My story in the book is backed up by facts
about many of the issues I faced, as well as general information
on many of the aspects of living in Spain that I have covered. These
are provided by my Spanish business partner Luis, who grew up in
Spain and has just returned after living for 28 years in the UK.
What is the 'real Spain'? So many people
use this phrase but are they aware of what it really means? Living
in Spain can come in two flavours - living in the 'real' Spain,
or living in the expat world. Before making the move you have to
decide which is best for you. Many, myself included, decide they
want to live amongst the Spanish - but do the Spanish want to live
with you? Living in Spain on an urbanisation full of expats is nothing
like living in a small Spanish village.
I began living in Spain in a very small village
where there was only one other English woman who had been there
13 years, was fluent in the Spanish language, and was married to
a Spaniard. I spoke not a word, and no-one except my landlady attempted
to speak to me either. When you have made the decision that you
would rather be living in Spain, my advice would be to rent first
whilst looking around at various areas and ways of living.
The living in Spain book covers all the issues
I have encountered over a 3 year period - educating children in
Spain, International and Spanish schools, working in Spain, starting
a business in Spain, renting property, buying property, Spanish
fiestas, the local people, social life, shopping and many more of
the day to day aspects of living in Spain. It is backed up by facts,
legal and general information from co-writer Luis, who is Spanish
but lived in the UK for 28 years.
"We arrived at Alicante at 12.30pm
on 5th March 2002. My boss, his girlfriend and Maya my dog were
waiting for us when we stepped out into the sunshine with our
8 suitcases. Surprisingly, Maya did not appear at all shell shocked
after her experience being locked in a box on an airplane and
settled down next to the table whilst we ate lunch at a restaurant
in Altea, basking in the sunshine after a long cold winter in
the UK."
"Ever been stuck on a mountain in
the middle of a 'gota fria'? It would definitely give you something
to think about before buying a property situated on a mountain."
"In local Supermarkets there were
whole skinned rabbits, chickens with their heads and feet still
attached, jars of all things pickled, only long life milk, and
all manner of things I didn’t understand or like. I actually
lost a stone in the first two months of arriving simply because
I didn’t know what to buy."
"Denia celebrates Las Fallas. The
origin of Las Fallas goes a long way back, the carpenters claim
that in spring time they used to clean their workshops burning
all residuals of wood, old work and left overs, and as San Jose
was a carpenter, this is the reason for the celebration in his
honour. The highlight of these fiestas are the burnings of the
effigies, which are placed on all the street corners and are absolute
works of art, supposedly of local political figures, which take
their creators a year to make."
"On the day we moved in our new apartment
and the van turned up with our furniture and belongings, half
the village gathered to watch. No-one said anything, they just
stood and watched. This was the start of a pattern that followed
us through all our time in this village – whatever we do
they all just stand and stare."
" The school day was far longer than
they were used to – 9am – 6pm with a 3 hour lunch
break on which they were just hanging around the school playground.
Lunch was a 3 course meal, Spanish style, which had to be eaten.
No choices, you just eat what is on the menu. If you don’t
eat the first course, you were not allowed the second. Dinner
ladies try to force the children to eat – very much like
when I was at junior school in 1960’s England."
"We both agreed that the things most
missed were: Asda’s, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Superdrug
and Camden Lock market. Chemists are literally chemists here –
you go in, buy your antibiotics (which you can buy over the counter)
or paracetomol and leave. They don’t sell make-up, perfume
or anything you can browse, and 2 for 1 offers or three for a
fiver - well forget it. "
"A problem that became obvious when
my first friends visited from the UK, was that my friends were
there ‘on holiday’, whilst I was living ‘real
life’. My children still went to school, and I still had
to work each day. On each occasion since, I have made it very
clear that although they are on holiday, I still have to complete
my daily chores and would appreciate a little help in order to
get them finished before I could go anywhere with them."
"As a family, we have not suffered
the colds, coughs, chest infections, ear infections, stomach bugs
etc. that we did in England – in fact I have had only one
course of antibiotics in over 2 years, whereas I would have swallowed
my way through at least 5 in the UK. Neither of the children have
had any. A lot of this I put down to the lack of central heating."
"That first summer was idyllic. Being
only 7 minutes drive from the beach, we spent a lot of time there,
and when the schools closed for summer, the local pools opened.
Neither my friend or I were lucky enough to have our own pools,
but the village pools are only 1 Euro to get in and some, like
Pitons in Pedreguer, had restaurants within so you could get a
nice meal while the children swam. "
Taken from the book 'Living in Spain'.
