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Which do you prefer and why?
Compare these two countries in...
CULTURE
Art:
Food:
Cinema:
Architecture:
Music:
Other:
QUALITY OF LIFE
Healthcare:
Cost of Living vs. Income
CITIES
Madrid vs Paris:
Public Transport:
Nightlife:
CULTURE Both
Art: Both
Food: Spain
Cinema: None
Architecture: Spain
Music: Spain
QUALITY OF LIFE Spain
Healthcare: Spain
Cost of Living vs. Income Spain
CITIES Spain
Madrid vs Paris: Madrid
Public Transport: Both
Nightlife: Spain
I find those "surveys" silly, though. Nothing useful is gonna come out of this.
I find Madrid to be the nicest city in Europe. Very clean, I did not see any bad or dirty areas, and everything is nicely maintained.
I won't add much, but health care sticks out to me. I think that, in France, you (mostly) have to pay everything out of pocket first, and then you get reimbursed. And the insurance only covers 70%. For the rest, you will need something additional. And, if you don't have that, you're out of luck - from what I understand. I think that's a pretty crappy system. I think, though, that, if you do not have the money, there are ways to pay for it. That's totally different than the German system where you don't pay a thing and they directly bill the insurance company. I'm sure I didn't get it right 100%, but that's still a big flaw in France, imo. However, I am not sure how the Spanish system works.
It depends on whether you align better with French or Spanish sensibilities.
I went with Madrid, Spain.
It appears to be a clean, well-functioning major city. Amazingly, it has 11 or so Metro lines that go everywhere. The weird thing is that, from the center (around Gran Via or Atocha), it takes 3 different lines to get into the airport. City metros into the airports in Mediterranean Europe are NOT a given ... Rome and Lisbon do not have Metro service to their airports and, in 2002, the metro had yet to reach the new Athens international airport. I am almost sure it does now.
However, I will have to say that Paris is very impressive in almost all aspects.
As far as spanish cities go, Madrid is about twice as large as Barcelona but Barcelona is twice the city. If this was between Barcelona and Paris I might pause and think, but as it is: Paris without question.
As far as lifestyle goes across the countries: France if I'm rich, Spain if I'm anything else.
I'm sure I didn't get it right 100%, but that's still a big flaw in France, imo. However, I am not sure how the Spanish system works.
In Spain, Health was free to everybody until quite recently. Because of that, many foreigners (from EC countries) came for interventions that later were supposed to be billed to their country, but never were paid. Now Health Tourism is over, I'm not sure what they did.
Illegals do not have UNIVERSAL coverage anymore (only in some autonomous communities), they only have access to Emergencies. Before, one month ago, everything was free for them. Tons of North Africans formed queues asking for fake prescriptions (sold in Morrocco), or to give birth (they are always breeding) and asking for food, some were very agressive.
Now I don't know what will happen. In the city besides mine they wanted to build a mosque in a residential place, the City Hall gave permission notwithstanding the opposition of neighbours and somebody buried to dead pigs on the lot. People are pissed because they form groups of people on the sidewalks and squares and do not let women pass, or tell them they are whores because they dress "in a sinful manner".
I have a private insurance, but I also use Public Health sometimes.
Heh. I have a son living in Paris and another son living in Madrid. Both are enjoying a good quality of life.
For me, I'm always just a tourist, so it's apples and oranges; I really like both countries and both cities. (And I've never understood the Barcelona-is-better-than-Madrid thing, both have their favorable qualities.)
Overall, I do tend to prefer French food, not the rich stuff, just the basic cuisine, but the cost of living is cheaper in Madrid than Paris. (Assuming you have a job!)
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