In recent times of credit crunches and world-wide recession (apparently) it is all too easy for ex-pats on the Costa del Sol to throw the towel in and go back to their home countries – whether it be the UK, Germany, Scandinavia or other parts of Europe.

It is a normal human response to problems to think the grass is greener elsewhere.  I for one, do not!
Quite a few of my friends have returned to the UK over the past year, and are finding it harder than ever to find decent job and reasonably priced houses – and many have failed in their quest to find a better life in the cold climes of Northern Europe.  I certainly know where I would rather be when the gloom begins to rise – Andalucia.

Let´s face it, for those of us who were here in the mid-nineties, we have been here before.  When I first arrived in Spain in 1994, property wasn´t selling and you could have bought a two bed apartment in Marbella for peanuts  – and how I wish I had – but there is little point dwelling on ´if onlys´.  The property market enjoyed massive growth between 1998 and 2003, and peaked around the year 2002, when property buyers flocked to the Costa del Sol.

True – overbuilding is a big problem on the Coast, but similar things have happened in most other European countries – particularly resorts – over the past ten years.

As for a move to the Middle East –no thanks!  You can keep Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman.  I understand that many of the one-trick-ponies who can do little else but sell real estate – would be enticed by the dollar signs of Dubai, (or the dirhams and dinars – whatever the case may be),  but it´s not for me.  I spent two years in Bahrain and Kuwait in the late 90´s, and although I made some great friends in the Middle East, I was never comfortable with the lifestyle or the treatment of the thousands of poor migrant workers.
Many construction workers are transported into Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain from the poorest countries in the sub-continent – including Bangladesh, the Philippines and Pakistan.  They are then set to work on construction sites in heat of up to 50 degrees, paid a pittance and never see their families again, as they never earn enough money to leave. Slavery in the Middle East is very much alive and kicking.  The temperature gauge on the front of Kuwait City´s government building, was controlled to stop it rising above 49 degrees.  The workers were supposed to be allowed to stop work at 50 degrees, so officially the temperature was never more than 49.

And if you scratch the surface of the glitzy, soulless, shiny-on-the-outside resorts like Dubai, you will find an ugly truth.  Imagine Las Vegas without the gambling and you have Dubai – a toy town of luxury apartments and rich men´s playthings.  Fine if you like that sort of thing – and plenty do –but most of us who enjoy European lifestyles are happy to keep our feet planted firmly on the ground on the Costa del Sol.
It is very much the survival of the fittest now – not only in Spain but in other parts of Europe who are experiencing an economic downturn, and the only way around it if you work for a living, is to work harder.  I now have three jobs – I work full time in the offices of a removals and storage company, and also write SEO copy and destination guides for various business clients.  Working weekends can be a bind but I have to do it, as do many of my friends who have to pay mortgages.

If I am not too busy writing on Sunday then I take a stall at a second hand market in Benalmadena.  And still I´m not rich!!  Earning a decent living is a challenge – but to be honest it is one I am quite relishing.
I honestly believe that this recession will pass as other recessions have passed, and although the property market may never boom the way it has over the past ten years, it will steady out and job opportunities will improve on the Costa del Sol and other parts of the world.

If times like this teach us anything, it is caution.  I used to earn a lot more money than I do now, but I was always skint then too.  So I have vowed that once the good times are rolling again, I will save the extra cash, buy myself a finca in the hills and retire undefeated.

There is no better place to be than southern Spain, and I have lived all over the world.  We have everything on our doorsteps, fabulous beaches, beautiful countryside and the best golf courses in Europe.  Oh and that´s not even including 325 days of sunshine a year.  So as I look out over Mijas-Golf from my terrace, the sun is shining over the 16th hole, and I can´t help thinking is the grass really greener anywhere else??