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Spain Paradise Lost
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All about the Spanish property crash.
Interesting so far but I love this sort of thing.
Interesting so far but I love this sort of thing.
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[Deleted User]
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So did I.
The rest not so much.
As for the couple who borrowed as much as they could to buy the home of their dreams - well some sympathy but I'm sure they now realise mortgaging themselves to the hilt when they could have a down turn in their income wasn't too bright.
But no sympathy at all for idiots who spend hundreds of thousands on a property without even going to visit the area where it was to be built.:rolleyes:
I know I shouldn't laugh, but when he was sweeping the sewage and he said in his Irish accent "This is my turd broom".
I thought the exact same thing, my wife i am ashamed to say didnt spot it
I laughed out loud when he said that.
I liked him a lot, what a sad way to spend his retirement
I had a feeling that women who was viewing the penthhouse and other beautiful properties wouldn't buy. She seemed to have very high requirements for what she wanted to live in, which made it all the more bizzare that we saw her at the end living in a pokey flat above a Cafe overlooking what looked like an industrial estate:D
He had the oddest accent, Iam guessing an Irish man living in UK for years .It was a mixture of both .
Didn't realise this was part 2 of 2. Feel desperately sorry for the old folks. Am always amazed how backward some "modern" European countries are (in terms of law).
However, I didn't know Mark Gatiss had moved to Span and is now selling property as a high-society women!
That poor couple who had bought "The Rusty Nail" with no experience! Seriously, if they just painted the wall with their awful scrawl on it and changed the name of the place, they may have had a better chance!
That 'compound' with the union jack flying and shops selling PG Tips etc was repulsive in it's virtually imperious disregard for local culture, and the perverse almost pride that many ex-pats show in 'not bothering with the language' etc just makes them look like ignorant buffoons.
People have the brassneck to moan and make jokes about, for example, Polish people living in this country and we're quite happy to call them 'immigrants' whereas the term 'ex-pat' used for the British in Spain sounds somehow more 'jolly' and enterprising. If Poles suddenly started building houses across, say, the Peak District, they'd be demolished before the cement was dry; all those people living in illegal houses in Spain really have got no-one to blame but themselves. To say that they had simply been 'caught up in the wave of new building that was going on five years ago' really is no justification at all. Good on Spain for finally deciding to claim parts of its own country back.
I agree, it was commented on in our house that the type of people who have moved to "Little Britain" are exactly the type of people who complain about immigrants in Britain!
But isn't that the point though? In a country with decent laws (and where they weren't too lazy/greedy to enforce them) and planning controls, this is exactly what should happen.
However, allowing illegal building then allowing a "legal" sale with approved paperwork of that illegal building and then 5 years later deciding that the house is illegal and we're going to demolish it (prompted by political considerations of the time) is a slightly different matter.
Well said.
I had a tiny smidgen of sympathy for some of them but how many times have we heard the phrase about leaving their brains at home? I bought a 2 bed apartment in Almeria in 2003 but we researched the area for a solid six months before we decided which property to buy. I am not rich but I remortgaged my house in the UK to pay for it and then hopefully we can retire there eventually. We will not be like a lot of ex-pats and live in a "little England" and yes, we have begun to learn Spanish.
Good programme but haven't we seen plenty of these in the past and yet there are always those that are just so gullible.
The current PSOE government had decided that many areas (especially nature reserves) were not to be built on, and wanted to restrict the construction boom.
Many areas, mainly the costas, with local PP councils, decided to ignore these laws, and took bribes from dodgy constructors to allow them to build there illegaly.
Already 4 years ago, this was huge scandal in Spain. Nevertheless, British people decided to go and buy appartments in these areas anyway, taking a big risk, because they just walked into it, completely ignorant of the current affairs in the country that were already then ringing the alarm bells.
I'm not saying they deserved their bad luck, but obviously, if they had spoken the language and read papers or had talked to local people, it could have saved them a lot of trouble.
I also don't agree with the way these people constantly refer to Spain when they are only talking about 1 percent of the country: the costas in Valencia, and the very corrupt Marbella in the Costa del Sol (both reknowned for their regional PP governments, sleazy estate agents, and dodgy constructors).
There is much more to Spain than just these expat areas.
They could have actually really lived in paradise if they had looked a little further, and tried discovering other areas where they would be amongst real Spanish people, who would treat them in a fair and just way. But what most expats only care about is to live in their own British bubble in the sun, with the beach and with cheap pubs nearby.
I suspect these people know nothing of the regional varieties of Spain, its politics, the language, the culture, etc. I myself usually travel to Madrid, La Mancha, and The Basque country. And I can tell you that it is nothing like this paradise lost that ITV just showed.
They are now stuck in their Basra on the beach, whilst I travel to a green and pleasant heaven.
I really wish their fight will get them justice. But for anyone deciding to buy a house, in another country, please first travel there frequently, and get acquainted with the local laws, and current affairs, and look beyond the usual tourist areas, because it is there where you will find most conmen too.
And don't think British estate agents will give you a better deal, because they charge you double the price a local estate agent would.:(
Altough I would wish it on no one and feel very sorry for that lady , it would be one of the first things I woud think of .
I would think what if one of us gets sick or disabled , how would the other cope .And it is one of the big reasons that I will stay put here in Ireland .
Yup, that's completely mad. Especially that couple running "The Rusty Nail". All they'd need to do (in the first instance) is buy a guide book that has a page in the back with a list of foods and how to order and hey presto they could serve Spanish customers a bit.