Neighbours
Derek is our next door neighbour. He is a caricature cross between a smutty carry-on character from the 1970’s and a depressive who focuses on the absolute worst in his life. And shares it with us at every opportunity. Derek will try and piss on our day before it has even started, waiting outside his […]
Rain
As I write this – October 2024 – there is something of a ‘Dana’ event – a high level low pressure thingy apparently which creates massive rainfall in a short period. It causes utter chaos in Spain because there is zero preparation. This is the same country which has ‘endured’ decades of drought yet refuses […]
Living Amongst Spanish People..
Neighbours When you are in the middle of buying a property here rather than renting, the identity and nationality of your prospective neighbours- to – be becomes something you should, really, investigate. Nationality – depending on your own lifestyle – can be a huge issue. As a Brit living in Spain I have acclimatised to […]
Work
‘People don’t come to the costa del sol to make money, they come to spend it’. One wise resident enlightened his audience at a bar one evening in Benahavis. And he’s pretty much right. Spain is one of the least entrepreneurially-minded countries in Europe so don’t come here as a self-employed person expecting to make […]
Roundabouts
A whole entry about ‘rotundas’ – ’roundabouts’ to you and me indicates a little of the trouble these traffic-controlling measures create in Spain. For just about THE WHOLE of the rest of the word- certainly everyone in Europe, UK included, there is a very sensible set of rules applied to driving on roundabouts. Number one […]
Attention Prospective Expats!
Spain Is Not The UK When you fall in love with Spain, the chances are you’ll be here on holiday. You’ll be seduced by the weather, the low cost of living, cheaper property.. and over time come around to the idea of living here – possibly at or nearer to, retirement. If you are coming […]
Forest fires – the upside
One of the constant fears in the back of your mind, as a resident here in Benahavis, surrounded by Pine forests, is the ever-present danger of forest fires. Two years ago the whole town was evacuated one dramatic summer evening along with wailing sirens, urgent Police broadcasts as the cars drove around the streets telling […]
Things we have learned to dislike here
Coming from the UK there is a perception that everyone enjoys the same freedoms, rights, priviledges and redresses as ‘at home’. Not so. It came as a very big shock to realise that things like Bank Accounts in Spain are not secure, Bank charges are made up on the spot, erratic but irreversible according to […]
Time flies.. it’s now five years on
Welcome to the land of sun, sea, sand, accident and emergency, forest fires, droughts, snakes, cockroaches the size of cricket balls and some of the most wonderful experiences you’ll ever have in your life. Whether you are reading this as a Brit thinking of making the move to Spain, someone already living here or one […]