Back in the sunshine - for now.

What a mad few days. All I can say is England didn't do a lot to make me feel I wanted to stay there. I left beautiful blue skies, amazingly blue seas, warm lazy Spanish days and roads with no traffic.....

and arrived to an English summer......

.....cold, wet and windy. In the few short weeks we have lived in Spain I'd forgotten how busy the roads in England are - well, I was soon re-acquainted. I was picked up at Manchester airport by friends. As I waited for them to arrive it suddenly hit me that I really do not live in England anymore. I have no car, I have no home here - I am a visitor.

I was staying with friends in Sheffield for the first night, so first thing in the morning I needed to hire a car - OK, now I've got used to driving on the right side of the road so a quick mental note to drive on the left, it all came back very quickly, I've not been away long enough for it to be an issue and at least the gear lever is where it should be.

I spent the few days driving to and from the hospital to visit dad. It was difficult to see him initially but as the days passed he improved significantly. It was also difficult to be there on my own, Neil and the pups being back in Spain. There seemed little point uprooting them for a few days but my mobile phone bill will be considerably higher this month.

As soon as Dad seemed to be on the mend and knowing that he would likely be in hopsital for at least another week, I decided to fly back to Spain and to come back to the UK when he comes out of hospital rather than stay. Again, a very difficult decision, I didn't want to leave Dad but I did want to be back with Neil & the pups.

I booked a flight back for Sunday - ooops! forgot that Spain were playing in the final of the Euro 2008 football and that would mean instead of being in the bar with all the others watching the game, Neil would be waiting for me at the airport.

I cannot explain how good it felt when the plane touched down in Murcia, back on Spanish soil, I was home. Kowing Neil would be waiting for me I took a peek through the doors while I was waiting for my case to come through, and there he was - and he'd brought Brinkley & Brandy too. Luckily my case was one of the first through and I was soon hugging the pups who were so happy to see me.

Knowing I will be going back in a couple of weeks, that I will have the same seperation from Neil & the pups again is difficult, but equally, so is being so far from Dad at a time when I need to be there to help him.

Back to the UK for a few days

I found out 4 weeks before moving out to Spain that my Dad would probably be having a major operation within weeks of me being in Spain, We obviously discussed delaying our plans but Dad was quite definite that he wanted me to come to Spain as planned and we would deal with the operation as and when it happened. I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with Dad before coming out here, but it was still incredibly difficult to actually say our last goodbyes before leaving Sheffield, knowing this operation was looming.

Well, he had the operation a week ago and it has been incredibly difficult to be so far away, not to be able to visit him in hospital and to rely on others to let us know how he is and how he is doing. I had always planned to go back for a few days when he came out of hospital but as it happens, I decided to go back anyway as I just needed to be able to see him and see that he was ok and recovering well, so I am on a plane back to Sheffield tonight and I will see him tomorrow. All the reports are that the operation went extremely well and Dad's progress is good, and as they would expect.

One of the benefits of moving to Spain is the speed at which you can get back to the UK for situations, just like this. The down side of course, is that I will be apart from Neil and the pups, an equally difficult situation for me.

Anyone contemplating moving away from family and friends needs to consider seriously how they would deal with this type of issue - and then when you think you have worked out how you would feel and cope, multiply it tenfold. I thought I was much better prepared to deal with this at distance than it turns out I am, and although I will miss being in Spain, I cannot wait to get home and see my Dad.

So, it may be several days before I can update this blog, but for anyone reading this regularly, please subscribe to the feed and you will be notified when I next post an entry.

Bye for now, and I'm off to pack some jumpers and long trousers as I understand it's considerably colder in the UK than it is here. Then I shall have one last dip in the pool before setting off for the aiport.

Festival of San Juan - 23rd June

When we got down to the centre of San Juan at 11.30pm there were more people on the streets and in the bars than we have seen on the busiest Sunday so far. We aprked up and walked towards the beach along with hundreds of others all heading in the same direction, Most had bags with picnics in and all were in a good mood. There were all ages from kiddies in pushchairs to elderly couples sat along the promenade taking in the atmosphere.

At the start of the beach was a disco unit with flashing lights and a massive crowd around it. Most of the crowd were up dancing and we could see a few bonfires between the different groups.

As we walked along the promenade to the main beach we could see dozens and dozens of small bonfires. When we had driven past the beach at 9ish there had been no signs of any bonfires so it's obviously bring your own picnic and bonfire.

Unfortunately my camera and I struggled to get really clear photos but hopefully the 2 above will give you a flavour of the night.

At precisely midnight, there was a short firework display from the disco to signify it was time to start jumping over bonfires and running into the sea.

I have to say we didn't see anyone doing either, but that's not to say that among the crowds there weren't some that were following the age old traditions in the hope of getting rid of a bad year and wishing in a good one.

Some of them will be partying all night, others were heading for home along with us.

The Spanish certainly throw a good celebration, I wonder when the next one is?

San Juan Festival

Well, it's 10.30pm and we are just about to go out and check out the celebrations on the beach in for San Juan day, always on the shortest night of the year, 23rd June.

We drove along the front about 9ish and the beach was already filling up with several large groups, some with tents ready to stay the night.

The one cloud on the horizon, so to speak, was - the cloud on the horizon. the mountain tops surrounding San Juan were already covered in clouds, which looked very much like rain clouds, so we are hoping the clouds stay on the mountains and don't spoil the festival. The winds had been increasing since early afternoon and the temperature had dropped significantly from the low 30's of the day to a current 26.

Hopefully, I'll be back later with an update.

Let me tell you about the creepy crawlies!

Everyone knows about the mosquito's in hot countries and is prepared for them. We know we're going to get the odd bite, it will itch, there are creams to help and they will heal. Some people will seem more prone to them than others, but hey, that's life! When we first arrived and were sorting out the stuff to protect the dogs (see later) the lady in the petshop gave us some advice on dealing with the mossies - and it seems to have worked.

Don't bother with the plug in one's, they don't really do anything. Get a large (and I mean large) can of mossie spray from the supermarket, costs a couple of euros (and even if you can't speak Spanish trust me, when you find the can, you'll know you've got the the right stuff) and spray the rooms each night, making sure you spray under the beds, as this is where they rest. If you only spray above the beds, they can escape the effect and get you later.

Well, apart from a couple of bites when we first arrived (and before we had visited the pet shop) we have remained bite free due to my husbands incredible performance with the can of mossie spray. I did discover that they also like to hide in the bristles of brushes left outside and also in the folds of the golf bags, so now anything left out overnight is shaken and sprayed where necessary.

Apart from 6 mossie bites I picked up walking the dogs through the fields last night having been stupid enough to forget to use the mossie spray on me before I went out (and no, it's not the same can!) we have remained relatively untouched.

HOWEVER, mossies are not the only thing here that we are getting used to. There are some very large black flying beetles - here's one at rest and it is about 3-4cms long.

Now, when this thing gets airborne it ambles along quite slowly and bumps into you, bounces off you and goes on it's way. As far as I know it doesn't bite but it can give you a bit of a fright especially if it bumps into your face. If I find them in the house I have to put a glass over them and wait for Neil to deal with them.

We have been inundated with blue bottles and when you go inland, they are even worse. When I was spending half my time in Pulpi, I almost had to learn to talk through clenched teeth to avoid them going into my mouth, they we so much worse inland. I did wonder about taking up a part time job as a trainee ventriloquist. I am told by the locals that there is an 8 week period of flies and that we are almost at an end - I do hope so.

I have seen remarkably few spiders (thankfully) but we do have some that jump - quite literally , like frogs. That can be quite alarming. We also have daddy long legs with the longest legs I have ever seen, one last night seemed to have legs at least 10inches long, and that's each leg - that's a lot of spider - but it was outside, and we have a deal, if they stay outside, I'll leave them alone so they can catch all these stupid flies.

We have quite a lot of moths but we also have owls (that make the most peculiar noise at night) and bats, so I think they more or less sort themselves out.

One of our golfing buddies told me that a scorpion had got into his dogs bed, fortunately the dog wasn't attacked by it - now that worries me a little, We have signs on our golf course warning us of snakes - but no one has ever seen one, and of course there are the sandflies that are a major worry for the dogs, so they have got the special collars on to protect them, as sandflies can be fatal. The collars (they are thin and white) aren't cheap but they also protect against fleas, ticks etc and last about 4 months for sandflies.

And finally, the woodlice. We have lots and they are easily twice the size of any back in England BUT they have a Kamikaze life style in that they come out at night but never seem to get back home(wherever that is) before the sun gets up in the morning and bakes them dry, so every morning as I sweep the path (and that's another story) I always have a dozen or so baked dry woodlice to sweep up.

So, if you aren't keen on creepy crawlies, better not walk around without your shoes on or who knows what you may stand on!

Wow, it's getting hot out here.

If I thought that retiring to Spain would lead to long lie-in's each morning, I was wrong. I am back to getting up at 7am to walk the dogs, because any later and it's getting too hot for them to have a decent walk.

At 9am this morning, it was already 28 degress - in the shade. At noon today in the sun it was 38 degrees C - now they say only mad dogs and englishmen go out in the mid-day sun - well not my dogs and certainly not this english(wo)man, at noon we are well and truly resting under the sun brolly and dipping in the pool!

Factor 50 is preventing my english rose skin (i.e. incredibly white) from turning lobster red after 15 minutes and if I accidentally get chatting to a neighbour in the direct sun, then I soon look the same colour as the terracotta tiles in the bathroom, as my lovely husband so tactfully informed me this morning.

There is a great deal of planning to every day at the moment, siesta (2-4pm) are rigidly adhered to and I fully understand why the Spanish eat late at night - any earlier and it's too hot to eat hot food comfortably.

We are lucky to be on the coast and have the benefit of the ocassional sea breeze coming inland, as you go inland it gets even hotter. We have another 2 months of increasing temperatures before it begins to cool down again. We have bought a thermometer just so we can see how hot it really is. As I type this at midnight it tells me it is 26 degrees.

Be warned, if you are on your way over here soon, the sun is viscious - bring lots of high factor suncream and a big hat. Other than that, take it easy and enjoy a daily dip.

A word on Spanish Road Tax

As in the UK, cars have to be taxed every year - but that's where the similarity ends. You don't display an sign of your road tax in the window of your car, you just have to carry the certificate that proves you have paid it in the car with you. And this is where it gets really odd.

The car is taxed to the end of the calendar year - I believe this applies to all cars in Spain. Wow, last week in December is going to be busy with renewals if the whole of Spain are trying to renew their road tax! Not so, as I've mentioned in a previous post, the car tax is issued by the local council office not central government and each council have 1 month each year where you can renew your road tax. We understand ours in Pulpi issues road taxes in June - and only June. So when we get to January 2009 our road tax will be out of date, but we cannot renew it until June 2009 - and this is not a problem if you get stopped by the police over here.

Apparently, and understandably, this freaks out a lot of the newly resident English people in Spain, but is just another example of the manana mentality we are learnig to accept over here.

Just need to confirm with one of our new friends what month Pulpi definitely issue road taxes and then make a diary entry for 2009.

At last, we have our new car!

It has been a long wait, the car has been sitting in the showroom with a large notice across it saying VENDE (sold) for 4 weeks but at last we have been able to collect the keys and drive it out of the garage.

This final week has been a week of maybe's. Monday we finally got our correct certificates through to the garage to enable them to tax the car. Tuesday - well, everywhere was closed in Vera, it was a local holiday day. Wednesday, we might, just might have the tax back and be able to collect the car.......er, no the tax wasn't ready. Here, it's not like in the uk, you don't go to a post office and walk away with your tax disc. The paperwork goes in to traffica to register your car and you collect it a day or 2 or..... later.

Thursday, it should be ready today - and it was.....but too late for the insurance to be sorted. We had sorted a quote but obviously until the car was issued with a registration number by traffica the policy couldn't be issued. By the time the registration was known, it was too late to get the policy re-issued to the underwriters to allow us to have the insurance for driving the car away Thursday.

And so to Friday 13th - now surely things couldn't go smoothly today? Well, apparently they can. We had the phone call to say insurance was in place and we could collect our car. We arranged to go through at 5.00pm.

Now, in the middle of all this Spain is in the grip of a 4 day strike by lorry drivers. We had already been victims of the french protests when our furniture got stuck in the docks and now we were about to collect a new car with an empty tank with petrol stations around us running out of diesel. Stuart at the Kia garage had managed to get us €30 worth from his local filling station, who were now rationing supplies but we needed a full tank as in a few days we are due to drive up to San Javier airport to collect some friends. Was this going to be another problem for us or was our luck with the car about to change.

Well, in short, yes - we collected the car and had a small lesson on what we needed to keep with the car - paperwork wise in case we get stopped by the police. Stuart explained if we were nervous about keeping the originals in the car we could have official copies signed & stamped by the local notary which would suffice, and then received directions to the nearest filling station that would probably still have some diesel - and it did.

New car duly full of diesel, Neil set off for the drive home (about 30 mins) with me in the wreck (sorry Peugeot) and before any of you start shouting that he should have let me drive the new air conditioned car with stereo - it was my choice that Neil should be the first to drive it. He had waited so long for the car, it only felt right to let him drive it - boys and toys etc.

But just as we thought we had got away with anything going wrong on Friday 13th, I got a phone call to say that we had driven away - and left all the insurance documents on the desk at the garage - so, a quick detour back (fuel shortages? No problem, lets just drive twice the distance we need to!) and we were again on our way home.

Now, what shall we tackle next? Registering with the local doctor may be a good idea, so, how do we do that?...........................

Here for 4 weeks - are we still on holiday or do we live here now?

After all the hard work in packing up a house, planning the move and getting here, we always intended to have a couple of weeks where we were technically on holiday. It seemed like a good idea, 2 weeks or so to chill. But, at what point do you stop chilling because you are on holiday and start to live a new life of retirement in a coastal town?

We play golf here, but we used to play golf on holiday. We have nice lunches at sea-side bars here but we used to do that on holiday as well, infact it was a requirement of being on holiday, we have a pool here that I don't swim in but I never swam on holiday either, so what event acknowledges the transition from being on holiday to starting a new life.

Well, today I realised I'd crossed the line - I got the iron out and started to iron a pile of clothes. Normally on holiday I would iron the odd item that hadn't travelled well, but when you stand for an hour or so doing all sorts of stuff, some of which you may not be wearing for a few weeks - well, that's not being on holiday.

So, having got the iron warming up, when temperatures outside were in the 70's - the key factor that marked the difference between my old life and the new? - I took the ironing board outside! I don't remember ever ironing outside back in Sheffield, it would never have occurred to me but it seemed perfectly normal here, considering that we already enjoy much more outside living, and especially as there are sockets on the external walls so no need for extension cables.

We still had lunch at a local bar, Thursday we had found out, was Paella day at Meson Pepa's - so off we went for our plate of genuine Spanish Paella. I am fine eating Octopus if it doesn't look like an Octopus, but today someone had left me a leg - and it was just too much for me to handle - it remained on the side of my plate. The rest of it was lovely.

Festival of St John - 23rd June

Spain is famous for it's festivals and we have one coming soon - June 23rd sees the festival of San Juan which is held on the shortest night of the year and involves bonfires on the beaches and setting off fireworks.

Have a look at the following link for further info
http://www.andalucia.com/festival/sanjuan.htm

We're really looking forward to seeing this but I'm not so sure about jumping over a bonfire! I'll tell you all about it when it happens, including any bonfire jumping that may take place! Apparently, there is also a dash for the sea at midnight to wash away the evil spirits and be granted eternal beauty - well, we can always try.

Aguilon Golf - What a beautiful (but difficult) course

This is our new golf course, drop me a comment with your e-mail address (which will not appear on this blog as all comments are edited before posting) if you want a full portfolio of photos of all 18 holes.




We have wonderful mountain back drops










We have beautiful fairways and lots & lots of bunkers with really soft clean sand.








We have deep ravines and sea views.










And we have lots and lots of palm trees.







When you are out in the sunshine, with new friends on a golf course like this - believe me, life is good.

I have to pinch myself to believe this is my life now - I just wish my golf was better - a course like this deserves to be played well. Just have to get more practice!

http://www.aguilongolf.com/
Tel: +34 608 54 98 69

Spanish Markets

We had been told that Spanish markets are the place to go to buy our fruit & veg. When I stumbled into Pulpi market last Wednesday, I was really quite disappointed that it was only the clothing, shoes, bags, linen etc market - no food that I could see.

However, one of our new neighbours told me that on Friday's the market is at Garrucha, about 20 minutes away - and it is a big market, worth going to see - so, duly informed, we all set off to see if we could find the market last Friday.

In Spain, well certanly in this area, the market is mobile and so we know there is a market in Aguilas and Arboleas on Saturdays, Friday is Garrucha, Wednesday is Pulip, Tuesday is Albox - so really any day there is a market somewhere. I understand ours is on a Sunday, but only in the summer and this year we may have to go without as the place it's usually held is almost unaccessible because of the work being done on the new road.

Anyway, we set off to Garrucha with the following instructions: head for the Port and then look up the side streets and we couldn't fail to find the market. If we went a couple more blocks along the main street we would find Annie's Place, where we could get a good all day full english breakfast.

When we reached Garrucha we could tell it was market day by the sheer volume of traffic, there was no where to park, but true enough we could see the market up several side streets, just couldn't park anywhere near it. By the time we found a place we were almost in Mojacar!

The market takes over several street, they are just closed off to traffic. Garrucha market is laid out over 2 adjacent streets - and stretches on for ever. The first section we came across was the fruit and veg and it was spectacular. It was incredibly busy and not easy to walk through but it all looked fabulous. After that we came across the meat stalls, which take a lot of looking at as there us so much on them.

Up to the next street and we were on the clothing, shoes & linen markets which stretched all the way back to where we had started. There were lots of duplicate stalls and however you decide which stall to buy from is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment, but I'm sure I'll suss it out.

There's no question, visitors who enjoy shopping will definitely be getting a trip to Garrucha market - even if they don't enjoy shopping, they will enjoy the experience.

And, of course, on the way back we stopped at Annie's Place and had a full english breakfast - it seemed a long time since we had left the villa that morning and we had walked miles (or so it seemed)!

This is our New House

We now know the colour of our house - it's white with yellow - and that's the actual house, that's our new house.

We are due to complete on the purchase in October 2008 although the sales office are suggesting we may be completing a little earlier.

Now we are living here we can see it every day and can't wait to move in.

Certificado de Empadronamiento

This is what all the messing about going back and forth to Pulpi has been for - we now have our certificates to show we are registered on the Padron! It's official - we exist in Spain.

All being well at 'traffica' we'll have our car by Friday - we're hoping the garage will fill the tank for us today as Spanish lorry drivers have joined the fuel protests and there are rumours that fuel will be in short supply in areas of Spain by the end of the week!

50 years young.

Last Thursday was my 50th birthday and this was a message our 15 month old granddaughter, Cadey, left on the patio table made from stones from the garden - isn't she a sweetie.

Neil had been worried about me being in Spain for my 50th, incase my birthday was a bit of a none event. I was happy to keep it low key, Craig, Jody & Cadey were here to share it and that was fine with me - but not Neil.

He arranged a surprise birthday party with 60 guests at Montesol, the local english bar. They put on a fabulous buffet meal, a disco and decorated the room with banners and balloons. I'm not sure how he managed to get so many people to come but everyone had a thoroughly good time and we finally got to bed at 3am (after returning to the villa and opening the champagne).

Thank you Neil, it was a brilliant surprise and a lovely evening.

I also received more cards through the post from England than normal and some e-cards as well - it was a lovely birthday.

We've now had our first invite to someone else's birthday party - a street party this Sunday.

OK, so now we need our furniture.

We have rented a furnished villa, but we were having a lot of our stuff from home here as well, including our golf clubs, so it was time to find out where the container with our stuff was. When it had left us is Sheffield we expected it to be here before we were - however, we hadn't reckoned on the French.

We'd had no problems getting onto our ferry and throughout the journey through Spain we had no contact with any news programs so were unaware that the french had blockaded the ports. This had caused a huge backlog with containers getting on board the ferries and our furniture was held up as a consequence.

Initially the removal company were going to sail from Plymouth to Santander, as we had but when they got to the port they couldn't get on because all the lorries that were having problems at Dover had changed their route. So, our guys, in an effort to get across the channel thought they would try Dover instead - and that was where their delay began.

And, of course, once they got across the channel, they now had to drive through France as well as Spain. Although we wanted our furniture, we had to feel for them - stuck in a lorry for several days longer than they were expecting to.

However, as soon as they got to Almeria they brought all the stuff we wanted to the villa. We had no breakages, nothing missing and if the french hadn't got involved I'm fairly sure they would have been here when we had expected them.

Well done guys, a job well done.

Pulpi - Again!

In anticipation of a discussion over our certificates, I thought it wise to prepare what I needed to say in writing. The official behind the counter at the Town Hall does not speak any english and also insists on speaking Spanish to me at incredible speed - even though he knows I hardly speak any Spanish. He's not the easiest of chaps to deal with, but I have no choice.

Anyway, Thursday last week saw us once again in Pulpi Town Hall. As they issue these certificates all the time, we expected them to tell us there was nothing wrong with them. However, we were surprised on 2 counts - one, the was no sign of the usual gentleman but a nice young lady who actually smiled at us. And secondly, when we explained in our prepared Spanish what our problem was, we saw a light bulb moment across her face - she understood - and they were wrong!

She sat down at the computer, typed something into it and then passed us back the wrong certificates and asked us to comeback on Monday to collect the corrected certificates - fingers crossed - trip 5 may see us with the correct paperwork, maybe we'll have the car by the end of the week.

Link to Pulpi Council website http://www.pulpi.es/

What else have we been doing in our first 3 weeks?

The time has flown since we arrived, and I cannot believe how quickly the days go by.

The first couple of days were spent finding our bearings. We had passed a bar on day 1 which had a sign outside advertising Internet computers. So, after a couple of days we decided to go down there and get back in touch with the rest of the world. €1 for half an hour ( plus I had a coffee and Neil had a lager, so in real money - more like €5 for half an hour - but at least I could get to my e-mails). It turned out that this is a bar run by Ron, an Englishman - and San Juan now had an English bar - he's been there since March (after our last visit)

While we were outside finishing our drinks we got talking to another English couple, Ann & Steve - they had lived here about 3 years and live on the same set of villas where we are renting.

They told us about Wednesday night being quiz night at the bar, where as well as the quiz they do a full English Sunday dinner, roast meat, vegetables, gravy etc. Ann & Steve invited us to join them the following Wednesday and introduce us to some of the other people they knew. We happily accepted their kind offer.

Ann then told me of a Thursday morning meeting at the bar of the Terreros Ladies, a group of English ladies that meet once a week and share information and help each other with any problems. This seemed to be something I should get involved in as I would have so many questions in the early days that such a wealth of knowledge would be invaluable. Again, I accepted her offer to go to the meeting with her that week.

Finally the conversation turned to golf, and the fact that our clubs had not yet arrived and Neil was itching to play at our new golf club. Steve informed us that we needed to speak with Dennis, who could generally be found in Meson Pepa's most afternoon's. he played golf at the course and would have some clubs Neil could borrow until his arrived.

A chance meeting had opened up several avenues for us - and we couldn't help but feel very lucky to have met them.

The following day found us down at the bar where Dennis would probably be - and he was. Neil introduced himself and explained about his meeting with Steve. The end result was that by the time we walked out of the bar, not only had Neil got the promise of a set of clubs to use until his arrived, but he had been invited to join Dennis and the others who play at the club the following morning. People here are so friendly - it's was so much more than we had ever expected.

So, over the last few weeks we have been to quiz nights, I've been to my ladies group (at which I was so surprised to find there were over 20 ladies go each week) and Neil has played golf a number of times. Life is beginning to settle into a routine of dog walking, golf and relaxing.

Before the end of the first week I had people waving to me as they passed me walking the dogs, stopping to speak to me as they saw me in the supermarket and inviting us to join them when we met them in a bar.

It was all helping to make us feel settled in our new home.

Off to Pulpi - 3rd time

Wednesday, we found out, is market day in Pulpi, so parking was a nightmare, but it did mean when we had finished at the Town Hall we could have our first visit to a Spanish market. Neil was at golf so I had gone through with Jody & Cadey.

Once again, on arriving at the Town Hall we were lucky to find there was no queue. I asked for our empadriamento's - passed over our passports so they could check our names and the council official brought out this huge file of certificates - all I can imagine is that there are a lot of people that don't bother going in for them - they obviously don't have a car waiting for them to pick up.

After slowly flicking through the pile of certificates, he closed his file and got up - they weren't in there. While we waited I was listening to the radio that was on in the office and then the irony struck me - we were in an official Spanish building, with people working there who don't speak english - and they were listening to an english speaking radio channel - bizarre!

After about 10 minutes, he came back with 2 certificates in hand - success. I paid my money (€24.80 I think) and we left with a big smile on our faces.

I'll talk about markets in a later post, for this one we were on our way to the garage to give them copies of the certificates and they could then get the car taxed.

A couple of hours later I received a phone call from the garage with bad news, the certificates had not been accepted by the traffica - they were wrong, there was no date on them saying when we were first registered on the padron - we would need at least 1 more trip to Pulpi to sort it out.

Are we ever going to get this car?

Link to Pulpi Council website http://www.pulpi.es/

Pulpi Town Hall - Part 2

So, having got the additional statement including NIE numbers we were back at Pulpi Town Hall. And once again, we handed over our paperwork and in our very limited Spanish said we were there to get our empadriamento. Back came a long sentence in Spanish which we didn't understand. On 2nd repetition we picked up on the word registrar and realised they were asking if we'd registered.

Then the penny dropped. We needed to register on the Padron and we would then be given our certificates of registration - the empadriamente were the certificates.

So we told them we had not registered and we were given 2 forms to complete, which one of the council employees explained what we needed to put where. The one thing that really threw me was that they wanted our education level - why? Would it have an impact on whether we got accepted on the padron or not? Did they only accept people of a certain academic level? Whatever, we duly completed all the sections, passed over copies of our documents which we had done before we got there and confirmed that was everything.

Yes, we were told, that's all - come back on Wednesday (we were on Monday).

So, today is Wednesday. Neil was due on the golf course with his son so I went through to Pulpi with Jody & Cadey.

Would today be any easier?

Link to Pulpi Council website http://www.pulpi.es/

Pulpi Town Hall

Throughout the last 9 months of planning, I have regularly used the Eye on Spain website and forum. There is a wealth of information and help available and of all the forums I have used, this has been the one I have found most user friendly (http://www.eyeonspain.com/).

One thing that has come across time after time is that whenever you need to sort anything in Spain, it will not be straight forward and it will not be quick, but with perseverance you'll get there. That dealing with town hall's will require knowledge of the language and a lot of form filling and probably a lot of queuing.

We were about to find out first hand.

The salesman at the Kia garage had told us that Spanish cars are registered at the local town hall where you live, in our case Pulpi. In order to get the car registered there we have to have our 'Certificado de Empadronamiento'.OK, we can do that. A quick session with the Nintendo DS and I have some phrases to help me and off we go to Pulpi.

Pulpi is not far from us and there is one main street to drive down but we couldn't find the town hall, so we parked up near signs for what we thought was the library to ask for directions. I don't know what the sign stood for but we certainly weren't in a library, more like a coffee morning for the homeless and needy - a hasty exit followed.

Across the road was the main post office so we went in there to ask and I managed enough Spanish to explain what we were looking for and then understood enough Spanish to get the directions - and we were close, just around the corner and we would see it, and she was right.

So, full of expectation of queues we entered the building and looked around for anything that resembled a reception desk or similar. The first office we saw was for registration so in we went. We only had a wait of 10 minutes before it was our turn. I explained we were english, spoke little Spanish, had just moved here and needed our Certificado de Empadronamiento in order to buy a car, all in well rehearsed Spanish and we showed him our documents.

The reply completely threw me. I understood the bit about him not speaking English but the rest, at speed, straight over our heads. We struggled on for a little and then he called a colleague who spoke a little english. It turned out our rental agreement didn't meet their requirements as it had passport numbers in and we needed the NIE numbers, ours and the owners. The official kindly took the time to explain as well as he could that we needed to get a further statement done that effectively quoted all NIE numbers and gave permission from the owner for us to live in the villa.

We thanked him and left in order to arrange this. I had read that town hall officials rarely give help like this but are more likely to just send you away, so I was grateful that we at least knew what was wrong and how to put it right. We immediately set the wheels in motion to get the correct statement, and prepared for the return visit.

Link to Pulpi Council website: http://www.pulpi.es/

The first 2 weeks

Our initial idea was to spend the first 2 weeks as if we were on holiday....... well, that plan didn't work. We don't seem to have stopped.

The first week was spent looking for a car to replace the one that was stolen when we were in the UK. The cars over here are certainly not at bargain prices compared to the UK and there isn't as much different between new and 2nd hand. We decided to buy a new car similar to the Freelander we used to have as it's great for both golf and the dogs (we don't normally carry both at the same time)

We knew where most of the main dealers were from previous visits so we planned a couple of days going around them to see what prices were like and who had good deals. In most garages someone spoke enough english for us to get the information we needed, but not always so I learned a few phrases in Spanish relative to buying a car so we could at least get the specifications and, probably more important, the best price and ask for any discounts.

We decided on a Kia Sportage that would be available as soon as our paperwork was sorted. Basically, cars in Spain are taxed in the region that you live, in our case Pulpi, not at a central agency such as the DVLA at home. In order for the garage to tax it at the correct place, we needed to register on the 'Padron' and get a certificate which we could give to the garage to prove where we were living.

So, armed with what we were told we needed - a copy of our NIE number certificates and a copy of our rental agreement to show where we were living we planned a visit to Pulpi the next day.

Now, that's a whole new story.