Well, we have reached the 1st anniversary of our move to Spain. Although some of the plans we had originally made have changed significantly, overall we have had a good first year.
When we first arrived we had expectations of being in our own house by now. In reality, we are still renting having cancelled our contract on the house we were buying due to delays in the build and we are both of the opinion it was the right thing to do. Our solicitor has spent 6 months dealing with the bank in order to get the monies paid by us refunded under our bank guarantees and has now got everything agreed with the bank that the monies will be returned to us by bankers draft and has an appointment to go and collect them.
For anyone buying a new build it is vitally important to ensure you have the original of the bank guarantee and, even if it has an expiry date on it that has past, you need to hang on to it in case you need to claim your money back. We learned this week that if the developer holds the bank guarantees and they have an expiry date on them, once the date has expired the developer can re-submit them to the bank and get the monies back themselves, which leaves you fighting the developer for a refund.
So, having lived here for a year - is it as good as we hoped? A very definite yes. The weather is a real boost to how you feel in the moring when you first get up. Even though the winters are colder than I expected, they are not as cold as the UK and are much drier. Yes, we get rain which is torrential at the time, but it doesn't drag on for weeks and months. It is a lot windier here than I ever expected but once you know how it can be, you just make sure everything is fastened down well.
We have made some good friends and have played so much more golf than we ever would have been able to in Sheffield. The complete change of lifestyle, surroundings and pace of life has seen both of us a lot less stressed and my arthritis, while still a bother, is much less painful than it was.
So, what are the negatives (I won't call them bad points). Well, the £:€ exchange rate means it's not as cheap to live here as we were expecting but hopefully that will improve and in the meantime we are managing fine. We miss the regular contact with family and friends but we make sure we are in touch by phone and e-mail regularly and we have found that when people come to visit we have much more quality time with them than we did when we were in Sheffield.
We are very fortunate that we do not need to work (early retirement may mean a massive adjustment to lifestyle but it's definitely been right for us) and that has meant we could settle here much easier. For anyone moving out here that does need to work, I think it would be very tough.
It took us about 6 months before we stopped feeling as if we were on holiday and felt as though we lived here. I now drive on the right without thinking about it and when I see programs on the TV where they are driving on the left - it looks odd (watch out if I ever have to come back for a visit!) I can speak some Spanish so I can converse with the locals, which is good fun.
There is a lot still to do but I feel the first year has been everything that we expected, and more. Maybe we were very realistic in our expectations, maybe all the planning and research about the area we wanted to live and the lifestyle we wanted worked. Maybe our attitude of 'getting involved' helped us settle in quickly, I don't think we ever felt like the 'new kids on the block'.
Whatever the reasons, our first year has been good. Here's hoping our second year sees us in our own home, our golf handicaps lower and ourselves and our pups healthy.
I hope you will continue to follow our story as we start on Year 2!
Showing posts with label Our Plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Plans. Show all posts
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Monday, 15 December 2008
Change of plans!
We get the keys to our new place on January 3rd and can move in straight away, but it's not to the house on Calas del Pinar, it's to another villa where we live now.
Over the last few years my Dad had always joked with me and Neil about making sure any house we bought had a 'granny flat' so that he could come and live with us in his old age and we could look after him. Although this was always said in jest, we always made serious consideration to this possibility and both the last house in Sheffield and the one on Calas were suitable to be adapted for my Dad to move in and maintain his own space, should that be necessary.
After coming back from Dad's funeral in August, suddenly the house we were buying here didn't fit what we needed and after a few weeks of this little niggle at the back of my mind I mentioned it to Neil to discover he had been thinking the same. So we had a good discussion about where we would look to buy if we were just coming over now and suddenly the house on the Calas del Pinar development didn't meet our needs.
Having checked our contractual position and having a chat with our solicitior we made the decision a few weeks ago that we would not continue with our purchase, that we would rent for a further year and look to buy somewhere towards the end of next year.
Having made this decision, we then slept on it and had another talk the following morning, had a drive down to look at the house we would have been buying and both felt we had made the right decision not to continue. The houses themselves are still very good houses, they are finished off really well and have good sized rooms for Spanish houses, and are within walking distance of all the bars, the sea front and the shops - but it wasn't what we were looking for now anymore.
What I did want though was the extra room a property with 3 bedrooms would give us. The villa we have been in since we got here has been lovely but the kitchen is too small for 2 people to work in together and we have found that frustrating and, when people come out to stay I lose my work space so, we have found a 3 bed villa on the same development (actually on the next street) and we get the keys to that on January 3rd. We will then spend a few days moving our stuff round there and getting the rest of our belongings back from storage. We're really looking forward to seeing what we have in storage as we can't remember what we have in there other than our new bed.
We won't have a pool at the new villa, again we were never intending to have a pool of our own. You only get to use them for about 12-14 weeks a year from mid-June to mid-September. Unless you have a heated pool, the rest of the year the water is too cool. However, we have got our Hot Tub being delivered the 2nd week in January and I am really excited about that. We can use that all year round and in the summer use it as a plunge pool to stay cool. This way we will know by next autumn whether a pool is a 'must have' or not when we are looking at places to live.
Several weeks after making the decision not to buy just yet, having found a new place to rent for a year and looking forward to getting all our possessions from storage we are both happy that we have made the right decision for us - and at the end of the day, that's all that matters!
Over the last few years my Dad had always joked with me and Neil about making sure any house we bought had a 'granny flat' so that he could come and live with us in his old age and we could look after him. Although this was always said in jest, we always made serious consideration to this possibility and both the last house in Sheffield and the one on Calas were suitable to be adapted for my Dad to move in and maintain his own space, should that be necessary.
After coming back from Dad's funeral in August, suddenly the house we were buying here didn't fit what we needed and after a few weeks of this little niggle at the back of my mind I mentioned it to Neil to discover he had been thinking the same. So we had a good discussion about where we would look to buy if we were just coming over now and suddenly the house on the Calas del Pinar development didn't meet our needs.
Having checked our contractual position and having a chat with our solicitior we made the decision a few weeks ago that we would not continue with our purchase, that we would rent for a further year and look to buy somewhere towards the end of next year.
Having made this decision, we then slept on it and had another talk the following morning, had a drive down to look at the house we would have been buying and both felt we had made the right decision not to continue. The houses themselves are still very good houses, they are finished off really well and have good sized rooms for Spanish houses, and are within walking distance of all the bars, the sea front and the shops - but it wasn't what we were looking for now anymore.
What I did want though was the extra room a property with 3 bedrooms would give us. The villa we have been in since we got here has been lovely but the kitchen is too small for 2 people to work in together and we have found that frustrating and, when people come out to stay I lose my work space so, we have found a 3 bed villa on the same development (actually on the next street) and we get the keys to that on January 3rd. We will then spend a few days moving our stuff round there and getting the rest of our belongings back from storage. We're really looking forward to seeing what we have in storage as we can't remember what we have in there other than our new bed.
We won't have a pool at the new villa, again we were never intending to have a pool of our own. You only get to use them for about 12-14 weeks a year from mid-June to mid-September. Unless you have a heated pool, the rest of the year the water is too cool. However, we have got our Hot Tub being delivered the 2nd week in January and I am really excited about that. We can use that all year round and in the summer use it as a plunge pool to stay cool. This way we will know by next autumn whether a pool is a 'must have' or not when we are looking at places to live.
Several weeks after making the decision not to buy just yet, having found a new place to rent for a year and looking forward to getting all our possessions from storage we are both happy that we have made the right decision for us - and at the end of the day, that's all that matters!
Friday, 10 October 2008
It's Friday and I should be on the golf course.
One of the main reasons for choosing to live in the warmest, driest place in Spain was so that we could play golf all year round. Well, this week has been a challenge. We play at a new course just outside Terreros called Aguilon. It's a fabulous course set in the foothills of the mountains, with views over the sea. They have retained all the natural ravines and it's a really challenging course for a high handicapper like myself, I play off 28. My husband manages better but then he is a better golfer. (I'm sorry, I don't like to admit it - but he is! Yes, I know - I've had a hole in one and he hasn't - but I can't live on one shot for the rest of my golfing life, can I? Well, maybe I can, oh, ok - he's not better at golf he just hits the ball further, chips onto the green better and putts more consistently!)
Anyway, Monday was a good day for golf, we had a group of 14 guys over from Rother Valley, our last club when we were in the UK (they weren't all staying with us I hasten to add) and we were really looking forward to showing them how wonderful our course was. The sun was out and the sky was blue - perfect!
Only, the mosquitos had other ideas! There are a few lakes on the course, but through the summer they have been quite low, they haven't put any fish in them and the mossies seem to have had the perfect breeding ground for the 'super mossie'. Needless to say, we were all bitten alive. It spoiled the game a little but we still had a good day with the guys from Sheffield who all came back to our villa for a BBQ afterwards.
I don't play on Wednesdays, but my hubby does and so before he went out we covered him in mossie sprays, patches and creams - all to no avail, he came back with bites all over his arms, face & back - super mossie had even managed to get him through his shirt. The only saving grace was that I had suggested he wear long trousers and his legs had not got any more bites on them, there were just the ones from Monday.
The cluster on Neil's left shoulder is made up of about 30 bites and by the time I had finished putting calomine lotion on them we had just about done a join the dots picture of.........? Yep, you've guessed - a super mossie!
Then, Wednesday evening it started to rain, and rain, and thunder and rain - until about 9pm last night. That'll keep the mossies down for golf.
Well, today has dawned and there is no rain, there is no sun and there are no mossies! Why? Because we have a howling gale! So, I decided to stay in bed and give golf a miss. Instead I have taken the pups for a really long walk to make up for the fact that they got only the smallest of outings yesterday due to the weather.
Hopefully we can end the week on a high note - we're off to try a new Italian restaurant in Aguilas tonight - but we'll sit indoors, just incase! (Yes, OK, so my life really does consist of golf, our dogs and eating out - is that really such a bad thing?)
Anyway, Monday was a good day for golf, we had a group of 14 guys over from Rother Valley, our last club when we were in the UK (they weren't all staying with us I hasten to add) and we were really looking forward to showing them how wonderful our course was. The sun was out and the sky was blue - perfect!
Only, the mosquitos had other ideas! There are a few lakes on the course, but through the summer they have been quite low, they haven't put any fish in them and the mossies seem to have had the perfect breeding ground for the 'super mossie'. Needless to say, we were all bitten alive. It spoiled the game a little but we still had a good day with the guys from Sheffield who all came back to our villa for a BBQ afterwards.
I don't play on Wednesdays, but my hubby does and so before he went out we covered him in mossie sprays, patches and creams - all to no avail, he came back with bites all over his arms, face & back - super mossie had even managed to get him through his shirt. The only saving grace was that I had suggested he wear long trousers and his legs had not got any more bites on them, there were just the ones from Monday.
The cluster on Neil's left shoulder is made up of about 30 bites and by the time I had finished putting calomine lotion on them we had just about done a join the dots picture of.........? Yep, you've guessed - a super mossie!
Then, Wednesday evening it started to rain, and rain, and thunder and rain - until about 9pm last night. That'll keep the mossies down for golf.
Well, today has dawned and there is no rain, there is no sun and there are no mossies! Why? Because we have a howling gale! So, I decided to stay in bed and give golf a miss. Instead I have taken the pups for a really long walk to make up for the fact that they got only the smallest of outings yesterday due to the weather.
Hopefully we can end the week on a high note - we're off to try a new Italian restaurant in Aguilas tonight - but we'll sit indoors, just incase! (Yes, OK, so my life really does consist of golf, our dogs and eating out - is that really such a bad thing?)
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Today, we played in our 1st golf tournament
We have been playing at our golf course for about 3 months now and so we decided it was time we started to take part in some competitions - so, today was our 1st.
Normally I would tell you how we had got on but the truth is as yet, we don't know how we got on...........but we may do tomorrow.
It was a pairs competition and we were told it was the best score on each hole - so that's how we marked it.. I normally play off 28, my UK handicap, but with the difficulty of this course (Mundo del Aguilon) I have been given a handicap of 32. However, there was a cap of 26 - so it was going to be a challenge for me to score better than my other half.
As it happens, I had a stonking round and the other half didn't and having scored better on 11 holes out of the 18 - we came in with a net 68.
And that is where the fun (or confusion) started, some had scored stableford, some had scored stroke play and no-one seemed to know what we were really playing. The manager of the club apparently only wanted gross scores and they would apply the handicap and score the cards. Not the normal way of scoring but hey ho, it seems that's the way they want it because so many people don't score correctly (meaning in essence the spanish)
We have noticed the spaniards we play with have a different scoring system along with the need to pick up stray items - such as wayward golf balls (that may still be in play) ball markers on a green (that are definitely still in play - I say this from personal experience as recently I was looking for my marker to place my ball on the 8th green - and couldn't find it anywhere only to find that one of the spaniards we were playing with had picked it up as he crossed the green - just because it was there! Doh!) and not scorung air shots and shots that don't really go anywhere.
So, we'll go up to the club house tomorrow to see how we did - I don't think it will be our name on the trophy but we had a good game, played with 2 new guys who were good company and we enjoyed our 4 hours on the golf course, followed by a beer and tapas - which is what it is all about.
Next tournament - Friday!
Normally I would tell you how we had got on but the truth is as yet, we don't know how we got on...........but we may do tomorrow.
It was a pairs competition and we were told it was the best score on each hole - so that's how we marked it.. I normally play off 28, my UK handicap, but with the difficulty of this course (Mundo del Aguilon) I have been given a handicap of 32. However, there was a cap of 26 - so it was going to be a challenge for me to score better than my other half.
As it happens, I had a stonking round and the other half didn't and having scored better on 11 holes out of the 18 - we came in with a net 68.
And that is where the fun (or confusion) started, some had scored stableford, some had scored stroke play and no-one seemed to know what we were really playing. The manager of the club apparently only wanted gross scores and they would apply the handicap and score the cards. Not the normal way of scoring but hey ho, it seems that's the way they want it because so many people don't score correctly (meaning in essence the spanish)
We have noticed the spaniards we play with have a different scoring system along with the need to pick up stray items - such as wayward golf balls (that may still be in play) ball markers on a green (that are definitely still in play - I say this from personal experience as recently I was looking for my marker to place my ball on the 8th green - and couldn't find it anywhere only to find that one of the spaniards we were playing with had picked it up as he crossed the green - just because it was there! Doh!) and not scorung air shots and shots that don't really go anywhere.
So, we'll go up to the club house tomorrow to see how we did - I don't think it will be our name on the trophy but we had a good game, played with 2 new guys who were good company and we enjoyed our 4 hours on the golf course, followed by a beer and tapas - which is what it is all about.
Next tournament - Friday!
Saturday, 14 June 2008
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.
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?...........................
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
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
, 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
Monday, 9 June 2008
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!
Sunday, 8 June 2008
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/
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/
Saturday, 7 June 2008
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/
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/
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
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/
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/
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
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.
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/
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Just short of 1,000 miles - in this!
2 adults, 2 dogs, 2 suitcases, one dog crate, no power steering, no air con, no radio ........
Would you do it?
To start a new life in Spain, by the sea, by the golf course, no work, no stress?
Too right I would!
We've had a trial run, with the back seats down we can get the dog crate length ways behind Neils seat which means I can see if the pups are OK.
We then can have a small area for them to walk about and stretch their legs behind my seat and our 2 cases will go at the very back of the car.
That's the plan.
This is why we are no longer driving through France as well as Spain, as we originally planned. We can have a relaxing day on the ferry and set off from Santander after a good nights sleep.
So, logging off for now, I will update as often as I can once we set off and hope to be back on line as soon as possible once we arrive in San Juan de los Terreros, our new home!
Adios mi amigos
Friday, 9 May 2008
Our Worldly Goods are on their way to Spain!
Having spent the last few weeks sorting everything in the house into 2 categories - going to Spain, not going to Spain, and the last 2 weeks packing everything into boxes that is going, we finally got to the end of it yesterday. We have ended up taking a lot more than I expected, but it is really difficult to be totally ruthless when you are wanting to make a new start away from family and friends and everything that is familiar to you. You just want to take things to make the new house, a home.
I did discover that you can buy moving packs of boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap etc - I didn't know they existed but a quick Google found me on a number of sites including Argos. We managed to get a really good deal from Mad4boxes.co.uk and they delivered the next day - http://www.mad4boxes.co.uk/
As agreed, the removals van arrived and within a couple of hours our possessions were on board, Phil and Russ somehow got all the boxes to fit together like a 3-D jigsaw, but without a picture to refer to. It was very odd to see our worldly goods drive away and not to be following. Previously I have always been re-united with my possessions within a couple of hours, we won't be seeing these for a week. In fact, they will be arriving in Spain before we've left. Everything went very smoothly at this end, and once in Spain they will sort our stuff into what is to go to the villa and what is staying in storage and then wait for us to ring them to let them know we have arrived. http://www.instyle-instorage.com/
So, walking around the house now is very odd. We still have some oddments to finish getting rid of, some furniture to have collected, some car boot items, charity shop items and a skip to be collected, but we needed something to do over the next few days until we leave, after all our golf clubs are already on their way, so we can't pass the time trying for a perfect round.
So, we have managed to get ourselves invited out for dinner over the next few days, just as well, our crockery, cutlery etc is on it's way to Spain, meals at home are very low key. Paper plates, plastic cutlery and what ever was left in the cupboards and fridge - some very strange concoctions are being served up at the moment.
Thursday, 8 May 2008
All packed up and no where to go!
Well, if it's going - it's packed and if it's not packed, it's not going. We have finished packing everything and are waiting for the removal van to arrive. I hope they have a big van, there looks to be a lot of stuff here. We no longer have Sky, we've already filled one skip and are on the second and the dogs are wandering around so they don't get packed if they stand still too long.
We've had our first crisis, I cannot find Brandy's vaccination card which we need, as he doesn't have his passport - a quick phone call to the vets to ask for a duplicate. I was sure I knew where it was but, not there, it's probably got packed.
So, we are currently in a lull between 2 storms, this mornings frantic activities to finish packing and the imminent arrival of the removal van.
Yes folks, this is really happening, we are moving to Spain - it's all becoming very real.
We've had our first crisis, I cannot find Brandy's vaccination card which we need, as he doesn't have his passport - a quick phone call to the vets to ask for a duplicate. I was sure I knew where it was but, not there, it's probably got packed.
So, we are currently in a lull between 2 storms, this mornings frantic activities to finish packing and the imminent arrival of the removal van.
Yes folks, this is really happening, we are moving to Spain - it's all becoming very real.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
We’re taking what?
Well, I now have Neil at home full time and clearing the house is going to be much more difficult than I first thought with him around, basically anything I put in the skip he will be taking out, we were ditching our old stereo system with record deck and a whole box of 45's and 33's until Monday, Neil's first day off work - he started to look through the 45's - fatal, he ended up in the conservatory sorting through them, playing a lot of them and we are now keeping said stereo system and 45's! This is after I have been out and bought a new mini system to take with us (we used is Saturday night so I just had to buy it here.)
I did get to a point where I was ready to turn the key on the conservatory door, after listening to 9 minutes of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody on a 45! All I kept hearing was, hey, you'll remember this one - Simon Park orchestra, Eye Level - oh, it's going to be a long 2 weeks!
Neil suggested we use the mini system on the roof terrace and keep the other in the lounge, which is not a bad suggestion.
Over the last couple of days Neil has been packing boxes at an alarming rate. I daren’t put anything down or it ends up in a box, I had put some paperbacks to one side to pass on to friends as I’d read then and knew I wouldn’t read them again – came back from walking the dogs, they’ve been packed.
Today the house is really starting to look empty. The skip outside is starting to fill up, the patio furniture is packed and all the pictures are off the walls. The removal company have been in touch and are coming to collect all the furniture next Thursday, so we have a deadline to have it all completed. I hope they bring a big van, there seems to be so many boxes, I don’t think we’ve quite got the hang of this ‘down-sizing’ idea.
Once the furniture and boxes have gone next Thursday, we’ll have a few days before we leave for Spain. We’ll have somewhere to sleep, paper plates to eat from and plastic cutlery, so I am trying to arrange to have a few meals round with friends for the last few days, just so we can sit on a proper chair.
Looks like we could be having a few take-aways!
I did get to a point where I was ready to turn the key on the conservatory door, after listening to 9 minutes of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody on a 45! All I kept hearing was, hey, you'll remember this one - Simon Park orchestra, Eye Level - oh, it's going to be a long 2 weeks!
Neil suggested we use the mini system on the roof terrace and keep the other in the lounge, which is not a bad suggestion.
Over the last couple of days Neil has been packing boxes at an alarming rate. I daren’t put anything down or it ends up in a box, I had put some paperbacks to one side to pass on to friends as I’d read then and knew I wouldn’t read them again – came back from walking the dogs, they’ve been packed.
Today the house is really starting to look empty. The skip outside is starting to fill up, the patio furniture is packed and all the pictures are off the walls. The removal company have been in touch and are coming to collect all the furniture next Thursday, so we have a deadline to have it all completed. I hope they bring a big van, there seems to be so many boxes, I don’t think we’ve quite got the hang of this ‘down-sizing’ idea.
Once the furniture and boxes have gone next Thursday, we’ll have a few days before we leave for Spain. We’ll have somewhere to sleep, paper plates to eat from and plastic cutlery, so I am trying to arrange to have a few meals round with friends for the last few days, just so we can sit on a proper chair.
Looks like we could be having a few take-aways!
Monday, 28 April 2008
Goodbye & Good Luck Party
I write this blog in word first and copy it across, so every time I open the document up it is at the first entry and today, I have re-read that first entry. I can’t believe it’s 15 months since we started to talk about the idea of retiring early and moving to Spain. We’ve certainly achieved a lot and learnt so much and yet, it seems to have passed so quickly. This weekend saw us in the final stages, it was our farewell party on Saturday and we had about 50 of our friends and family together, some of them we will see again before we go, but some we won't. As I looked around the room there were close family, dear friends, work colleagues old and new, and friends we have made through our golf. Some were recent friendships, others go back many years and it was wonderful to see them all together for one last party.
One of my dearest friends, who lives over 2 hours drive away, stayed for the weekend and when we last saw each other in February we thought that would be the last time before we moved, so to have another weekend together to go shopping, to have a drink and to have a late night chat about anything and everything has been a real bonus, but she has left to go home this morning and that really will be the last time I see her this year.
No-one should under estimate how important family and friends are and moving abroad means that, for some, this will probably be the last time I see them. Keeping in touch by phone and e-mail is going to be so important.
Over the next 2 weeks there are going to be a lot of ‘last times’ and there are many that I am going to find incredibly difficult and emotional but it’s not something that can be avoided, so better make sure there are lots of tissues to hand.
One of my dearest friends, who lives over 2 hours drive away, stayed for the weekend and when we last saw each other in February we thought that would be the last time before we moved, so to have another weekend together to go shopping, to have a drink and to have a late night chat about anything and everything has been a real bonus, but she has left to go home this morning and that really will be the last time I see her this year.
No-one should under estimate how important family and friends are and moving abroad means that, for some, this will probably be the last time I see them. Keeping in touch by phone and e-mail is going to be so important.
Over the next 2 weeks there are going to be a lot of ‘last times’ and there are many that I am going to find incredibly difficult and emotional but it’s not something that can be avoided, so better make sure there are lots of tissues to hand.
Friday, 18 April 2008
Checking out our Old Age Pension:
Although we are effectively going to Spain as very early retirees, there are a number of years before we can start to receive our State Pension and now is the time to make sure we have paid enough NI contributions so that we get our full basic pension. New rules mean you qualify for the full basic state pension once you have 30 qualifying years of payment.
I was fairly sure this last tax year was my 30th year, as I have worked right from leaving college without a break, but I telephoned the Pension Service helpline on 0845 300 168 to make sure. I was therefore totally surprised to find out I actually have 33 qualifying years – from 1974, but hang on, I didn’t start working until 1977, never had a Saturday job whilst at school, so how can that be? Well, it turns out that because I stayed on to do ‘A’ levels at school and then did a full year at college I get credited for those 3 years, so all I have to do is keep the Revenue office up to date with my address and I will start to get my state pension when I reach the great age of 65.
Of course, not paying NI contributions from now on will mean any entitlement to other benefits will be affected but as I’ve never claimed any, I can’t see that as a problem.
Just need to get Neil’s qualifying years confirmed and that’s another item off the check list, of course they won’t tell me, he has to ring them personally.
I was fairly sure this last tax year was my 30th year, as I have worked right from leaving college without a break, but I telephoned the Pension Service helpline on 0845 300 168 to make sure. I was therefore totally surprised to find out I actually have 33 qualifying years – from 1974, but hang on, I didn’t start working until 1977, never had a Saturday job whilst at school, so how can that be? Well, it turns out that because I stayed on to do ‘A’ levels at school and then did a full year at college I get credited for those 3 years, so all I have to do is keep the Revenue office up to date with my address and I will start to get my state pension when I reach the great age of 65.
Of course, not paying NI contributions from now on will mean any entitlement to other benefits will be affected but as I’ve never claimed any, I can’t see that as a problem.
Just need to get Neil’s qualifying years confirmed and that’s another item off the check list, of course they won’t tell me, he has to ring them personally.
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Travel arrangements.
If you draw a straight line from Sheffield to San Juan de los Terreros through France & Spain, taking the scenic route, you can travel from Le Havre down through Limoges and Toulouse and across the mountains to Barcelona and then right down the east coast of Spain. That was our original thought, however, with the car being stolen and our trip being made in an old Peugeot, we had re-thought our journey and were now missing out the French part of the trip.
So, back to Google-maps to see what route to take from Santander. Again, drawing a straight line takes us right through Madrid, and I didn’t fancy that route for 2 reasons, firstly to do the trip in one journey would take 10 hours driving time, plus stops for me & the dogs and would mean we would be arriving quite late and secondly, I thought Madrid may add time to the journey, whilst we tried to find our way around it.
So, to make it more leisurely, we decided to do the Spanish leg of the trip over 2 days and to go across the country to Teruel, stopping overnight, and then travelling down to San Juan the following day making a 2 day journey which would be more relaxed and give us an opportunity to see more of Spain. This would give us driving time of 5-6 hours each week and with stops, it made the days much better for me and the dogs, plus Neil would get a chance to enjoy the journey, which should be more relaxing than tackling Madrid.
So, back on to Google to find hotels in Plymouth and Teruel which would allow the dogs. It’s quite easy to find them, just key in ‘pet friendly hotels’ and the place name and up pop a list of hotels or websites that only deal with pet friendly hotels. Having checked some out it was easy to book the Plymouth one, just 10 minutes from the ferry.
I selected a hotel in Teruel and but couldn’t see what the parking arrangements were so I e-mailed them, using babelfish online translation to convert my question into Spanish. This meant the answer came in Spanish and I was back to babelfish to see what they had said. Eventually, I had answers to all our questions and confirmed the booking.
So that’s the trip planned, the routes printed out and the hotels booked.
A quick look at the check list shows that tomorrows jobs are all important but boring, insurances, bank accounts, notifying utilities etc, infact all jobs that anyone moving house would have to do.
So, back to Google-maps to see what route to take from Santander. Again, drawing a straight line takes us right through Madrid, and I didn’t fancy that route for 2 reasons, firstly to do the trip in one journey would take 10 hours driving time, plus stops for me & the dogs and would mean we would be arriving quite late and secondly, I thought Madrid may add time to the journey, whilst we tried to find our way around it.
So, to make it more leisurely, we decided to do the Spanish leg of the trip over 2 days and to go across the country to Teruel, stopping overnight, and then travelling down to San Juan the following day making a 2 day journey which would be more relaxed and give us an opportunity to see more of Spain. This would give us driving time of 5-6 hours each week and with stops, it made the days much better for me and the dogs, plus Neil would get a chance to enjoy the journey, which should be more relaxing than tackling Madrid.
So, back on to Google to find hotels in Plymouth and Teruel which would allow the dogs. It’s quite easy to find them, just key in ‘pet friendly hotels’ and the place name and up pop a list of hotels or websites that only deal with pet friendly hotels. Having checked some out it was easy to book the Plymouth one, just 10 minutes from the ferry.
I selected a hotel in Teruel and but couldn’t see what the parking arrangements were so I e-mailed them, using babelfish online translation to convert my question into Spanish. This meant the answer came in Spanish and I was back to babelfish to see what they had said. Eventually, I had answers to all our questions and confirmed the booking.
So that’s the trip planned, the routes printed out and the hotels booked.
A quick look at the check list shows that tomorrows jobs are all important but boring, insurances, bank accounts, notifying utilities etc, infact all jobs that anyone moving house would have to do.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Less than 5 weeks to go…….
Oh wow, where does time go? So much has happened in the last 2 weeks, a quick recap is:
Rental agreement on the Villa sorted
Golf club membership sorted
Brandy failed blood test and had a 2nd rabies injection
Cupboards in the house getting emptied and items sold on E-bay, or sorted for car boot.
House up for rent – and as soon as we put the ‘To Let’ board up, we have 2 viewings for buyers, so fingers crossed we may yet get a sale.
On our last trip we saw a villa that we were offered, on a long term rental until our house is ready. It’s a lovely 2 bed villa with a pool and a massive roof terrace (Neil's been trying it out already). It means we can experience villa living for the summer before we (hopefully) move into our new house towards the end of the year. We now have the rental agreement through which means we have an address. Strange, but having an address we can give to family and friends feels a really big step forward. It’s in San Juan de los Terreros so that we can begin building our new life over there straight away, but it is further away from the beach so we’ll either have much longer walks with the dogs or need to take the car down. Tarleton have been a big help in arranging the rental and we cannot wait to get out there.
Rental agreement on the Villa sorted
Golf club membership sorted
Brandy failed blood test and had a 2nd rabies injection
Cupboards in the house getting emptied and items sold on E-bay, or sorted for car boot.
House up for rent – and as soon as we put the ‘To Let’ board up, we have 2 viewings for buyers, so fingers crossed we may yet get a sale.
On our last trip we saw a villa that we were offered, on a long term rental until our house is ready. It’s a lovely 2 bed villa with a pool and a massive roof terrace (Neil's been trying it out already). It means we can experience villa living for the summer before we (hopefully) move into our new house towards the end of the year. We now have the rental agreement through which means we have an address. Strange, but having an address we can give to family and friends feels a really big step forward. It’s in San Juan de los Terreros so that we can begin building our new life over there straight away, but it is further away from the beach so we’ll either have much longer walks with the dogs or need to take the car down. Tarleton have been a big help in arranging the rental and we cannot wait to get out there.
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