This is more like it, and beats getting comfy in a pokey caravan . I tend to agree though, that while the idea of buying a place in the sun holds appeal the reality can come with numerous complexities (and in many countires you can often get stiffed tax-wise when you sell). Far better to have the autonomy to spread your wings and go where you want when you want.

good for you Eagle. Living there and all happy.

my main question, is 'a place in the sun' without the necessary emigration to live there full-time.

i would love to live in Lanzarote. But would i buy a holiday home there ? not on your nelly.

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

I too lived in the Upper Norwood area, and consider myself conservative (small c) but have moved several times around this country, learning the local language with every move. You should try it sometime. It is quite interesting. I most recently learnt West Country lingo, and can now sing along to The Worzels.

or is it Wurzels?

Edited by Tim Gypsy Hill '64 (01 Nov 2020 9.37pm)

Systematically dragged down by the lawmakers

I have done but it is a slightly different set of circumstances, given how my family is structured. Which also means I avoid many of the usual pitfalls associated with owning a home abroad in that there are no legal issues over ownership and so on.

But I want to die with warm bones. I truly do. I adore hot weather and the thought of being old and cold is not one I can even contemplate.

Not sure how I would feel if it was a totally 'foreign' experience. I know plenty of people who have property abroad but for me I think the question has to be if you want to grow elderly there? Die abroad? Again because I have family connections, when I go down to Croatia I am entering a world that is not that much different to here in the UK. Weddings, christenings, funerals, family dinners. Both for the good and the bad. But it gives me a grounding that I suspect many ex-pats do not have.

I think that aspect is important. I actually have real 'roots' down there. Not sure how I would feel if it was just a holiday home.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

Where do you get these quaint ideas from?

As a frequent visitor to Spain it has never occurred to me to transcribe the graffiti into Google Translate to see what they meant, or are you saying that you are a fluent Catalan speaker.

English ex pats "trashing Spanish culture". I don't really think so as most complaints are of ex pat communities sticking together and ignoring the Spanish unless you are including the wishing of English foodstuffs in the supermarkets to be trashing Spanish culture.

Finally your comment about the locals being "sick and tired of being waiter to elderly drunken hooligans" is as daft as your other comments as whilst some parts of Spain do have a reputation for drunken Brits they tend to be youngsters and not middle aged and elderly expats and many waiters in British ex pat areas are pleased to have a job and couldn't care less what nationality they are serving

Living in Switzerland isn't too shabby, we were thinking of buying in Malta or Gozo, for retirement etc..