# Considering a move to spain, however...



## kittypooh (Oct 21, 2012)

I hear a lot of talk about the decline of Spain and it has made me a bit reluctant.

I am being told that the Spanish is taking a dislike to expats, and that poverty in Spain has gone up so much that people are becoming homeless and have to visit soup kitchens etc.

I've dreamt about moving to Spain for many years, and I finally have my business setup with British customers so I would make my income from the UK, and now I'm being painted this horror picture of Spain where the infrastructure is failing and it's chaotic left right and centre.

So I figure I'll ask people who are expats living in Spain.
I'm contemplating moving to Valencia or some nearby area.
Has there been any significant changes and have you noticed anything that would make you reluctant to do the move if asked today?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Who told you the Spanish are taking a dislike to expats? Was it a Spanish person? 

Similarly, the horror stories of derelict buildings and crumbling infrastructure. Where are you reading them? The Daily Mail?

Certainly, the austerity measures and spending cuts are having a massive effect on the country and yes, with 5 million unemployed there are more and more people dependent on charity, as there is no real equivalent to the welfare state here.

But if you move here and spend money here, and aren't competing with Spaniards for work, you will be as welcome as the flowers in May.

Come and see for yourself!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kittypooh said:


> I hear a lot of talk about the decline of Spain and it has made me a bit reluctant.
> 
> I am being told that the Spanish is taking a dislike to expats, and that poverty in Spain has gone up so much that people are becoming homeless and have to visit soup kitchens etc.
> 
> ...


:welcome:

I'm about an hour from Valencia city

I haven't noticed any real anti-foreign attitudes from people in general

however - yes there is poverty & homelessness & yes there are soup kitchen even in my so-called prosperous town

do you have children?

if not it won't affect you, but the education system is struggling - not yet failing but I fear for my childrens' future - my 16 year old & I are discussing her return to the UK to continue her education...... for sure, there's nothing for her here _after _she finishes her education & as yet I don't know what will happen with my 13 year old

in the Valencia area the pharmacies are striking frequently . they are owed millions by the govt.

however....... in your shoes with an income set-up & if you're single, I wouldn't let that stop me - it IS still a great place to live - as long as you DO have that income


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Don't know about Valencia. We here in the Canaries have 30% unemployed and until the buffoons in Europe demanded cuts, we were the only provinces in Spain that were pulling out of recession.

Having said that life goes on, our tourist industry is on the increase, the population has decreased, other than that, every thing is the same.

You have an income, if you want to come to Spain do so, Spain will benefit from your spending power.

We have felt no animosity whatsoever, absolutely to the contrary, some tell us that we are not foreigners any more!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

You could paint a similar picture of the UK.....

Homeless people, beggars, soup kitchens, two million unemployed, threats of general strikes,....riots, murders, floods, paedophiles lurking everywhere, racial tension, inept government...

Sadly, these things are now commonplace in many countries world-wide.

Is Spain in decline? Currently, yes. It's unlikely that the economy will start on an upward path for maybe five years or even more. Things may get worse before they get better.

But if you have an assured adequate income from a UK business now is probably a good time to come. Sterling is holding its own against the euro so you'll get more bangs for your buck, so to speak....


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Hmmmm I read somewhere that stirling is likely to drop against the Euro in the near future. But Spain is still a great place to live if you have an income from outside...


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## kittypooh (Oct 21, 2012)

This sounds really positive!

I was painted this really obscure picture of poverty and society on the verge of collapse.

I read on another forum regarding properties etc. that there was some hostility towards british expats, and it's come up in conversations but perhaps this is just people projecting the worst case scenario because they want to make an impact with what they say.

So if the country is not on the verge of falling into martial law, then I'm game 

I'm going to keep looking through the forum for the requirements to move and I think I'll go ahead with the move!

Thanks guys


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

If money is not a worry, then Spain is the best place to live. 

We did that, got our business in the UK. Moved to Valencia. 

We are NOT rich, we just need less things. So we live quite well. 

Stop listening to people or read the newspapers, they do tend to exaggerate. It is bad, but not as bad as it sounds.


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## goonerbaz (Sep 20, 2012)

Mrypg

Paedophiles lurking everywhere?
That's quite a statement


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

goonerbaz said:


> Mrypg
> 
> Paedophiles lurking everywhere?
> That's quite a statement


I suspect thats just a tongue in cheek reference to a couple of news reports recently in the UK, one of which was a high profile celebrity allegedly messing young girls etc

Jo xxx


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

If you have a reliable income, don't sell your UK home, move to Spain but rent don't buy.


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## kittypooh (Oct 21, 2012)

Oh I'm definitely going to rent for starters.
I want to be sure that I can integrate with the community before I permanently put my stick in the ground.

It all sounds quite positive though.

I see that there are really nice properties with pools and everything for 1200 Euros.
I've used Fotocasa.es for this (perhaps I shouldn't change the subject here but if anyone wants to interject and drop some good sites for finding rental properties in here I won't complain).

I do hope anyone else who is thinking about doing the move to Spain who have received similar feedback as me is looking at this, to get a view from expats actually living in Spain, rather than believing that expats will get mugged / pronounced outcasts (well more than anywhere else at least, we have plenty of muggings etc. in London).

I had a really bad picture painted for me, and I'm quite happy to hear that it's mostly nonsense.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Be careful of what you read on some forums/fora. Always look at the posting history of the poster (i.e. number of previous posts). If it is only a few, then it may be some bone idle journalist trying to make up a story by putting a contentious posting on the forum and seeing what happens - Yes we get them! 

We also get financial services companies that post the results of a 'faked-up' minimal survey which they then extrapolate and make into a serious issue such as the one a couple of years ago _"Three quarters of Brits in Spain are packing up and going home"_ It was a financial services company who were trying to sell their money transfer scheme. The 'survey' was put to about 250 people, of which only about 40 replied and the survey result said that "Three quarters of those who responded..." now in my book, 30 people does not constitute three-quarters of 250. It made sufficient headlines to be taken up by the national press and TV in UK but, of course, it was absolute balderdash.

Of those that I am aware who have packed up and gone back to UK, one was terminally ill and wanted to be with her family, and the others (less than a dozen) should never have come here in the first place - they had no income, no job and no hope - they had done absolutely no research into what they wanted to do. They came with the idea that they could easily do bar work or wait tables (so can the millions of Spaniards who want jobs that don't exist) or they could teach English - No they can't unless they are properly qualified!

The regulars on this forum will always tell it like it is, no glossing over the bad while painting a rosier picture of the good. It isn't that we don't want you here, we just don't want you to come with over-inflated impressions. The regulars have been here for some time and most have, to a large extent "integrated" into the life of where they live.


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