Coming Home, This Year !

The long hot Summer days and sticky humid nights continue to roll on, one into another, but that is nothing unusual, for it is the same here year on year, funny old thing though, although this is a frequent annual occurrence, the media, local and national alike, bless their little cotton socks, still consider it to be major front page headline news 🤷‍♂️ Now of course, I can fully understand these headlines appearing in the daily ‘Doom & Gloom’ publications in some other more northerly areas of Spain, or even in some other countries, where such extreme temperatures are a little bit out of the ordinary and not something that is generally expected or tolerated.

What does tend to bring a smile to my face though, a sarcastic one if I am being totally honest, is the fact that these Doom & Gloom publications actually feel the need to have to ‘advise’ people on what they should be doing in such extreme conditions, to keep themselves cool and hydrated, or measures to prevent themselves from suffering heatstroke and other heat related issues………REALLY !! I mean, I know that there are some certain elements of our society who constantly display a serious lack of common sense, and that comment by the way is not aimed at the less intelligent members of our society, who, for obvious reasons just stated, may have an acceptable excuse, but seriously, surely the majority of us, of reasonable intelligence, already know that if it is extremely hot that you need to drink more water to remain hydrated (As opposed to Alcohol, including, albeit essential, Anti-Covid Vaccines 🤭) and, wherever possible, you try to keep in the shade, although I do accept that that is not possible for everybody, especially if their profession is one of those that does, by their very nature, require them to be outside, Agricultural workers for example, or those employed in Construction, Law Enforcement or Military personnel, to name but a few, but come on, I am not talking about them, for the advice that is being provided by these ‘Doom & Gloom’ merchants are to people like you and me, yes the normal general public. Anyway okay enough of that, it was just reading and listening to all of these recent ‘News’ reports that made me have another one of my ‘contemplation’ moments on this particular subject, in particular as to whether we really have become such a Global ‘nanny’ population where we have got to the stage that we need other’s to tell us what we should be doing to keep healthy and safe 🤔

So how are we managing to cope, you may ask, although then again, in truth you probably haven’t given a second thought to either Shazza or myself since you read my last ramble, so what does that say about you and your civic responsibility for ‘Care in the community’ towards the elderly eh 😂 But to be totally honest we are, in comparison with some other’s, having it relatively easy here, at least in this particular little corner of the Iberian Peninsular, although, further up our coastline in Malaga City, and places like Madrid, Seville and even Granada, where they are currently having to cope with daily temperatures of 40 degrees(c) and above (which by the way is very much the same every year during the Summer months), but yes, it is much cooler here, by at least 7-8 degrees, with the ever present coastal breeze helping of course, and so, looking at the advance ‘Works of Fiction’ forecasts, it is likely to remain much of the same for us, the only thing that personally gives me any real concern is whether Shazza will permit me to have a little extra room in the fridge to keep my supplies of ‘Anti-Covid Vaccines’ cool 🤭

Of course we do still have to dice with danger now and again, having to risk pedestrians suffering heatstroke and collapsing under the wheels of our air-conditioned car, melting tarmac clinging to our tyres, whilst we go about the essential business of attempting to re-provision our food cupboards and fridge freezer at the local supermarket and fruiteria, and no, before you ask, we do not have the luxury of ‘Home Delivery’ in our particular area, we are not that affluent. But yes, occasionally, even we we will toss our own ‘common sense’ by the wayside by risking an early morning walk into our local town, for our routine, but essential, cafe con leche’s and people watching activities, how irresponsible of us you may think, but actually the ‘Doom and Gloom’ media ‘advised’ us that regular mobility and social interaction is essential to stave off ‘Dementia’, although I forget which publication it was in 🤔 but if they told us, then it must be true. Although, in truth, at this time of the year we do tend to drive into town, rather than park in our more usual spot and walk in, so no, we are not totally stupid and, on such occasions I do tend to wear my rather trendy Panama Hat, which, in addition to it being for primarily practical purposes, it also does tend to give me a rather distinguished look, even if I do say so myself. In my opinion, it is what all retired English gentlemen, of a certain senior status, should be seen wearing when out in the public domain, certain members of my previous profession refer to me as ‘Our man in Sabinillas’ 😁 (You may need to watch a certain movie to understand that one). Then there are days when we may go down to the beach, where I just hide underneath my sun umbrella, not wearing my Panama Hat you understand, (you should never wear such prestigious items of headdress on the beach, that’s what handkerchiefs are for 😂) I sit there in the shade, cool and well hydrated just watching Shazza, either solar-basting, turning her over so she is cooked equally on all sides, or keeping an eye on her whilst she is irritating the sea creatures when she invades their natural habitat.

Although, to be completely honest with you, the majority of our daily routines now comprise of starting the day, as is usual, relaxing on the balcony where it remains shaded, as the sun, during the Summer months, is too high in the sky to intrude, and where we of course have all the windows and doors open to allow the cooling gentle breeze to flow through. Then, after lunch we will head down to the very nice, small but perfectly formed, communal pool and spend a few leisurely hours there before returning to the cooler sanctuary of our apartment, where we will enjoy a late afternoon cup of tea and a digestive biscuit, how typically British of us 🤭

And so, let me just move on to some more topical matters and, as you can see from the photograph at the top of this particular ramble, no, not the swimming pool, the very top of this ramble, where here, in ‘San Luis de Sabinillas’ (To give it its ‘Official’ name) the theme for this year’s ‘San Juan 2026’ celebrations was ‘Harry Potter’, and why not, for the film, and all of its sequels, was just as popular over here as it was anywhere else in the modern world but, just in case for some totally inexplicable reason that I cannot think of, you have not been reading my rambles over god knows how many year’s, you may be wondering what this major annual Spanish festival is actually all about 🤷‍♂️

Each location has its own theme, and not all have just the one bonfire on the beach as we do here, although, you do have to wait until midnight on the 23rd June to witness them being set alight but, the festival itself , which consumes the whole of our long promenade, actually starts during the early evening and continues until sunrise the following morning. In addition to the vast array of usual Cafe/Bars and Restaurants, there are lots of ‘Pop Up’ Bars, a large stage with Live Music which goes on, and on, and on throughout the night and early hour’s of the morning, there are a whole host of other entertainment activities going on at the same time, Stilt Walkers, Fire Eaters, Giant Illuminated Unicorns, Bouncy Castles for the youngster’s, Food stalls, Ice Cream Parlours, Candy Floss and Dinky Donut stalls etc. etc. etc so it feels exactly like what it is, just one big massive street party which is attended by both locals and visitor’s alike, of all age groups, from the very youngest to the very much more senior age group. Unless you have booked a table, months in advance I hasten to add, at any of the ‘front-line’ restaurants then you will have to rely on grabbing something to eat from wherever you can, one of the back street Cafe/Bars is usually the best option, or queue up at one of the many fast food venues, although ‘Fast’ should not be taken literally on night’s such as this or, you can do what many do, just bring your own food and drink, a beach rug or towel, or even beach chairs, and just picnic on the beach. So, without further ado here are just a few images from another fantastic annual ‘San Juan Celebration’, although, just to be completely up front with you my reader’s, I may have borrowed some of the below images from other local social media sources 🙄

There are numerous local events here during both the Summer and Winter months, our Municipality of ‘Manilva’ has its own programme of events but other nearby communities, such as Estepona and La Linea also hold their own, so their is always something going on somewhere in the area and, in addition to the main annual events, which are published by local councils in advance, other’s take place too, like the annual ‘International Communities’ celebrations, and of course the annual ‘Gay Pride’ event that I mentioned in my last ramble.

Now I am not going to make out that Spain is the only country in the world that holds their own, or even unique, annual events but for many Europeans, including those from the UK, Spain is a short hop, skip and jump away, perfect for a holiday with guaranteed Summer sunshine and warm night’s for dining out ‘Al Fresco’. Until recently it has also been a very convenient, and relatively cheap place to own a ‘Holiday home’ or, for people like ourselves, to come and live here permanently without being too far away from family and Friend’s. However, like most things that start off being convenient, and cheap, eventually with their rising popularity that starts to come at a price. Even just coming here on a holiday, using the numerous ‘Cheap Flight Airline’ companies and to what, once upon a time, were cheap ‘Package Holidays’, well that is all beginning to change as ‘Capitalism’ once again rears its ugly head. Forget, if you will, at least for the time being, the delays and inconvenience now brought about by the recent introduction of the EES system and let me just highlight a few other areas that could now impact on your holiday experience. The recently introduced ‘Tourist Taxes’, not just on the cost of your holiday accommodations, but also added to the cost of many Tourist Attractions, then there are the wider global events impacting on the costs of importing products and produce, which you will feel more if your holiday entails eating meals out on a regular basis or, if you rent apartments and have to purchase your own supplies from local supermarkets.

But the biggest impact is on those who now want to consider re-locating to Spain on a more permanent basis. Don’t get me wrong, anyone with a good eye for a bargain can still discover opportunities to grab them, away from the more desirable locations. However, even we cannot believe how fast property prices have escalated in the relatively short time since we purchased our property here.

We recently conducted a re-evaluation of our own apartment, basically because of our recent Visa and Residency Permits, just in case we unexpectedly found ourselves in a situation where we may have had to sell up here. We were quite surprised, even with the knowledge that property prices had gone up year on year since we purchased it, initially as a ‘holiday home’ some eleven year’s ago now, to discover that, if we were to sell it now, that it is valued at just a little over 100% more than what we initially payed for it. To put that into some sort of perspective, if we were looking to move here now, we certainly could not afford to purchase this very apartment that we now call home 😲 The days when you could come here and offer a price ‘much lower’ than what was actually being asked, and have it accepted, are virtually gone, ‘Seller is once again King’. So, as one Agent who specialises in helping people re-locate to Spain, recently wrote……….

There are many people that want to come and live in Spain, from families who want to relocate, young entrepreneurs, people who want to come and start their own business, or purchase an existing one or people like ourselves who didn’t want, or need, to work and just wanted to spend our Retirement year’s here. So whilst I am on the subject of living in Spain, as a retiree, on a permanent basis, and now that the UK is no longer a member of the EU, just a reminder of the first financial hurdle that you will have to meet before you even step foot in Spain.

Does €3,000 (£2,608 approx) a month represent what you really need to live here ? Well, as I have said many times before in these rambles, it depends on a number of initial factors, can you afford to purchase a property without the need for a mortgage ? (Although you could choose to rent rather than own a property but that rental fee, like a mortgage payment, has to be built into the financial consideration), in which area do you want to live (Some Regions and Provinces can vary on how much it cost to live there) And, probably quite importantly, what kind of lifestyle do you want to enjoy ? Now I can only talk about our own situation which is without the need need to have a mortgage, or pay rent, with solely our ‘Pensions Incomes’, we are able to pay ‘All’ of our bills, Utilities, Communal Charges, owning and running a car, two mobile phones and home WiFi, and personal expenditure for Coffee’s (and Anti-Covid Vaccines), occasional Lunches or Dinner’s out and the occasional ‘Road Trips’, we find that we can certainly live a very comfortable lifestyle here, and I can confidently tell you that it does not cost us anywhere near €3,000 a month. So, if you had savings, that you could keep in the bank without having to access them, so that you can keep meeting the ‘current’ annual Visa and Residency Permit requirements (Bear in mind, using savings rather than annual income means that when you come to the 2 year renewal intervals you need to have twice the annual amount e.g. 2 x €36,000), but then you would not need an income of €3,000 (From other sources e.g. Pensions or Investment returns) to meet the needs of your normal monthly commitments, dependent of course on the initial factors that I mentioned above. But worth taking into consideration, the current Visa and Permit financial requirements may be amended at any time (more likely in the upwards direction), and will your ‘other’ monthly incomes increase with the ‘Cost Of Living’ and, if you transfer money then of course you need to take account of any fluctuations in the exchange rates. So, if you had savings to meet the Visa and Residency Permit requirements and then, as a couple who were both in receipt of full UK State Pensions, you could live here in Spain in reasonable comfort.

Regular reader’s of these rambles also know that I often do comparisons between life here in Spain, with what life is like in the UK, or sometimes other areas of Europe. I try to be open and unbiased in my comparisons and I am certainly not Anti-UK, I could go back there to live tomorrow, if I really had to, although I cannot say the same for my beloved, imagine this picture, Wild horses and lots of kicking and screaming, that would probably best describe her attitude to returning 🫣 However, at the moment at least, I do much prefer living here in Spain, for numerous reasons, although Spanish Bureaucracy not being one of them, which I guess many of you are already aware of 😂 However, for all of its positive aspects, Spain in General, is not unlike many other countries in Europe, or indeed probably the world, it has its issues and no, they are not all to do with Anti-Tourism.

And yes, there is a lot more that I could add, but I think that I may just have made my point, which is, it doesn’t matter in which area or country you may live, or which area or country that you may choose to re-locate too, that old saying is still certainly so very true, ‘You can please some of the people some of the time, BUT, you cannot please all of the people all of the time 🤷‍♂️’

However, sometimes you are lucky enough, due to your own personal situation, and perhaps even because of the place where you may happen live, you discover that most of the ‘external noise’ that is happening all around you, does not have any major impact on you and so, whilst you remain aware of it, you also learn to co-exist alongside it the best that you can.

So, to end this particular ramble I will just say, as we have run this year’s gauntlet with Spanish Bureaucracy, and come out the other end with another favourable result, (It was never in any real doubt, was it ?) so, Shazza and I, much like the 2026 ‘World Cup Trophy’ will not be ‘Coming Home, This Year’ 😂

Enjoy the rest of your Summer (or Winter) wherever you may happen to be in the world reading this 👍

Hasta Luego mi Amigos, La Vida Es Buena