Hi from Alicante Spain

Fraise

tonymar wrote: »

Or another option would be to sell your main UK home , buy a place in Spain while the prices are low and the exchange rate is good , and instead of putting the left over money in the bank buy a flat or smaller house in the UK and rent it out for an income.

I guess it is best for the individual to do what they feel suits them best .

I do feel you are stereo typing foreign property a bit and take the UK as being a superior country , its funny but after living here for so long I some times think in reverse that the UK is the odd one out in Europe , ie didnt adopt the euro, rhd cars etc.

I see new people that come to Spain still think everything Uk is best , they even buy stuff like washing powder , toothpaste , bleach etc as if the Spanish equivalents don't exist . Very Strange !

I think it takes time to realize many Spanish products as just as good as Uk ones also I guess the ability to translate what the packet says is also a factor

Think the funniest example of Uk stuff for sale in Spain was -
when I was in a
Spanish branch of Iceland there were some oranges for sale , grown in Spain , packed in the UK - for sale in Spain ,

Why ---- because Oranges from the Uk are better of course !!!

Tony:)

Your other option wouldn't be financially prudent. If you were to sell your property in the UK, buy another to rent out plus one in Spain, not only will you amass lots of conveyancing and legal costs, you'll lose 40% capital gains tax by having more than one property. You'll also be liable for tax on your rental income, not forgetting maintenance costs and general costs of having tenants etc..that's providing you could afford to buy a smaller home in the UK that would bring in good rental income, after selling up your main home and buying a second home in Spain.

I don't feel the UK is superior to Spain or other EU countries, though for the most part the UK is a better investment property wise, and the fact so many people want to move to the UK supports the general belief that life as a whole is better in the UK than in many EU countries.

I'm glad we didn't adopt the Euro (just look how it's tumbled) and as for suggesting we should start driving RHD cars, that's a silly idea. The cost to change road plans etc would be enormous. And it's unnecessary. David Cameron is actually talking about leaving the EU, so it's just as well we didn't go onto the Euro.

People of all nationalities will always buy certain things they're familiar with. Immigrants in the UK buy foodstuff that they were brought up on abroad. There's nothing wrong with having preferences. I'm sure most people's shopping baskets are a mixture of local produce and imported favourites from back home.

The oranges you saw in the Spanish supermarket packed in the UK...are you sure about that? Everyone knows oranges don't grow in the UK, and although certain imports/exports are packed elsewhere, fruit is ALWAYS packed in the country of harvest. It has to be to keep it fresh. They're shipped in refrigerated lorries after been packed in factories, and they have a certain shelf-life. There's no way Spain would import oranges they'd exported to the UK. Besides the madness of it, the costs would increase stupidly for all the transportation and custom fees. I'm sorry, but you must have misread that.

seven-day-weekend

tonymar wrote: »

Hi from Spain

I have been here for 12 years now , noticed houses are now selling again .

I think for people who are retiring , Spain could be a good place to save money , and free capital from a Uk property

prices are low here and the exchange rate is good

If any one has any questions what its really like living here full time .
or info on the local area near Alicante City

I will try my best to answer

Cheers Tony

Been there, done that, enjoyed it while it lasted, don't want to do it again.:)

I was in the south, in the Sierra Nevada mountains for eight years - that's my house at the bottom of the hill::

https://bovingtoninspain.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/yegennov006252822529.jpg


We sold it when we left, broke even financially.

Beautiful country, wonderful people.

seven-day-weekend

tonymar wrote: »

I can speak Spanish , good enough to communicate ,

but my kids are fluent as they did all their schooling here

I know many ex pats that Speak almost no Spanish and they still manage to get by, English is so widely spoken in coastal areas it can make us a bit lazy to learn Spanish !

Cheers Tony

Very few people spoke English where we were. It was a bit of a baptism of fire!

seven-day-weekend

tonymar wrote: »

I have very good Spanish friends , and they make me feel very welcome , thanks !

In fact even before we could speak Spanish , our neighbour knocked on our door and invited us to his house , we spent many Sunday afternoons eating paella with all of their Spanish family

You are entitled to your opinion , enjoy your life in the UK it is your right as it is mine to be in Spain that is the great thing of living in the free world !

Cheers Tony:)

We found all our neighbours (in fact, the Spanish in general), to be so welcoming, even when we could not speak their language very well. They just seemed happy that we tried. They were always giving us stuff from their market gardens, as we had no land to grow anything ourselves.

seven-day-weekend

[QUOTE=FZwanab;68209848]Can you get the uk state pension while living in Spain or only a private pension if you have one?
Are you in an urbanisation or have to pay huge communal fees somewhere?
Where would the more upmarket areas of alicante be?
Is it all like "a place in the sun" TV show. Is there anywhere else, given the choice you would prefer to live now? Eg. France, Italy.
Do you get cold in winter because you have acclimatised to the temperature?
Do you swim every day? Just dreaming about it all myself.[/QUOTE]

You can get the British State Pension anywhere in the world. However, in some countries, it does not get any rises (in Europe it does ).

Fraise

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

You can get the British State Pension anywhere in the world. However, in some countries, it does not get any rises (in Europe it does ).

Doesn't the British State Pension rise in the UK? Then if you're overseas, wherever that may be, surely you'd receive more when it does?

seven-day-weekend

Fraise wrote: »

Doesn't the British State Pension rise in the UK? Then if you're overseas, wherever that may be, surely you'd receive more when it does?

If you are resident in certain countries you don't get the rise.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pensions-annual-increases-if-you-live-abroad/countries-where-we-pay-an-annual-increase-in-the-state-pension

tonymar

Well its a nice sunny day here today , so if any one is interested in what its like to live here , inland of Alicante please feel free to ask .

I Know Spain is not for everyone but there is still quite alot of interest and I have noticed expats buying again , I guess taking advantage of the good exchange rates and low cost property !!

I spoke to a Spanish builder the other day and he said at the moment he can not build new houses because they would cost more to build than he could sell them for, due to he huge amount of already built property at low prices !

Cheers Tony

tonymar

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

We found all our neighbours (in fact, the Spanish in general), to be so welcoming, even when we could not speak their language very well. They just seemed happy that we tried. They were always giving us stuff from their market gardens, as we had no land to grow anything ourselves.

Yes I agree most Spanish are welcoming , our neighbours really looked out for us when we first moved over we now almost consider them as family

Do you ever miss Spain ?

Cheers Tony

seven-day-weekend

tonymar wrote: »

Yes I agree most Spanish are welcoming , our neighbours really looked out for us when we first moved over we now almost consider them as family

Do you ever miss Spain ?

Cheers Tony

I don't want to go back and live there. We always knew it was not going to be permanent and in the words of the old Buffy Saint-Marie song decided that 'there we'll stay until it's time for us to go' (my paraphrase).

I do however miss the tranquility of living in a village in the mountains, I miss the beautiful flowers which covered the mountains in the spring and made them smell of rosemary and menthol, I miss the wonderfully open-hearted people, I miss living above the clouds (when there were any!), I miss bats making figures-of-eight outside my balcony, the geckos climbing up my walls, the eagle circling at window height.

You could only get those things by living in a traditional mountain village, I think, they would not be in a town, or on a development.

We're always in two minds whether to go back and visit, or whether it is better to have the lovely memories. We haven't been yet, but are considering for next spring. We returned here at the very end of 2011.