Are you thinking of selling up !

[masterob]

ladymuck wrote;

Duh of course not. just warning those selling up or not what to expect on their return.

I only asked because your description was not one I recognised and mostly certainly not of the UK as a whole! You forget that some of us have families in the UK and that we visit them there and can see for ourselves what life is like.
In any case I think it's good that mortgages are only available with a deposit of 10%, that way people are less likely to be saddled with the sort of debt that has become prevalent in recent years. As to rentals, what's wrong with having to meet certain criteria before signing up? Would you want to let a property to some "fly-by-night" with no prior checks? I wouldn't!

[Devils Advocate]

Let's us know when you've found Shanghai-La

Don't bother letting me know, more than happy here in sodden Lancashire.........Oh and a 3 week stint in Andalucia every so often makes for a perfect balance

[katy]

My main complaint about the UK is the amount of daylight, sunset here about 4.15pm in Marbella 6.15pm. Would help if they left the hour change. I wrote to Cameron and got a nice reply but he didn't take any notice

[anyroads]

"I wrote to Cameron and got a nice reply but he didn't take any notice"

Funny you should say that. I had an email from him earlier today, but then I guess I am a card carrying member !

anyroads

[katy]

The only cards I carry are Visa and Amex

[ladymuck]

as usual the same obnoxious replys , number one i lived 15 years in spain and did love spain but my husband has cancer ! KATY my properties in spain are sold and the buyers complete soon maybe some of you gripe because number one you cant return to the uk, number two cant afford to live in spain but some of the answers on hear are ridiculous, maybe some of you walk round blinkered but I speak as I find and dont care what you lot say but I tell the truth and cant speak for you lot up north.

no wonder not many people come on here anymore, tell me do you lot just sit on this forum all day waiting to pounce on people ? not everyone sees things the same as the non intelligent people see things.

[gus]

What are you ranting on about?

You are the one who started the doom and gloom about returning to UK and being surprised (??) that you needed to supply solid background (financially and behaviorally) to be able to get a mortgage or a contract to rent property. Some silly comments about the dimensions in new-build properties and weird assertions about the quality of rental properties.

"Ladymuck" just about sums it up, methinks.

[Julie]

and cant speak for you lot up north.

What do you mean by that comment ?

[pigs-might-fly]

We returned to the UK after over 10 very happy years in Spain.
We do not regret our return to "home" one iota.
We miss our friends and the sun, but nothing else.
We are glad to be out of the eurozone, too!

[anyroads]

Now play nicely folks, whether UK or Spain and Happy Christmas everyone and best wishes for the New Year.

anyroads

[gus]

I'll second that, anyroads,.........have a good one.

[laswalkirias]

Whats this attack on Ladymuck all about?
Everyones entitled to their opinion, so why the personal bitchy attacks
Living in the UK is a dreadful ,dreary for even the positive thinkers among us
Ugly buildings, bad weather, bad hair and atrocious dress sense,millions soon to be on the dole
Oh how i wish the last few years of my retirement to Spain would just happen now

[frank]

Whats this attack on Ladymuck all about?
Everyones entitled to their opinion, so why the personal *beep* attacks
Living in the UK is a dreadful ,dreary for even the positive thinkers among us
Ugly buildings, bad weather, bad hair and atrocious dress sense,millions soon to be on the dole
Oh how i wish the last few years of my retirement to Spain would just happen now

You ought to get together with her Ladyship for Christmas, I bet you'd all have a whale of a time! Just as well you're a positive thinker, you'd probably be a tad miserable if you weren't. Plenty of flights going back to Spain, just a question of jumping on one, obviously nothing to keep you in UK. It's strange, just been speaking to a Spanish friend and his son has recently spent some time in London and loved it, he's made his mind up, he wants to move to UK when he graduates. Probably his only chance of getting a job.

[laswalkirias]

Frank!!!!
I have often read your posts on this forum and I have the greatest respect for your knowledge of Spain, however what Ladymuck says about the way things are heading in the UK ,her comments are spot on
If you are between 20 and 30, London is definately the place to be with horrendous unemployment in Spain,its a no brainer , emigrate to the UK especially London whre you can go out every night ,get drunk and rowdy,pick a fight with a totals stranger and make a thorough nuisance of yourself with impunity!!!
You will never notice the appalling weather as you will be asleep most of the day getting over last nights jaunt. I know , because I did it myself in my early adulthood.
But when you get to a cetain age Spain is definately attractive,just being able to step out on a dark night without fear of being attacked by a total stranger for "fun"
I recently spent some time in Merida, and yes it wasnt that wonderful to look at apart from the Roman Ruins, but there was a definate difference in atmosphere at night, a freedom to walk the streets without fear, not something we have in London!!!
Why do we have a forum of English people living in spain full or part time . If UK was so perfect why do we all go back again and again to Spain? Why have this forum? I think the majority of people on this forum want to help new arrivals to Spain, not returnees to UK!!!
Happy christmas to ALL Andalucia.com members
All of you in your own way have solidified my determination to retire to Spain,and I thank you !!!!!

[frank]

Happy christmas to ALL Andalucia.com members
All of you in your own way have solidified my determination to retire to Spain,and I thank you !!!!!

And to you, and I hope Spain delivers for you and you enjoy your retirement.
However to compare Merida with London is just plain silly, it's like comparing some sleepy little English town with Madrid, the difference would be huge. Madrid is no different to London, it has the same problems, same crime, lots of racial tension etc. And of course to talk of unemployment in UK (her ladyship) is fine, but let's be real, it's about a third of what it is in Spain, hundreds of thousands of Spanish are delighted to be working in London, and all over the UK. I live several hundred miles from London, and frankly it would be the last place in the UK I'd choose to retire, there are plenty of much nicer places scattered all around the UK. It's worth remembering that all the people that retired to Spain thought the same as you, that all would be perfect, it couldn't fail, and whilst it worked for many, the fact remains that many have returned or are stuck there with property they can't sell. In another forum, returning expats from all over the world is one of the busiest threads. Nobody has said, or even suggested that UK is perfect (well apart from you), it's probably in the worst shape it's been in for ages, but compared with lots of other countries it's doing OK, and at least the poor unemployed have some form of financial safety net.
¡espero que disfrutes de tu jubilación!

[knowal]

Think twice before coming back, especially if you need to rent or want a mortgage, you will need 2 or 3 years very good accounts and i mean very very good. can get 5 per cent deposit mortgages but 10% plus is the norm. new property deals are ok if a 10 x 10 master bedroom is acceptable.
Renting is as tough as getting a mortgage they check you out with a company called homelet who are liable to get the information wrong twice, credit rating, work records , and anything else they can check, you must get lots of credit to build your credit rating up.
and you are spoken to like a bit of rubbish, most rentals are dumps 1970s bathrooms and kitchens
no pets, kids or smoking, breathing is allowed I think.
I hate being back and now realise I loved spain warts and all

I know live amongst brain washed people and free speech dosent happen.

Obviously posted from the heart and you make some good points.
Ignore the people who attack your posting. None of us have lived your life or experienced your circumstances. Have a great Christmas and all the best for 2013, ladymuck.

[laswalkirias]

Well, I have to admit that Frank maybe right about Madrid(I have never been to any other city in Spain apart from Malaga City and Seville
You have shocked me because I never feel unsafe at night in Malaga Centre or Seville at night and assumed Madrid was just as cuddly and friendly!!!!
My rose tinted spectacles are beginning to turn a little blue
However as I intend to spend the rest of my days in the Calle Alamo area,just north of Plaza Merced in Malaga(an area that only problem seems to be noise) , I will just give Madrid a miss!!!!
The best remark I have heard about Spain comes from a work colleague from La Corouna who chose to leave Spain for one reason
He used to be a boxer in Spain and said these fabulous words
They just don't want to fight,they don't have the killer instinct in Spain!!!!!!
From that day I knew Spain was for me!!!!!
Happy future to all of the Acom posters,you have made me laugh and given over amazing info over the years
If your fairly young I would say that your better off in the UK for a while but if you are of a certain age Spain is definitely the place to be
Any country where "Mutton dressed as lamb" is accepted and encouraged,well its Malaga for me!

[frank]

He used to be a boxer in Spain and said these fabulous words
They just don't want to fight,they don't have the killer instinct in Spain!!!!!!
From that day I knew Spain was for me!!!!!

Just started reading a Christmas present, a new book on the Spanish Civil War, they certainly had the killer instinct then alright, and for many years afterwards. Thousands of innocents slaughtered, perhaps they are not so good at the one to one stuff. I like both Málaga and Sevilla, we often have a few days in Málaga at the end of our stay, and curiously Sevilla is the only place I have ever been the victim of crime, in UK or Spain, had our car broken into twice (in the city center) within a week. Every car in the street was done!

[laswalkirias]

Well my work colleague spends all his spare time coaching young people in boxing clubs in East London now that he is an old man of 32
Perhaps I should have rephrased my post about Spain and the killer instinct. He was talking about young people in Spain ten years ago when he came to the UK
It seems that the horrors of his parents generation have not passed to modern Spain(nobody talks about it anyway nowadays) ,

[frank]

It seems that the horrors of his parents generation have not passed to modern Spain(nobody talks about it anyway nowadays) ,

Oh, I think they do talk about it. Have you not heard of Judge Baltasar Garzón, there's been a famous case going on this year. Basically Spain wanted to forget about all of the war crimes, but Garzón as well as investigating crimes like drug-trafficking, terrorism, organised crime and political corruption, was accused of violating an amnesty by trying to investigate the disappearance of some 114,000 people during the 1936-39 Civil War. He was charged with some phone tapping, but 10,000 came out in support of him, so it's still a much discussed subject. Maybe not so amongst the youngster, but many of them are keen to find out how their family were killed. As many still say in Spain about the war, ¿perdonar? bien ¡olvidar, no!