COVID-19 and expatriation in Spain

Hello everybody,

The COVID-19 crisis inevitably impacts Spain, between closed airports or periods of containment in some cities or even the entire country .
We would like to hear from you during this unusual period, to find out what the consequences of this pandemic are on your expatriation or expatriation project in Spain.

Does the current crisis call into question your long-term expatriation project?
If you are already settled in Spain, do you plan to return to your home country?

How are you living through such an uncertain period, especially if you are far from your loved ones?

Have any of you ended your expatriation in Spain unexpectedly?

Paradoxically, has this crisis brought you closer to some people?

What are your plans for the future?

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Hope you are doing well.

Loïc.

As I am 80,  my plans are to avoid corona virus and if not able, then to survive it !!!!

Police and guardia etc with their control points. It was already starting to resemble a police state I don't even want to imagine what they will be like if this goes on for a prolonged period. I came out to spain as I was approached by an international  company to come and work here 5 years ago, that turned out to be complete nonsense, which i gave up a very good postion for. I should have seen the writing on the wall then, an international company in 70 countries and the worst performing area was spain.
Ive since started an online company in the UK as its very difficult and frustrating to get anything done in spain. plus the taxes are higher especially income tax, which is very surprising, considering the average wage in spain. I've slowly been more and more frustrated with everything here. Especially the system, it's really terrible, and when you couple that with the worst customer service ive experienced anywhere. money taken from my bank account from the government never to be seen again, and the government blocking bank accounts whenever it feels like it. I have to say. Its been experienced and it's time to go home. I'm Scotland bound and I'm very happy to say that I gave it a very good try, however, spain is definitely of my list and I won't be back. Not even for holidays. The world's a big place and I can find other police states to spend my holidays. Sorry for the negative rant.

My wife and I were planning to move to Madrid this September/October. We had pretty much everything in place;  papers, an attorney, a targeted neighborhood, and what to do with our home in the USA. Everything is on hold, and like just about everyone around the world, we're now just taking this one day at a time. We don't want to become a burden on the Madrid infrastructure.

Like another earlier post, my wife and I were all set to move to Valencia (we actually are STILL all set to move!).  Coming from the USA, we had our visa appointment with the Los Angeles Spain Consulate all set for March 23.  Unfortunately the consulate is closed, along with Madrid.  Our house is sold, our stuff is all packed and in storage and right now we're just waiting until we can get our visas and move to Valencia.  It's frustrating, but that's the way things are right now.  :)
Our BIG question is: when will it be "OK" to move there?  September?  October??  We're anxious to start our adventure there!  I'm especially interested in any insights people might have about timing our move, especially with respect to the Valencia area.

Timing wise the only thing I would recommend is don't try and come during August.  It is hot in Valencia (and rest of Spain) in August.  Not terribly hot; I lived in Qatar for over a decade and Valencia heat would be considered a cool spring day. 
The problem is not the heat; it is the fact that Valencianos take most of the month of August off, in order to avoid the heat they go elsewhere.  So any government offices, services etc are limited and very slow. 
There are some things that will not be delayed in August; I suspect scheduling and getting an internet connection won't be affected.  But if your stuff arrives in August, the delivery of your items to your home might take longer than normal.  And there's some visa stuff that happens upon arrival, that could be delayed.

I don't know if anyone can say. I also live in the States but we are looking towards joining the Auxiliares de Conversacion program as a couple, possibly next year, depending on how things go with the virus and the program. All I can say is that things are uncertain everywhere, including in the US. In a normal year, I would agree that August might be an inconvenient month to arrive, due to the influx of tourists, but this year I'm not sure that will be a problem. I understand they have cancelled all summer festivals and celebrations due to the virus, so other than the nice weather and beaches (if they're open), I'm not sure what would draw the tourists in.