Anyone living (lived) in a pareado or adosado in spain?

Luis, do you have any views re: Valencia Spain?

Sorry Banjo, can't remember ever visiting that city. Been many time to a few towns and villages between Valencia and Barcelona, which are of little interest, but Valencia is quite a bit bigger, might be more attractive.
 
Firstly, I can't see how Europe can be competitive and survive in the medium-future with all its outdated technology, inefficient systems, and backward mindset. The society seems to be content with the status quo and is ignorant about how fast the world is evolving. People seem to be short-sighted and lack the aggressiveness/ambition found in Asia/US. Secondly, education rigour generally is behind Asia as the schools tend to focus on "creative thinking" and liberal arts versus STEM and test-driven culture in Asia. By no way am I against "creative thinking" and problem-solving skills, but I disagree that should be the focus of a school; it is possible for me to motivate and provoke the creativity and applications of formal theory/knowledge gained in school but is impossible in reverse. In Raffles SG, La Salle HK etc, the education is very test-driven and academically rigourous which I see enforce strong discipline and a scientific mindset. Thirdly, European fiscal situation, demographics, and macro-picture only seem to be in decline and everything is over-regulated, so building a trading operation here is a no-no. Furthermore, used to living in Tokyo/Singapore/HK, life seems very inconvenient here even in the big cities, with people working slowly and scratching their butts then doing siesta. For example, merely buying a customised high-performance computer here seems like a headache, can't imagine having to fix one.

Given the above views, I think raising a kid in Europe (at least South) seems more like a vanity project than anything else.

Spain is just one country in Europe. Southern Europe in general is lagging behind the rest when it comes to technology. In some places in Europe you can see too much ambition and aggressiveness (especially the north and northeast).

Personally I quite like a lot about Southern Europe but I also agree with your points and the "casual" pace of doing things might get old if you're used to something else.
 
I love vacationing here but can't imagine working and living here at this age. Shops including supermarkets are closed on domingos and when open on weekdays are closed in the middle of the day for siesta. When people do work in those limited hours, they do so slowly as if work is painful. Things like 1day delivery and on-demand concepts dont exist here. Considering the school system doesn't teach them much technical skills and solid scientific knowledge, how can they survive, let alone succeed, in today 's rapidly evolving world. In the better parts of developing Asia, I at least could feel things are moving forward
 
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. Considering the school system doesn't teach them much technical skills and solid scientific knowledge, how can they survive, let alone succeed, in today 's rapidly evolving world. In the better parts of developing Asia, I at least could feel things are moving forward

Ridiculous. They survive just fine and longer than anywhere in developing Asia. A few more modern gadgets don't make up for pollution, ghost like emergency services and in some of the most technologically advanced places in developing Asia, surprisingly extremely backwards medical services.
Besides I'm not sure what you mean by the "Better parts" but much of developing Asia is still way behind first world, it has some charm and might be good business wise, but quality of life is very poor, especially when you have kids. Also rule of law is a very vague concept afaik in all those parts of the world, it can also be a plus when you are doing business, but probably not that much when you want to protect your mini Musk or yourself from issues with the locals.
 
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On a side note, ime it's always better to be a local, and if you feel closer to locals in some asian countries than in Spain, yes, those might be better for you. I heard Chinese were doing quite OK in Madrid even through the last crisis, so business seems to be open to all who can work a bit harder than the locals, which can't be too hard, but doubt as a first generation asian man, you would ever feel like a local in Spain.
 
This was a fun read as you're both right and make valid points.

Reminds me of the Subway on one of the Canary Islands, it was a big one and the ONLY employee there at about 2pm was sleeping at the counter. That left a big impression considering it wasn't that hot and the place had air conditioning.
 
I only meant the better parts of southeast asia such as KL or Bangkok, which are moving forward and upward.


I haven't been to BKK and KL in a few years, but been several times to the latter and spent years in the former, and especially Bangkok is by and large a congested, polluted and sometimes dangerous shithole, horrible place with a kid (from experience as well) decent private clinics which China sorely lacks of, but you are still in trouble if you need emergency help.
 
Reminds me of the Subway on one of the Canary Islands, it was a big one and the ONLY employee there at about 2pm was sleeping at the counter. That left a big impression considering it wasn't that hot and the place had air conditioning.

Haven't been to the Canary, but must say that my experience with Spanish mainland administration has been very disappointing so far, and the impression is widely shared. They seem way slower than in other European countries. I would be wary to invest much money or buy a properties there.
 
About working hours, an impressive side of Madrid which is quite unusual in Europe is they have employees cleaning the streets downtown at night, at least around Recoletos and the Retiro. Some parts of Madrid actually manage to look quite posh, much more than Barcelona. Some aspect of the city I enjoy quite a bit.
 
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