Spain: Paradise Lost just started. ITV (9pm)

PasturesNew

Part 2 on now

PasturesNew

La Marina.
Brits outnumber Spaniards 4:1
Better known as "little Britain"
Ian Dundas-Collins (?sp) - EA - lived there 5 years

You can get all British foods/brands/magazines there.

And everything's in English, so they don't have to learn Spanish there (aka: they don't bother)

If I got the spelling right, it might be here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=La+Marina,+Elche,+Alicante,+Valencia,+Spain&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=17.885114,27.905273&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FQUPRgIdPCb2_w&split=0&ll=40.597271,-3.80127&spn=11.455264,13.952637&t=h&z=6

PasturesNew

Benidorm, 1 hour north of La Marina.

Couple who bought a British bar - wanted to spend more time together. "Time for us to be ourselves"

Joe and Jane; he was lorry driver; she was a supermarket worker.

They re-mortgaged their UK house to buy it.

The Rusty Nail. They looked at 10 cafe bars, she always liked the rusty nail; it didn't need a lot of work doing to it.

£50k it cost.

Estate agent "Startng a business here is as hard as starting a business in England ... language barrier ... unrealistic expectations..." "They do tend to leave their brains on the airplanes"

More than a few teething problems.

"We had no experience whatsoever running a bar. First day the beer arrived, didn't know which end of the barrel to put the pipes in or how to pull a pint ... it's embarrassing as we have to ask the customers how to make drinks"

She said: "We can say 'hello' 'goodbye'; and that's about it"

A weak pound means fewer holidaymakers, struggling to get the customers in.

Worst day so far: they made 3 euros in a day (9am to 10.30pm)

We thought "oh my god, what have we done ... it was panic really"

She said: "I don't think we're living the dream at the moment, we don't go out at all, we haven't been to the beach since we got here" Their treat for the week is a hotdog or an ice cream.

She said: "We've argued more in this last couple of months than we have in 26 years of marriage."

He said: "It's the heartbreak... it's very hard isn't it"

Estate agent, Lucy, popped in (she flogged it to them).

He: "At the end of the day you cash up and you think 'is it worth it?'"

PasturesNew

Cantoria (?sp), traditional farming village an hour in from the coast.

19 British families thought they'd found their perfect Spanish idyll.

Bruce and Mary Hogday, he retired from the army, moved there.

George and Judith Morris, from Wales, retired there in 2005.

Last year there was a surprise in the post. Chief Prosecutor wanted their houses to be demolished as they were built on rustic land and their paperwork was worthless. They'd have to go after the builder for compensation.

Rustic land is greenbelt. The expectation was that planning permission would be obtained from City Hall later. They are threatening to demolish up to 5,000 in the area, including the 19 in this town.

"Everything that we had is in there"
"We've no savings ... if they pull this down, we're homeless"

Bruce has taken on the role of Group Leader, campaigning to have the 19 homes legalised.

Bruce: "We've been very frugal with our money all our lives... we're now going to lose all that in one swoop"

*cue bunches of old gits having a protest march"

*also cue appalling music*

God this bit's dull... crack on ... crack on ... where's the watchable programme?

Mayor promises he'll try to sort out the problem for the Brits.

PasturesNew

*cue rich sods in Marbella*

Christina Szekely sells luxury homes on the Costa del Sol, catering mostly to the British market.

She has 140 staff across five offices.

"We specialise in the top end property ... 800,000 euros
For villas 600,00 upwards"

She is at the top of the social ladder and hangs out with all the posh/rich kn0bs.

Her end of the market have weathered the property crash rather well.

Frontline beach in that area have a big premium.

Palatial villa on the market for over £5million.

Indoor pool, outdoor pool, jacuzzi, steam bath, 6-person lift with glass doors. Huge garden, huge place.


*cue ... well, oddball*

Huddersfield, Robert Calvin, hairdresser, has decided to open a boutique salon. "I am probably one of the most expensive hairdressers in the north of England"

He charges 150 euros for a haircut

Robert: "There isn't a lot of competition ..."
Launch Day: staff are flown in from England, filled his books with new clients.

Brief interview with a client: "Twice a week for wash/blow dry, colour once every 3 weeks, cut every 8 weeks."

They seem to like it.

Christina Szekely popped in and had her hair done (I think it looked a f***in mess)

trumpton

I haven't watched this yet, but I do feel sorry for some of the people who are facing having their houses demolished. It's not like northern Cyprus where everyone thought it was a bit dodgy, they have been scammed by the builders. On the otherhand, I don't get the logic of retiring abroad. You need to be near family when you are older. The time to live abroad is when you are young and without responsibilities.

I also don't see the logic of opening a bar abroad - these people would never dream of opening one over here, so why will it be any easier in Spain? Too much watching of 'A Place in the Sun'.

My OH says there is now a new genre of telly - tv home shows about people whose lives have been wrecked after watching tv home shows.

flaire

Please, please, please PasturesNew could you do the voice-over for DVDs.

Especially if you refer to any actor who appears as a kn0b.

Please.

Regards.

PasturesNew

Back to the Rusty Nail

4 months ago they traded Oxford for Spain.

"... thought it was going to be a better quality of life ... it's a struggle"

The bar is up for sale. It was Joe's decision, she still thinks they need to give it a year to see how it goes. She doesn't think they'll be able to sell it - the previous owners took 3½ years to sell it to them.

He: "... can't afford to put the lights on outside ... just had an electricity bill of 303 euros"

Desperate measures to make ends meet. Joe's had to take a job, he's going back to the UK for 2 weeks, removals.

She: "It's not what we thought, it's not living the dream"

awww bless her, she cried

Joe's new boss from Union Jack Removals waits outside, he is taking people back to the UK and bringing out newcomers.

Pat & Jim Harrison, from Staffordshire, moved to Spain to spend more time together.

They bought one of the 19 homes in Cantoria that is now under threat.

They moved there in 2005, but within a year Jim fell ill. He woke up one morning and had had a mild stroke. After that he was diagnosed with cancer. She was a nurse so had some idea of what was going on. Jim died 6 months later.

After Jim died Pat found out the house was built on rustic land and she is stuck there. Can't sell it, can't move back to the UK. She has no more money left. She picked the town and the site - she feels she let him down and that's something she can't get over.

It's a month now since the protest month and nothing has changed. The houses can't be connected to mains electricity as they're illegal; they get irregular, expensive electricity from a generator.

George/Judith - decided to return to Wales. They will have to come out of retirement and get jobs again to live on, maybe night shelf stackers.

Judith: "It makes you feel sad, it makes you feel bitter. I don't want to be here any more, I want to go home".

PasturesNew

Overview: Not worth wasting an hour of your life watching, to be honest.

Nothing like the first part last week.

Really, a waste of time.

fc123

PasturesNew wrote: »

Overview: Not worth wasting an hour of your life watching, to be honest.

Nothing like the first part last week.

Really, a waste of time.

I found ,last weeks a struggle to watch too...didn't really grab me...thanks PN for the commentary..can save the time for something else.

The bar people are the ones that never cease to amaze me...they really don't 'get' that running/owning a bar and just sitting in one socialising are worlds apart.

openside

Building a house on rustic land is incredibly stupid, people who buy abroad without the services of an independent solicitor really do need their heads examining

Sorry but the programme didnt even make that point clear so was merely a sensationlist reality tv doc

PS I have a place abroad, planning permission granted licenced double checked, made sure I did it without a mortgage so many people buy their new place in the sun by selling the house back home when they retire which leads to problems as there is no nest egg to fall back on

Id advise people to buy a building plot and do it gradually even if it takes years