Retirement, Gran Canaria

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Manchesteral
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Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Manchesteral » Sat Jan 09, 2016 6:34 pm

I officially retire in 3 months time and as such I'll be downsizing my workload to almost zero, I normally spend my free summer time in La Carihuela, Torremolino,s but with retirement looming I'm considering spending my winters in Gran Canaria.
I know a good deal about the place as I've been there often but as it's not part of the Spanish mainland so I was wondering are there any pitfalls I should be aware of ?
I will be doing some research myself before I make any decisions but any help from the forum would be of use, thanks, Al.

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RichardCoeurdeLion
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby RichardCoeurdeLion » Sat Jan 09, 2016 6:44 pm

I hope your retirement goes great.
Will you be renting or owning in both places?

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peteroldracer
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby peteroldracer » Sat Jan 09, 2016 6:46 pm

Watch out for everything shutting out of season as with most places that rely on tourism, and costs of lots of things as nearly everything has to come in by ship. Generalisations, but worth checking.
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby flyeogh » Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:37 pm

I think you need an island mentality but if you can handle that then the retired people I know on Tenerife are having a great time. And as you are looking at part time I guess that is easier than being a perm resident.

My stepdaughter and her boyfriend have just joined us in Cadiz after several years on the islands. The thing they most hated was the lack of fresh fish, meat and vegetables. They are kids in a candy store here :)

They also saw the job situation deteriorating but of course you need not worry about that beyond social issues and they are pretty general to spain :(

But wherever I guess it is about adaptability but while I enjoy diving on the islands personally I prefer a bigger easy to get to bigger playground.

Hope you find your perfect home 8)
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Manchesteral
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Manchesteral » Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:48 pm

RichardCoeurdeLion wrote:I hope your retirement goes great.
Will you be renting or owning in both places?
Only renting, Probably late Nov to late March.

What's attracting me apart from the weather is petrol costs, alcohol (although I'm not a serial boozer) food and property rental, it's a tax free island so I'm wondering how much I could save if I was there for 4 months at a time !

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RichardCoeurdeLion
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby RichardCoeurdeLion » Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:24 pm

As you're not buying a property you might as well try GC and if it doesn't work out you can easily try somewhere else.

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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby flyeogh » Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:45 pm

Manchesteral wrote:What's attracting me apart from the weather is petrol costs, alcohol (although I'm not a serial boozer) food and property rental, it's a tax free island so I'm wondering how much I could save if I was there for 4 months at a time !
I believe you'll save next to nothing due to petrol costs. What will keep transport costs low is that there are very few places to go. Food, unless you can live on bananas is more expensive in general, if you can find what you want. And you'd have to drink a hell of a lot to get your return fares back.

One gain is if you are resident there then you get reduced travel to, around, and from the islands. But you wouldn't qualify for that.
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Manchesteral
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Manchesteral » Sat Jan 09, 2016 9:10 pm

T o be perfectly honest with you the money is not an issue, I was just wondering.

However a litre of gas is 1 euro, a pint of San Mig €2.50, two bed apartment close to Las Palmeras €450 pm and one nice little terraced restaurant in Arucas has a good, m d d for €7.50, the great attraction for me of course is the weather which averages 18-24 and you don't get that (consistently) in C D S:

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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Pamela1 » Sun Jan 10, 2016 12:14 am

I can agree with your view about the weather and if its winter sunshine that is top of your list then perhaps GC is the most likely option...although i hear this winter has so far been very warm in parts of Andalucia.

I was in the GC many years ago, both in the Winter and Summer months and stayed in Las Palmas, i also visited several of the holiday resorts, i really could not say what it is like now because so much will have changed and nothing will ever pull me back to find out because when i left i vowed never to return...I over stayed as a tourist and saw it with completely different eyes.

I guess the only way to find out if its for you is to go over and see if you like it...i personally would prefer the Carihuela.

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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Wicksey » Sun Jan 10, 2016 12:26 pm

Manchesteral wrote:T o be perfectly honest with you the money is not an issue, I was just wondering.

However a litre of gas is 1 euro, a pint of San Mig €2.50, two bed apartment close to Las Palmeras €450 pm and one nice little terraced restaurant in Arucas has a good, m d d for €7.50, the great attraction for me of course is the weather which averages 18-24 and you don't get that (consistently) in C D S:
A litre of diesel is 91.8 cents at El Ingenio now, many places still sell a caña of beer for a euro and you can get mdd locally for around 8€ so I don't think that the prices are much different to here. We go to the Canaries quite a bit and last year I was shocked at the price of local bananas (since someone mentioned them) which were 2€ a kilo, and on one trip I couldn't find any in the shops to buy at all!

The weather in northern Gran Canaria is often wet. I was there last January and April and Las Palmas (the capital) was cold and grey on both trips. In January there was a definite line where the cloud and rain started. I stayed in the Campo near to Telde and I never saw the place in the sun!

I think GC is the nicest of the main islands and there if you like walking and the wilder side of the island there is plenty to explore. Most people don't go beyond the tourist resorts, but I think it would be a good place to while away a few months. You have nothing to lose to try it out. A couple of my favourite places:

Image

Image

katy
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby katy » Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:36 pm

The only thing the Canaries have going for them is the weather. Even that is only slightly better than the CDS.

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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Nimrod » Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:52 pm

I don't think it matters where you live temporarily .
Anywhere there is sun is good,why stick to the Med....go to Florida it'll be cheap as well and more to do/see.
The major thing is keep your UK property

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Mowser
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Mowser » Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:58 pm

Manchesteral.

Not many people in Manchester call diesel "gas". Just saying... unless of couse it's Manchester New Hampshire.
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peteroldracer
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby peteroldracer » Sun Jan 10, 2016 7:23 pm

Nimrod wrote:The major thing is keep your UK property
If you can afford the taxes under Form720...
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Nimrod » Sun Jan 10, 2016 7:34 pm

5 months a year out of UK.
You keep your uk property,you have a 6 month US visa....what taxes do you pay?
I never had any.

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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Manchesteral » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:08 pm

Mowser wrote:Manchesteral.

Not many people in Manchester call diesel "gas". Just saying... unless of couse it's Manchester New Hampshire.
Sorry, gas is gasolina, in Spain, as you may know if you spend any time there !.I can't find where I mentioned Diesel !!

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peteroldracer
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby peteroldracer » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:18 pm

Nimrod, the time spent out if the UK means little if he retires (which I take to mean full-time?) to Spain. Once he has been here for183 days in a calendar year he is tax-resident, with all that implies. Citizenship, nationality mean nothing to the taxman.
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Nimrod
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Nimrod » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:45 pm

Spain?
Wasn't talking about Spain.

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peteroldracer
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby peteroldracer » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:50 pm

If he spends his summers in Torremolinos (Spain) and winters in Gran Canaria (Spain) he will have to very clever to avoid becoming resident.... :roll:
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Wicksey
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Re: Retirement, Gran Canaria

Postby Wicksey » Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:16 am

peteroldracer wrote:
Nimrod wrote:The major thing is keep your UK property
If you can afford the taxes under Form720...
The wealth tax doesn't kick in until you have mega bucks (Sid will know .... over 700.000 of assets??). I have declared my UK property and the income from that but as I am still below the tax threshold I don't pay any tax on it, so doing the 720 isn't a problem.
Manchesteral wrote: Sorry, gas is gasolina, in Spain, as you may know if you spend any time there !.I can't find where I mentioned Diesel !!
When I pay using the self-service machine in Eroski they call diesel 'Gasolina' on the screen.


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