will you return to uk or stay in spain

Do you have a query on how to get things done in Andalucia, where to find things, who to call? Find out by posting and hear about others experiences.
Free at Last
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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Free at Last » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:39 pm

Nimrod wrote: It does seem that the self funding charge is higher than the council funding charge and it must be to top up the money from the council.
It has been quite a well publicised issue in the UK, for example:-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... k-ups.html

markwilding
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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby markwilding » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:50 pm

It doesn't tell the whole story though
It's much easier to keep an eye on a family member, who is reasonably fit and active with all their marbles living nearby but Spain has the same problems as most other western countries which have an ageing population.
People who have had strokes or have dementia and the like need looking after properly and have to be moved to a residencia, which to my knowledge have been around for years
Last edited by markwilding on Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Free at Last » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:53 pm

infoseeker wrote:Mark wilding - It's based on general knowledge!I thought most people know that it is the custom, as in many other countries, that the elderly are taken care of by their families, and that, at present , there are not as many care homes in Spain as in the UK .
I don't think it needs in depth research to come to that conclusion!
I don't think that view represents the modern day reality of the situation in Spain. A quick google search for residencias just in my area turns up a whole list, and these are not establishments which have been set up to cater for expats.

http://www.paginasamarillas.es/residenc ... u/all-nc/1

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Mowser » Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:13 pm

Came here full-time in 2004. Have been back to the UK probably five times. I don't really like it there.
Currently in Frigiliana, but when things pick up, we'll sell and move down to the coast.
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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Nimrod » Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:26 pm

ALaydee wrote:
Nimrod wrote:In the London area my ma in law ,who was self funding in a dementia care home ,was paying £938.00 per month.
She is now council funded,I believe the council contribute about £620 and take her pension of £183.00 per week.
£938 per Month seems very reasonable and good value, I've seen much higher figures being levied, especially in a dementia care home.
This is a basic home,
there are some locally who charge £1600.00 but these are run like 1st class hotels.
Frankly my mother in law wouldn't know if she was in Butlins or The Ritz.
It's the quality of care and carers that counts.

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costakid
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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby costakid » Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:58 pm

We spend about 14 weeks a year in Spain as we are both still working in the UK. We bought our place and i would love to move here full time but would never sell the Uk base. Ive seen too many people regret that decision. Ive also seen others make a real go of Spain. I am also glad we bought and didn't go for long term rent as even with the property drop from 2002 prices we are still quids in. Also you have to put a price on the time and enjoyment you have had from your Spanish life. If I honestly put a correct value on our time here I could give our house away. We have enjoyed every minute even the aggro you sometimes have to put up with and the red tape.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby firsttango » Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:15 pm

Nimrod wrote:
ALaydee wrote:
Nimrod wrote:In the London area my ma in law ,who was self funding in a dementia care home ,was paying £938.00 per month.
She is now council funded,I believe the council contribute about £620 and take her pension of £183.00 per week.
£938 per Month seems very reasonable and good value, I've seen much higher figures being levied, especially in a dementia care home.
This is a basic home,
there are some locally who charge £1600.00 but these are run like 1st class hotels.
Frankly my mother in law wouldn't know if she was in Butlins or The Ritz.
It's the quality of care and carers that counts.
Even the £1600 per month sounds great value when you read FAL post and link to the article where average residential fees covering accommodation, food and basic care (not nursing) are running at at least £2,400 per month upwards.
Yes agree its all down to the quality of care at the end of the day.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Free at Last » Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:29 pm

This is the one my sister works at - please note the weekly charges as shown on the website! And this is for one which is supposedly run by a not for profit organisation. Ouch!


http://www.carehome.co.uk/carehome.cfm/ ... zref/78039

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby infoseeker » Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:43 pm

Ouch indeed!

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Nimrod » Wed Dec 10, 2014 9:05 pm

My Mil's home is also run by a charity with big name patrons,but year on year they were putting the fees up by 5%
Some charity!

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Lavanda » Wed Dec 10, 2014 10:24 pm

I fully expect to stay in Spain. I like the system of village care for the old people that I can see works very well. I like the whole thing here and with my Spanish more-or-less fluent I feel happy about it all. However, who knows what the future holds? With my government public sector pensions coming from the almost bankrupt UK feeling not that secure and permanent right now PLUS the possibility that the UK will move away from the EU or that the EU will implode ... who knows? Who can honestly predict our future? I expect to stay in Spain and I want to stay in Spain but things may happen, outside my control, which might take away, from me, that choice. I hope not, but it might.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Devils Advocate » Wed Dec 10, 2014 10:33 pm

costakid wrote:We spend about 14 weeks a year in Spain as we are both still working in the UK. We bought our place and i would love to move here full time but would never sell the Uk base. Ive seen too many people regret that decision. Ive also seen others make a real go of Spain. I am also glad we bought and didn't go for long term rent as even with the property drop from 2002 prices we are still quids in. Also you have to put a price on the time and enjoyment you have had from your Spanish life. If I honestly put a correct value on our time here I could give our house away. We have enjoyed every minute even the aggro you sometimes have to put up with and the red tape.
Cracking post CK, I could have written it myself. I think we'll stick as we are too. Best of both worlds and all that, perfecto.
Property owner in Andalucia since 2002. How time flies.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby markwilding » Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:02 pm

costakid wrote:Also you have to put a price on the time and enjoyment you have had from your Spanish life. If I honestly put a correct value on our time here I could give our house away. We have enjoyed every minute even the aggro you sometimes have to put up with and the red tape.


I Whole heartedly agree . No price can be put on the experience.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Devils Advocate » Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:06 pm

Agree with that too Mark :thumbup:
Property owner in Andalucia since 2002. How time flies.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby katy » Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:56 am

Getting old, especially dementia is crap whichever country you are in. No need to turn it into a p contest. Rich or poor makes no difference. It is having someone who you can trust to oversee things.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Mowser » Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:57 am

I trust you katy! Will you look after me in my dotage?
:wave:
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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby markwilding » Thu Dec 11, 2014 1:04 pm

katy wrote: No need to turn it into a p contest.
Why are you seeing it as a contest? People are offering their opinions.

You went back, fine for you but not for me.

I'm still here, fine for me but not for you.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby masterob » Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:19 pm

Well, after 10 years and 5 months living in Spain ( not intending that to sound like a prison sentence!) we have just returned permanently to live in the UK. We have been back just two weeks and so far, so good. Why have we upped sticks?

We moved to Spain a couple of years after my retirement. We sold up in London and bought in Spain. Hindsight is wonderful, probably not the wisest decision. The first few years were exciting and the idiosyncrasies of the Spanish ways of doing things was tolerable and, at times rather entertaining. Over the passage of time we started to find them irritating, the power cuts, the unreliability of the town water supply etc we found annoying. Perhaps that was a sign of old age grumpiness!

The final straw was the loss of UK television earlier this year. Not the fault of Spain and not the "end of the world" but sufficient for us to sit down and ask ourselves " what Spain had to offer and did we really want to spend our remaining years in Spain?" We concluded that the only thing Spain had to offer us was the weather and even that was was for only part of the year. We loved the winter day times - the nights in a poorly insulated house were a different matter. The summer months were becoming very unpleasant and we seemed to spend the time in partial " hibernation".

Our conclusion was to sell up and return to the UK! This is where our decision to buy in Spain back in 2004 proved to be our undoing. With little prospect of finding a buyer fairly quickly we opted to rent our house and to rent in the UK. Fortunately we found reliable tenants (fingers and toes all crossed) and have found a house to rent here in the UK which meets exactly what we wanted.

Of course it is very early days but everything is going to plan. Since we left all that time ago the service offered by the Utility Companies, the local Council and by Shops seems to have improved immeasurably. Delivery times etc are all adhered to and the choices in the shops and supermarkets leave us feeling like children in a toy shop!

Our families and friends are delighted to have us back and we no longer have the problem (of our own making) of not being fully conversant with the local lingo!

I do not want this to sound as a "bad Spain, wonderful UK" sort of post. We have no regrets in moving to Spain and for the most part, enjoyed our time there but we believe we have made the right decision in returning to the UK and no that isn't trying to convince ourselves! Although in excellent health at present we did not relish in our mid seventies falling into poor health away from family in a country where our mastery of the language was far from good ( our fault).

At the end of the day it is a very personal decision!

ps. overwhelmed by the 200 or more TV chanells Sky provide with none of that reliance on a variable broadband service from Telefonica!

pps. It's adios Andalucia and I wish all you regulars on ADC all the best.

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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby peteroldracer » Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:56 pm

Masterob, I bet you pop in here now and again - and why shouldn't you!
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Re: will you return to uk or stay in spain

Postby Pamela1 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:29 pm

Although in excellent health at present we did not relish in our mid seventies falling into poor health away from family in a country where our mastery of the language was far from good ( our fault

I think all of the posts so far have all presented a very valid opinion and the words above don't bear thinking about, falling into poor health is hard enough in a country where you do know the language well and do have your family around you.


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