Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Do you have a query about moving to Andalucia and buying property in Andalucia. Find out by posting questions and reading about other peoples experiences.

Would I do it Again? ( That is move to Spain )

Yes
30
77%
No
3
8%
Maybe
6
15%
 
Total votes: 39

BENIDORM
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Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:48 pm

I've often wondered what motivates normal sane people to suddenly decide to give up their lives and homes in UK and leave their family and friends to start a new life in Spain...??
I can perhaps understand if they are on the run from the law or the mother-in-law or maybe an ex-partner, but most expats that I've met just seem like everyday normal people.
So what is the real attraction..?
Is it a sense of adventure or maybe after having enjoyed wonderful laid back holidays they are lured back..permanently.?
Or is it cheap booze and cigs ?
Maybe it's the thought of how big a property you can get for your money in Spain compared with UK, with oodles of land and a swimming pool where you can bask on a sun lounger sipping a G & T..or a cold beer.?
Possibly it was the glossy brochures you looked at gloatingly ,with posing bikini clad seductive looking girls or hunky handsome bronzed men and maybe in your dreams you thought..'That could be me ' ?
And you probably watched 'a Place in the Sun' type programmes where silk tongued presenters showed you properties of sun kissed villas nestling in micro climate sheltered valley's with stunning views of mountains and sea.

So what and why did you come to Spain for ????

Honest answers only please..if you dare....

And why did I come to Spain?
Well to be honest my first visit was that long ago..55 years approx.,that I can't really remember what the original attraction was...But I've stayed a long time, despite going to Hell and Back a couple of times, so there must be some kind of magnetic attraction.. :think:
Regards,
Gordon the Hunk .....In my dreams... :lol:

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby gerryh » Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:21 pm

Our main reason for moving to Spain to live here permanently was the weather.
My wife has an incurable disease but it is controlled at the moment.
The cold, dark and damp winter months in the UK weren't good for her condition.
She copes much better in a warmer dryer climate.
Cheers
Gerry
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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby dxf » Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:14 pm

Hola
I moved to Spain because I could! I worked out that the only reason I went to work was to have sufficient money to retire - but if I retired to Spain, I wouldn't have to work for the next eight years (but would have to support myself) - I estimated I would need £1,000 per month and would need a buffer to cover incidentals like the roof blowing off.

Therefore I simply stopped working and moved to Spain.

Davexf

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:46 am

Good Morning Gerry,
Thank you for your honest, clear and quite moving reply.

Relocating for different, but not always better weather conditions, is probably one of the main reasons for people moving to Spain, particularly for health reasons.
A different climate doesn't seem to suit everyone, but my wife has arthritis which she suffers less from since living in Spain,she has developed an allergy to olive pollen/dust, we are surrounded by olive trees here, but her condition is controlled by taking anti-histamine tablets.
In UK I always had hay-fever but since living in Spain I seem to be cured !

I'm sure many people have been helped by warmer weather conditions, personally I hate the summer months and like the winter though !
Regards,
Gordon

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:54 am

Hola Davexf,
Another good reason well explained, Thank You.

But may I ask you why you chose Spain ?
Did you look at the possibility of moving to Portugal, France,Italy etc.?

We actually almost moved to France and still think maybe.....

Regards,
Gordon

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby jhonie99 » Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:24 am

Why move to Spain, Canary Islands for me (also part of Spain).

Reasons:
Climate - latitude 28 is about as perfect as it gets.
Space - Britain too crowded. Here, I can exit my property and walk a few minutes in almost any direction and not see another person.
Cheap - although their can be lots of expense and Spain is generally very expensive, it's possible to live cheaply and still be happy, with no pressure to compete with my peers. I consider Spaniards an irrelevance in my life, apart from 1, with whom I've lived for 15 years.
Family - blood family is always a burden, something to hold one back in life. Going to live away from them enables me to do what I want without interference.

Yes, I would do it again; Only change would be to bring the Spanish inlaws into line at an earlier stage!
I gave up work in my early 30s. Spend most days gardening and tending our finca. Not much money, but don't need it. We still manage loads of foreign holidays and buy what ever we need/want.

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby costakid » Tue Aug 01, 2017 11:05 am

Well we don’t live here full time. We come and go but spend around 5 months a year here. I prefer that but i also still have to earn a few quid so it suits us. I could live here full time but I would need something to do even if it was voluntary work. I love the UK and I love Spain and our come and go life style. We never considered anywhere else other than Spain. We considered Majorca but I thought we may get fed up with small island life so the mainland it was. Never regretted buying here even when the big property crash came in 2009.

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby Free at Last » Tue Aug 01, 2017 11:19 am

Our reasons were much the same as Davexf's. We did consider other countries, rejected Italy as the cost of living was higher and the bureacracy even worse than Spain, seriously considered Portugal but in the end decided that the climate was better in Spain (less rain in the winter), the infrastructure, particularly public transport and health services, was better in Spain and Portugese is a more difficult language to learn than Spanish (IMO).

I never considered it to be leaving my family and friends, as if we were within easy reach of an airport with a wide choice of flights at both ends, it can be as quick to get back to the UK in case of a family emergency from here as if we'd moved to the South of England. It isn't like moving to somewhere like Australia or New Zealand, on the other side of the world. I left my home town aged 21 and never lived there again anyway, so wasn't used to seeing my family every day.

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby Wicksey » Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:45 pm

BENIDORM wrote: We actually almost moved to France and still think maybe.....

Regards,
Gordon

..... been there, got the tee shirt, came back :lol:

Same as dxf, we could afford to give up work in our early 40s and come to live here so we did. We had never holidayed here or even been to Spain before coming to house-hunt in the mid 1990s and it was before the days of all the Place in the Sun type of programmes on TV.

We chose Malaga region as we thought that there would always be regular flights here (only one charter flight a week when we first came from Stansted) and it would be possible to drive here if we wanted. Andalucia also seemed to have many attractions in the form of historic cities and beautiful varied countryside, more places of interest than the Algarve for instance. We thought Spain would have better weather than Portugal where we had visited before, and more guaranteed winter warmth than France (we were right about that .... winters down to -10 in the SW of France where we lived, and tropical storms in the summer).

Another big factor was the SAD we both suffered from. It's the brighter winter days that are the attraction. We hate the summers here, far too hot for us, but we endure them (tied here by a large garden and 4 cats) for the remaining 9 months or so of mild and generally sunny weather. We have little family in the UK and I keep in touch with my old friends via email and now more recently Whatsapp, so I don't feel that I'm out of touch with them.

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:49 pm

jhonie99,
Thank you for your interesting input. :thumbup:

I tend to forget about the Canary Islands when thinking about Spain, but of course it is a very important part of Spain..
I actually visited Santa Cruz, Tenerife when I was 16 ,on board a Royal Navy frigate, HMS Wizard, we were well received by the friendly locals, but I've not actually been back since, so can't really comment on what it's like to live there now.
You seem to be well settled in there and obviously having a Spanish partner has helped, but I guess that you've had some problems with your Spanish in-laws-outlaws ... :lol:
Can I ask if you think it a good place for British pensioners to move to.?
I've always been of the impression that it a place for younger people.?
Anyway, may your idyllic life continue....

Costakid,
I should really have included 'part time ' residents , you obviously do have a lot of useful input to offer.
I can understand your reasons about wanting to keep busy, I actually believe that is the area that many expats fall foul of, it is not a good idea in my opinion , to stop after working for a lifetime.

Free at Last,
That is a good point about never really being that far from UK, if you really need to visit !

I just hope that if Brexit does happen that they don't cause more problems for travellers between Spain-UK.

Regards,
Gordon

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby Wicksey » Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:11 pm

We think we may 'retire' to the Canaries as the weather is more consistent. Gordon, catch a Vueling flight and hire a car and go discover! Inland Gran Canaria and Tenerife are wonderful and you don't have to go far to get off the beaten track. Gran Canaria is our favourite but quite mountainous similar to where we are now, which is the only downside as we would eventually like to be somewhere a bit less hilly!

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby dxf » Tue Aug 01, 2017 4:13 pm

BENIDORM wrote:Hola Davexf,
Another good reason well explained, Thank You.

But may I ask you why you chose Spain ?
Did you look at the possibility of moving to Portugal, France,Italy etc.?

We actually almost moved to France and still think maybe.....

Regards,
Gordon
Hola,

It was just being in the right place at the right time; girlfriend of twenty year wanted to move within London so we went to an exhibition in Docklands. That's where I saw property in Murcia advertised at 20,000€ (exchange rate 1-63€) which meant I could easily afford a small house.

So started my search of Spain for which area; thought maybe the Barcelona area but then quickly saw the advantages of the Costa de la Luz and the clean cool in the summer Atlantic ocean. It had to be seaside as I've usually been in a seaside town.

As an aside, girlfriend changed her mind about living with me in Spain but i decided that "retiring" was more important !!!

Davexf

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:18 pm

Wicksey,
Thank you for your view points and interesting how you came to live in Spain and you seem to have been quite determined to keep going until you 'got it right'.
It is surprising how many people have retired early and although it must have been tough surviving the early retirees seem to be resilient and seem to be the expats who stay the longest !
We also arrived in Spain in our early 40's and although I did intend to have a few years off before I started working again I only lasted 6 months before starting a business and ending up with a bigger outfit than I'd left in UK..
As for moving to the Canaries, well we have considered it, maybe when I get a bit older ... :lol:
I've mentioned before that my offspring keep telling me that it's time that I settled down.....No chance...

Dave,
Thank you for coming back with your explanation, and I have ask....Did you get another girl friend ?
You did seem to do your homework correctly and are you happy where you live now and intend to stay ?
I'm sure many people went to the property exhibitions, probably the best way of getting contacts ,although I wonder how many people actually bought from agents they met at the exhibitions.
When we first started looking for property in Spain the only contacts we could find where one line adverts in the Exchange & Mart...and we did look at a property that was advertised on a Fish & Chip shop wall in Leeds... :lol:
Regards,
Gordon

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby dxf » Tue Aug 01, 2017 6:45 pm

BENIDORM wrote: Dave,
Thank you for coming back with your explanation, and I have ask....Did you get another girl friend ?
You did seem to do your homework correctly and are you happy where you live now and intend to stay ?
I'm sure many people went to the property exhibitions, probably the best way of getting contacts ,although I wonder how many people actually bought from agents they met at the exhibitions.
When we first started looking for property in Spain the only contacts we could find where one line adverts in the Exchange & Mart...and we did look at a property that was advertised on a Fish & Chip shop wall in Leeds... :lol:
Regards,
Gordon
Hola,

I didn’t really get another girlfriend although I had lots of fun trying ; :wink: -) – not as much choice in my mostly Spanish area. The property exhibitions were quite a good way of getting a flavour – I went to many – the one at the NEC Birmingham was probably the best.

Back in 2002 there wasn’t the same internet as these days so today everything is different. Google Earth exists, you can “walk the little yellow man” down roads and there are forums and websites with a wealth of information.

I have a (platonic) friend who says everything happens for a reason; so yes I have made my way in life and adapted to my surroundings. With hindsight, I had a wise old head on me in those days as I gave myself a year; after the year, I took myself off, sat on the proverbial mountain and contemplated my navel.

Life gives many options, many roads you can go down; not every road is correct – but there are ways of making the best of everything. If I was unhappy enough I would have moved – I am still here and involved in everything. I never say “No” so I have a very interesting life.

Luckily my thought process for the amount of money I would need was on the excessive side – I’ll simply say I have sufficient for my needs. I am now 70 and content with my eight pensions – the smallest of which is £2-28 a month. I live in a very poor area where a beer is one euro, a hot meat tapa (a complete meal in itself) has just gone up to 1-50€, a cold tapa just gone up to 1-20€. A coffee is a euro nearly everywhere, 1-20 maximum in the town centre – but 1-50 if they can get away with it in the beach area.

Barcelona like most cities is expensive especially until you find the cheaper bars, the beach areas along the Mediterranean always more in the summer, further inland cheaper and more even. For instance, the tolls to Malaga go up to nearly double for June to September and come down to 60% (therefore a substantial rise).

No matter where you move to, you will find good and bad points – the trick is to make the best of everything and enjoy life to the full

Davexf

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby El Cid » Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:12 pm

We retired when I reached 50 as then I could take my pension. We had already downsized in the UK and bought a fairly large sailing yacht. We left to UK and sailed down to the Med and spent the summers cruising and the winters moored up in pleasant places. The first two winters were in Spain, one near Estepona and the second near Almería. We then moved on to Italy and Turkey and ended up in Cyprus for two winters. After 5 years we decided that it was time we went back ashore so we thought long and hard about where to go. The UK was never even considered as an option as by then we had sold up.

Cyprus was good but it really is a long way east and trips back to then living parents were a consideration. Italy looked interesting but the winter weather is pretty wet. We though about Corfu which we love but that is even wetter. So, having spent two winters in Spain we decided that was the right place. We did consider the Canaries at we had spent many winter holidays there, but it is a long way from the rest of Europe. With hindsight, it may actually have been a good choice but it’s too late now.

So, it was Spain that we chose to spend the rest of our lives. We have zero possibility of ever going back to the UK and every year we realise that is the right decision. We spent the first three years renting and then decided to build our own house in the Campo which we have never regretted. We have kids but they regularly visit us. It is now 9 years since we visited the UK and we have no intention of ever doing so again (unless we run out of kippers :crazy:

We just love it here.

Sid

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby IreneD » Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:24 pm

We didn't ever fully intend to live in Spain. We have both been married before and both lost out financially on the break-up of our first marriages - when we got within about 6 years of retiring it dawned on us that we would only have the state pension to live on in our old age. Property prices were booming when we bought here - we mortgaged our house in the UK on a very short mortgage our thoughts being that we would have two properties bought and paid for on retirement. One would be our 'pension pot'. Alas, things didn't go to plan (long story) and again cutting another long story short, we ended up selling our house in England, settling our debts and moving to Spain permanently 5 years ago.

I did find it very difficult to settle and missed my family enormously. In fact, as recently as about 9 or 10 months ago, I felt very unhappy and finances permitting, I would have moved back. However, on a visit back to see family, in January, I realised I was missing Spain and wanted to get home! That was a turning point for me and I'm not really sure why...... I think Brexit has had something to do with it. I feel very disillusioned about my homeland and worried about the future of the young ones in my family. But because of family, there will always be a big pull for me and I would be unable to say that I definitely won't ever move back. For now, though, I am settled - and my OH loved it here from day one, so he is breathing a big sigh of relief these days :)

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:30 pm

Dxf,
Dave,
Thank you for taking the time to reply and for your thought provoking words that will probably now be etched in the minds of the forum members forever......


Sid,
I reckon that if you had been around a few hundred years ago you would have been a pirate.. :lol:

Your story is a bit different to other members and very interesting, and you've done something with your lives that others only dream about, so may you continue to enjoy life in Spain for many moons to come.....


Irene,
Thank you for adding your story and I know that life hasn't always been running smooth for you so I hope that your lives are now full of hope and happiness during the rest of your time in Spain. :thumbup:
Regards,
Gordon.
ps ..We've not heard from any of the political wing of the forum, perhaps they are sulking because there is no current elections to argue about ? :wink:

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby RichardCoeurdeLion » Tue Aug 01, 2017 10:45 pm

This is a very interesting thread. Thanks for starting it Gordon.

The flip side is why wouldn't someone want to uproot, and move to Spain.

Us.... we had a little holiday home for over twenty years which we visited about three times a year. We sold it a few years back, and when we visit now we rent. We like the Spanish way of life
But I can't see us ever living in spain permanently. I retired two years ago. I was self employed and had lots of free time to visit spain and other countries. My oh is very close to her daughter and wouldn't want long periods apart. And I have lots of interests in U.K I wouldn't want to give up.

In my mid twenties me and the former oh emigrated to Australia and stayed three years. We loved it there, but the pull of uk was too strong for us to stay permanently.
So I guess it's uk for us.

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby masterob » Wed Aug 02, 2017 1:03 am

After my retirement in 2002 we decided we no longer needed to live in London so we spent a while contemplating where to move to. We fancied somewhere with a mild climate. Having worked in Australia for three years in the late sixties and really enjoyed our time there we wondered whether Australia could be an option. We concluded it was just too far from our family connections in the U.K. Instead we decided to explore the possibility of a move to Spain as we had spent many holidays there going back to the time of Franco and quite liked the Country. Over a two year period we spent time exploring Southern Spain (an area new to us) and were persuaded it was somewhere we could live in. We finally settled on inland Malaga.

With the passage of time (10 years) we realised that in old age we needed to be closer to family and the things in daily Spanish life that we used to find interesting were rapidly becoming irritating. Best to move at a time that suited us rather than having to move for reasons beyond our control, so we upped sticks back to the UK.

Have we any regrets? None over moving to Spain although with hindsight, inland Malaga (or any inland location) was not as wonderful as we imagined. What life in Spain did was to make us appreciate how much better (maybe weather aside) life in the UK really is. Since being back we had a week in Malaga earlier this year but it did not make us regret having left.

So, the experience of life in Spain was interesting with no regrets of having done so but life back in the U.K. is without doubt far better for us!

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Re: Why Do People Pack Up and Leave Their Family To live In Spain ?

Postby BENIDORM » Wed Aug 02, 2017 7:42 am

Good Morning Everyone...
And first may I say how nice it is to read all of your input and what good personal stories.
And also all have been very polite and correct, Thank You . :thumbup:

Richard, Thank you for that..
It's good to get a balanced view from someone who obviously loves Spain but for whatever reasons prefers to remain in UK and visit Spain when possible.
I also appreciate hearing about what's going on in UK and I know most permanent residents are always interested, it sort of gives a good feeling, a bit like chatting with a neighbour over the garden wall. :)

Master Rob
Thank you for your story and you really have highlighted how preferences change as we get older, I can fully understand why some would start to find Spanish living a little tedious and would feel more comfortable returning to their homelands.
However I really believe that anyone who has lived in Spain will have enriched their lives and are much more full-filled and able to cope better with whatever is thrown at them, when they return.
Regards,
Gordon


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