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Bread. If your step son's dad is married to a SA citizen and moved back to France then his wife will need a visa to visit any other EU country. Relocating to Spain will relieve the wife of having visas bc France will apply domestic law and Spain will apply EU law to the residency. Many older people in Spain and even here in Portugal speak French as it was a second language.

Can you explain this : Everybody is the same age this year. Your age plus your year of birth equals 2018. Only happens once every 1000 years. Happy Birthday

No Brits or any tourists here pal. We up in the very north near the Spanish border. On the very odd occasion I get to hear English spoken and like a drug I would approach them just to be able to converse in English.

The summer months here are so hot and humid comparable to Natal north coast. It is even worse but drier down south in the Algarve but the Brits love it.

We spend Christmas in the UK most years and I love the feeling of the ice cold air on my face. It is like I have returned home where I belong as a European. A dega vioux perhaps as I was born in icy Finland.

This is just my personal thing so don't judge me on this and I respect your love of SA and I too love SA and that is why I am still invested in SA.

My stocks have not been doing well over the past 2 and a half years. They have actually been negative and we have been withdrawing our living costs from them. Not in dire straights yet but have to watch our budget.

Getting menial jobs in the UK is easy as most locals do not want to do them. My wife has already organised a school cleaning job that will pay £ 500 pm for 3 hours per day and she will be paid during the 3 month shutdown. One of my daughters is doing that as a second job.

The £ 500 would pay for a drab one bed flat. But then again most residential flats are a drab face brick building that all look alike but the people live inside where it can be very modern.

We go to Wales every year to visit our kids and love the greenery, hills and quaint farms. Even the road signs look like someone threw alphabet soup at them. How on earth they manage to pronounce the words is beyond me.

We love Viana do Castelo as it is very picturesque and busy but we will never learn the language at our age but if we did then we would stay put as it is so cheap to live here. Going down south to Lisbon or the Algarve will be far too expensive but English is understood by all.

Another big move ahead. Our kids have decided that we can no longer stay in a city where people our age do not speak English and will never have friends. This is very true and frustrating for us.

We are to relocate to Wales where rent is cheaper. UK rentals are ridiculously high compared to Portugal but they have a plan.

They will look at rent to buy properties and we will purchase 50% and they will pay the remaining rent costs.

This is a win win situation where they can buy more shares in the property over time and end with 100% shares. We pay utility bills and council tax only.

I have always stated that I do not want the shackles of property ownership to keep me stuck in one area as I like to explore countries. I have done that now and wish to settle down in my old age and plant some herbs and veggies and pickle them for a hobby. Some rollmops and pickled fish will be great to experiment on. It will keep me occupied.

Our plan is to leave around April next year after our internet and TV contracts have expired and my wife has completed her short term scans for recurring cancer.

This will be a start of a whole new ball game of red tape and bureaucracy to get settled status in the UK for me as an EU citizen and my wife as a third country citizen. I will post our experience here for those who may follow. 

Q on steroids?

EM currency selloff.