retiring to spain

**bunt** · 13-07-2008, 11:09 AM

my son has a townhouse in spain and as told me i can go and stay for as long and often as i want as he is working long term in bulgaria i am retired but do not want to become a resident ,could anyone please give me some advice

**tuckerfa** · 13-07-2008, 01:15 PM

G'day and welcome to Brits Abroad.
Being British, you can live anywhere in the EU you want to. You don't have to become a resident as such. You will have to register a few details for health care and local services, but you are British and can go back any time you want. Why not spend the winter in Spain and the summer in Britain. Although, saying that, I've been keeping my eye on the weather over there and, well, as far as summers go it's pretty crap. I hope it picks you for you all! LOL!
Go for it, that's what I say, but what ever you do, keep in touch on here. This is a new site and members are slowly, but surely building up. Most of us are in Australia, but that's because this was spawned by Tim from an other brilliant site he set up. Poms in Oz.
Good luck in all you do.

Frank

**freddyb45** · 15-07-2008, 03:57 PM

I'm also looking to retire to Spain (a couple of years to go yet!) and I'm looking for advice on language learning services.

A friend has recommended Rosetta Stone, but I'm a bit wary about relying solely on an internet service, with no human interaction.

Has anyone used Rosetta Stone in the past? What did you think of it?

Cheers

romfty · 14-08-2008, 09:47 AM

Hi all!

Well I did it a few years ago, moved to Spain that is. I live about 20k from Alicante on the Costa Blanca and freddyb45 the language barrier is not great, sure in some places no one speaks English, but youwill find your way round that, any business you conduct out here it is best to hire a gestor to do it or take a translator with you (they will charge from 7euros to 20 euros per hour) . I took lessons in the local casa del cultura at a reduced rate, but they petered out after a while because most of the people just did'nt turn up. I have just purchased Rosseta Stone and am impressed (am in the uk now for holidays ...cold) have installed it here and will put it on my pc when I get back to Spain.... Also if you have loads of time before you come, look into an open university course, cost about 400 pounds but you get the services of a tutor.
Hi Bunt, you can (as tickerfa says) live anywhere you want, with no problems. You can bring your car for six months with no hassle, after that you need to register it which is costly and time consuming (still hav'nt done mine yet), you personally don't have to register anywhere, just get your european medical card and make sure your credit cards will work, chip and pin is not wide spread out here and you will need to always carry your driving licence or passport as id. Any more info I could pass will do so willingly. The folk in Spain are noisey but polite and the streets are safe.

**Cal** · 14-08-2008, 10:02 AM

Before we moved to Spain we got a speak spanish learning kit from i think WHS,it had cd's,Flashcards,and work books ,we did an hour a night and picked it up quite quickly ,it was good because you could rewind and go over things you didnt quite grasp.Good luck with it ,im sure youll enjoy learning we did
Cal x

Originally Posted by freddyb45

I'm also looking to retire to Spain (a couple of years to go yet!) and I'm looking for advice on language learning services.

A friend has recommended Rosetta Stone, but I'm a bit wary about relying solely on an internet service, with no human interaction.

Has anyone used Rosetta Stone in the past? What did you think of it?

Cheers

**rob** · 21-08-2008, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by bunt

my son has a townhouse in spain and as told me i can go and stay for as long and often as i want as he is working long term in bulgaria i am retired but do not want to become a resident ,could anyone please give me some advice

Well its no problem living in spain without being a resident, the only thing you need is an nie number if you want to buy a car or a house.
You can bring your UK car here for six months at a time.
If you are retired you can have your pension out here from uk and also get a medical card for the health service over here.Which is by the way extremely good.

**kdal** · 14-09-2008, 08:27 PM

My Mum-in-law (so much easier to call her Mum lol), retired to Spain. I am sure you can go backwards and forwards as much as you like as it is in the EU.

I notice your post is a while back now, did you go to your sons place in the end?