heatherfawn - 13 July 2008 01:34 AM
Thanks for the level head, Santi.
No probs, after reading this post i did a google search and came across several articles from UK press about UK having Euro highest levels of crime, yet the surveys they referred to weren`t given links of reference to the results.
The Guardian, Telegraph all quoting how bad the UK is, but I find it strange the source they referred to wasn`t available to read.
I watch the Spanish news daily, and all the crime happens in Spain as in the UK, its difficult to survey the worst places in europe.
I am also single and moving to Spain alone (due to a job transfer) at the end of this year.
After reading the posts above, I felt as if I were moving to a Disney kingdom rather than a real country.
Safety seems a relative discussion.
There is a high amount of crime against drunken tourist in Spain, many people get attacked because they put themselves in situations they may not have done in the UK.
My personnal experience comes from my parents who visited us, they`ve never experienced crime in the UK, nothing.
On there 4 day here, my mummy was helping my father and her bag got snatched.I doubt in the UK she`d have put the bag down, but she had the usual tourist mistake of leaving the brain on the plane.
I`m sure the same thing could have happened in the UK, but so far hasn`t in there 60 odd years there.
I have one ridiculous question: Is it common for singles to live alone or will this practice be contrary to the common culture of the area?
In large cities its not unusual, a friend of my OH lives on her own in Madrid, she`s a thirty something workaholic.
House prices are an issue though, our neighbour has 3 children living home, the youngest is 25yr, the oldest 32yr, there all working in average jobs, but in an area that a 65m apt cost`s around 180,000 Euro`s.
So Spaniards tend to wait until they in relationships or financial well off before moving from the family home.
In the south here though there are many farmers and its very common for them to build more than one property for the family on a piece of spare land.
I`ve been to clients also who have had large gardens and built wooden villa`s in the garden for the children to live in.
You can buy in Spain wooden houses, similar to the ones you see in B&Q;in the UK only much bigger.