# Retirement in Spain



## g4jnw (Oct 21, 2013)

just a tentative enquiry really.
My son works in Spain as a diver and usually spends a few months there each year, looks like he intends to do this for quite a few years - spain a few months and somewhere else for the rest of the year.
We have been to Spain many times but as a tourist and really I dont think you get a real feel.
My wife and I always come back feeling much better but this is mainly due to the heat and knee problems.

We lived for 13 years in the hebrides which we loved but the winters were not good for our health.

I'll be upfront and say our expectations are not rose tinted, even in the hebrides we spent more time with english than we did with gaelic speakers - not by choice, just cause we found more in common and i suspect this would likely happen in spain.

We are looking to retire in 2-3 years but would like to spend our time looking for a suitable area.

We are open to suggestions on areas to investigate.

Probably mainland spain as it would be price driven - we intend to rent first but may be open to buying a property with an idea to rent out before retiring (mainly to friends and family)


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

You need to visit your chosen destination in the winter months, before you commit at all, it can be quite an eye opener. Also in the meantime consider learning the language, it will open so many new doors for you.


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## g4jnw (Oct 21, 2013)

Hepa said:


> You need to visit your chosen destination in the winter months, before you commit at all, it can be quite an eye opener. Also in the meantime consider learning the language, it will open so many new doors for you.


Thanks, and yes we are learning the language, ideally would like to live in an area where there are some english too, as i said in my posting what will be the driving force is prices.
To give you an idea if we were to retire today (not going to happen) we would have about £70,000 left from our property and to live on my UK pension plus £400 per month from my NHS pension, so not a lot!
Of course in a couple of years, hopefully would have more from our property plus the pensions would have gone up.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

g4jnw said:


> Thanks, and yes we are learning the language, ideally would like to live in an area where there are some english too, as i said in my posting what will be the driving force is prices.
> To give you an idea if we were to retire today (not going to happen) we would have about £70,000 left from our property and to live on my UK pension plus £400 per month from my NHS pension, so not a lot!
> Of course in a couple of years, hopefully would have more from our property plus the pensions would have gone up.


At the moment we can easily manage on 800 GBPounds a month, and we have two properties, however we are in the Canary Isles where the VAT is only 7%, so things are a heck of a lot cheaper than Iberian Spain or the U.K., another plus is that we do not have any heating bills. There are only four English residents on this island, but that works well for us.


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## g4jnw (Oct 21, 2013)

Hepa said:


> At the moment we can easily manage on 800 GBPounds a month, and we have two properties, however we are in the Canary Isles where the VAT is only 7%, so things are a heck of a lot cheaper than Iberian Spain or the U.K., another plus is that we do not have any heating bills. There are only four English residents on this island, but that works well for us.


Thats interesting, which island are you on?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

g4jnw said:


> Thats interesting, which island are you on?


We live on the island of El Hierro, the smallest and least known of the seven larger islands, there are photos on the link below.

First found this place in 1995, before that I was looking at the area around Moraira, north of Benidorm, and I have had an attraction for Gran Canaria since 1962.

Retirement is good here, different kettle of fish if you are seeking employment.


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## g4jnw (Oct 21, 2013)

Hepa said:


> We live on the island of El Hierro, the smallest and least known of the seven larger islands, there are photos on the link below.
> 
> First found this place in 1995, before that I was looking at the area around Moraira, north of Benidorm, and I have had an attraction for Gran Canaria since 1962.
> 
> Retirement is good here, different kettle of fish if you are seeking employment.


wow, our sort of place, hebrides in the sun, sea's look good for my hobby, fishing no wonder you love it, where to do ferries run from?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

g4jnw said:


> wow, our sort of place, hebrides in the sun, sea's look good for my hobby, fishing no wonder you love it, where to do ferries run from?


Ferries from Los Cristianos, Tenerife, Flights from Tenerife North and at the moment a Saturday flight from Tenerife South, there are also flights from Gran Canaria.

And yes the fishing can be exceptional.

The downside is, the place can be absolutely dead, hardly any nightlife, we are somewhat isolated, and two years ago w had a submarine volcanic eruption, accompanied by many thousands of earth tremors.This caused great panic amongst those other Northern European expats, that converse in German, for many left and have not returned.

It hasn't affected the fishing though.

Here is a link to the Volcano site, go to Galeria de fotos and click on siguiente, to view the next one.

We like it here, come eruptions or tremors, here is home.

IGN Serie El Hierro


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## g4jnw (Oct 21, 2013)

Hepa said:


> Ferries from Los Cristianos, Tenerife, Flights from Tenerife North and at the moment a Saturday flight from Tenerife South, there are also flights from Gran Canaria.
> 
> And yes the fishing can be exceptional.
> 
> ...


Like the idea of no nightlife absolutely dead etc, it was like that on the hebrides. Our sort of place, there are many volcanic places in the world that get that many tremors but thats the norm for active volcanoes, shouldn't upset people its the magma that would be scary and the pyroplastic flows, doubt you would ever get that.
Unfortunate for us small islands normally mean high property price, we will probably end up in an urbunisation but we live in an estate now so would only be swapping for the sun.

Surprises me sometimes at peoples un realistic expectations, when we sold our property on the isle of lewis, people expected more than they had for a much lower price


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

g4jnw said:


> Like the idea of no nightlife absolutely dead etc, it was like that on the hebrides. Our sort of place, there are many volcanic places in the world that get that many tremors but thats the norm for active volcanoes, shouldn't upset people its the magma that would be scary and the pyroplastic flows, doubt you would ever get that.
> Unfortunate for us small islands normally mean high property price, we will probably end up in an urbunisation but we live in an estate now so would only be swapping for the sun.
> 
> Surprises me sometimes at peoples un realistic expectations, when we sold our property on the isle of lewis, people expected more than they had for a much lower price


Property prices in the Canary Islands are generally higher than those in the Iberian part of Spain, and some are higher here than on the other islands, however property can be rented, furnished for very low prices, one bed flat, including water an electricity, furnished 350 € monthly. We bought ours years ago, then the pound was strong against the Peseta.

There are still bargains to be had though. because the property market is dead, some people who want to move will become desperate and sell for less.


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## g4jnw (Oct 21, 2013)

Hepa said:


> Property prices in the Canary Islands are generally higher than those in the Iberian part of Spain, and some are higher here than on the other islands, however property can be rented, furnished for very low prices, one bed flat, including water an electricity, furnished 350 € monthly. We bought ours years ago, then the pound was strong against the Peseta.
> 
> There are still bargains to be had though. because the property market is dead, some people who want to move will become desperate and sell for less.


Thank you for the information, its more than likely we will rent before buying ALTHOUGH when we moved to the Hebrides we were intent on renting THEN we saw a VERY cheap property and bought it - we dearly loved the Scottish islands and the island culture but its not the weather for anyone with arthritis or we would have retired there in a flash.

To give you an idea how we proceeded when we moved to the islands and i think its prudent to do this where ever you move to, at first we kept our selves to our selves until the locals realised we weren't there to make changes to their world, speaking to them when we could in Gaelic although pretty poorly - then when invited giving our input - we lived there for 13 years, my wife by then was a key member of the community arranging stuff on committee's and loved it and i was in my quiet way getting involved - we both were on the emergency response team for the Scottish ambulance service - THEN disaster, my wife's parents got seriously ill on the mainland, our boys moved for university - still we were very torn but after my wife's mum died we moved back to the mainland.

The boys now - 1 full time in Australia and 1 travelling between Spain and the UK

We probably won't move while my wife's dad is alive but ultimately we will move, hoping to find our Hebrides in the sun - is it possible? time will tell!!

We feel at the moment Existing in the UK - NOT living as we dont really feel part of things here in Cumbria - sure people just nod and say hello but then lock the door and don't come out but maybe thats just our area?

Our only issue might be financial as we would want to make sure we would be self sufficient, financially in our retirement.


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