Is it prudent or safe to buy a place in Spain now?

[Spain]

1. We would be happy to get back the money we had paid for the property (about 50,000 euros). We could take less or nothing if things were absolutely dire....................

Am I selling?

If the price is right, yes. Make me an offer I can't refuse.

Well I've got €500 cash with your name on it!

No, we are not really selling, but if someone offered us £150k in cash we could probably be persuaded.

So .......... things are not as dire as some would have us believe.
Darren, we know you deals in motors but €500 just about buys a nice new front door

Scampi, glad to hear you are making it all work. We are looking at possibility of a place here and in UK but we have to answer where, what, when etc plus the added loss of income on retirement soon.

Put aside 50 or so for a exploration tool aka the 4x4, plus another 100 for a bigger floating pad, then hoping health allows to utilise the years left, in some ways the world is an oyster and Spain does have have a lot to offer us older folk. Saw a nice little hideaway near Ullapool last week for about 200 which might just make an affordable plan.

[scampicat]

I think if your house is rent-or mortgage-free and you don't have any debts and live modestly then you can live in Spain on a small income, providing it comes in regularly. A pension is ideal as it is always there and you don't have to worry about work.Our total income is a bit less than £10k a year.

Also, if someone offered us £150k for our house we would have more than doubled what we spent, including the reforms! And it's all equity.

That's what I mean. Don't overstretch yourself and things should be OK.

Having said all that, in the above scenario it would be cheap in the UK too.