One Thing I Really Miss About Spain
I Don’t Need a Car
I've spent a lot of time in other countries.
From childhood on, I've been privileged to reap the benefits of a world citizen. That's what I think of myself as, a world citizen. Because I’ve lived short-term and long-term in so many countries over the course of my 71 years, I think I've developed a well-rounded perspective about humans no matter where they live and no matter what culture they were born into.
One country that feels like a second home to me is Spain.
Why? Well, I've been returning to Spain for about 17 years. Each time I go I stay for at least six weeks and often the full 90 days that I'm allowed on my passport without a visa. I keep returning to the same region. No let me be more specific about that. I keep returning to the same town.
The very first time my husband and I went to Spain, we lived for 90 days high in the mountains of Andalusia.
I chose the small, white-washed village of Competa, sight unseen, and made that our home for 90 days. It was during the hottest part of the year, so we soon adjusted to the Spanish schedule.
What is the Spanish schedule?
You get up early in the morning while it’s still cool and run errands, meet people for coffee, or report to work, but around 2 PM all the shops close for the rest of the afternoon. Why? Because the heat is almost unbearable.
You go home. You relax. It’s called siesta.
Much later in the evening the shops open again. The closer it gets to evening, the cooler it gets. That’s when you venture back out. If you’re a Spaniard, you enjoy the cool night breezes, listening to music, eating a late dinner, and hanging out with your friends until the early morning hours.
Oh my, I can hear the wheels turning in your heads. You’re trying to figure out what it would be like to experience la siesta.
Trust me, la siesta is only one of many cultural differences that you will experience if you get off the beaten track, become an “untourist”, and live in a Spanish village for an extended period. When we left Spain that first time, we went to Ireland for several months, and then from Ireland to Prague for several weeks. Our last stop was Malta where we stayed for another 90 days. I loved all of them. But Spain captured my heart in a special way. I’ve been returning to Spain now for almost 17 years during the winter months.
Yeah, I’m a snowbird, but I go to Spain not Florida.
So what do I miss most about Spain when I’m back in the US? There are too many things to count but today I’m going to talk about one thing that I desperately miss about Spain when I’m not there.
I absolutely love living in Spain because I don’t need a car.
Most Americans can’t even imagine not owning a car. We are such a car dependent country that sometimes I think we spend more time in our cars than we do our houses. We’re also a huge country with cities that were never designed in a way that make neighborhoods walkable. Trust me on this one.
I once searched for cities that had high walk scores and they were few and far between.
We lack public transportation like buses and trains. We have a hard time even breathing life into such systems, because so many people associate having to take a bus with poverty. Flaunting our cars, even if we can’t afford them, is an American ideal that most kids carry in their hearts long before they graduate from high school. The first debt that many young people take on is their car. Most people carry a car loan of some kind for much of their lives.
I’ve met many retirees with car loans.
I didn’t fall out of love with cars after living in Spain, however. I’ve never loved cars. They’re dangerous, too expensive, require upkeep, and preferably a place to house them. I don’t like driving in heavy traffic.
I don’t like driving long distances to meet basic needs.
I could happily live without a car for the rest of my life if I lived in Spain full-time. I’ve proven that repeatedly. I’ve never rented a car in Spain no matter how long I’m there.
When I sold everything I owned, including our two cars, and traveled the world for four years on my pension, lots of people wanted to know how I did it.
How could I afford to retire as early as I did, age 54, and travel the world? One of the reasons that I can do it is that I did not own a car. No insurance payments, no gas stations, no oil changes, no car payments, no repairs, no registration, and no car washes.
I was amazed at how much money I had left in my pocket.
Why am I able to live in Spain without a car? Several things make it possible. I live in a small village that has a high walk score. In other words, I can walk to the grocery store, the doctor, my dentist, my favorite restaurants, and shops of all kinds. Everything that I need to maintain my life in my apartment in Spain is within walking distance.
I should mention that I no longer live in the little village in the mountains but about 25 km down the mountain road on the seashore.
Yes, I live across the street from the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, this little village has the longest seaside promenade in all of Europe. It connects four villages. So not only do I walk to get everything I need on a daily basis, but I also walk for the sheer joy of it along the Mediterranean coastline.
Poor me, right?
But that’s not all! If I want to go to the fine city of Malaga, about 45 minutes away from my village, I can take a bus. If I want to go to a neighboring village for the afternoon, I can take a bus or a taxi. Both are quite affordable. But even more important, they are plentiful. And if I want to go to Madrid, I can take the bus to the train station in Malaga and board one of the fastest trains in the world.
Spain is known for its high-speed trains that are subsidized by the government so once again affordable.
Can you guess which mode of transportation is my favorite? Car, bus, train, or airplane? Well, you already know I hate cars. And I’ll tell you right now it’s not planes either. I do as few planes as possible, because long before COVID I hated being crammed in close quarters with so many people. If the airlines would give me a little leg space and a little elbow room I might like them better, but they won’t. Unless you’re flying first class, they squeeze you in like sardines in a can.
So by now you probably know that my favorite mode of transportation is trains.
I’ve had a love affair with trains for as long as I can remember. I love being in Spain because I have access to trains, some of the finest in the world. Best of all I can get up and walk around and stretch my legs. I love driving through the countryside and seeing all the little villages. I even like the feel of a train station.
Please don’t think for one minute that there are no cars in Spain.
Every expatriate that I know owns a car. Many Spaniards also own a car, although they tend to take them out far less than we do here in America because they live in walkable neighborhoods. Still, the almighty car has been placed at the top of the pyramid of human needs in many parts of the world besides the US.
As near as I can tell, there are lots of Spaniards who love their cars.
This article, however, is about me. It’s not about those other expatriates who bring all the trappings of their culture with them and then try somehow to incorporate everything from back home into their new life. Nor is it about Spaniards who have their own cultural standards of success. This article is about me. I have never liked cars.
One of my goals in life was to simplify things.
Although I live three quarters of the year in the US, I’ve done everything I can to reduce the aggravation and expense of cars. We own one small car. We bought it used. Our house isn’t in a walkable neighborhood, but almost everything we need is only a little over a mile from our house. At least I don’t have to drive far to get groceries. My dentist is actually within walking distance. I deliberately chose this neighborhood in order to keep my life simple.
Another goal of mine was to stay out of debt.
Owning a car not only complicates my life but comes with expenses that prohibit me from being able to use that money to do other things — like go to Spain. That’s why we only own one car. We buy used cars and pay cash for them. Then we drive them for as long as possible. Our car often doesn’t leave the garage for several days at a time. It’s simpler but still not as simple as living in Spain.
I love my little life in Spain.
I love walking to the grocery store or taking the bus to Malaga or taking the train to Madrid. It suits me to a tee. Living life to its fullest without owning a car is one thing that I miss the most about Spain when I’m back in the US.
Oh, and by the way, I usually lose a few pounds every year when I’m in Spain. I’m beginning to think it’s because I don’t own a car.
Teresa is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
