Some expat observations

[El chabon]

There seem to be many young kids still coming here for their year of living abroad. Fewer are coming who want career oriented jobs and many fewer to do business here or transferred here by multinationals.

I don't know how 6 months-9 months in Spain in let's say Granada, Malaga or Salamanca compares to BA but it really cant be much more expensive now. It's also quite easy for Americans to study there, really hard to live there though.

If you want to travel as well it's both cheaper and more interesting in my opinion

 

[El chabon]

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/100190/foreign-tourism-drops-13-in-march

Slow slowdown in foreign arrivals

 

[tez]

I was just talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about our non-mutual expat friends who are packing up and leaving, and it was amazing how many of them are heading to Spain! Most are people who aren't tied down by jobs or work freelance, and several have said they are off to "try Spain out," see if it would be a good place to live. Kind of interesting, maybe Spain there will be a great exodus of expats going to Spain as those Argentines living in Spain come back here... Cheap property, cheap and delicious food, all the consumer products one could want, mmmm I can see why Spain is looking appealing to many... Mmmm tio me comería un bocadillo de calamar en la Plaza Mayor ahora mismo!!!!

 

[El chabon]

I was just talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about our non-mutual expat friends who are packing up and leaving, and it was amazing how many of them are heading to Spain! Most are people who aren't tied down by jobs or work freelance, and several have said they are off to "try Spain out," see if it would be a good place to live. Kind of interesting, maybe Spain there will be a great exodus of expats going to Spain as those Argentines living in Spain come back here... Cheap property, cheap and delicious food, all the consumer products one could want, mmmm I can see why Spain is looking appealing to many... Mmmm tio me comería un bocadillo de calamar en la Plaza Mayor ahora mismo!!!!

If they don't have a EU passport it will be pretty much impossible to move there.

Spain gets pretty boring after 6-12 months and it's basically impossible to hang out with locals but atleast you have Europe close and a kind of security and a state that works quite well, something that Argentina does not offer. Health care is great as well

 

[fifs2]

I was just talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about our non-mutual expat friends who are packing up and leaving, and it was amazing how many of them are heading to Spain!

I'm one of those who left for Spain last year, opening an office here to bolster us against Bsas spiralling costs etc...property generally isn't cheap and those who come here on that premise are about as disappointed as those expecting to see Paris when they visit Bsas. It seems many moneyed Spaniards havent felt the effect of the crisis and are holding their original property price even if it's lying empty 2 years. I'm 40 minutes outside Seville in the 5th largest city in Andaluscia and property is 2000euro per m2 of the building and again for the land but that dues to proximity to Seville, beaches, equestrian and country activities, transport links etc. I've friends in Malaga who bought cheapish and are paying new retrospective taxes upon taxes upon taxes due to to the illegal build they didnt know was their house/urbanizacion/water supply etc and cash-poor local govts. looking to use foreign property owners to bring in some cash. I for one am loving living in such a conservative ie formal but fiesta filled part of the country but all that glitters is not gold re property here and we will be sooo cautious before dipping our toes into the property ladder...

 

[El chabon]

I was just talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about our non-mutual expat friends who are packing up and leaving, and it was amazing how many of them are heading to Spain!

I'm one of those who left for Spain last year, opening an office here to bolster us against Bsas spiralling costs etc...property generally isn't cheap and those who come here on that premise are about as disappointed as those expecting to see Paris when they visit Bsas. It seems many moneyed Spaniards havent felt the effect of the crisis and are holding their original property price even if it's lying empty 2 years. I'm 40 minutes outside Seville in the 5th largest city in Andaluscia and property is 2000euro per m2 of the building and again for the land but that dues to proximity to Seville, beaches, equestrian and country activities, transport links etc. I've friends in Malaga who bought cheapish and are paying new retrospective taxes upon taxes upon taxes due to to the illegal build they didnt know was their house/urbanizacion/water supply etc and cash-poor local govts. looking to use foreign property owners to bring in some cash. I for one am loving living in such a conservative ie formal but fiesta filled part of the country but all that glitters is not gold re property here and we will be sooo cautious before dipping our toes into the property ladder...

I own a property near to Malaga and go there 1-2 times a year on holiday and have lived in Granada, so I have some clue about what's going on.

I am guessing that if you want to rent/buy in a nice area in one of the big(ger) cities it's still quite expensive but it's easy to buy cheap now, especially along the coast there are loads of foreigners that really want/need to sell and the amount of Spanish kicked out of there house is ever increasing. For someone from Europe there is also credit available.

It's likely also to get worse before it gets better, so waiting might not be a bad idea.

Close to Malaga it's quite easy to rent a really nice 3 room appartment for like 500-600 euro and you prolly could go as low as 300-400 euro's a month, but your living not in a nice area then.

I am pretty sure that your a similar lifestyle in Malaga is not more expensive then BA, probally cheaper.

 

[El chabon]

You can also own a nice car without begin scared of getting robbed or worse and you wouldnt have to be so scared with flashing your watch/iphone/ipad, etc.

Petty crime is a big problem though, but so far little violent crime

 

[Wryter47]

Yeah, in fact I haven't left Argentina (except for visa trips to Uruguay) since I arrived in August 2005. I expected to miss the US, but it hasn't happened. Part of it also is that I have no living relatives anywhere in the world, so there's no "home" or home-folks to go visit. Such is life!

 

[DontMindMe]

I was just talking to a friend yesterday, and we were talking about our non-mutual expat friends who are packing up and leaving, and it was amazing how many of them are heading to Spain!

I'm going, but as a graduate student in Spanish linguistics. I will be somewhat separated (in terms of currency, etc.) from the economic situation there. It is not a place I would go to try to live as an expat at the moment. And I already did the teaching English thing in BA, later transitioning to an extremely low-paying en negro job that I did for about a year and a half. (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS--TRUST NO ONE, but I learned a lot of important life lessons.) Even if I were single and not making plans with my boyfriend for after school, I highly doubt I would decide to live in Spain unless offered a really solid job. Which, again, with 25% unemployment...doubtful. Whereas in the U.S. I got a job four days after getting home bartending, something I had never done, was pulling up to U.S. $350/night in tips on peak nights (not THAT type of bar; I wore jeans and a tshirt). I quit that job because getting home at 4 a.m. got old fast, and very quickly found a job as a receptionist, something I also had zero experience doing. My old PR boss's phone is ringing off the hook again with new nonprofit (read: often budget-strapped) clients. My friends my age (mid 20s) are starting to get good jobs, with benefits. It's not the worst time to go back, if you're thinking about it, not like a year or two ago. Of course, your mileage WILL vary based on city and state, all of which have their own economies. And whether you're smart, have a decent work ethic, and good references. That helps. I'm lucky in that I haven't really experienced the doomsday stuff you read about in the news every day. Although I celebrated a birthday recently and got kicked off my dental insurance. I thought I had one more year! Healthcare stuff obviously still sucks...Also, the possibility of President Romney. Okay I'm done.

 

[Crema Americana]

It seems many moneyed Spaniards havent felt the effect of the crisis and are holding their original property price even if it's lying empty 2 years.

This is true... but it doesn't just apply to "moneyed" people. My aunt has an extra apartment in Barcelona that was inherited, but they have chosen not to rent it out at all after a bad experience with a tenant that lost his job and they had to provide free housing for a year and a half. He of course wasn't the best of tenants and left the place a disaster. Right now I think they're saving it for one of the kids, but if they do rent it out you can bet it will be for a price that makes the risk worthwhile.

I have to admit I haven't been to Spain in a few years, but even with all the unemployment I personally I think quality of life in Spain is better than here... the food alone makes up for everything. And I like the Spanish.. they're generally friendly people and not as "chantas" as the people here. Of course I'm half Spanish myself, so I'm biased.