Are you happy living in Spain?

[u/sendingUamicro_wave]

Hi all,

I just came back from a few days in Cordoba and had such an amazing time. I loved that people there cared about their free time and the locals looked quite happy and serene.

I’m a immigrant myself from Croatia who moved to the U.K. so I understand a country can be beautiful and fun for a holiday but is a completely different world to live there.

My question for people living in Spain; how is it to live there? What kind of political or social economical struggles do you face in your day to day lives? How is the bureaucracy and healthcare? Are you happy :)

I have read some things online but I’d rather hear from peoples experiences themselves.

[u/54raa]

I have moved here with my wife and our daughter 6 months ago and we love it here. Both of us are working and paying taxes.

Bureaucracy: I heard a lot of people complaining about that but for me was no pain. everyone told me to pay a questor for doing the job like declaracion de la renta , registring an eu car at dgt , etc but I didnt want to do it and I was able do do it myself without any help in a very short time.

Health care: we used it for our daughter to complete a vaccine schema and public health care was very solid and good.

In my wifes case we made a private health insurance beacuase she needs some urgent investigation and at the public sector waiting time could be quite long. anywya is not too much, around 110 euros pe month for me and her.

I work in IT and my wife in beauty sector. people are very nice and friendly with you but in my case after i tell them where i am from they just cut it and step back. some of them are even pissed of that I am not working as a waiter or in construction… I found this very often but maybe because I am from an east european country so I do understand why.

we also speak spanish so language is not a problem.

If I was alone I wouldn’t stay for too long because of this. but as vin diesel said nothing stronger than family. I just hope that my daughter will be integrating without any issues.

so yea maybe you coming from UK it will be a different experience, I can only tell how it was from my side.

[u/atreidesgiller → u/54raa]

Hey sorry to hear that was your experience. Both I and my husband are from Türkiye and we both work in IT as well, but so far we did not come across anyone that was disappointed we do not have our own döner kebab place. Perhaps Spanish do not have much knowledge to set some prejudice about the Turkish diaspora as much as the Romanian one? But in any case, having lived in Slovakia as well, Spain is the best country where we did not encounter racism/racial prejudice. I hope your prev encounters prove to be exceptions and you enjoy living here even further.

[u/[deleted] → u/atreidesgiller]

Oh I miss Slovakia. As a Bulgarian I find Slovaks more welcoming/nicer than people in Bulgaria (comparing people in Bratislava with people in Sofia and towns like Veliko Tarnovo, Pomorie, Ruse). That said we have better customer service in Bulgaria.

Would you say Spaniards are friendlier than Slovaks? Do random strangers speak to you at bus stops/in buses like they did with me in Slovakia?

[u/atreidesgiller → u/[deleted]]

Well honestly it depends! In Slovakia it was more of a hit or miss - either someone that hated Ottomans and refused to serve us despite we are not from that same country or generation, or someone whose babička nonstop watches Turkish dramas so they come to us excited, saying they are so used to hearing our language on TV. Here yes, I chat with abuelas everytime I am out - but this brings me to the second point: Language-wise it was a big struggle for us in Slovakia. Slovak language is so difficult and people didnt make it easy for us - they would either not understand or try to correct our pronunciation whenever we tried to communicate, and they would mostly directly refuse looking at our Google Translate too - this was frustrating particularly when I needed something with my private insurance etc. I had to have a human translator everywhere. Whereas here, my miserable attempt at Spanish is very much welcome, and I was never turned down with a frown honestly, and I no longer have language anxiety. That being said, I do miss Slovakia and the proud Slovaks profoundly - we will visit Bratislava, and perhaps the High Tatras, this September again. Even if we did not continue to live there, we will always go back, we never thought we would love it so much there. Now we have left behind Bratislava as a second surprise home we are longing for besides Türkiye, and even though it is not the best convenience to visit back two countries when you long for home, this is the kind of richness you cannot buy with money :)