These notes are meant to try and give you a feel for Spain and point you in the right direction but with constant changes in procedures and rules and regulations you should try to do as much research as you can before you arrive.

10 Keys Points to Consider Before you make the move

1. Bring enough money with you to survive for at least 6 months if you are intending to make a living in Spain

2. Do not rely on public transport

3. Either bring a car or be prepared to buy or rent one if you are seriously looking for work and in particular if you are going to work for your self.

4. Bring with you or be financially prepared to invest in tools or equipment if you are looking to work for yourself.

5. Make sure every member of the family who comes over is committed to the idea

6. Think very carefully about what stage your children’s education has reached before bringing them to Spain

7. Be prepared to work hard and for less than you would in the UK

8. Be prepared to be patient

9. Be prepared for very hot weather in the summer and the effect it will have if you are working in it and not laying by a pool.

10. Be prepared for changes in even some of the more simple and basic things that you take for granted in the UK like a reliable postal service, ease of having a telephone and internet installed, roads with names on them shops and services closing at between 2pm and 4pm.

If you are happy that you can deal with all these points then come on over and start a new life in the sun!

There has been a lot in the UK press and on the television about crime in this part of Spain and it would be foolish to think that crime did not occur.

In most cases it is petty crime and opportunist criminals. That’s not to say there are not more organised crimes which you can’t really do much about but a good percentage of crime can be prevented if you act sensibly.

In the UK I doubt that you would leave your front door open and most certainly not if you were upstairs sleeping or out in the back garden. So why would you leave such an open invitation for some one in Spain?

If the property has grills on the doors, additional locks on windows and alarms then use them.

If you have valuables in the car and you have to leave them in there, then do not leave them on display.

If you are out shopping or dining don’t leave valuables on a table while you go to the toilet or have a bag open and inviting at your side or behind you when in a crowded shopping environment.

These are all pretty obvious but you would be surprised just how many crimes occur where the victim has made it so easy for the criminal.

There are other examples of crimes that are more disturbing and does after a time impact on how you react in certain situations. If you return to your vehicle and you have a flat tyre then have a good look around for anyone looking suspicious and if you are on your own make sure the car is locked whilst you are seeing to the tyre.

Beware a stranger asking for directions, change or help, and again be aware of who else is about in case the person is a distraction for something else that is going on.

This is not meant to frighten you, but hopefully will make you just a little bit more attuned to things

There are more medical facilities now available especially in the area surrounding Torrevieja with a new National Health Hospital and a private one on the edge of the town. There is another National Health Hospital in Orihuela which is useful if you are living more inland.

At Cabo Roig there is a 24 hour 7 days a week medical centre and there are a number of private doctors who anyone can register with or just use as and when needed. They all have different rates and schemes so you will need to see which one suits you best if you want a private doctor. If you do not pay into the Spanish national health system and you are not of retirement age then you will not be entitled to national health services.

If you do not intend working and paying into the system and you are not retired then you should look into private medical insurance which again is advertised in all the local papers with different companies offering different schemes at various rates.

There are also plenty of private practioners in Dentistry and other specialist medical services.

Chemist (Farmacia)

There are many Farmacias in and around the towns and quite often they can prescribe drugs and treatments themselves for many routine illnesses and injuries. Many of the drugs that you can only obtain with a prescription can be purchased over the counter in Spain. Depending on the medication you may find it very much cheaper than in the UK or in some cases more expensive.

If you are in the system and obtain a prescription form the medical centre you will normally pay a reduced price for the medication.

Burial Insurance

When someone dies in Spain things actually move quite quickly. It’s ironic really that the only time you get to witness anything moving at speed is when you die.

Basically when someone dies, you will need to make a number of telephone calls which include the doctor, the police, the ambulance and the undertaker. If you do not speak Spanish then you almost certainly have to make a fifth call to a translator.

Add to this the requirement for the body to be buried within 24 hours and this becomes a very stressful experience at a very emotional time.

Undertakers also want payment up front and are not always willing to wait for a traditional insurance payment at a later date.

You should consider some of the funeral plans that you will see promoted here in Spain as they will normally be able to offer a service where you just make the one call and they will take care of the rest and can defer the burial for up to 4 days which will give relatives time to make travel arrangements.

You will be spoilt for choice when it comes to supermarkets and that is without considering the smaller independent UK ones.

The list is endless and include Mercadona, Consum, Mas y Mas, LIDL, ALDI, GAMA, Eroski, Carrefour, Super Cor and Super Valu, PLUS and Quick Save.

You will soon discover which stocks the type of things you want and at the price you want to pay, but generally a UK based product will be more expensive than a home grown variety.

In the bigger stores like Carrefour you will find that you can buy almost anything and not just food.

There are more commercial centres opening up now offering more choice in the one location and you can now find more electrical shops, home furnishings, furniture, books, and clothes including C&A, opticians including Spec Savers, sports shops, jewellers and lots of banks!

Shopping is also one of the best ways to start to pick up bits of the language as you will soon become familiar with the Spanish names for items that you buy on a regular basis and you will hear the language more in the shops and at the tills where you will see the cost of your purchases and hear them say the amount in Spanish.

Hiring

If you are going to rent a car in Spain then there are some basic requirements that you must be aware of.

You must be 26 or over.

You will need a credit card and your passport to hire a car.

You will probably need the address of where you will be staying to provide to the hire car company.

UK Registered cars (insurance)

If you are driving over with your UK registered car then you need to consider a few basic requirements.

Insurance: Check with your UK company to see what you are covered for by moving over to Spain for a longer period than just a touring holiday. If your are not going to be covered under your existing policy then try to get something sorted out before you set off as you may find it very difficult and expensive to insure a right hand drive UK registered car in Spain .

Tax: Although you will not see a tax disc displayed on a Spanish car, they are required to be taxed and the paperwork for this is kept within the car. Consider this when you UK Tax.

MOT: This is known as an “ITV” in Spain and this is actually displayed on the windscreen of the car and shows how long it is covered for. So once again if you UK MOT runs out think about how you are going to keep your car legal.

Re-registering

You can have your UK car re registered with Spanish plates which will make it legal to drive in Spain. There are a number of companies and individuals who can offer this service although it is not necessarily cheap and certain features on the car may have to be altered to meet Spanish requirements.

Even once you go through this process, if your car is a right hand drive you may still find yourself paying a higher insurance premium that the equivalent left hand drive car

By the way re registering the car is not optional if you intend to keep it in Spain as you only have 6 months from when you bring it over before you either have to take it back to the UK or go through the re registering process

Driving Licence

Provided you have a photo style driving licence from the UK you can carry on with this in Spain. If you do decide you would prefer to have a Spanish licence then you will have to surrender your UK Licence. Again there are people who can offer this service unless you speak Spanish and want to try yourself.

Driving Generally

The law requires that certain specific items be kept in the car.

Documentation: The following should always be in the car when you are driving and should you be stopped by the police you will be required to produce them. Vehicle registration document, ITV certificate (Unless the car is new under less than 4 years old) Vehicle Tax papers, Insurance Policy and you passport and driving licence.

Equipment: Reflective jackets equal to the number of people who could be travelling in the vehicle.(They must be kept inside and accessible as they must be put on before exiting the car in the case of breakdown or accident at night.) 2 triangles, a complete set of bulbs for all lights on the vehicle, first aid box, a bottle of water for drinking and one for use for the car. If the driver wears glasses then a spare pair must be kept in the car.

Seat belts: Seat belts must be worn at all times by all passengers. It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that this is applied. A fine of €150 was applied to an individual who we know personally for failing to wear a seat belt.

Mobile Phones: It is an offence for a driver to use a mobile phone whilst driving. We even know of a case where the driver had his Blue Tooth ear piece on his ear and was not even using the phone and was fined for having part of the phone touching his body whilst driving.

On the road: When driving expect the unexpected. Indicators seem to be optional and overtaking of 4 or 5 cars at a time seems to be the national past time. Don’t be surprised if someone stops in front of you and conducts a conversation with someone in another car or on the pavement. Stopping at pedestrian crossings is also optional, well unofficially anyway and they often make idea parking spaces especially in crowded streets. When it rains then expect roads to be flooded and afterwards watch out for pot holes, man hole covers lifted and sand banks suddenly appearing. Although this is written with tongue in cheek, you will soon find that it has more than a hint of truth behind it.

You will hear and read about a number of forms, registration cards, and legal requirements to actually live in Spain etc in a whole host of books available, from TV shows, web sites and through speaking to people who live or own property in Spain.

No doubt you will find that different sources have different takes on the same subject which does lead to some confusion.

Unfortunately it is hard to keep up with the changes that occur in Spain and you will soon find that bureaucracy here can be a constant source of frustration.

Having lived in Spain for over 5 years I would like to be able to say that I know all there is to know about the right and wrong way to do things. Unfortunately all I can pass on is the experiences that I have had and continue to have so this can only ever be a guide at best.

NIE

This is a number that you need if you are thinking of moving to Spain on a permanent basis. Once you have your number it will stay with you for life, and no, it’s not because they tattoo it across your forehead! It simply means that once you have it, you will still be able to use and rely on it even if you leave the country for years and come back again some time in the future.

You will need it if you do decide to buy a property in Spain and if you intend to work. It is simply a way of identifying your financial movements in Spain but without it you will run into problems if you want to make a life here so it is best to try and obtain your NIE as soon as you can as it can be a time consuming task depending on what rules are in place at any particular time.

The NIE is notorious for the need to set off at dawn for Alicante to join a queue of people in the hope that you will be far enough forward in the line to be able to complete the paperwork and come away with your NIE number. This is really for those people who need it quickly, if for instance they have come over to look at buying a property and find their dream home in the first day and need to complete the deal before they return home a few days later.

If you are not in such a hurry then there are usually local options in town halls although queues and early mornings may still apply but not on such a grand scale and you can go back and collect your NIE weeks later depending on the time of the year.

Residencia

Up until recently, the Residencia Card was something that took some getting but once you had it, life in some ways became a lot easier. Although it often took a year from application to actually obtaining it, and it involved an early morning and long queue in Alicante, you ended up with a neat card with your NIE number, photo and thumb print on which you could then use as your formal identification rather than your passport when using things like credit cards. It also confirmed your status as a resident of Spain.

Residencia also means a different level of tax being required from you as opposed to a Non Resident when you buy a property. The card has now been done away with after pressure from Europe and has been replaced with a document which you must once again queue for. I won’t attempt to go into any details about obtaining this new form of residencia as it seems so chaotic now that hopefully some good sense will prevail and the system will change in the not too distant future. If you do come to Spain and have any ideas of staying permanently with a view to buying at some later stage then you would be advised to look at obtaining your residency as it could save you money in taxes in the long run. If this does apply to you then its something you will want to look into once you are in Spain as there will be people, solicitors and companies set up to assist in this process as time goes on.

The Padron

I did touch on this earlier when I referred to registering children in schools and should be the simplest thing to obtain from a town hall. I say “should” because would you believe it? There are different requirements from different town halls and the rules can change without warning.

It is similar to the electoral role UK and acts as a census so that town halls can look to central government for additional funding and services. Unlike the UK it is not compulsory to register and some people never actually do.

The main attraction for the individual to take the trouble to register is the need for this document if you are trying to get your children into school and believe it or not if you want to buy a car in Spain.

Beyond this, there is little benefit gained although in theory it should benefit the community if the number of people living in a community increase to a level where the need for extra services is clear.

As the requirements can differ from each Town Hall I can only offer the following advice.

To obtain a Padron if you are renting a property you will need to go to the Town Hall armed with your passport and a copy of it, a copy of your tenancy agreement in Spanish with at least 6 months tenancy to run and probably a copy of the owners passport, plus a utility bill relating to the property from either the water or electricity company. Every one who wants to be registered on the Padron must attend and must have their original and copy passport.

If you own your property then you will need to substitute the tenancy agreement for a copy of your title deeds. You will also need to take your original deeds for inspection as well as the copy.

Provided you have all the correct documentation you will be issued with a piece of paper which is your Padron certificate. They only normally last for a month but if you need it again you only have to go back and ask for a copy once you have gone through the initial registration process.

Town Halls usually close at 2pm so make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to complete the process.

As a tenant you shouldn’t have to worry about much more although as a word of warning, you should always make sure that your tenancy agreement is also in Spanish as well as English to ensure that it is recognised legally in Spain.

As I mentioned earlier, if you are bringing children over to Spain then you really must think things through at a very early stage. The age of the children will be a big factor in whether you stay or go back. On the whole it seems that younger children adapt better as they have less to miss when they leave their native home and in most cases they are more resilient than older children and simply accept changes and are quick to adapt and make new friends. This is a very generalised opinion and children are individuals and only you as parents can have any chance of predicting whether or not they will settle.

If the children are approaching or have already reached their teens then you could have problems. They will probably have developed a life style that they value and have a strong net work of friends who they will miss. If they are older and need to finish off their education in Spain then they will not only be facing the normal pressures associated with exams but also a major move, a new country and most important of all, a new language.

There are private schools and these will follow a recognisable curriculum and teachers will speak English with Spanish taken as a normal language lesson. State schools will not generally be speaking much English and it will be necessary for extra Spanish lessons and hard work to try and pick up what is actually happening in the classrooms.

The younger children tend to be more like sponges and take in everything that comes their way so in most cases will be picking up the language pretty quickly and will often become a valuable asset to the family.

Schools

The requirements to enrol in a State School will like most things vary from area to area so it is difficult to offer any advice which will be correct in all situations.

From the experiences of people we have known with children I can say that there are certain things that seem to apply across the board. To register a child in school, the parents must be registered on something known as the Padron which is similar to the Electoral Role in the UK. Once the Padron is obtained, this must be taken to the school together with a Doctors report confirming that the child is healthy and had the necessary inoculations. The report must be from a local Spanish doctor and these are usually found at the medical centres.

It seems that some schools want to see records from previous schools and in some cases we have heard that they require any such records to be translated into Spanish. It is also possible that even to register at the school, you will need to be able to speak Spanish or have a translator with you.

There also seems to be no hard and fast rule on when a child can actually start school after registering so this can in some cases mean a longer break from attending school than you would expect.

Term starts in September and generally the time spent in school during this month is a half day. Full days start from October. Book lists are provided by the schools and these can be expensive so again be prepared for these costs

There is a web site which is dedicated to children in Spain and we would recommend that you take a look at their web site and contact them for more accurate information about the choice of schools in the area that you are considering and the procedures involved.

The site is www.kidsinspain.es.

Over the years we have had many people stay with us on a long-term basis to see if they can settle in Spain before committing fully to the idea.

Although we have had our share of success stories we have had probably just as many failures.

With this in mind we have put together some information that we hope you will find useful which is also designed to give you the opportunity to ask yourselves a few important questions before carrying on.

When it comes to the advantages of Spain they are fairly obvious, lots of sun and hot weather, great beaches, cheap fuel and food, English spoken widely and a laid back style of living.

You do however need to think beyond these.

If you are coming over to retire or do not need to earn an income then you have less to consider however if you need to earn a living or have children then you really should plan carefully before you make the move.

Employment

We have heard it said many times that as the cost of living is so cheap in Spain you don’t have to earn that much. Usually this is accompanied by the statement “I will do anything”. The problem is that although the cost of living is generally cheaper than in the UK, it still costs money to live, pay the rent and have a little for the extras in life. Add to this that the vast majority of people coming over to Spain are all willing to do anything, and you will soon see that the competition for all work is great. There is also the need to try and find that “anything” to do, as much to the surprise of many people who come out, these opportunities do not actually walk up to the property where they are staying and present themselves.

For those who are genuinely prepared to try their hand at anything and make the effort to find out what is available they can succeed although a willingness to work and lots of leg work to find something doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. The winter months in Spain mean less work opportunities as many things either close down or cut back considerably until the new season starts again usually around April time. In one way, if you do decide to come out in the winter and are able to find work then your chances of making a go of it are increased considerably. If you are thinking of coming out in the summer months then if you are looking for work in a bar or restaurant then your chances are good but unless you get a works contract and are paying social security these jobs tend to wind up once the season is over.

If you have a trade or particular skill you may find work with an existing company or business, this will depend on what your speciality is. If you are a builder and you do not speak Spanish then working on a building site for a Spanish company is pretty much out of the question. People with practical trades tend to find that their best option is to start up their own business and to do this you will need a good accountant and some money behind you.

If you are looking to invest in a business then there are more opportunities now, especially with franchise opportunities being offered for a range of services and products. You may have always wanted to run your own bar or restaurant and you may well find success, but the mortality rate for these businesses is quite high. If your only criteria for deciding on such a venture is that you like drinking and eating then you may want to think again.

Unless you speak fluent Spanish your actual job opportunities will be limited to UK run businesses and even some of these are looking for Spanish speakers. So if you are a qualified accountant or have years of administrative experience behind you it will not be enough to secure you a position in a Spanish speaking company.

Have a good think about your options and try and put some form of plan together before you make the move and get a good friend to play Devils Advocate. The chances are if you are really keen to make the move then any idea you come up with will seem to be the solution so to get input from someone not involved in the move is probably a good way of keeping you in touch with reality.

At the end of this you are probably thinking why am I reading this and why is someone who is looking to attract people to rent their properties writing it. The answer is simply that it doesn’t help us, you or our owners if people come out and have to give up and go back early and do not see out the term of the tenancy agreement.

Dear all

I had started to draft this news letter a little while ago but events took over which has led to a delay but the content is still relevant.

The first thing I need to advise you all of is that we have had some bad news personally and Carol will be undergoing a major operation in a few weeks time and the recovery period is likely to be considerable.

As you are aware Carol and I cover the administrative arrangements between us so with her away I will be taking on both our workloads and just ask for your patience when contacting us as there may be a few delays if the matter is not urgent.

The year so far:

Well we have had a busy time of it and for most of the time it’s been in extremely hot weather so the cooler months are a bit of a relief although the excessive rain we have been experiencing is something we could do without.

It’s has been an eventful year for us with an office move and the sale of our first licence plus a sharp increase in both enquiries and actual lettings.

We have averaged around 28 long term tenants in place at any one time for most of the year.

The office has been a bonus for a number of reasons not least of which is our having been given the opportunity to get our house back. With all the office equipment out we now have room to move and most importantly we can close the office and go home.

Our Licensees at Catral have been kept busy and have had a good start to their new business venture.

Our web site has also undergone pretty major changes and we hope you like the new look and functions. There is still work going on behind the scenes and we will be looking at every individual web page and be making changes to the layouts over the winter months. We are always looking for feedback so we would welcome any comments you have good or bad.

The future

With so much activity this year (our busiest in 4 years!) we will be taking a good look back over the trends and feed back that we have had from guests.

I did a quick count up at the end of August and since January had an average of 48 arrivals month although the bulk of this were over the summer months.

It has also demonstrated to us that the main holiday season occupies a 6 to 8 week window through July and August. Anything either side is a bonus.

We did have a number of owners agree to making special offers available which in some cases did bring about some positive results.

We even had to turn some people away because we could not match up what they wanted for the dates that they wanted. This is a result mainly of people securing their flights first then looking for a property.

With developers still getting the go ahead to build even more properties in the surrounding areas it is not going to get easier with competition growing almost on a daily basis.

We will keep trying to come up with more new ways to promote your property and if we can help with any ideas that you have just let us know.

The offer from Independent Owners to build each of you individual web sites is a good one and would make it very easy to focus any of your own efforts onto your own site where there is no other competition.

Christmas Closing and Bank Holidays

Just to let you all know we will be closing for a period over Christmas. We will be closed from Friday 21st December at 6pm and will not be available for any meet and greets or departures until 28th December. The actual office will be closed for day to day business until 3rd January2008.

Bank Holiday closing

Although we have been operating in Spain for 4 years we have on the whole just kept going throughout the year. We now feel that it is time that we respected the traditions of our adopted country and will in future be closing on the designated bank holidays. We will try to make you all aware of when these bank holidays will arise as soon as possible.

Electric Water and TV payments

It’s the same old story I’m afraid but it has been another year where the various services have been cut off in a number of properties.

Added to this some tenants have suffered where owners have failed to pay their local community charges with notices being left on properties or pools being made unavailable to guests.

So once again please make sure you received your bank statements from your Spanish banks or check your accounts on line. Ensure that you are paying for electricity ever 2 months, water every 3 months, UK TV every month and community fees at least once a year.

Free web site creation and on going use.

Just in case you missed the recent email, we have found a company who will build you your own web site and allow you to carry on using it for free. If you fancy building your own site then you can or you just take advantage of the company’s offer to at least get your started and then you can play around with it. You need to contact Independent owners.com before 16th November to take advantage of this offer.

1. 1. You need to go to the Independent Owners web site at www.IndependentOwners.com and click on Join Now.
2. 2. Fill out the details and make sure you complete the Property Management Section with our details so that they will know that you are one of our clients and qualify for their additional service of creating your website for you.
3. 3. You must register by Friday 16th November to take advantage of this offer.

I think that’s about it for now so we hope you have a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year
From everyone at Property Hounds!

Our Contact Details

Tel/Fax Office 0034 966765549
Mobile 0034 600092957
UK Skype No 0208 1232489

Office Opening Hours 10an to 6pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.

Office located in the Plaza at Villa Martin, No B13.
Up the steps at the front and then turn left at the top. Carry on along the front and we are just passed Fontaine’s.

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