Since we have been here we have not been bothered about using the few 'English' shops that are dotted about. Our closest is probably in Mojacar, half an hour away or in Turre, about the same distance. There are a few of the supermarkets who stock some UK brands but they are really expensive compared to spanish products and so far we have been able to find just about everything we want without buying the UK brands.
However, last week at the ladies group one of the ladies told us of a new shop that was being opened at Palomares, which is only about 15 minutes away and on our way to one of the supermarkets we use. So, we decided we would take a look today to see if there was anything on the shelves that would have us realising what we had been missing and could no longer do without.
We found the shop on a corner in Palomares and parked up, just after a Guardia Civil (Police) car. As we went to the shop entrance the Guardia was just leaving. Now, we know all businesses have routine visits from the Guardia to check they have the correct paperwork etc, can't somehow see it ever happening in the UK, but here it does, so seeing the Guardia leaving a shop, a bar or where ever is no big deal.
Until we walked into the shop.
Dave, the owner had been told by the Guardia he had to shut the shop as his paperwork wasn't in order. And this is where the difficulty is. When you are told to close - it means immediately.
Talking to Dave he told us he has been to the local offices on several ocassions to sort the paperwork out, and finally it was all accepted. The architect had said all was OK to open, his solicitor had said it was all ok to open and the local council office who approves all the paperwork had said it was all ok to open!
But not according to the Guardia that called on him today - in his opinion the paperwork was not all in order - so, close the shop.
Dave gathered his paperwork for yet another trip to the council offices to see if he could sort this out, he'd only been open a week, the shop signs had literally just been put up outside. He said the sign man was putting the last screw in as the Guardia arrived. The advert that is running in th local press this week will be wasted and while the Guardia said he would probably have the correct paperwork through in a week, in Spain that can mean anything up to a month.
We decided to have a quick look round to see if he had anything that we felt an urgency to buy before it was too late - and although we did buy a couple of bits there wasn't anything that we felt we just couldn't live without.
In do feel immensely sorry for people trying to set up a business like this, especially when you are not fluent in the language, but Dave is adamant he will no be beaten, and that he will be re-open as soon as possible.
I really hope he gets it sorted soon and it does make me very grateful that we have been able to move out here to retire and that we are not having to go through the same frustrations. It does however remind me of the problems we had with paperwork when we were trying to buy the car - we only needed 2 bits of paper and that was bad enough.
It is the spanish system, and if you want to run a shop or a bar - you have to abide by their system. That's just the way it is.
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