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Costa Del Sol: last Brits standing
Rooftopcowboy
Posts: 7,242 Forum Member
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Anyone watch this? Interesting programme, with the Spanish talking about the Brits in the same way some Brits talk about the Polish! 'They take our jobs' 'they dont learn the language' etc
Not sure we got a full picture of what life is really like there though. I went to Benalmedina out of season a couple of years back and while it was looking run down in places it wasn't the ghosttown the show was portraying. It's just the youth drinking market has moved on from that part of the world.
Likewise I think even many Brits abroad have moved on from the Roasts and Pie's food that the pub was offering. Tastes have changed just as much as the recession has hit wallets and visitor numbers.
the dancing guy seemed to have a reasonable part time business, the issue was he was choosing to rent an expensive penthouse apartment with pool...surely he could cut back.
Not sure we got a full picture of what life is really like there though. I went to Benalmedina out of season a couple of years back and while it was looking run down in places it wasn't the ghosttown the show was portraying. It's just the youth drinking market has moved on from that part of the world.
Likewise I think even many Brits abroad have moved on from the Roasts and Pie's food that the pub was offering. Tastes have changed just as much as the recession has hit wallets and visitor numbers.
the dancing guy seemed to have a reasonable part time business, the issue was he was choosing to rent an expensive penthouse apartment with pool...surely he could cut back.
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Wasn't he paying €600 a month for it? That's £450 at the moment .... I'd say that was a bargain. And he'd have a job finding anything reasonable for less.
I don't think the people featured were very representative of Costa expats, these fly on the wall programme always feature extreme situations
Interesting that Spain provides free health care for expat Brits, didn't know that
I'm pretty sure there are even posters on here who live in Spain and keep banging on about immigrants in England. You couldn't make it up
Case in point. they're called immigrants ffs
If they're using an EHIC card, the bill gets sent to the NHS.
If they are living there permanently (over three months), they are expected to either sign on to the Spanish health system, or pay for private care.
But to sign on for free state health care, they have to either be working and paying national insurance in Spain, or be over pension age.
UK pensioners just contact a branch of the dept of work and pensions and get an S1 form which transfers their right to free health care from the UK to Spain (and an appropriate amount is transferred to Spain for this purpose).
The problem is that many Spanish people do not realise that their state is being paid by the UK to treat legal UK pensioners, and it is also that, as the majority of expats left tend to be pensioners, they form part of the aging Spanish population who use up the most in health care facilities. So it is debatable in many cases whether the amount actually transferred from the UK to Spain is actually enough for their needs.
And then you get all the Brits who live permanently in Spain 'under the radar' and just hope that if they are ill their EHIC card will still work.
The girls who worked at the bars would most likely have belonged to this group, as they were doing casual work (so no insurance paid) and had probably not signed on as residents for this reason.
Neither did I. When I worked for a H.A. we would often get O.A.Ps applying for Warden Aided accommodation, who had returned from Spain because of illness and needed the N.H.S.
Because its not true. The programme got it wrong.
As for healthcare, as others have pointed out it was just flat wrong.
I do know that other places in mainland Spain like Salou are thriving with British families though.
The interviewer didn't correct them either.
It's a reciprocal arrangement between UK and Spain.
Unlike Spanisher pensioners who live in UK, expat state pensioners pay towards their prescriptions
People who go to live in Spain put a huge amount of money into the economy, buying houses, cars, consumables etc.
They don't expect or get any benefits either, as there are none in Spain, unless you work there and pay into the system, which obviously retired people don't.
Expats pay far more into Spain, than they take out, especially in taxes.
EHIC s are for holiday makers for emergency use, valid up to three months.
Expats living in Spain shouldn't be using them, if they are they are abusing and defrauding the Spanish health system.
Spain does not provide free health care for expat Brits !! That is a fact - I live there !
Pensioners, in receipt of a State pension - meaning that they have worked in the UK - are required to register as residents. A whole load of bureaucracy later, they receive a medical health card, which entitles them to use the Spanish health system. Under a reciprocal agreement, the UK pays Spain about £4000 a year for each person.
All others, who are not paying into the Spanish system by working, are required to buy private health insurance.
Expats are not able to use the EHIC after the first 3 months. It is for holidaymakers only.
Of course, there are those who abuse the system.....Isn't there alway !! ????
There are no freebies here, at all. Absolutely no benefits for expats !! If you don't pay in - you don't get out !!
Perhaps, the UK would do well to follow their example ;-)
Both the taxi driver and the interpreter at the medical centre ( Mine !!! ) were talking absolute rubbish.....
That aside I do think there were cetain accuracies in terms of the number of Brits leaving here ... it´s incrediably hard to work here, to find work, to maintain it and to make a profit - if you are trying to work legally. And I also think that the attitude of the Spanish has changed in the last few years and it´s worrying because although the taxi driver was wrong about the healthcare issue he clearly believed what he was saying and if the majority of Spaniards think the same it´s only a matter of time the situation could become quite nasty. I already get a sense of it in places like schools, hospitals, shops, resturants etc ... when five years ago it was a completely different atmosphere.
It´s sad but it´s the way it´s going - not just here - so in some ways the show was accurate . Many people have left and are continuing to leave.
Yes, amazing how many return when they get ill/elderly. ...The UK is good enough for them then
I don´t think it´s really like that. Why shouldn´t someone work hard for all their working life in the UK and pay their taxes, then retire out to Spain for a decade and enjoy the weather and healthy lifestyle. But when they get older, ill, maybe widowed, maybe their children are in the UK and those who want to support them ... so at that stage why wouldn´t they return? It´s nothing to do with the UK not being good enough for them before ... lots of people live abroad for a time in their lives, but usually come home at some point.
And the elderly are supported by their UK pension in the UK or Spain ... the sad truth is that for many elderly it´s just impossible to manage over here once they are alone and / or ill.
Also, the foreign residents office at the town hall which was shown in the programme is pretty unique. That dept is well know here and they are very helpful, but they only cover Mijas which is a small part of the Costa del Sol. I think a couple of other town halls have foreigners dept´s but certainly not all of them ... so for many people seeking help and support is far more difficult than it was for the lady in the programme who was lucky enough to be covered by that particular town hall.
It is not a matter of - "The UK being good enough for them, then."
As said, they often return in their latter years due to losing their husband/wife etc.
These Pensioners are entitled to healthcare in the UK, having spent all their working life, paying towards it !!!
To reiterate, the only section of Pensioners, with an entitlement to reciprocal health care in Spain, are those who are receiving a State pension.
All other Pensioners are required to fund their own private health care.......
Did they have unfettered mass immigration by the Brits in spain? Are they receiving 300,000 immigrants a years in spain? Bit of a difference I think.
We being who exactly? There's more than enough ignorance in the UK about foreigners to challenge any Spanish views.
case in point, part 2
Let me guess, Spanish people should be grateful for English immigrants going over there and putting money into their economy?
We live about 3 miles from that bar......we went past there yesterday - it was packed out !!
This area is never really quiet & certainly, not at the moment - Easter week & full of 2nd home owners & tourists.
We don't go to the Brit bars - instead, frequent the Spanish tapas restaurants. Food is more interesting & much cheaper.