I have recently been putting the finishing touches to my latest book for expats. Whilst reading it through for one last time before it is sent to the publishers, I realized that it was not written in quite the same buoyant tones as my earlier publications. It was written during a year of relative turmoil …more

This problem began when we moved into our new home in the Canary Islands. It was a new build property, and like most new builds it came as a shell, meaning that there was no fitted kitchen, shower, bathroom or any of the modern fixtures that I initially expected to see. Unlike new properties in …more

Recently billed as a “storm raging” about “the shocking”, but some would say accurate, portrayal of the seedier side of life on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria, gave quite a few of us a good laugh. Indignation and denial from the tourist board was the immediate reaction to the recent Spanish television program broadcast, …more

Many expats moved to Spain and the Canary Islands at a time when borrowing money from Spanish banks was a relatively simple and straightforward affair. Obtaining a mortgage in Spain, often through the developers of new build properties, and usually at a very good rate of interest, was something that many expats took advantage of. …more

In their haste to move to the sun, many expats ignore the facts relating to getting old and the possibility of becoming infirm. There are now several generations of expats, who found themselves in a good financial position following the rapid rise in UK houses prices a decade or so ago, and others who managed …more

I have always been fascinated with the idea of living on an island. As a child, I always knew that I would live on an island one day, although I thought it may be the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly or even the Isle of Islay, off Scotland’s magnificent west coast. The Isle …more

Listening to recent revelations in the UK about staff at one of the UK’s major banks currently dealing with claims for the mis-selling of personal protection insurance did not surprise me. Reportedly, staff were told to automatically decline claims on their first presentation, on the basis that most people fail to pursue the issue further. …more

I have very little to complain about my life in Spain and the Canary Islands. It is a wonderful place to live and work, and the decision to leave the UK for a new life in the sun was the right one for us. However, I am sometimes asked if there is anything that I …more