I wish you guys would stop going on about the wonderful Spanish climate !! Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, of course, even in currently right wing Spain. But the problem is (and it is a very serious one) is that Iain Duncan Smith is watching and listening ! He wants to believe you ! Because he is just dying to axe the Winter Fuel Allowance for British Nationals living in Spain and will almost certainly do so if he is re-elected. He has already declared that "Spain is a hot country" (which is a bit like saying "Iain Duncan Smith is a clever man;" neither are true !) Taken as a whole, Spain is not a hot country. It can be and in summer it is very hot indeed. But it is also very cold. According to official Met Office statistics from both countries, inland Spain is colder, on average, than London in November, December, January and February. Considerably so in January and February. It also rains a very great deal (although not every year) and snows a lot. Snow usually arrives in Spain before it ever snows in England and there is much more of it. I realise that the vast majority of "Brits" live on that very narrow coastal strip bordering the Mediterranean which has what is termed as a "Mediterranean Climate." But venture a few miles inland and up the mountains on to that vast and massive central plateau that is the great majority of Spain and you are subjected to what is known as a "Continental Climate." Very cold winters and stinking hot summers. Spain is a very, very large country and the coastal strip, albeit grossly overcrowded, is a very tiny part of Spain overall. It may be the "centre of the world" and even Paradise for most expats but it is only a tiny, tiny (and very unrepresentative) part of Spain. Some years ago, I was working on the Costa del Sol during January and February and it was undoubtedly very pleasant indeed but, my fellow ex-countrymen, it is not very typical of the rest of Spain, whatever Duncan Smith may wish to believe ! I love Spain and have lived here for eleven years but "the climate" would be nowhere near the top of my list !! Indeed, I would term the overall Spanish climate as "bloody awful"and something that, during the winter, is to be endured rather than enjoyed. The winter can be unremittingly cold and summers can be just plain silly, with temperatures often approaching 40 degrees. I am not saying that Spain is as cold as Siberia or even Austria; it just seems like it ! Central Heating is still very rare and Spaniards consider fitted carpets disgusting ! So it is cold stone floors and no heating and amongst the most expensive electricity in Europe (when it works!) So, despite our balmy climate on the Coast, please take pity on your freezing fellow citizens living in the frozen interior of wet, snowy Spain! If anybody needs a Winter Fuel Allowance, they do !