Yeah M-J
I see what you mean about 'easy options' but to be honest the saving i can get by doing the me+ir in spain is rather more than £3000 and finances are tight now!
I do know of a couple of people that have had no problem or issue having their me+ir issued by the UK on return (see recent spain threads)
I do agree that in an ideal world i would prefer to do it all here in the UK but with the money and weather issues this is definately my better option
cheers again