I can totally see everything you're saying about Spain re the general inertia to everything, I felt that way living in Hawaii and I don't imagine it's even a fraction as bad. Cold is certainly relative, having lived in San Francisco for many years I feel like Portugal's coastal climate is very similar. In any event I've never heard of anyone advocating London for the weather!
Cold might be relative, but saying Portugal is cold, especially outside summer, is close to non nonsensical, actually the summers in Portugal are rather mild thanks to the Atlantic ocean, and the winters very warm by European standards : Among European cities with a population above 500,000, Lisbon ranks among those with the warmest winters (below Valencia or Málaga) and the mildest night time temperatures, with an average of 8.3 °C (46.9 °F) in the coldest month, and 18.6 °C (65.5 °F) in the warmest month. The minimum temperature recorded in Lisbon was −1.2 °C (30 °F) in February 1956 and −1 °C (30 °F) in January 1985. The maximum temperature recorded in Lisbon was 44.0 °C (111.2 °F) on 4 August 2018.[50] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon#Climate That´s the kind of remarks littering Blueraincap`s impressions about Spain as well, they are to be taken with a huge grain of salt. No doubt going for residency would have proved way more frustrating, it was a sound decision going for different pastures for Blueraincap. Also about Madrid getting completely dead on sundays, I´m sure I missed a few places as we just moved in, but there are 3 shopping malls/areas around my house opened 7 days a week up to 10pm, plus another leisure mall and a posh restaurant/bar area opening later. Actually La Moraleja appears both pleasant and very convenient, not surprised El Cubano liked it so much. Dealing with the administration sure sucks though, and apparently it is quite a bit worse for non Europeans.
Ok, maybe I am wrong about the cold but I did feel cold in the morning/evening in algrave during the summer, which made me believe it must be cold outside the summer. The atlantic ocean is indeed damn cold. @luisHK, living in a penthouse in possibly the best neighbourhood in spain? and you generalise to the rest of shitty spain like someone living in a chicago downtown penthouse saying chicago as a whole is clean and safe? try to get your iphone fixed in barcelona and see how it goes.
In hawaii, you fear people breaking in, squatting in your house, and police doing absolutely nothing? drug addicts walking around the most visited areas looking to take away your entire bags and police doing nothing? lots of people densely living in poorly-built apartments that look more like favelas don't bother you? hawaii might be slow but I wouldn't say it is trashy and subject to the many social problems like spain. I like N.Europe though, so if it is easy to get a europe-wide passport through the trashy South, then fine, but again it is not really that easy (for spain).
Actually all those things on Oahu when I lived there a decade ago, add that you couldn't go to many beaches outside the tourist areas because they're controlled by the meth dealers who squat there, but like I said I'm sure to a lesser degree than you experienced. But I was actually more referring to the whole inertia thing, for example took nearly 3 months to close a house purchase which had no issues and which everyone wanted done in a week. Every house I've subsequently bought and sold in the rest of the country has been 2 weeks max, 1 week in one case. Again, just a taste of what you're describing but enough that I can completely feel what you're talking about.
Don´t read too much into what Blueraincap writes about safety in Spain, especially if he is comparing to other european countries rather than Singapore : https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/safety-and-security https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Spain Spain fares pretty well security wise, although there are pickpockets and houses get broken in. It sure depends on where one lives, I definetely don`t hang out in night buses but lived in Germany and Switzerland (was in Zurich when they closed the Letten, over 20 years ago)while younger and close to broke, there are or at least were plenty of hard drugs and junkies out in the street, it was standard in Frankfurt to see drug addicts smoke crack openly in the street or even sitting in a bus stop. You probably wouldn´t feel most confortable hanging out in St Georg in Hamburg or previously around the Letten or Langstrasse in Zurich, yet BRC would purposedly go there and summarise the whole country based on that experience (it`s like Saint denis in Paris, no half well off parisian would set a foot there, but he managed to visit it) Nowadays when I travel to Germany I do not see this stuff, yet a couple of years ago I drove close to the Red light district in Frankfurt, see how it felt after all those years, and had to U turn and drive away promptly, a bit freaked out. There are many areas in Madrid, even downtown, where it actually gets more expensive, where you can stay largely away of the riff raf. I´m reading more about the admin processes in Spain, and it is far from a walk in the park even for EU citizens (I managed to get a house, bank acct, public and private insurance, NIE, residence permit, new car, phone number and internet in a few weeks still)- but kids and Mrs docs are not ready, Mrs` permit and insurance actually appear far from ready. Would need to read an update but crime in Portugal is supposed to be lower than in Spain and most of Europe.
Ok, didn't know the oahu local thing. I never said about serious safety concerns in spain, like getting shot at as in chicago, but some annoyingly petty crimes like always feeling being looked at by some suspected pickpockets. never felt life-threatening in spain but did feel hell unsafe about my belongings wherever i went (outside of barcy/madrid). I never felt so uncomfortable in north america. And many spainish condos are very poorly designed and built, homeless hanging out and sleeping at madrid/barcy airports, buying a bottle of water from a small shop and turning out to be tap-water, etc load of low-level stuff that reflects the society's issues. One thing I do like spain is the hard infrastructure (except telecomm) like highways etc, which are good, well-maintained, and free!
just FIY, here is a link to the tolls by specific highway, it´s actually a hassle driving on some motorways in Spain (french border to Barcelona for instance) becquse of the frequent tolls, whereas in other countries you pick up a ticket upon entering the highway than pay upon exiting it. https://www.fomento.gob.es/carreteras/peajes-dependientes-de-la-age
Yes I drove from Barcy to Cote d Azur and was fucking surprised by the high costs (100eur per leg) which I reasoned is the way france raises the marginal costs of border-crossing shopping. I drove from Algrave to Costa del Sol and it was a breeze with very negligible costs. Driving is one thing I dislike about Asia as highway fees are unbelievably high in japan and always super crowded (huge traffic in 2 lanes), which renders my panamera useless
The OP seems to have some agenda in the way he's describing Spain, i.e., trying to be come off cool and aloof, or he's just very negative. I've been around in Spain and never felt unsafe or had any complaints. I love Spain.