Wanting a new lifestyle for himself and his family was one of the reasons why Craig moved from the UK to Spain. The experience has not been trouble-free, but he has learned valuable lessons from mistakes committed during the first years. One lesson he may have learned is that he is more than resilient and strong enough to recover from his losses, and that despite everything, he is enjoying all the pleasures that living and working in Spain can bring.

Craig Staniforth

-Where were you born?         

Hull, UK

Montoro, Córdoba, Spain

With wife and two daughters

Five years

38

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Spain?

We were just sick of the rat race and we made the decision to move sooner rather than wait to receive our state pensions - which probably would be worth nothing in 30 years' time!

Luckily we didn't need any.

A lot of people (not only the English) are under the impression that the European Union health card (it was blue?) is valid - but I soon found out its validity is only for 30 or 31 days.

We decided, like many others, that the only way to make a living was to work for ourselves and become self-employed. We found a country house to buy with the intention of running it as a B&B, until we found out it had no water! We ended up (after living two years without water with temperatures of 45 degrees!) giving the house away. Five years later we are still paying the price for our stupidity.

As my daughters are fluent I have learnt a lot from them. I still don't have the confidence to say I am fluent! But I know that if I didn't speak the language now, I would not be working.

My wife does but after being in the UK for a couple of weeks this year, I know I miss nothing.

Now I am working, I plan to try and recuperate my losses! The truth is, if we had been working from the start the whole experience would have been so much more pleasurable.

The market is dead at the moment so it is a good time to buy. A three-bedroomed flat could be negotiated for around 100.000 E (there is actually one on ebay.es at the moment, I just looked!)

It used to be a lot cheaper, but the prices are slowly creeping up! From my recent experiences in the UK, the food is still around a third cheaper.

They are really different, once you get to know them and speak the language. I have found this the case in many countries.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Spain?

The main positive, obviously, is the weather. The community spirit is something else I have noticed. When my grandmother said she used to borrow a spoonful of tea from her neighbour, I never believed it happened! Here I do it all the time, only for wine and Jamon!

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Spain?

NEVER BUY. FIND WORK. Always, always, always rent. Give yourself time to find out 1) If you like the place 2) If supporting yourselves in the future is viable. If I had rented first I would still be living like a king. The mistake was taking advice from people I didn't know. In hindsight I would have spent at least a year renting before I found people trustworthy enough to work with.

I am now working for a local company that manufactures and maintains olive oil extraction machinery. So if anyone is planning to buy an olive farm (something I planned to do originally!) you can see our products at  www.oliveoilmachinery.co.uk or in Spanish at www.industriasdelarosa.com