Britains Going To The Dogs-I'm Staying In Spain !!

[BENIDORM]

Pamela,
I agree that everywhere has its problems , in fact I started a topic here many years ago with the title 'No where is perfect'.!
Also I'm always saying that I'm proud to be British and have and would defend my country of birth if the occasion arose, but I also don't really see any benefits of my wife and I moving back to the UK at the present time...

With regard to my friends, well you've 'hit the nail on the head' in stating that 'they may have settled more in Spain than they realised'...
It has probably been a good thing for them to have a look at their lifestyles and now I think that they will feel more settled in their current location.
I personally think that many people go back and want to see things as they used to be, however life moves on and changes happen all of the time wherever you are.
Anyway Pamela, I hope that you are having a good day wherever you are at the present time.
Regards,
Gordon

[Pamela1]

Hi Gordon,

One thing i will say is you are very polite and un judgemental...that says alot to me...No matter where you live you have to make the best of it...I would truly love to spend more time in Spain at our house but hubby has to work and that time will have to wait..but who knows what is around the corner...

Thank you for your answer...

[Torrox_campo]

Yes Britains Certainly Going To The Dogs!!! We are from Northumberland and it has taken 10 -12 hours to get to / from Postmouth every time. We did this same journey in the early 2000 (house in France) it was about 7 hours max. But for nearly twice the distance, from Santander to Torrox it took more or less the same amount of time.

[BENIDORM]

Pamela1,
Thank you for your kind words...

Torrox_campo,
Yes, That is a big difference in travel time, but why,? is it the condition of the roads/repairs or just too much traffic ?

Travelling on the dual carriageways in Spain is a pleasure ,apart from negotiating big cities like Madrid.

Regards,
Gordon

[Evaready]

We have recently moved from Andalusia (Archidona) - being there for more than 10 years- to Catalunya. We have rented since January in a place which is south west of Girona (c 21 kms) which, unbeknown to us seems to be the hottest, driest place in Girona province. That said, it was definitely not as hot as Archidona this month and we have now come down to a very serviceable 25/26 C. There are lots of storms from the NW (Pyrenees) but they rarely seem to reach where we are renting- having petered out a few Kms away. I know the region well because my family has had a house on the Costa Brava for 45 years and, whilst the summers are definitely not as predictably hot as the south, we still get summers which are hot and lovely, but also rain which makes everything beautifully green. We have now bought a house which is being slightly renovated and we should move in there in a month or so- it is closer to the Pyrenees (about 300m) but still only a 40 minute drive from Girona, and gets a reasonable amount of rain, but again hot summers and crisp, cool winters. Growing veg should be a breeze, given the rain we are going to get! The one thing we really miss is a decent ex pat forum with lots of info like A.com- actually there are very few ex-pats in inland Girona, so not a great surprise, but A.com is such a very useful resource I shall continue reading and maybe posting occasionally. FYI we moved partly to that we could see my family when they come to the family house in the summer, but also partly because the heat of the Archidona summers was getting us down. The weather is definitely more moderate here, fierce storms notwithstanding.

Evaready

[chrissiehope]

Hi evaready - nice to hear from you again and glad you've both found somewhere nice to settle down Hope you're both keeping well - and 'los animales'

Good luck

Chrissie

[Lavanda]

I was in the UK two weeks ago and loved the weather, the bookshops and the eating out in country pubs and inns. However, the traffic was horrendous. It took me four hours to get from Exeter to Yate just north of Bristol because the M5 had all there lanes with slow-moving nose-to-tail vehicles and the M5/M4 junction had a 60mph limit for miles and miles. It would have been nice to have got up to 60mph. Diversions around Bristol airport the next day sent us around and around and around. Eventually, a local person told us to ignore all the signs and just follow x, y and z and the airport was reached rapidly. The third world traffic and transport problems alone would stop me settling back in the UK — and it seems to get worse each time I go back.

[firsttango]

Was in Yate recently for the first time in 12 yrs....boy has it changed. But C. Sodbury High St remains pretty much the same thankfully, apart from the last time I had a Ploughmans lunch there it was £3.25.....this time £8.95

[mountainlass]

I'm visiting family in the UK at the moment. Going to the dogs is probably a bit extreme, could I live here again, no, not if I can help it. But if the government takes away my right to healthcare when I retire we may have to.
I love the variety of shops I love country pubs I love seeing family
I dislike the amount if people, the amount of traffic, the appalling train and bus services but then again those were some of the reasons for moving to rural Spain.
I did laugh at the original posters friends comments " to many immigrants " a tad ironic from an immigrant in Spain

[Wicksey]

I think the traffic problems have something to do with the fact that the population density in Spain is 92 people per km2 whilst England has a density of 407 per km2!! If you look at the GB density it is much lower as it includes the wild empty areas of Scotland and Wales but I think England is just too full of people these days which makes everywhere particularly, in the south and around the cities, just too congested. Driving is so much less fraught here and the motorways around us are pretty empty most of the time.

I too love a pint of real beer at a proper English pub but the prices are way to scary to do that regularly. It is really just a holiday thing and if we lived there we couldn't afford to keep going out drinking and eating.

[patricia]

I love England. I love the countryside; I love London - as long as I can leave it - still I am happy to visit it. I have to agree the traffic is terrible, but if you are retired and can choose a time it does get better. But there are lots of pluses like free bus pass and nipping up to London on the free bus pass which includes the tubes. I agree that it is expensive. Alarmingly so Still if it doenst rain picnics are lovely and sandwiches are easy to make. I too love going into a country pup and sometimes I long for that, but I also love to sit out here in the sun even through the winter. I just wish I could come and go as some people do, that would be the life for me, but if push came to shove I would return to the UK. There is plenty to do for pensioners and mostly free. I do have my place in the UK but it is rented out - as needs must - but if you have to be in London that is one of the places to be, on the Thames and near the lovely parks and Hampton Court.

You never know may be I will end up back there one of these days and there isnt a nicer place to end up in.

[olive]

Several things take me aback each time I have to go back to the Uk.

The traffic. Journeys I could do twenty years ago in say 2 hours now take 3. The A64 to and from Scarborough is as bad as it was pre bypass days back in the 70's. I don't know whether the M1 is still being Smart' ified but the draconian speed limit reductions for roadworks as opposed to a common sense approach are also a shock.

Doctors appointments for my relatives. They could be dead by the time the appointment comes round. (we have yet to fail to be able to have a next day appointment here - sometimes making the appointment as late as one a.m.)

The hassle with refuse. Dustmen looking in your bin and rejecting it for one indiscretion.

The shocking price of a drink at a bar ( and no free tapas)!

[patricia]

I have to say some of those things are true, but I could say the same about Spain. It wasnt long ago when - in a coach - I had to wheedle around the coast road however I do have to say whenever I go out in the car I wonder if I am going to come back alive with the way some people drive here. Even short journeys you meet fools over taking on bends etc and I remember when it was a pleasure to drive in Spain but it no longer is.

I also have to say that all my friends and family seem to receive excellent service on the National Health and the only complaints are what I read in the papers but there are plenty of those in the Spanish papers about doctors and what about August you cannot get a doctor's appt. for love nor money in fact my doctor told me not to book an apt in August Just as well I wasnt dying of something during that period.

I also read about the dustmen but again where I am in the UK have not experienced anything like that at all. I do agree about the price of a drink but those earning do not blink an eyelid. I presume that even here for those not working any price on a drink would be pricey!

Obviously there are swings and roundabouts for both and money is the issue, if I had the money I would come and go. I shall always love England it is my home and where I was born, although I also love Spain and would never give it up either.

[elusive]

The A64 to and from Scarborough is as bad as it was pre bypass days back in the 70'
---------

That road has always been a nightmare. I lost track of the amount of times we would turn back and give up by malton. Population and size of the country will always be the uks problem. When you compaire the pop with the size of the place its something daft like the 3rd most populated country. Theres no off peek time for travelling in the big cities.its no long ago the roads would by quiet by 9.30. Now its non stop. As with most things its comes down to money. If you are lucky enough to be from the right part of the uk you can sell grannys council house (thanks maggie) for a few hundred k and have the best of both worlds

Talking of bin men. Our local lorry drives around at 2am with what sounds like no brake pads seemingly waking up the whole village. its ridiculous. in the uk someone in a dressing grown would have prob come out and planted one of them by now! Not to mention the speeding motor bikes doing upto 100km as they drive into the village .they have already killed a lovely local cat. Guess they wont care until they lose control and kill a few sat in an outside cafe.

[mountainlass]

Which all goes to prove no where's perfect

[elusive]

Very true. i guess the novelty is starting to wear off and things are starting to annoy me now did i mention roundabouts

[patricia]

Basingstoke is excellent for roundabouts. There are more roundabouts in Basingstoke then in the whole of Spain.

[Lavanda]

What about Swindon? That place has The Magic Roundabout where one central roundabout has several others coming off it. It's really crazy.

[patricia]

I do not think Swindon can beat Basingstoke when it comes to roundabouts I am afraid. Basingstoke wins hands down Basingstoke is often nicknamed "Doughnut City" or "Roundabout City" because of the number of large roundabouts.

I have never managed to drive into or through Basinstoke without getting completely lost! Even just driving into the outskirts of Basingstoke to get to a village that you could not get to from the motorway I got completely disorientated; ! Nightmare and usually I have a good sense of direction

[mountainlass]

I'm in the UK at the moment. Tomorrow I go to Peterborough one big roundabout