A very good conversation that focused more on what I'd call the personal aspects of living in Spain as opposed to the economic factors, but that's OK. Surprisingly, I've traveled quite a bit around the country except for the area around Seville. I definitely loved Valencia and could easily live there. I think Barcelona has been overrun by tourists although it has been years since I have been there, so my information is second hand. I completely agree with your assessment of Madrid. It is a city for young, working professionals, not for a retiree like myself. Although Madrid has one of the best art museums I've ever visited in the Prado. I found Bilbao to be too industrial for my taste, plus there is the language issue. Basque is quite the different language. I do gravitate to second and third tier cities and the one in Spain I liked the best was San Sebastian. I like Portugal a lot and have explored the country from Lisbon to the north. Porto is exceptional. The drawback in Portugal, other than the language, is transportation systems are not as well developed as in Spain. The Spanish rail network is phenomenal and the country is expanding it even more. If I leave the US, language is one thing that I don't want to struggle with. I would give prime consideration to Ireland. I worked for a multinational that had facilities in Ireland and spent quite a bit of time there. Yeah, the weather is not the greatest, especially on the west coast, but communication is easy, Ireland is in the EU, and it is only one time zone away from the continent with decent air connections out of Dublin. I subscribed to your channel and hopefully you have other tips that will help me out should I decide to move abroad, especially focused on economic consideration. Sorry for the long comment, but I had to get it all out!
Two questions: 1. I heard recently that foreigners are no longer welcome in Barcelona and short-term rentals have been banned. True? 2. I used to read about Alicante being a good place to retire for affordable life on the coast. But then I see videos that make it look more like a party town or city break for Brits and Europeans. What are your thoughts on Alicante?
I have the same thoughts about Barcelona. I heard it is overrun by tourists, especially the cruise ship crowd. Too bad as it is a beautiful city. It is not the only city in Europe to suffer from this. Venice, Dubrovnik, and Amsterdam also have this issue. London and Paris have lots of tourists as well but they are so large and spread out with connections to the surrounding countryside that over tourism is not quite as evident.
1. We haven't felt any anti-foreigner sentiment there but we have felt the crush of tourism so saying away from tourist areas can be helpful. 2. It's been so long since we visited Alicante to give you a fresh perspective on it. The city break aspect of Alicante is likely because the cheaper airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet go to Alicante from larger European cities thus moving thousands of people in and out of the city every couple of days. Since it's so cheaply accessible, there is a bit of a city break feel. You'd likely need to go there and decide if it's alright for you. - Josh & Kalie
what made me fell in love with Madrid was that they were soooo friendly to me with my A2 spanish/portunhol. And I hated Barcelona, because they don´t like speaking spanish, they are rude, and if you try to speak english, you´re going to struggle in some places.
Great stuff, folks. Thank you! 😊
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching. - Josh & Kalie
Very detailed videos. Thanks
A very good conversation that focused more on what I'd call the personal aspects of living in Spain as opposed to the economic factors, but that's OK. Surprisingly, I've traveled quite a bit around the country except for the area around Seville. I definitely loved Valencia and could easily live there. I think Barcelona has been overrun by tourists although it has been years since I have been there, so my information is second hand. I completely agree with your assessment of Madrid. It is a city for young, working professionals, not for a retiree like myself. Although Madrid has one of the best art museums I've ever visited in the Prado. I found Bilbao to be too industrial for my taste, plus there is the language issue. Basque is quite the different language. I do gravitate to second and third tier cities and the one in Spain I liked the best was San Sebastian. I like Portugal a lot and have explored the country from Lisbon to the north. Porto is exceptional. The drawback in Portugal, other than the language, is transportation systems are not as well developed as in Spain. The Spanish rail network is phenomenal and the country is expanding it even more. If I leave the US, language is one thing that I don't want to struggle with. I would give prime consideration to Ireland. I worked for a multinational that had facilities in Ireland and spent quite a bit of time there. Yeah, the weather is not the greatest, especially on the west coast, but communication is easy, Ireland is in the EU, and it is only one time zone away from the continent with decent air connections out of Dublin. I subscribed to your channel and hopefully you have other tips that will help me out should I decide to move abroad, especially focused on economic consideration. Sorry for the long comment, but I had to get it all out!
Thanks for sharing. :-) - Josh & Kalie
Another great video! Enjoyed it!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you - Josh & Kalie
Smaller cities Castellón or Teruel etc..
Living somewhere and not learning the local language is very ignorant
I learned to speak spanish and catalán while living here. exMichigan.......
How about jobs? Coming from US and still debating if Spain is good or other EU country?
Two questions:
1. I heard recently that foreigners are no longer welcome in Barcelona and short-term rentals have been banned. True?
2. I used to read about Alicante being a good place to retire for affordable life on the coast. But then I see videos that make it look more like a party town or city break for Brits and Europeans. What are your thoughts on Alicante?
I have the same thoughts about Barcelona. I heard it is overrun by tourists, especially the cruise ship crowd. Too bad as it is a beautiful city. It is not the only city in Europe to suffer from this. Venice, Dubrovnik, and Amsterdam also have this issue. London and Paris have lots of tourists as well but they are so large and spread out with connections to the surrounding countryside that over tourism is not quite as evident.
1. We haven't felt any anti-foreigner sentiment there but we have felt the crush of tourism so saying away from tourist areas can be helpful.
2. It's been so long since we visited Alicante to give you a fresh perspective on it. The city break aspect of Alicante is likely because the cheaper airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet go to Alicante from larger European cities thus moving thousands of people in and out of the city every couple of days. Since it's so cheaply accessible, there is a bit of a city break feel. You'd likely need to go there and decide if it's alright for you. - Josh & Kalie
Seville 👎 in the summer …. It is hell
Very true. - Josh & Kalie
Thank you for sharing. Do you all children? My son is 16, but doesn't speak Spanish. I do.
You're welcome. We have a 4 year old. - Josh & Kalie
what made me fell in love with Madrid was that they were soooo friendly to me with my A2 spanish/portunhol. And I hated Barcelona, because they don´t like speaking spanish, they are rude, and if you try to speak english, you´re going to struggle in some places.
Thanks for sharing, Fernanda. It's nice to hear that the Madrilaños were nice to you. - Josh & Kalie