Retiring to Spain, your experiences please.

[ruthcasares]

Hi Everyone.
I am currently researching an article about retiring to Spain and would be very interested to hear of your experiences. In particular what problems did you encounter and how did you resolve them? and what are the positive aspects of coming to live in Spain on retirement.
Thanks,
Ruth.

[greytop]

I am currently researching an article about retiring to Spain and would be very interested to hear of your experiences. In particular what problems did you encounter and how did you resolve them? and what are the positive aspects of coming to live in Spain on retirement. Thanks, Ruth.Hi Ruth. Somehow missed your post back in Jan & see no-one has answered you so here goes. It may help other escapees too.
I retired (early) to Spain from UK some 5 years ago with my wife, cat & worldly goods in a minibus. The house purchase of an old town property went well but getting it reformed was a lot of hassle and we ran out of rental agreement on a temporary flat before it was finished so had to move twice. I used Spanish builders and they did a good job but it was impossible to pin them down to dates, costs or anything else much. Still it helped with the language learning and I found my way round the town hall.
We later moved to a modern flat that is much easier to look after, is high up so it gets some breeze and has a view & a garage. Again the sale went smoothly (same estate agent) but it took a while to get the local taxes transferred.
On the health front we took out private insurance as I thought it was best to have a fall-back to the state system. Coming from the EU (Britain) we were entitled to free health care via the E106 route for up to 2 years, then had to get a letter from UK saying we were no longer entitled to use the UK health facilities and finally redo it all again when I reached 65 with E121s. This also entitles my wife and I to free prescriptions, even though she is not yet pensionable age. (The rules if you are not married may well be different) We have used both systems and they seem to work well although you do need a lot of patience sometimes to get what you need. In neither system are you guaranteed English speaking staff at any level. If you need a lot of medical care this may be a problem.
Day to day living is what you make of it. I think it would be nigh on impossible to "integrate" fully if you do not have a relative who is Spanish. If you are happy to live on an urbanisation or in an area with a high foreign population you can get by with little Spanish as there are many businesses operated by ex-pats. Some of them are unfortunately likely to bend rules that they don´t fully understand (or want to!) Similarly there are many leisure and social activities organised by nationality.
You need some Spanish!!! Not every office, shop, dentist, medical staff etc. can understand a foreign (to them) language even if it is shouted at them. Even those that do, will appreciate you making an effort in their language :). You may also find a regional language in common use.
Weather - it does get hot and humid. There is always air-con for a better night's sleep. Also it feels very cold after the summer when winter sets in, so heating will be necessary even on the Costas at times. We have not found electricity to be too expensive and rarely exceed 75€ a month for all our energy needs.
Taxes : Two approaches - ignore anything the Spanish say and don't bother or get into their tax system if you spend more than half any tax year here. It's the law and they expect you to declare all your world income. You get any tax paid to your native country allowed against your Spanish tax bill if there is a double taxation agreement in place. I'd recommend an accountant as the forms are not easy to follow. You must pay foreigners tax on your property if you do not pay Spanish personal tax. You also pay reasonable local taxes on your property (basura & IBI) and car (which should be registered in Spain after 3 - I think - months)
Finally make sure you are moving for the right reasons. It won't solve your problems - merely complicate them most like. Don´t live miles from town if you have mobility problems or are not happy driving. Urbanisations are often better for a holiday than a home. If in doubt keep your home in UK and rent in Spain for 6 or 12 months, it could save you a lot of hassle and money.