Idea taken from the Portugal thread.

So what do you all think? And please share reasons

Totally curious about this.

Avoiding the question completely (watching too many PP political broadcasts ??) it's not a question of which is best; it's which suits you. I've now lived here longer than I lived in the UK, so I guess it's pretty clear in my case.

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“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

my life here is pretty much the same as it was in the UK - we just speak a different language outside - & sometimes inside - the house, and because of the more temperate climate in this area we manage to spend more time outside in the fresh air

but of course that's not the case throughout Spain

my kids have lived here for more than half their lives & can barely remember living in the UK - & on their last visit decided that it was a great place to visit but everything was too grey cold & dirty for them to ever want to live there (this was in a smallish country town in September, not the inner city in the dead of winter!!)

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You cant really compare the two - they're different, but your own day to day life will be pretty much the same cos its your life and that doesnt change as such.... washing, cooking, cleaning, shopping, paying bills, values....

Spain is a much harsher country IMO! The welfare state, the language, the way of life in general, the rules...... (certainly for an expat/immigrant) arent as easy, simply because its not the same as "home". The weather in the summer is hotter and easier to live in than the UK, the so called relaxed lifestyle is nicer some of the time, but then thats down to your own personal interpretation and way of life. I found that it was only "laid back" in the summer months due to the heat. The rest of the time, it was "business as usual"

For me, Spain is much nicer, I liked the views, the scenery, the attitude, the weather, the people..... But as I say, on a day to day level, my favourite expression was "same s***, different place"

Jo xxx

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How can anyone say which country is 'best'? With respect, that's a daft question.
As Jo always rightly points out, most of the time your life is the same whichever country you live in.
In many respects, life in Spain is very little different -if at all - from life in France, Germany, Italy or the other 'western' European states. A lot more sun than in S****horpe, more cheerful faces than in Prague...
Very many people now see themselves as 'Europeans', comfortable in whichever European state they settle in, whether permanently or temporarily.
To try to address the OP's question:
Italy: best for espresso
Germany: best for Kolsch beer
France: best for good eating almost everywhere
Austria: best for gemutliche coffeehouses
Czech Republic: best for dumplings sauerkraut and pork dinners
UK: best for fish and chips
Spain: best for sunshine and sunny people
Denmark and Sweden: best for.......nothing I can think of.

And so on....

For most of us, moving to Spain was a choice not a rank ordering.
I have to say we decided to leave Prague for Spain without a great deal of thought, really, just as we took the decision to leave the UK. After all, if it didn't work out, we'd move on.
It's no big deal...certainly not like my aunt going to Canada with her soldier husband after the War, or another aunt going to Australia for a 'better life' in the '60s. These were events of major family importance and concern. People didn't fly around the world in those days as casually as we do now, there was no easy communication, no Skype, no e-mail.
We are world citizens now.

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'The Owl of Minerva spreads her wings only at the onset of dusk'.

Oh, I can, lots and lots and more lots



To me, it`s comparing apples and pears.

Aspects of the UK make me happy, proud etc. Other aspects make me miserable/irritated/angry.

Ditto Spain.

Ditto anywhere.

I`m very happy here, but then I have been (mostly) fairly happy in most places I`ve lived. It`s all relative.

There are times I genuinely find myself having a blonde moment as I "remember" I live in Spain - quick glance up the mountain, or a donkey laden with olive root will do it!

Used to have similar "moments" when I first moved to Northumberland, or worked in Japan or moved to London as a teenager. Life very quickly becomes full of the day to day routines, habits etc, regardless of where you are.

As Jojo said, same sh*t, different place.

To try to address the OP's question: (mine in blue)

Italy: best for espresso - people watching in the streets of Venice
Germany: best for Kolsch beer - Boats up and down the Rhine Gorge with Kolsch beer
France: best for good eating almost everywhere - ditto
Austria: best for gemutliche coffeehouses - outdoor live classical music
Czech Republic: best for dumplings sauerkraut and pork dinners - no idea
UK: best for fish and chips - gorgeous open countryside with real ale waiting in the pub (Mary we might be able to combine these two )
Spain: best for sunshine and sunny people - fiestas and hidden secrets
Denmark and Sweden: best for.......nothing I can think of - cycle paths (Denmark) and scenery (Sweden)

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Los españoles están enfermos porque pasan de todo. Su enfermedad es gravísima, y su cura limitada y perentoria. Para sanarse sólo necesitan reconocerse. Xoán Leiro

Maybe the fact that most of my time in Copenhagen was spent at a very dreary Congress of International Trades Unionists for Equality coloured my views
After I'd made my speech I had a look round for a few days then ******ed off to Sweden but found that rather dull and uninspiring too.
Horses for courses...

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'The Owl of Minerva spreads her wings only at the onset of dusk'.

I've had the good fortune to eat and drink throughout western Europe and in many other continents, but to continue with these countries:

Italy: best for espresso the best espresso I have ever tasted was in Torre del Mar, Spain and ice'cream in Sicily is easily the best in teh world
Germany: best for Kolsch beer but little else for me
France: best for good eating almost everywhere agreed but the scenery isn't as good as in Spain, Austria or Switzerland, assuming you like mountains of course
Austria: best for gemutliche coffeehouses and cakes and cakes and cakes
Czech Republic: best for dumplings sauerkraut and pork dinners dumplings are def the best
UK: best for fish and chips in my experience the standard of food in good restaurants easily surpasses France
Spain: best for sunshine and sunny people for letting me live here
Denmark and Sweden: best for.......nothing I can think of. the lakes in Denmark and Sweden are beautiful and the people are blonde.
Belgium: big buildings stuffed with bureaucrats
Luxembourg: totally crazy drivers and campsites on steep hills
Norway: the northern lights

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Before facebook nobody cared what you had for breakfast; they still don't.

My life is totally different and much nicer since I moved to Spain. But that's mainly because I retired and don't have to spend 9 hours a day in an office full of stressed-out people.

One thing's for sure, if I still lived in the UK I wouldn't have a very good time on the pension I get now. It goes a lot further here, and the best things in life are either free or very cheap.

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Read about life in the pueblo: La Vida Alcalaina