Moving To Spain And Surviving!
By Rhiannon Williamson, Thu Dec 8th

Spain is one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations;furthermore the attraction of Spain’s climate, culture, beauty,cost and standard of living attracts record numbers ofexpatriates to relocate to its shores every year and the countryalready has an estimated 1.5 million foreign residents in situ.

But there’s a darker side to moving abroad that few people everconsider – did you know that last year 191,000 people relocatedoverseas from the UK…and 105,000 Britons also returned to the UKlast year having failed to establish their new life overseas?

Some people simply fail to survive a move overseas and itcertainly isn’t a case of “no going back” for the thousands ofdisillusioned people who flock ‘home’ to their mother countryyear after year…therefore if you’re thinking of moving to Spainyou need to understand the main reasons people cite when theyreturn. By understanding these reasons you will avoid thepitfalls and pain and succeed where others may fail therebyfulfilling your dreams of a new life in Spain.

The Practicality of Your Location

You need to make sure that you choose the very best location inSpain to fulfil your practical needs on a day to day basis.

Consider the accessibility of a location for family and friendsto visit you and for you to reach a doctor, the supermarket, aschool or even a hairdresser. Find your perfect location,location, location by visiting the areas you’re interested inand considering them thoroughly from the point of view of howeasy and practical your day to day life there will be.

Accessibility & Homesickness

Wherever you choose to live, consider the accessibility of thelocation with your old home country in mind. Sure, you may besick of the sight of certain people right now but you never knowwhat tomorrow will bring and how are you going to feel if youcan’t get back to visit, or if the important people in your lifecan’t afford to visit you?

Spain is very well serviced by airports and cheap airlines, ithas one of the cheapest rail networks in the whole of Europe andthe Spanish government spends millions each year on the traveland transport infrastructure so wherever you choose to locateyou should never be so far away from decent transportation. Butdo bear this point in mind as ‘homesickness’ and‘inaccessibility’ are some of the main reasons people cite whenthey give up on their dream of a new life abroad.

Being Accepted

The first two years in any new country are by far the hardest…ittakes this amount of time to build up enough knowledge of thelocal areas, customs, people and language to make your new housefeel like ‘home’.

It also takes a significant investment and effort on your partto find true acceptance

and getting to the stage where youreally feel you ‘belong’ in your Spanish community will taketime, effort and above all perseverance.

Expectation versus Reality

Moving abroad won’t necessarily ‘fix’ your life - if you do moveabroad you won’t escape your history, you won’t escape who youare, you won’t escape all of the day to day grind and you maynot always improve your quality of life! So make sure you haverealistic expectations of your new life in Spain before you goand know that living in Spain will be very different toholidaying in Spain.

YES your new life abroad can offer you so much more …but justmake sure your expectations can match the reality and rememberthe saying – life isn’t necessarily a beach just because youlive beside one!

Health & Wellbeing

One of the saddest reasons people cite when giving up theirdream of a new life abroad is health and wellbeing. The trap isthe price, availability and quality of health care in their‘new’ country. Please look at the local Spanish health carefacilities, think about long term and respite care, considerhealth insurance for all your family and basically don’t buryyour head in the sand! If you consider the worst case scenarioand protect yourself against it, chances are you will beprepared for everything and will financially survive.

Last But Not Least - Money

THE most common reasons for people returning ‘home’ with theirdreams shattered is that they simply run out of money.

If you’re moving to Spain and hoping to find work you need toknow that unemployment in the country is way above the EUaverage, if you don’t speak Spanish you’ll struggle and some ofyour qualifications may not be recognised in Spain. If you’reconsidering downsizing when you move to Spain it can be morethan just a shock to the system to leave a well paying job tobecome a pool cleaner. If you’ve sold up and released equity tolive on have you honestly thought about how long you canpractically live on this amount? What about affording yourretirement years, trips back to your home country, health care,transportation and the unexpected costs that spring up when weleast expect them?

There are ways to afford to live on less and there are ways tomake what you have go far further. The bottom line is - tosurvive in Spain you simply MUST consider your financialposition before you make ANY move.

Good luck in realising and securing your dream.

About the author:Rhiannon Williamson is the publisher of http://www.shelteroffshore.com/ - the online resource for investment property abroad,offshore investing and living overseas articles. Click thefollowing link for Spanishproperty and moving to Spain articles, guides, andresources.