, I'm also a great MD fan and have many of her recordings. The last time she visited the UK, many years ago, we were booked to see her show but she had an accident when appearing at Golders Green -she fell off the stage and suffered serious fractures and the tour was cancelled.
The controversy in Germany was about the fact that she was profoundly anti-Nazi and helped the Allied war effort by broadcasting to Allied troops and issuing anti-Nazi statements.
I remember huge controversy when I was a student in Germany over a Lufthansa ad which featured the famous legs. She was attacked by die-hard right-wingers as unpatriotic for the role she played helping the Allies in the war.
I too used to do MD impersonations, dressed in the appropriate gear.....top hat, tux, cane , fishnets, blonde wig etc.
I hasten to add that was many years ago.....


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I too used to do MD impersonations, dressed in the appropriate gear.....top hat, tux, cane , fishnets, blonde wig etc.
> I hasten to add that was many years ago.....


No chance of your doing a come-back?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

My favourite German.


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## littleredrooster (Aug 3, 2008)

mrypg9 said:


> I too used to do MD impersonations, dressed in the appropriate gear.....top hat, tux, cane , fishnets, blonde wig etc.


Hey, steady on there, I can't be doing with that sort of thing at this time of day,.......though I dare say a vid on U-tube would go down well and be much appreciated by all.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

littleredrooster said:


> Hey, steady on there, I can't be doing with that sort of thing at this time of day,.......though I dare say a vid on U-tube would go down well and be much appreciated by all.


Well, I must say I did make a lot of money for good causes.....

But those days, like the snows of yesteryear, are long gone....

If I impersonated anyone nowadays it would be Old Mother Riley.

Now...that gives away the age of anyone knowing who she was, eh Baldy?

I know you know....


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