Leaving Andalucia....

Do you have a query on how to get things done in Andalucia, where to find things, who to call? Find out by posting and hear about others experiences.
Gasman
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Gasman » Wed Jun 07, 2017 9:25 am

Miro
I am sure you will soon settle to your new life but please keep a watching brief here on Andalucia Forum - you may be able to help fellow posters with the knowledge and experience you have gained over your years here in Sunny Spain.
And of course you can still chat and laugh with the regulars!
Cheers!
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Miro
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Miro » Wed Jun 07, 2017 8:05 pm

Thanks for the kind wishes, and I will definitely stick around - for old time's sake!
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patricia
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby patricia » Wed Jun 07, 2017 8:19 pm

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
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Miro
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Miro » Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:45 pm

Update since "leaving Andalucia":
Been a while since I posted, partly because I got locked out of A.com for some reason (was it because we deserted Andalucia?!) but mainly because since my last post on this thread I've hardly had a moment to post, & have been without a PC (or internet) for a while. We've been back in the UK for only three weeks, but it's been such a hectic time, it seems like longer. We've not had time to think about Spain, let alone miss it - although there are plenty of things we're finding strange after over 20 years away, and a few things we're used to (like loose fresh vegetables at sensible prices) that we're finding hard to source.
The journey was good (the 30 hours on the ferry the most relaxing time we've had in months) and the cat handled it all pretty well, considering she'd never been out of our apartment in 8 years: a long day's drive north, a night in a strange hotel room (first time she'd seen a bath tub - fascinating!) a long ferry trip (spent hours just watching the water out of our porthole), another long drive north on the "wrong" side of the road followed by a week in a strange house with lots of relatives coming and going, and then a further hour's drive north and into her new home, which she's taken to amazingly well and now rules the roost as before!
So we completed on our house purchase, moved in, did some work on it, waited nearly two weeks for our shipment to arrive via Britannia (bit of a hiccup with delivery and a bit of an argument over dates, but resolved satisfactorily in the end), finally unpacked everything but still finding jobs that need doing; sold the Spanish car, bought a new one, registered with a GP (and a vet, including changing microchip details)...I could go on, but it's all pretty mundane stuff and nothing to do with Andalucia.
In fact the only links to Andalucia now (apart from some good friends who we will keep in touch with of course) are the issue of reclaiming our 3% retention (in the hands of our gestor, and probably a subject for another thread); waiting to see if we get any subvéncion on the IBI for 2017 and then paying our dues; and arguing with Orange, who sent a message saying they will charge me €50 if I don't return their router within 15 days - I have a receipt from the shop where I returned it on May 23rd, but they have my bank account number!
Pleased to say that we have no regrets whatsoever about making the move back - and happy not to be sweating our **** off for the next two or three months. Might be a different story come December, but we've just bought a new 13.5 tog duvet from Wilko so should be fine! :wave:
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Gasman
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Gasman » Mon Jul 03, 2017 11:35 am

Cheers Miro - glad to hear all is going (somewhat) according to plan.
Keep in touch ....

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patricia
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby patricia » Mon Jul 03, 2017 12:19 pm

That is good Miro. Nice to have an update. Keep them coming. I have to say I have often thought about moving back to the UK but do not know quite know how to achieve it. I am afraid I would miss the sun a lot, but I do also miss the UK. I do have a property there still so it would be a matter of selling this one which would probably take forever!

Anyway keeps us posted as to how you get on. Glad things have worked out for you.
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elusive
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby elusive » Mon Jul 03, 2017 3:09 pm

Nice to hear from you miro. Glad things are going well.

Question for you. After been away for so long what do you find has changed the most

Miro
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Miro » Mon Jul 03, 2017 3:56 pm

Good question, and one I'll have to think about and get back to later perhaps. First thought is, not that much really. The problem for us is not what's changed here, rather how we've changed by being away, and re-familiarising ourselves with things. Perhaps even 20 years ago people were buying tomatoes in silly little packs of 6 instead of filling your own bag at the grocers with a kilo or two! And when did peppers get so expensive? 60 pence for ONE??? :wtf:
I'll try to post some more thoughts in this when I find time, but off the top of my head, the biggest change and one we will find very hard to adjust to, is the bin collections (or virtual lack of!)
Patricia, it's a beautiful sunny day here today, 24°, and I don't miss the scorching July heat of Andalucia one little bit! 8)
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elusive
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby elusive » Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:20 pm

Thanks miro look forward to your thoughts as time passes

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Devils Advocate
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Devils Advocate » Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:35 pm

Glad to hear everything's going great and you're happy in the new house and the UK. You've certainly timed the weather right.

I was over your way too yesterday. We did a convoy run between a couple of classic car events. We went from Wrightington where the first show was to the annual Lydiate show in the afternoon.

Then a scenic blat around Downholland,Haskayne (looking at all the scarecrows), then cutting through to Scarisbrick/Southport and home via Burscough.....what a beautiful day for it, even if we all did get a bit errrrr red :mrgreen:

There's a few more local events left this summer, give me a shout if you fancy going to one of them.

All the best.
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Miro » Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:36 pm

Still thinking about your question, elusive.
A lot has changed - but mostly the same kind of things that also changed in Spain during the last 20 years, such as the increase in the use of technology. Online shopping, home deliveries etc. - things that perhaps aren't so common in Spain but do exist, seem to be pretty mainstream here, but that's no surprise to me. Still the biggest change for me, and the hardest thing to get used to, is fortnightly bin collections and having to sort our waste into different containers. I wouldn't mind - I'm all for helping the environment after all - but it seems such a paradox to me that everything in the supermarkets is sold in such silly little packages, and the amount of resulting waste is simply shocking to me. So far, the only place we've found where we can buy a kilo of meat without having to dispose of at least three non-biodegradable packages, is in the local Polish shop. And again, I don't know whether this has changed in the UK since we left, or if it's just a difference between Spain & the UK (in which case I should really be posting this on "Moving to the UK") but we can't find liquid clothes detergent in anything larger than 1 litre containers, whereas in Spain we bought 3 or 5 litres at a time. There's something wrong there in my mind.
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby maureenscot » Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:00 am

Try Lidls for liquid laundry stuff, big bottles and cheap

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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby maureenscot » Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:01 am

Try Lidls for liquid laundry stuff, big bottles and cheap

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Wicksey
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Wicksey » Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:03 pm

Miro we really miss the Spanish (and generally European-style) communal bins when we are in the UK.

A few years back we had bought a house to rent out in England and stayed there a few days just to get to know it, and the local bin rota was hellish. We weren't there long enough to actually get a collection so, as usual, we took our rubbish out with us but ended up depositing it in little bags in the small bins in the High Street as there was just nowhere to chuck it. I am so used to processing the rubbish here and just taking it out to the bins as we go out most days. I sometimes wonder if it's a false economy in the UK as people then just throw their rubbish in the countryside or dump it somewhere as it's not being collected.

We find everywhere so hectic and busy when we go back. Perhaps as you were in Torremolinos it was busier down there, but out of main holiday season it is just so quiet with empty roads here, that we can't wait to get back home after a break in Blighty! It sounds like you're settling in well though, so good luck!

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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Devils Advocate » Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:32 pm

Give me the civilised UK green and black bin system anytime over the bluebottle infested filthy Bazuras typical of Spain, where once it's full they just chuck their sh't anywhere. I also don't miss the dozens of poor skinny cats and kittens looking so sorry for themselves at these bins.

As for being hectic and busy, as many have said before it depends on which part of the UK you reside. Our village here and where our house is situated is quieter than the "campo" :mrgreen:
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Nimrod » Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:48 pm

Does anyone have any experience on how long it takes the Spanish authorities to return the 3% retention ,or what remains of it?
I sold in March.
The selling process was very quick,our English estate agent was great as was our Spanish lawyer.
But why,oh why,does it take so long to get a final electricity and water bill?!

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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby chrissiehope » Sat Jul 08, 2017 1:27 pm

Briefly going back to rubbish bins - Manchester council uses communal bins (certainly in the terraced streets) - they are contained within a metal frame, and there are not enough bins for the number of residents (tho' the council don't agree !) and so people just dump their rubbish somewhere vaguely near the bins. If, like me, you have a property (rented out) which is an end terrace next to the alleyway where the bins are, you have to suffer this obnoxious mess whenever you go out, or see the occasional rat. Also, when the bin lorry comes & they unlock the frame to remove the bins, in the past they have been so heavy-handed when moving the bins that they smashed the downpipe & scraped the wall :-( . So communal bins (in this scenario) are not a favourite of mine ;-)
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Wicksey
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Wicksey » Sat Jul 08, 2017 2:10 pm

Must admit, chrissiehope I do agree about the bins in a town and feel sorry for anyone that lives near them. I am a campo dweller so dropping off our rubbish regularly at the first point we reach civilisation (which are no-where near any houses) works OK.

And DA, the area we visit where our house is (not a second home for us) is country town but we find everyone drives so fast and there is just so much more traffic around than when we lived in the area 17 years ago. On our yearly (and very brief) visit back to England my OH says about going to Tescos "when it's quiet" ... but it is never quiet, not like the supermarkets here, even now in the summer, mid-afternoon the local Lidl and Mercadona are almost empty. Although it's in the countryside it is in the south-east of England which I think is now getting very overcrowded.

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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby Miro » Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:50 pm

maureenscot wrote:Try Lidls for liquid laundry stuff, big bottles and cheap
Thanks for the tip. Still hard to believe they're the only ones doing it though. Smaller containers = more trash to dispose of. :cry:
Wicksey wrote:people then just throw their rubbish in the countryside or dump it somewhere as it's not being collected.
In the first couple of weeks we were generating quite a lot of rubbish, with unpacking our stuff and buying new furniture etc., but we never resorted to fly tipping! After Ikea, though, the local dump became our most visited place. Now that we're settling down to some sort of normality, I think we'll cope OK with the bin collection timetable - but how larger families do, I really don't know.
Wicksey wrote:We find everywhere so hectic and busy when we go back. Perhaps as you were in Torremolinos it was busier down there, but out of main holiday season it is just so quiet with empty roads here, that we can't wait to get back home after a break in Blighty!
I guess it all depends on your perspective. Yes, it's busy; in Liverpool One (city centre shopping centre) a couple of Sundays ago, I couldn't get over how busy it was - not just for a Sunday, but for any day. I've never seen Larios Centre in Málaga as busy, and I must say for me it was quite heartening - although the wanton consumerism I find a bit distasteful. As for quiet and empty streets - Southport any day of the week is livelier than Torremolinos, and there are far fewer empty shops, which again, I find a welcome breath of fresh air compared to the somewhat derelict look of parts of Torrie. As for Spanish villages - I always found it quite depressing that you never see a soul on the streets. Give me lively and busy any day. But having said that, it's so much quieter here in the UK! I certainly don't miss the incessant cacophony of car horns, moto exhausts, macho yelling and mothers calling their kids coños at top volume etc. etc. And it's so nice and quiet at night, although we're only about a mile from the town centre. Perspective, as I said...
Nimrod wrote:why,oh why,does it take so long to get a final electricity and water bill?!
We went to the water company the day after we sold, with our buyer; the contract was changed to her name there and then and our final bill based on our own meter reading of about €3 given to us - less the returned fianza of about €50 - so we actually walked out half an hour later about €47 better off!
As for the electric...despite attempting to give them a meter reading, I received nothing at all for weeks after changing the contracts. I still haven't - they don't have a forwarding address for us, nor our bank details to bill us, but I logged on to our Endesa account a couple of days ago to discover an outstanding bill for about 4 times our normal monthly bills, with a meter reading (that says "actuál") way over what it probably is even now. Guess what? they can sing for it!
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patricia
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Re: Leaving Andalucia....

Postby patricia » Sun Jul 09, 2017 7:51 am

Well I am glad that you are slowly settling in to your life Miro. Obviously everything takes some adjusting, lots of things so different. The bin rota is hell I think but I have to say where I live in the UK there has never been any difficulty as long as you remember the rota! :thumbup:

I do so agree with all the plastic packaging though. It is shameful that everything is packed in plastic. However when I go to the UK and shop in Sainsbury´s they have loads of loose vegetables, I do find the vegetables very cheap there though. They had carrots at 10 pence a pound, banana´s were something like 50 pence some vegetables in Spain are far more expensive then in the UK. In general I found food in the UK to be very cheap.

I agree with you about all the cats as well as dogs scrounging from the bims. The other day saw a sweet dog trying to get some food, poor thing was obviously hungry. I was going to an apppointment so didnt stop, but I wish I had because I have not seen him since and someone said there was a dog knocked own on the motorway which matched his description. Now I am riddled with guilt that I did not stop straight away and pop him in the car. :(

It has not been too bad here weather wise so far so good :D It was very hot in June but there is a cool breeze down here on the coast and long may it last. :thumbup:

I do look forward to returning to the UK sometime in the future, but must get work finished on this flat. I cannot get anyone to work through the summer :thumbdown: So am painting and decorating in the heat and losing a few kilo´s in the process. :thumbup: Which is good because I am on a diet!

Keep us up to date with how things go. :D

Enjoy the good weather and long may it last and the heat stay in the UK and the cool breezes remain in Spain. Well at least in Torrox :thumbup:
Torrox Costa "El mejor clima de Europa"


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