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The Holiday Season is well upon us. But if you live abroad you’ll need to get used to a whole different category of celebrations.
Take today, December 6. For many of us it may be another dreary Monday at work. But not everywhere …
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
December 6 is a special festival for children in many European countries, as well as some American cities – for it marks Saint Nicholas Day.
In the Netherlands in particular, Saint Nicholas’ Eve is the equivalent of Christmas Eve, when Sinterklaas (the original Santa Claus) brings gifts for all the good boys and girls. Similarly, in Germany children traditionally put a boot out for St Nicholas to fill with small presents and sweets.
Advent of Democracy
December 6 is a special holiday in Spain too, albeit for different reasons. This is Constitution Day, marking the Spanish public’s vote in 1978 to approve the Constitution of Spain, and thus the country’s formal transition to a democratic state.
As a citizen of the UK, with its long democratic history, it is easy to forget how recent the establishment of such political rights was in Spain. If I was a Spaniard, however, I would have been born in a dictatorship.
In the developed world it is easy to see democracy as a right, one we take for granted. But days like today remind me how blessed we are.
Tags: Abroad, America, Children, Christmas, citizen, Claus, Constitution, countries, country, December, democracy, Democratic, developed, dictator, Europe, Eve, festival, Germany, holiday, live, Netherlands, Nicholas, Saint, Santa, season, Sinterklaas, Spain, Spanish, UK, world
For any parent contemplating a move abroad, picking a location that offers their children a better quality of life now, and good opportunities for the future, will be a prime consideration.
On those criteria, the UK government’s newly-announced plan to increase university tuition fees has to be a black mark.
Under the policy, universities in England can charge as much as £9,000 per year in tuition fees – a steep rise from the £3,290 at present.
With the government having slashed funding for universities in its October Spending Review, it means many students are set to bear most of the cost of their courses. And that is in addition to the living expenses they already have to pay.
Some, inevitably, will be put off from attending university at all. Those that do go will either need affluent parents able to finance their education, or face a pile of debt at graduation.
Spanish Lessons
The comparative cost of university was a hot topic with some English friends we have just seen on a recent trip back to our former home in Spain.
Their daughter is due to finish her baccalaureate next summer, and is now weighing her options. If she were to go to the local university in Spain her parents would only have to pay for her books – approximately €1,000 a year. Back in the UK, by contrast, they could not afford to give their daughter the advantages a university qualification brings.
Mind you, there is a flipside: the countries’ relative job opportunities.
With unemployment soaring to over 20%, there is a big question as to what career prospects she would have in Spain post-graduation.
Tags: career, Children, debt, England, fee, Finance, government, job, location, move abroad, School, Spain, Spanish, student, tuition, UK, unemployment, university
Buying a property in your home country can be a time-consuming, expensive and stressful experience. So think what it’s like trying to do it in another country.
Abroad you may face unfamiliar market conditions, uncertainty around how to arrange a mortgage or how they are calculated, what legal processes are necessary and the fees you will have to pay. To complicate matters further you may not even speak the language.
Those are the sorts of obstacles my wife and I had to navigate when buying our house in Spain. It is not an experience I am eager to repeat.
Much better, I now realise, to get an expert who knows the market intimately to take the strain.
Professional Help
So I was intrigued when I heard recently about a Spanish-based company called Shortcuts Property Search (www.shortcutspropertysearch.com).
Their service is tailored to make both the searching for a property, and the actual buying process through to the signing of the escritura de compra/venta, as easy as possible. This is especially useful for people who don’t speak Spanish, and/or don’t have the time or money to make various trips to Spain before making up their minds.
Crucially, the service comes at no cost to the client either, as normally Shortcuts finds properties through agents who then pay it part of their commission. In situations where Shortcuts finds a property from a private seller the firm charges a 2% commission.
For the moment, Shortcuts Property Search only operates in Spain. But if you are buying property elsewhere in the world I would advise looking for a company that can provide a similar sort of service.
It will make the purchase process much easier and more enjoyable, saving you the stress and bitter aftertaste that can otherwise result. In the long run it will probably save you cash too, by helping you avoid all those ill-suited places, and instead finding you the best deal for your money.
Tags: Abroad, agent, buy, cash, commission, country, escritura de compra, fee, home, house, Language, legal, market, money, mortgage, property, purchase, sell, service, Shortcuts Property Search, Spain, Spanish, venta
If anyone doubts the beauty Britain has to offer take a trip to Salisbury.
Before moving to Spain I was wont to focus on those aspects of life in Britain that were inciting me to leave: the weather, grey and litter-strewn streets, high living costs, crime levels, images of the country’s rundown inner cities, overburdened health and education systems.
Spanish life promised a more gilded existence. Towns of quaint narrow streets and sunshine burnished buildings, café-lined plazas and open-air markets, the turquoise Mediterranean, vast tracts of undeveloped farmland and forest, lower prices and a more relaxed pace of life.
But having now repatriated to the UK after seven years of living abroad I am seeing the beauty of my homeland with fresh eyes. I have a new appreciation of the rolling green landscapes, its woods of oak and elm and beech, those chocolate-box villages, the BBC.
And historic cities such as Salisbury.
I had my first visit there a few weeks ago. Centrepiece is the magnificent medieval Cathedral, completed in 1258 and considered the finest example of its type in the country. Less jaw-droppingly impressive, but equally charming, are the surrounding Cathedral Close and the rest of the medieval city centre.
Sitting amidst the tourist throngs on the lawns beside the Cathedral I saw the city as they must. And it made me realise just how beautiful England – and the rest of the UK – really can be. Not a bad place to live after all.
Tags: Britain, Cathedral, Cathedral Close, country, crime, Education, England, health, homeland, living abroad, living cost, Mediterranean, Moving Abroad, Salisbury, Spain, Spanish, sunshine, UK, weather
Spain 30 – England 20.
No, it’s not some freakish football score. It’s the current temperature differential between our home in the UK and our former one in the north-east of Spain.
The forecast for the coming week in England doesn’t look much more promising either. Temperatures barely struggling out of the teens centigrade, and the threat of heavy rain showers. Yippee.
Remind me – why did we move back to the UK?
Sort of summer
Still, that’s a British summer for you. The odd few days of glorious sunshine, when there seems like no more beautiful place to be on Earth, followed by leaden skies and rain squalls.
It’s a season of uncertainty – periods of joy mixed with gloom. One day you’re in shorts and sandals and the next it’s jumpers and coats.
As for making plans to enjoy the Great Outdoors … in the words of Hugh Grant in Mickey Blue Eyes, Forgeddaboutit.
In other words, hardly ideal conditions when you have kids who want to be spending their days building sandcastles on the beach, or splashing around in a pool.
(For that matter, have you swum in the sea around Britain recently? Are you crazy?)
Sunshine costs
Nevertheless, seeing the BBC News reminded me that the scorching summers seen across southern Europe and elsewhere do have their downsides.
For instance, parts of the Spanish coast are being plagued at present by an invasion of jellyfish, to the painful detriment of the people that have come in contact with them.
Meanwhile, swathes of northern Portugal are being cremated by a series of forest fires, an annual occurrence in many parts of the region.
There is, after all, a price to be paid for the sun.
Tags: beach, Britain, British, coast, Earth, England, Europe, fire, home, jellyfish, kid, outdoors, Portugal, sea, Spain, Spanish, summer, sun, UK
Bullfighting divides opinion, even in its Spanish heartland. Some see it as a majestic cultural tradition that pays homage to the courage and skill of both man and mighty beast. Others regard it as unacceptable animal cruelty.
In Spain, bullfighting evokes a bygone era, a traditionalist view of the country – for either right or wrong.
But now Catalunya – that independent-minded region in the north-east of the peninsula – has broken ranks and banned it (although it won’t take effect until January 2012).
The Canary Islands had banned bullfighting way back in 1991, but given the lack of fights that took place there anyway the move was of limited impact nationwide. Catalunya, by contrast, is a much bigger and more culturally, politically and economically important region.
So is this a major step towards the wholesale end of bullfighting in Spain? Or just another example of Catalunya’s gradual cleaving from the rest of the country, an expression of its separate identity and autonomy?
A bit of both, I think.
Bullfighting is a minority interest among the general public in any case, and particularly among the younger generation. Unless they suddenly get a taste for it in later life, that decline will only continue.
Meanwhile, Spanish state TV’s decision to stop live bullfight coverage back in 2007 is one indication of how opinions are changing. Catalunya’s decision may then serve to mobilise nationwide opposition further.
Tags: autonomy, ban, bullfight, Canary Island, Catalunya, country, cultural, nation, opinion, opposition, public, Spain, Spanish, tradition
Once England got knocked out of the World Cup there was no doubt which team I wanted to win … having been a resident of the country for so many years it had to be Spain.
But what if Spain and England had happened to meet in the World Cup final?
This issue of country allegiances and divided loyalties struck me during this year’s tournament climax because one of our good friends in the Spanish town where we lived hails from the Netherlands. Who would she be cheering on to lift that special trophy?
We guessed it would be the boys in orange … albeit perhaps sotto voce. But what about her children? Living in Spain, with a Dutch mother and German father, where will their allegiances lie as they grow older?
It’s a question of identity. To my mind, the only point at which you can be said to have fully integrated into a country is when you cheer for that nation – be it in sports, war or whatever – above all others. That is when you become a true citizen, as opposed to a long-term resident. And in most cases, I reckon, that takes at least a generation.
Tags: allegiance, citizen, country, Dutch, England, German, identity, nation, Netherlands, resident, Spain, Spanish, sport, tournament, World Cup
Golf, I’ve discovered, is not like riding a bike. Picking up a club for the first time in five years and expecting to smash ball after ball down the middle of the fairway was always going to be wishful thinking. I mean, if Tiger struggles with his game after months out what hope did I have?
At least the conditions were perfect. It was one of those glorious English summer evenings: the warm sun dipping towards the horizon, soft June light, shadows lengthening across the rolling green fairways, woodpigeons calling from the branches … the thwack of small white golf balls clattering into yet another copse of trees.
And, quality of play aside, it was great to get out last night for a hack round with my brothers, the first time we’d done it since before I moved to Spain seven years ago.
In fact, the last time I played was with my eldest brother, when he came to visit shortly after we moved abroad. On that occasion we tried out the Empordà Golf Resort, one of a string of top-notch courses to be found close to our home on the Costa Brava. Unfortunately, that was as far as my Spanish golf career got. Places like PGA Catalunya, which is ranked number seven in Golf World magazine’s Top 100 European courses, remain an unfulfilled dream.
For despite the fantastic facilities and ideal weather in Spain, time was always a problem.
The expat lifestyle may seem to be one of leisurely days spent drinking wine and soaking up the sun, but that isn’t the reality for most. I still had to work hard all week. And with two young daughters to look after it never seemed fair for me to slope off for five hours on the weekend to play, especially when we had no other family around to ease my wife’s childcare load.
As a result, it’s taken our repatriation to the UK for me to be able to dust off the clubs. That, and the chance to spend valuable time with my brothers, are among the plus points of moving back. If only I could have brought some of those magnificent courses with me.
Tags: Catalunya, childcare, Costa Brava, Emporda, English, expat, family, Golf, leisure, lifestyle, Spain, Spanish, summer, sun, UK, work
It was my wedding anniversary yesterday, which put me in mind of some of the good and bad aspects of living abroad.
Unlike our actual wedding day, when we were fortunate to be bathed in sunshine from dawn to dusk, yesterday saw uninterrupted grey, glowering skies. The sort of poor excuse for summer for which Britain is renowned.
But that is what the English weather holds. One day it can be glorious, when you think summer is finally here to stay; the next it is cold, wet and windy. Temperamental.
It’s not what we had become accustomed to during our years living on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where a long summer of heat and sunshine were guaranteed, promising endless days in the pool or on the beach. Indeed, it was one of the major reasons for us moving abroad in the first place. Re-acclimatising to what England has to offer will not be easy.
The upside to repatriating to the UK is the contact it gives us with family and friends, and the support network that is now on hand.
Yesterday, for instance, my in-laws offered to babysit, giving my wife and me the chance to head off to a restaurant for the evening. It was the first time we had been able to go out to celebrate our anniversary since our children were born, as living abroad meant there was no extended family around to watch them.
Such constraints don’t affect all expats. But If you’ve been used to having parents or siblings around to lend a hand while you go to the shops or the doctor, or look after the kids while you have a well-earned night out with friends or your partner, then their sudden absence can come as a big shock. Something to consider!
Tags: beach, Britain, Children, coast, England, English, expat, family, Friends, heat, living abroad, Mediterranean, moving, parent, repatriating, Spanish, summer, sunshine, UK, weather, Wedding
I received an email last week from a guy called David Jennings, a financial services expert who offers the benefits of his years of experience to expatriates in Spain. Given the benefits that sound financial management can bring to your expat experience (especially given the current squeeze!) I thought I’d pass on his details, in the hope it may be of use to some of you …
Financial Pages in Spain – David Jennings http://financialpagesinspain.blogspot.com/
I was involved in UK financial services for over 30 years, with experience in banking, insurance and pension planning. When I first bought a property in Spain 10 years ago I was astonished at the sheer bureaucracy of home ownership here. I am resourceful and I use Google extensively, but yet again I found frustration as I researched all things Spanish. Everything I ‘Googled’ was effectively an advertisement.
Ten years later, more grey hairs and full of personal experience, it’s my time to fight back.
My blog contains financial information, but does not give personal financial advice and does NOT include a single financial services advertisement. I guarantee that I will never advertise those financial institutions who wrap up information in biased adverts. Please check me out. Just like Paul Allen, if you bring forward a subject I can post, I will make my blog available to you. I am also pleased to answer your questions. Happy blogging.
Biography
I am David Jennings and generally known as DJ. I have been battling with Spanish bureaucracy for 10 years. Fortunately, I have over 30 years experience of banking, insurance and pensions in the UK and was not going to let them stand in my way. I still hear ‘urban myths’ from British people in Spain. So I want to bring together, without advertising, my experiences that I can pass to others. I am 59 years old and my financial services experiences are available to you all.
Tags: banking, expatriates, financial services, information, insurance, pension, property, Spain, Spanish, UK
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