So high taxes, poor demographic outlook, lack of competitive strengths(At least in the south), and huge and ever increasing crowds of 3rdworld immigrants to already crappy places. How can Europe (except Germany, Netherlands, etc) survive?
Aggressive looking migrant kids are all over Europe now, once you point them on something they are doing is wrong/illegal you are a racist, they get away with everything.
Been in Madrid suburbs for a few days now. It is less exciting than downtown for sure, the poshest area where the international schools are is particularly boring apparently.
Possibly the wealthiest area in whole of Spain and 1 or 2kms away downtown of that same suburb the park looks like a third world area, dirty and aggressive looking migrant kids playing soccer ( where it is forbidden) with a ball that would have been thrown to the trash ages ago where we flew from. Weird,the ball looked like it came out of a documentary on destitute Africa.
Besides that shithole part the ambiance is noticeably friendlier than in most places I ve been(i speak decent spanish, which helps), I m much less stressed when going out than in difficult China.
Son managed to literally knock himself out on his first BMX outing at the bottom of the skatepark bowl. I was lying on the grass a few meters away playing on my mobile when a bunch of locals came to alert me. Surprised afterwards a bunch of people came around try to comfort him and help out while not noticing anyone filming but I was in a bit of a shock and might have missed that. His helmet was poorly attached, flew out and I thought he had broken his jaw although a visit to the emergency service proved overdone, just some hematome on the chin.
He s half Asian and doesn t speak a word of Spanish but seems to find playmates everywhere. he does seem to find friends no matter the country, but i m usually less talkative than in Spain
Overall it looks quite relaxed, not surprised again it comes as the favourite capital for expats in Europe with the reputation to be a place where it s rather easy to make friends.
But ime as well petty crime is a hassle, better be more careful with one's belongings than in developed asia
Took a rather full night bus from san Sebastian to barcelona. Two apparently African immigrants kept talking to each other loudly, on the phone put on speaker, music on speaker. Then another guy started playing some mideast Islamic music on speaker to compete which turned the bus to an uncoordinated rave party. Nobody said a word. Maybe saying anything would be considered racist
I would be careful about the friendliness and remind my kid not to hang out with them. Otherwise this time next year you kid will be in some heroin rehab centre. Call me an ass but I would rather be on the safe side on befriending apparently uneducated immigrant families, having spent high school time with some Vietnamese gangsters myself
Nobody said a word. Maybe saying anything would be considered racist
Uh... skate parks are usually not high end meet up places but we didn't stay in the dodgier area to play... I m not too hung up either, i prefer my kids spends hours playing outside than spend them studying piano indoor.
Btw while heroin probably only attracts a niche market there are quite a few drugs in Europe and laws are usually understanding toward consumers. If it scares u ur kids ever do drugs yeah, that s probably another reason to avoid Europe. I d rather they don' t but must plan they do some. Lots of kids do Ok despite doing drugs
BTW I like in Spain that lots of migrants hail from Latin america and I ve seen so many Chinese those last few years that any other origin tend to be welcome nowadays. Don t even mind Chinese as long as they are not overwhelming.
We re probably going to settle in the most expensive of the 182 or so cities in Madrid so overall the area is not too dodgy, but that downtown suburb sure is