@costabravamark
English expat in Spain
Forum
17 posts
About me
English
Registration: 01 January 2018
Activity
short term and long term rentals on Gib. by costabravamark
Hi there. My wife and I live on the Costa Brava, Spain. We are now retired and intend to make a permanent move to Gibraltar as soon as we have sold our house here. Our goal is to find a long-term rental rather than buy an apartment, so that we ...
No thanks. Read More
New members of the Gibraltar forum, introduce yourselves here - 2021 by Julien
Hi all, Newbie on the Gibraltar forum? Don't know how to start? This thread is for you ;) We invite you to introduce yourself on this topic, to share with us your expat story if you are already living in the country, or to tell us more on ...
Whilst I am not new to this forum, my last contribution was some years ago when we first decided to move to Gibraltar. Various circumstances forced us to put our move on hold, but we are now actively trying to sell our villa on the Costa Brava ... Read More
driving license by Avenida11
According to information elsewhere on this site , in order to exchange my UK license for a Spanish one I need to provide "A statement certifying you have not been deprived of your rights to drive in your home country." Question is who ...
I exchanged my U.K. licence for a Spanish one - admittedly about 15 years ago - and all I had to do was to take some basic physical reaction test and a sight test. There was no declaration of any kind involved. Hopefully someone on this forum with ... Read More
Anyone understand the "Cuota" on water Bills? by Guest578976556
Hi All, I live in Granada, Andalucía where our water supplier is Emasagra (not sure if there is any other choice). On the bi-monthly water bill there is an item "Cuota de Servicio" which, for the last 3 years always exceeds our use of ...
I think we can safely say, in the light of the last couple of posts, that there are officially authorised and approved "scams" about which we can sadly do nothing, and criminal scams about which the authorities, including the police, can ... Read More
Anyone understand the "Cuota" on water Bills? by Guest578976556
Hi All, I live in Granada, Andalucía where our water supplier is Emasagra (not sure if there is any other choice). On the bi-monthly water bill there is an item "Cuota de Servicio" which, for the last 3 years always exceeds our use of ...
Hi Simon, Although I am in a different part of Spain, I understand that the "cuota fija" or just "cuota" is a fixed change no matter how much of the substance - water, gas, electricity - you use. Any other variable ... Read More
Payment methods in Spain by Priscilla
Hello everyone, Once youre settled in Spain, you will need to make some basic purchases, like groceries or pay bills. Hence, it is essential to know the payment methods available in your host country. Which are the most common payment methods ...
Thanks Johncar. I sit corrected! Unfortunately I can't open any British bank accounts since I don't have a U.K. address. But your information could be very useful for others. Read More
Payment methods in Spain by Priscilla
Hello everyone, Once youre settled in Spain, you will need to make some basic purchases, like groceries or pay bills. Hence, it is essential to know the payment methods available in your host country. Which are the most common payment methods ...
This has been a very complex and at times heated thread. So let me try to simplify matters: 1. All methods of payment are accepted in Spain, much as they are in most other Western countries. 2. Cash is theoretically less secure, but arguably ... Read More
Euro / pound exchange rate by Johncar
I had occasion to check how the pound to euro rate has changed since 1st January 2002 when the euro currency, in our pocket, was introduced. On that day it was 1.60 euros to the pound, a few days later it was at its highest ever at 1.64. It ...
It is likely that the pound / euro rate will remain under pressure until the end of October 2019 at the earliest. And if Brexit happens without a deal, it will almost certainly lose considerably more ground for several months and quite possibly a ... Read More
health insurance by aschultz50
Anybody knows anything about health insurance in Spain with someone with pre existing conditions. ?
Just as you would have to do elsewhere, you'll almost certainly have to declare pre-existing medical conditions; it is very unlikely they would be covered by insurers in Spain. If you find a good company - and there are many - you should be ... Read More
Teaching English in Spain...? by adzbudz
Hi, I'd like to find a job teaching English in Spain, however, I just wanted some advice from anybody who has ever done this before... What was your experience like of teaching English in Spain? Any tips/advice? Do all teaching jobs in Spain ...
Since so much teaching is now done remotely, you might like to consider working independently as an online English teacher. You'd probably need to set up your own website in Spanish and English with a carefully compiled C.V. and perhaps some ... Read More
Private Health Insurance - Pay month to month? by sloanrobe
We are in the process of finding private health insurance so we can apply for visas. We will be moving to Barcelona this summer. Are there any private health insurance companies in Spain that would allow us to pay on a month to month basis? The ...
We are with Adeslas, whom we pay quarterly. It's worth checking whether they also accept monthly premiums. You're likely to have to pay a small supplement for paying in instalments, but you should find that, in general, private healthcare ... Read More
Clearing your belongings through customs in Spain by Priscilla
Hello everyone, During ones big move abroad, shipping personal belongings to the host country can be stressful. Customs regulations differ from one country to another and you never quite know what to expect when trying to recover your belongings ...
As everyone has said so far, there are no restrictions on bringing in, or sending, personal belongings to Spain from anywhere in the E.U. including - at the moment - from Great Britain. Depending on how much you have to move, you can either use a ... Read More
Long term rental by Speete
Hi. My wife and I have had a holiday home in Arboleas for a number of years and having sold we want to swap the countryside for the city. We are keen to live in Almeria City for at least 6 months. Our preference would be a furnished 2 bedroom flat ...
Johncar and Marnie22, You're right that there are laws regarding training to become an Estate Agent, but I regret to say that they are not necessarily enforced rigidly enough, and may be compulsory only for one director of the company rather ... Read More
Long term rental by Speete
Hi. My wife and I have had a holiday home in Arboleas for a number of years and having sold we want to swap the countryside for the city. We are keen to live in Almeria City for at least 6 months. Our preference would be a furnished 2 bedroom flat ...
The problem is that there are far too many so-called Real Estate Agents in the tourist areas of Spain, And the commission rates - for both renting and selling - are far too high and out of all proportion to the often non-existent service they offer. ... Read More
Pros and cons of renewing the green "residencia" by Culebronchris
I suspect this is one for Johncar but any insights would be helpful. In one of its Facebook postings, on its Brits in Spain page, the British Embassy wrote "If you have an A4 size green residency certificate, you have already registered as a ...
Just to support Johncar's message. We have been living in Spain for 17 years and have a green A4 residence permit. We have been told by the local Council that this is now automatically a permanent document....which you can, if you wish, carry ... Read More