Reasons to stay. Tell us your stories!

[IreneD]

After the upset of yesterday's news (Brexit), I have had such a lovely afternoon at our local pool. There are many reasons I love Spain and sitting on the edge of our local pool, set in such beautiful surroundings, made me feel very fortunate. I'm not going to worry any more about what MIGHT happen in the future, I'm just going to try to enjoy all the good things in my life, here in Spain. I'll try and post a photo but not sure I remember how to do it......

[IreneD]

Success, that's good

There were so many people on facebook talking about going back to the UK yesterday, I hope the panic dies down, I'm sure the Spanish won't want us to leave and will do what they can to reassure us, as time goes on.

[Pamela1]

Lovely pic Irene...yes keep thinking positive..my OH always says i shall worry when i have something to worry about and until then im not going to waste my time or health...I don't know why people living in Spain feel they may have to come back, has there been some kind of information or is it all speculation and wild thinking?

[fyfin]

Unless we're physically rounded up and deported we're staying here. We love the lifestyle, the weather, the food etc etc and have nothing left in UK. Enjoy every day and take things as they come.

[IreneD]

People are worried that if the £ stays weak, it will buy less euros, so that will affect our pensions etc. That's a concern for us, as we get by solely on the state pension. The other main worry seems to be continued reciprocal agreements between the UK and Spain as regards health care. Sid was reassuring about that, yesterday (thanks, Sid, let's hope you're right).

[Pamela1]

Oh i see, yes i can see the worry regarding the pound and the rate at the moment isn't as good as it was but you never know it may recover...having said that when we bought our property it was 1.15...and it has been a lot worse...at the time we bought our house we met a nice couple in Illora who were desperate to sell because they were living on the husbands Air Force pension and they were barely making ends meet...They told me when they first bought it was when the euro was over 1.40...I asked them if they were intending to rent or buy in the Uk when they sold their home and returned...definatly buy was the answer and they started showing me properties which would meet their budget...all were in undesirable areas but that's all their budget could afford...I felt very sad for them because they had a lovely home in Illora with a spectacular view of the castle...I lost touch with them and never knew if they had sold their home...I really hope they managed to hang on...

[Pamela1]

Sorry double post..

[gus]

Looks lovely surroundings Irene.
Hope the pound/euro exchange rate doesn't screw up your life in spain:-)

[IreneD]

Thanks gus, I appreciate your good wishes

Pamela, we bought at a good rate, about 1.40 I think. Back then, our house was a holiday home, we only moved to live here 4 years ago. It's just a little town house but was valued at around 150,000 euros some years ago, I doubt it would fetch 80,000 now, if we could even manage to sell it. Even if we did manage it, we would struggle to buy again in the UK.......I do have a wealthy step-son with a big house, I'm sure he'd find room for us lol.

Seriously, I'm not even going to think about that for now. As to the couple you mention, there certainly have been some disasters, some very sad stories indeed.

[gus]

We aren't resident in Spain ( just a holiday house) but bought in April 2002 just as the changeover from Pesetas was taking place. The fixed rate peseta/euro was 166 if I recall correctly and the £/peseta rate was around 265 so...around 160 euros to £. So I suppose we get more £ for the euro equivalent......just a pity prices didn't keep up

Still, no intention of selling

[jogger]

We are heading over on Monday for a month, the intention was to buy a place and move next year permanently. We are still going to move but probably hold back on buying, depending on the exchange rate. I was so disappointed with the result but hey those tiny minded people won't stop my move.

The first week or so will be spent with family holidaying then we will be going to check out areas, we might rent and take it from there.

[olive]

I wonder if any of your so called tiny minded little englanders would be in a position to debate whether to come to Spain or not.? Many but not all are the forgotten people who get by each week on minimum wages or perhaps just above and have no savings or stocks an shares. They have been forgotten for a generation by all the political parties. an absolute disgrace.

Oh and it is funny how folk as expats run down Great Britain but in the same breath say well we might have to go back. If it is not Great and so horrible why go back?

[IreneD]

I have never said GB is horrible and actually, if you look back over my posts. especially the early ones, you will see how difficult I found it to leave England and my family, Olive and how feeling settled and at home in Spain was a struggle for me. We are here because of poor financial decisions we made, I probably rambled on about them in the early years of my membership of A.Com. Moving here to what was our holiday home was the best decision at the time and if we have to move back, it will be because that will be best for us. Once again, it will be a decision based on our finances. (if that's how things work out - as I say, at the moment, we are waiting to see how things go).

I do think a lot of the people who voted to leave the EU were indeed the 'forgotten people' you speak of. I agree with what you say there, it is an absolute disgrace the way political parties have treated them. I personally would not use the term 'little Englander'.

[jogger]

I had an apology but it came up as a double post and somehow I deleted both so I will redo it here.

Let me apologise for using the term little Englanders it was wrong of me and was more aimed at the likes of Farage, some of my own friends and family actually voted brexit but feelings have been running high over here since and before the result. I have removed that term from the post.

I totally get what you say Olive on my comment. Throughout my working life I have been defending workers rights and have saved a number of jobs, so I should have known better, it was just a wrong choice of words.

[jogger]

Anyway, on a lighter note

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2016/0 ... irish-sea/

[IreneD]

Thanks Roy. Love the clip, very funny.

I think we talked about having a coffee, with our spouses, when you were over. If you do get to our area and have time, PM me and we'll arrange to meet up.

[wollie]

What I find interesting watching tv this morning is everyone is trying to push out Corbyn as he is the socialist voice in the UK. The whole political establishment are ganging up against him...
On the same channel I see the leader of Podomos with a pretty much the same message and he is going for election for his party today.
Personally I expect there will be a new referendum after a bit of blame being apportioned to why it all went wrong...
My only hope is that governments will take at least some of the power from the bankers, corporations and political establishment and give it back to the people...

[jogger]

Thanks Roy. Love the clip, very funny.

I think we talked about having a coffee, with our spouses, when you were over. If you do get to our area and have time, PM me and we'll arrange to meet up.

Thanks Irene, that's brilliant, will do.

[Wicksey]

A friend in the UK emailed this morning absolutely distraught over the Brexit vote and says it's a bad day for the country. She is very worried about the future for her children and is in shock and despair. She said she'd read that the exchange rate was the worst for decades but that's not the case at all. It was almost parity in the crash of 2008/9 and in 2013 I think it was around 1.17 for much of the year. It's currently 1.23 which isn't that bad and not that much less than the 1.31 it was on the evening of the vote before the results came out.

I was out last night at a 'do' and most people I spoke to weren't too worried about the vote and there wasn't talk of a mass exodus. Anyone with an income from the UK has to expect currency fluctuations and take that into account with their budgeting. For us the cost of running our home here is still way below anything in the UK due to the fact we have a campo house with very low outgoings. We couldn't afford to live the way we do here in the UK, and if we had to go back we would probably have to <<shock horror>> ... go back to work .... never never. We'll just wait and see what happens and just carry on enjoying our lives here. I have a little plaque on my kitchen wall ... Keep Korma and Curry On .... or Keep Calm and Carry On, that old wartime adage, still true today

BTW that pool looks lovely Irene .... wasn't there anyone else there? Our one in Torrox is under cover now and not quite the same as before.

[IreneD]

Yes, good motto, Wicksey

No, there was no-one there apart from us and the socorrista for the first few minutes. She takes her lunch break from 2 till 3 and strictly speaking, no-one is allowed in the pool area during that period. We got there about 10 past 3 and people started to trickle in after about 3.30. By the time we left, at 5, it was getting very lively. I imagine the Spanish are having their siesta, so don't come out till later.