PROS AND CONS OF LIVING IN SPAIN

Spain isn’t all sun, sea and sand. Living in Spain for long periods is very different from a fortnight’s package holiday. The country may be the same, but the exposure to its people, customs, culture and attitudes is radically different. As with all countries there are a few downsides which aren’t mentioned in the holiday brochures and are only apparent when you live there. Nothing alarming, you understand, but forewarned is forearmed.

Climate

Hardly surprisingly the overwhelming attraction of Spain is its excellent climate. Summers everywhere are hot, in some places very hot. In winter anywhere south of Valencia is mild but surprisingly around Madrid it can drop below freezing. Some parts of the Costa Blanca have been described by the World Health Organisation as having one of the healthiest climates in the world, a fact not overlooked when promoting the area.

Climate should be a balance. Not too hot, not too cold, a little bit of rain to grow the crops, but not too much to deter people. Some snow in the mountains for recreational purposes but not enough to affect communications. The influence of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Africa produces a varying climate. Northern Spain has its lush green pastures. The Costas offer sun and sand coupled with the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean. The southern rolling hills of Andalusia attract little movement in a blistering summer heat. The Balearic and Canary Islands are always pleasant, the latter very mild in winter. Madrid, the capital, is either freezing or roasting. Cordoba in the south is noted as the ‘frying pan’ of Europe.

The Mediterranean region has the best balance:

• 320 days of sunshine per year
• 11.5 hours of sunshine per day in summer
• 14 inches of rain per year
• average spring temperature 7 to 27°C
• average summer temperature 17 to 36°C
• average autumn temperature 9 to 30°C
• average winter temperature 1 to 23°C

While northern Europe is being deluged with rain, battered by wind, its roads closed by snow and ice, you can almost guarantee that Alicante and Malaga will be bathed in sunshine. But not all of Spain enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Here are some less attractive statistics:

• San Sebastian – 41 inches of rain per year
• Madrid – average lowest winter temperature minus 5°C
• Extremadura – average highest summer temperature 41°C.

While there may be other reasons for coming to Spain, climate is the big, big number one. It is healthy; makes one feel good and equally important keeps the heating bills low.

Cost of living

Spain is no longer the cheap and cheerful country it once was. The cost of living has increased considerably over the last decade. However, with the exception of large cities, the cost of living is still lower in coastal and rural areas than it is in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and France. It is significantly lower than the cost of living in the Scandinavian countries and is on a par with Florida.

A dominant factor in such a comparison is the relationship between the pound sterling and the Euro. Ex-pats who were paid in sterling during the first few millennium years received unprecedented exchange rates of 1.7€ to the £. However these are unlikely to be repeated as European economic integration takes place.

Spain’s sunny geographical location too affects the cost of living. There is an abundance of locally produced food and wine, not only fresh from the market garden of Europe, but also cheap and plentiful. The beneficial effect of sunshine on day-to-day living costs is truly amazing. Utility bill unit charges for electric and gas may be slightly high, but low demand more than compensates.

Something for everyone

There is more to life in Spain than the sun, sea and sand of the Costas. Only a few miles inland, traditional Spain opens up. The transformation is remarkable as high rise modern buildings, set in clean cities, are quickly left behind to be replaced by small white-walled villages and then, even further inland, by individual white houses scattered over hillsides. One such example is typified on the Costa del Sol where, a few miles from the city of Malaga, the white village of Competa is completely surrounded by thousands of individual white properties nestling on hillsides or sheltering in valleys.

There is a clever tourist poster of Andalusia which emphasises the diversity Spain offers. It starts at the top with blue sky and sun, slightly lower down it has skiers on the snow-capped Sierra Nevada, in the middle drawings of Moorish Granada, Sevilla and Cordoba. Near the bottom it has flamenco and bullfighting, and at the bottom the tourist resorts of Marbella, Malaga and Torremolinos facing a beach and the Mediterranean sea.

Some beer and sandwich resorts, which in the past have received negative publicity, recognise their prime source of income is from tourism. They have now embarked on programmes to attract family groups. Spain, once only home of the package holiday, now has international standard entertainment, theme parks and top class restaurants. And the Costas, home to tourists and house hunters, now have competition from excellent inland offerings.

There really is something for everyone in Spain.

The people

Anyone who has spent even a short time in Spain will know that its people are friendly. If you are polite, smile, and offer locals a greeting in their own language it will go a long way to establishing and maintaining relationships. Polite, welcoming and eager to please is an accurate description of the average Senor and Senora.

Some people have been known to say this friendliness is superficial, asking the question ‘Have you ever been invited into a Spanish home?’ This is valid and it also would be fair to say in tourist resorts a perceived need to extract the maximum Euros in the minimum time has eroded the natural charm of Spaniards. But it would be wrong to characterise the whole country for the behaviour of a few.

As one might expect, there is a contrast between the older and younger generations. More elderly Spaniards will have endured the repression of the Franco years, may be illiterate and have worked in agriculture. In contrast their offspring will be vibrant, computer literate, with a city based mentality that embraces new cosmopolitan values.

Today, social customs are changing. People are much less formal but familiarity is still a hallmark of Spanish life. Handshaking and kissing on the cheek is the usual form of greeting. Old fashioned courtesy and formality are still the custom in rural areas. Great store is set by personal loyalty and friendship, but it is also very important to take account of a Spaniard’s personal sense of honour and pride, which is easily offended. The extended family is the main social unit with family ties strong.

Medical facilities

Medical and dental facilities are among the best in Europe. There are many new hospitals staffed by highly qualified doctors and nurses. A high percentage of the cost of this service is provided from private resources. In addition to the doctor’s surgery, the chemist occupies a unique position in the medical hierarchy by providing remedies for simple ailments.

Crime

Spain does have a high petty crime rate. Homes have to be protected by security grilles on doors and windows. Cash, passports and electrical goods are the main targets. The theft of motor scooters is so high that insurance companies do not accept this risk. The police seem unable to reduce these incidents, so homeowners need to ensure protection of their property.

Pickpockets, operating in gangs, are active at all open-air markets, indoor markets and within some supermarkets, particularly when thronged with people during the busy summer season.

It is wrong to point the finger at any nationality, social or occupational group because this is the result of a tolerant society. While murder, bank robbery and crimes of passion are reported in the popular press these are a rarity. As long as sensible precautions are taken, the streets of Spain are safe for both adults and children.

Red tape

Unfortunately Spain is a nation of bureaucrats. Red tape stifles simple daily transactions and frustrates all nationalities including Spaniards themselves. While it is not necessary to obtain permission to wallpaper a room, Spanish officialdom can be all pervasive. When something has to be done, approved or achieved it usually follows a standard pattern – fill in a form and get it approved. It all takes time.

First, there is a queue for the application form. Then a queue to hand it in, only to find the application is not valid unless accompanied by two other documents which can only be obtained from other departments in different parts of town. Once obtained, queue again only to discover that the application will not take effect until stamped by the head of department and he has gone home for the day.

The whole process is made more difficult by the opening hours of the little grilles behind which Spanish bureaucrats confront their public. Not only can the opening hours vary from department to department, but they are always as short as possible. Then there are fiestas, local and national holidays and ...!

It is very difficult to deal with, and most people opt out of the cycle by employing their own personal ‘red-tape-cutter’ known as a gestor.

Culture

Festivals, cultural events and sports events crowd the Spanish calendar. Even small villages have at least one traditional fiesta, lasting a week or more, when parades, bull running and fireworks replace work. Rural and coastal towns celebrate their harvest or fishing catch with a gastronomic feast where local produce can be sampled with liberal quantities of wine. Music, dance and drama festivals are held in the major cities throughout the year. It is called Spanish culture. If however fireworks go off at midnight, a band is playing at four o’clock in the morning and all shops are unexpectedly closed due to a local holiday then patience, among other things, is required.

Manana

The last major downside of Spain is the feature called manona- never do something today if it can be put off to tomorrow, or the day after, or perhaps never to be done at all. To live successfully in Spain it is necessary to come to terms with its culture. Coping with manana is a necessary skill that just has to be acquired. It is best seen with builders, repairmen, or when a car breaks down or indeed any occurrence requiring a commitment to a time or date. A shrug of the shoulders, an upturned hand, a slight bow of the head, a moment of silence is manana in progress.

It is argued that in a large city manana does not exist. They work as hard as their European brothers and sisters. Builders work hard, for long hours with full order books. Supermarkets have extended opening hours. The old Spanish proverb ‘It is good to do nothing and rest afterwards’ (es bueno descansar y no hacer nada despues) is no longer applicable. All this is true, but somewhere, under the surface lurks ...

SPAIN’S NEW FOREIGN RESIDENTS

While most of Spain’s visitors are holidaymakers, some northern Europeans become permanent residents. This early trickle of migrants has become a steady flow, forming one of the main retirement locations for people from northern Europe. For this group of people, climate is important but another important reason is grounded in personal finances, as there are of course considerable house price differentials between northern and southern Europe. Reasons why people may wish to move permanently to Spain, researched by Sheffield University and published in a book entitled Sunset Lives are:

• Climate and other aspects of the natural environment such as landscape and clean air.
• The pace of life, feeling healthier, more relaxed, opportunities for golf, sailing and active sports.
• Lower living costs, housing costs, cheaper food, lower heating bills and lower taxes.
• The presence of a British community, many friends, a good social life, the opportunity for relatives to visit and a friendly local population.
• Admiration for Spain, the country’s society and culture.
• Childhood or family links, including marriage to a Spaniard.
• Antipathy to the UK, such as high crime or poor social values, a general wish to live abroad or long-term expatriates with no wish to return to the UK.
• English is widely spoken with easy travel to the UK.

A more recent report by an international branch of a UK building society stated that an extra six million Britons will venture abroad to work or live by the year 2020. Their motivation is to reduce stress, as many are working long hours in highly pressurised occupations. These Brits are already looking for and researching destinations that can give them a more relaxed lifestyle and more leisure time. A breakdown of reasons indicates:

• 39% searching for a better quality of life
• 38% searching after new experiences
• 25% searching for a new challenge.

Brits also have a growing appetite for overseas holidays with Spain as their number one destination. This has increased their exposure to new experiences. People are becoming more dissatisfied with their lives and a trend for television programmes such as A Place in the Sun and No Turning Back emphasises the point. The TV experience is aimed at despondent Brits who want to make a new life, with a new challenge, in another country. They are also preparing the ground for later retirement abroad.

The research forecasts that Britons will constantly be on the lookout to change their lifestyle at the blink of an eye. In the past, people may have moved abroad because of high unemployment levels in the UK – now they may move because of a superficial desire to do something new, for the sake of doing something.

The concerns and biggest worries Brits have about moving and living overseas are:

• 59% said they would probably miss their family
• 47% said the logistics of moving home
• 45% said that healthcare would be a concern
• 37% said language was an issue.

As Europe has easy border controls for entry and travel is becoming cheaper, opportunities will increase for Britons moving abroad, thus allowing more people to fulfil their dream for a new experience. The research also shows substantial differences of opinion between professions, with senior managers citing Spain and France as joint favourites, whereas finance workers, manual staff and middle managers name Spain as their favourite.