Quote: (11-30-2015 12:08 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:
OP already mentioned he lived in the USA for several years and how expensive it was, healthcare.
Why would he move back?
2nd or 3rd tier Spain would be my choice.
I was in Malaga a few years back, seemed like a nice quite coastal town. I bought a litre of wine for 3 euros.
We live in a 2nd tier Spanish city and we're pretty happy. For the record - we didn't move out of the U.S. because of the cost - we made/make pretty good money. But now that we're over here we would have a hard time again paying five to six times what we are paying in Spain for what I consider inferior healthcare in the U.S. (for the price you pay - the U.S. does offer probably the best healthcare in the world at the top tier).
One thing I should perhaps mention is the social dimension. I really love Spain, I love the people, the women are gorgeous (skinny, pale, long dark hair, well dressed - just my type), love the food (although it's a bit limited outside of the regional cuisine), and I even love the language now that I am getting the hang of it. However one thing both my wife and I have realized after having lived almost four years over here is that there is a social wall that we 'guiris' (Spanish version of gringo) will probably never break through. Spaniards grow up inside very tight regional social circles and most of their friends are made when they are still young. In comparison with the U.S. they also marry pretty young and start their families when most other Europeans or Americans are still busy dating, or these days busy sliding on tinder way into their late twenties or even thirties.
They maintain those social circles pretty much all their life and although they will socialize with outsiders they have little interest in bringing in anyone new. Which is also the reason why many Spaniards rarely leave Spain or are interested in working internationally. For a country that is built around tourism the Spaniards have surprisingly little interest about the outside world (it's more of a Disney style interest - they watch it on TV but it doesn't really sink in or tempt them to explore the outside world). The majority of young Spaniards also don't speak English or any other 2nd language. Perfect country to learn Spanish - in the U.S. latinos always respond in English to me, here you just don't have a choice but to learn Spanish if you want to be able to talk to anyone.
What this translates into is that you make connections here pretty easy and if you speak the language you will meet a ton of very warm and welcoming people. However, very rarely will you get invited to someone's home/house or will be invited to participate in social events as part of their circle. Again, I'm not saying it never happens - it's just pretty rare. As a matter of fact this is one of the most frequent complaints I have come across among foreigners living here in Spain. The other day I ran into this guy from New Zealand who works out in my gym. He's as nice as they come, tall and handsome, good personality, in good shape, speaks Spanish fluently as his father is from Spain. He moved here when he was 17 and now works as an aircraft mechanic. Tells me the same thing - at work people don't really mix with him and they treat him differently than everyone else. Maybe jealousy or perhaps it's some weird Spanish work dynamic. But my point is that if a young buck like that in his prime who could pass for a Spaniard complains about that very same issue then perhaps it's not just subjective.
Be this as it may - we are pretty social creatures but it's always easy to expect too much from people around you. Plus being a bit older probably doesn't help. Either way I strongly recommend that one spends at minimum a few weeks in the country or new city they intend to move to. Because the social aspect will affect you more than you may think. FWIW - I moved to the U.S. when I was in my early twenties and I never ever felt that way - there was no social wall of any kind. People seemed to be very interested about me and where I come from. Immediately got invited to people's homes and inner circles. All across the U.S. - never an issue whatsoever. There are a lot of things to complain about in the States but it is a country of immigrants and if you really want to integrate and become and American then people around you will absolutely appreciate it and make you feel welcome.
And it's not that I don't feel welcome here in Spain - I have encountered very little xenophobia since I moved here. There is some of that unfortunately and I had to go all the way back to Europe to actually experience that - never had any problem in the States. But in general the Spanish are awesome - not perfect by any means - but good, passionate, and very anchored/traditional people. Yes, a whole bunch of leftist wackos as well - that's to be expected. All that I can deal with - the one thing however that really is starting to get to me is that I still feel I am on the outside. I can't really put my finger on it - but all around me life happens, tradition happens, certain events happen - you are welcome to participate - but you will never really be one of them. Not sure how better I can explain it, sorry
Anyway, not a reason to move away though - we never thought leaving behind our life in the U.S. and moving to a country we barely knew (without speaking the language back then) would be easy. All in all it's been a wonderful experience and we don't regret it.