Ready for a new start
Bristol, 26th of September
I'm a senior NHS manager working in a Primary Care Trust and my partner Fred owns a struggling office
furniture business. We have been together but living apart on weekdays for the last 14 years. I'm 51 and Fred is 60. We
each have one grown up son, both are 27 years old.We are both tired and disillusioned with our working lives here. About
fivemonths ago the possibility of moving abroad occurred to us. I realised that the equity in my house in booming
Bristol would allow us to buy a place to live and a place to rent out which would provide us with a living. We chose
Spain because of a number of factors including the weather, the relative ease of learning the language, cheap flights
and reasonable proximity to the UK.
No kitchen, no electricity ...
We have
only been to Spain once and that was for one week last October. I did lots of research on the internet and narrowed the
options down to areas within an hour or so of an airport. Having viewed a range of properties we fell in love with a
country house in the South of Spain which has no electricity and no kitchen! We put down a deposit only hours before we
left for the aiport on our last day, returned four weeks later to sign a contract. We plan to move next year. We will
build guest accommodation with a pool on the same land as we have about 1000 square metres and a great view down the
valley to the Mediterranean.
Excited and determined
Our joint income will fall by about 90%, we don't yet speak muchSpanish and we have no idea how to get the building work done but nevertheless we are very excited and determined to do this. All our friends are very supportive and promise to come and visit - it will be interesting to see what happens in reality. My main lifeline will be e-mail and the internet to which I'm utterly addicted!
Sent by: Sue
Comments
Hi I am 51 and my husband is 49. My family and I moved here in 2003. We had a residential care home in the Uk our lives were so busy we only had one two week holiday a year away with our children with pure quality time. It was the best thing we ever did. We bought a villa and lived there for 4 years. All our children have made lives out here and love Spain, we sold our villa on the coast and just my husband and I bought an old finca to do up. Life has never been better since leaving the Uk. We have little money, my husband works, he is a carpenter/builder but we have no kitchen or bathroom yet. We pinch ourselves now and again to make sure we know we really are living our dream. You will never regret the move - we haven't, good luck.
Learn the language as quick as possible. I lived in Spain for nine years and now live in France. We had a house in the mountains without elctricity. Also you don't talk about water, most wells in Spain have to be treated with a lot of respect - meaning don't waste water on pools, Spain is in the grips of a drought that looks set to last. What does it say on escritura about the dwelling on the land, is it urbanisable and how many square metres is it? Good luck with your new life, I miss Spain so much and will move back in the next few years. Caroline
I moved to Scotland with my husband 15 years ago from Ormskirk. My husband died three years ago so I know what you are feeling like. Now my son has bought a plot of land in Purias and is going to move there with his partner and three children so I am busy learning Spanish. The grammar is hard but the teacher said I am doing well. I am 65. You are never to old to learn. I hope to be able to stay with them for holidays and practice my Spanish first hand. I have enjoyed reading your diary. Good luck in the future.
I too was a nurse in the NHS and know exactly how you felt! I have visited Spain many times and would love to live here. Good luck to you.
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