Spain – so many things to do and so many places to see. There is the cordiality of the people, the incomparable scenery, the beaches of fine sand, the days of sunshine, the high mountains, the vast plains, the nightlife, the evenings, the magnificent cuisine, the restaurants ...

Too many hours and too many pages are required to describe everything that Spain has to offer. There is only one way to find out; come and see it for yourself. Coming to Spain to work, for a long-term stay or for retirement can be a step into the unknown. But if some simple preparation is undertaken it can be a step into sunshine and happiness.

Apart from those following a career, why do people move to Spain? Well, usually the family has grown up and left home, so for the first time people are free to decide how to spend the rest of their lives. Getting to know another country and its culture is an attractive idea and so is saying goodbye to cold winters. Perhaps more important is a feeling of not wishing to continue for the rest of one’s life doing exactly the same thing. A desire to broaden horizons, to see new places, to meet new people, to enjoy new hobbies, to have a challenge. These are the ingredients for a new lifestyle.

Many thousands of British, German and Scandinavian families move for these reasons. Over the years they have holidayed in their thousands in Spain, enjoying the country, the people, the climate and being where they can enjoy a standard of living that is just not possible in any northern European country. It is also close to home. Travelling by air, rail and sea or by using the Channel Tunnel can be quick and it can be cheap. Keeping in touch is easier and visits by friends more likely.

Permanent residence is not just a continuous holiday. It starts with a honeymoon period, going to many parties and making new friends. Of course this does not last. But there is no returning home; there is no office, no salary and no pressure. It is important not to get bored. Cerveza drinking and sun worshipping can take its toll. It is possible to keep active by:

• working part time in a non-demanding situation;
• joining one or two social clubs;
• taking part in the many sporting activities available;
• having a full and busy life;
• doing the things you enjoy to keep happy, healthy and feeling young.

Of course there are some problems. Charming people as they are, the Spaniards tend to speak very rapidly in a regional language which seems to be quite different from the Spanish learned at night school back home. They have a different body clock too. They can be noisy. Then there are frustrating delays. People do not rush about. If you need something repaired it often takes longer than it should. But one adjusts and learns to be patient.

Spain has undergone an amazing transformation during the last 35 years since the death of its dictator General Franco and the end of his authoritarian regime. Tourists who visited the country before 1975 remember it as a stagnant society with high unemployment, lagging behind the rest of western Europe. Since then the country has emerged as a prosperous and flourishing nation, on a par with the rest of Europe, attracting thousands of retirees and younger people from northern Europe, who have made a conscious decision to come to Spain, not just for the climate, but for a better life.

Change is always at a price. Today, don’t look for on old lady dressed in black carrying twigs on a donkey. She does not exist any more, except in old black and white photographs. Instead of a donkey look for a BMW! Don’t try to find unspoilt fishing villages along the Mediterranean for they have long been covered in vast swathes of concrete. Where orange groves existed look for an apartment block! In the aftermath of dictatorship, look for democracy. In a modern, industrial Spain its citizens have taken to democracy like ducks to water. All sorts of decisions, in schools and colleges, in offices and factories, among neighbours and parents, and among workmates are nowadays routinely submitted to a show of hands. The habits that go with democracy have put down equally strong roots and the Spanish, in their enthusiasm for Europe, have perhaps overlooked that to be true to themselves they also need to be different.

Agonising over the term ‘difference’ is a national pastime. Of course Spain is different from France, Germany, Italy, the UK and all the other countries in Europe. Of course modern Spain is different from old Spain. The fear of appearing different, or better translated, of being ‘odd’ can be obsessive. It all started with Franco who said ‘Spaniards are different’, which was one of the ways he justified his dictatorship on the assertion that, unlike other Europeans, they could not be trusted to handle their own destiny.

Back in the 1960s someone in the Ministry of Tourism thought up an advertising campaign for which the slogan was ‘Spain is different’. The indignation it caused has still not died away almost 40 years later. It is understandable that it should have touched a raw nerve at the time. Yet the phrase itself is still common currency. Mention that something or other is done in another way in Spain and someone will say defensively, ‘What you mean to say is that Spain is different’.

It is true that Spain is different. The climate, a laid back lifestyle and cheaper cost of living. A nation with the most crowded dwellings in the EU, overdevelopment and inept urban planning. People who smoke and drink more than any others in the EU, eat at the most ungodly hours, yet who enjoy a high life expectancy, low birth rate and are privileged to have one of the best health systems in Europe. It is Spain’s idiosyncrasies which make it such a fascinating place.

An important choice facing Spain in the coming years will be to decide how much of their culture, identity and way of life they are prepared to sacrifice in the interests of integration with the rest of Europe. Spain is going to have to cope with a social environment which looks set to become increasingly multi-racial as the number of Africans and northern Europeans living and working in Spain grows every year. Spain will have to deal with shock waves from the Madrid train bombings which have spread across the globe questioning Muslim influence in the world.

The aim of this book is to provide an insight into modern Spain. A different Spain! Not one of flamenco and bull fighting but one of football, motor scooters and out-of-town shopping centres.

Enjoy a different culture, be revitalised, embark on a new lifestyle and feel young again.

Harry King
Pedreguer, Spain