Wannabe a Brit again

[Big Pete]

Originally Posted by Stravinsky

You have rose tinted glasses Pete ... the reality is slightly different. You'll find out when you actually get here.

The shops OPEN at 5 ... they are closed all afternoon. They dont open on Sunday at all.

The Spanish throw rubbish anywhere without any thought. Fly tipping is everywhere ... builders rubbish and the like. SKY sattelite is illegal here ... we only get it by defualt and every so often they narrow the "bandwidth" so you lose a lot of programmes at certain times of the day.

Multi racial? Welcome to Spain! Thats what we are
When you peg it, ALL of your precious fortune will be liable to IHT at anything up to 40%. Whilst you live here ALL of your income worldwide will be liable to income tax at rates comparable to the UK, and also wealth tax on your total wealth.

What I am trying to say Pete, is nothing is perfect, and you haven't experienced living here yet

Think your confused with mainland i am Mallorca , we dont get the Racial mix all i have seen in 4 years is a handful of blacks doing hair into braids and blokes selling sunglasses etc ..
Mainly full of Germans ,Dutch and Brits all apart from the holiday brigade are wealthy , If you get in the back streets of bigger towns then maybe they may appear but there is No Jobs for them here .. No free housing No free handouts etc..

On the subject of taxation did you know the moment i dont live in England i will save £ 3,000 a year just in our Cigarette tax
30 % savings on Fuel
£ 1,500 a year in Council tax
£ 1,500 a year in food bills
and thats just for starters ! thats £ 6,000 yep £ 6,000 !!!

Like i keep saying you have to be Rich to live in England ..

Rose tinted glasses dont come into it common sense comes into play .. Maybe your living in a rough area ?

also shops closing for siesta suits me in the summer have a afternoon nap then go shopping brill lol

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by Big Pete

Think your confused with mainland i am Mallorca , we dont get the Racial mix all i have seen in 4 years is a handful of blacks doing hair into braids and blokes selling sunglasses etc ..
Mainly full of Germans ,Dutch and Brits all apart from the holiday brigade are wealthy , If you get in the back streets of bigger towns then maybe they may appear but there is No Jobs for them here .. No free housing No free handouts etc..

On the subject of taxation did you know the moment i dont live in England i will save £ 3,000 a year just in our Cigarette tax
30 % savings on Fuel
£ 1,500 a year in Council tax
£ 1,500 a year in food bills
and thats just for starters ! thats £ 6,000 yep £ 6,000 !!!

Like i keep saying you have to be Rich to live in England ..

Rose tinted glasses dont come into it common sense comes into play .. Maybe your living in a rough area ?

also shops closing for siesta suits me in the summer have a afternoon nap then go shopping brill lol

No Pete, I live in a very nice area ... I refer to generalities I have learned about all over Spain, mainly in the Costas and, yes, in Mallorca. Thats what I mean about rose tinted glasses ... you concentrate on the plusses and ignore the minuses!!

Sure if you booze and smoke you will save money, but you've ignored the fact that income tax in Spain can be as punative as in the UK, and when added to the wealth tax (a tax on your assets, savings, investments etc) whether they be UK, offshore or Spain, and the Inheritence tax has NO allowances. Depending on your circumstances you pay IHT on all your wealth. Also if you are unfortunate enough to peg it, your family can't sell your villa in Majorca to raise the funds to pay it ... they have to raise the funds to pay it before they can sell it.

Health cover ..... unless you are of retirement age the best you can qualify for is a couple of years under the state system with an E106 .... after that you have to take private cover until you reach retirement age ... another expense.

You missed my point really though Pete .... all I was saying was that you have look at the whole picture. I'm not saying that the UK isn't an expensive place to live, I'm saying that living in Spain has its hidden costs too.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by Stravinsky

No Pete, I live in a very nice area ... I refer to generalities I have learned about all over Spain, mainly in the Costas and, yes, in Mallorca. Thats what I mean about rose tinted glasses ... you concentrate on the plusses and ignore the minuses!!

Sure if you booze and smoke you will save money, but you've ignored the fact that income tax in Spain can be as punative as in the UK, and when added to the wealth tax (a tax on your assets, savings, investments etc) whether they be UK, offshore or Spain, and the Inheritence tax has NO allowances. Depending on your circumstances you pay IHT on all your wealth. Also if you are unfortunate enough to peg it, your family can't sell your villa in Majorca to raise the funds to pay it ... they have to raise the funds to pay it before they can sell it.

Health cover ..... unless you are of retirement age the best you can qualify for is a couple of years under the state system with an E106 .... after that you have to take private cover until you reach retirement age ... another expense.

You missed my point really though Pete .... all I was saying was that you have look at the whole picture. I'm not saying that the UK isn't an expensive place to live, I'm saying that living in Spain has its hidden costs too.

It will fall on deaf ears.

[Big Pete]

Originally Posted by Hurricane

It will fall on deaf ears.

You always have to stick your tenpenneth in dont you !!

[Big Pete]

Originally Posted by Stravinsky

No Pete, I live in a very nice area ... I refer to generalities I have learned about all over Spain, mainly in the Costas and, yes, in Mallorca. Thats what I mean about rose tinted glasses ... you concentrate on the plusses and ignore the minuses!!

Sure if you booze and smoke you will save money, but you've ignored the fact that income tax in Spain can be as punative as in the UK, and when added to the wealth tax (a tax on your assets, savings, investments etc) whether they be UK, offshore or Spain, and the Inheritence tax has NO allowances. Depending on your circumstances you pay IHT on all your wealth. Also if you are unfortunate enough to peg it, your family can't sell your villa in Majorca to raise the funds to pay it ... they have to raise the funds to pay it before they can sell it.

Health cover ..... unless you are of retirement age the best you can qualify for is a couple of years under the state system with an E106 .... after that you have to take private cover until you reach retirement age ... another expense.

You missed my point really though Pete .... all I was saying was that you have look at the whole picture. I'm not saying that the UK isn't an expensive place to live, I'm saying that living in Spain has its hidden costs too.

Oh yea i know that its not all paradise and without a doubt there will be a few things that spoil it for me ..
However after saying that and being only able to go by my experiences so far i feel that there way of life seems so much better and suits me fine .

You could be right as in the UK i am noticing the bad perhaps my brain is only spotting the good in Spains way ..

Of the record thats one of the reasons i didnt go for the mainland because i had a visit to Torrievieca years back and wasnt impressed in the slightest . but where i am in Mallorca its a tiny little out of the way place . and its lovely