Nice to read, Jogger - when we came out at Easter 2017 (our last fortnight's holiday before it all became a holiday) I checked out Casares, Sabanillas, Manilva and La Duquesa. Our current place is a tad small and that area had reasonably sized property a short stroll from under-utilized beaches (a b...

Been getting away with it for years until this milder summer. Walked around a marsh lake near Narbonne on the way down and they were frenzied. Between Valencia and here I could hear them thudding all over the vehicle and I was emptying the screenwash like billy-o. The roof box was like The Killing F...

My wife's 'phone recognized you on WhatsApp straight away so I've used that to send a note, DA. Just putting a line in here so you know that the unsolicited ping is from me.

I've bought a LHD UK car for driving down here, occasional use (I have a Spanish vehicle) and returning within the 6 month window for foreign-plated cars. I looked around the UK insurers before deciding to stick it on a multicar with my current insurers of the car I keep in the UK. Saga (although it...

I don't know how much of the year you can spend out here, Pamela (nor how feasible this might be where you are - we live in a built-up area) but we were tipped off about free Spanish classes for extranjeros and glad we signed up. "Getting by" is quite different to gaining a better understa...

Agree. Hertz handed me the (non L) 500 with the foldy roof once. Never driven one, so... Wish I'd handed it back. Cutesy looks don't disguise poor packaging and a fair bit of neck-craning. I looked pretty hard for a Panda 4x4 to hire yesterday and found none. Looking for used examples on Milanuncios...

It's unfortunate; something that's useful to legitimate buyers + sellers is also useful to scammers and offloaders of junk. When I saw the OP, I chuckled and thought of an ebay listing just a few months back (also a professional seller) for a LHD car. What looked clearly like a heap even to my unski...

Pedraza is just the sort of north of Madrid stop that would make sense for my journey back. Thanks for the report and glad/hopeful you've got here without incident.

I did get my car (from a garage/2nd car dealer) via Milanuncios but it's also a writhing snakepit. Professionals listing as particulares, info routinely wrong, some of the dealers have reputations elsewhere for banana in the gearbox practices. I spent two solid months of daily checking before making...

Reliability tends to be worse as the car gets bigger with Fiats. Pandas are not a problem car in partic, especially the petrol engines (although the 0.9 turbo twinpot is pretty new. Definitely worth letting it idle before switching off if you've had a difficult climb back home). The 1.3 diesel gets ...

I feel more motivated when I get here in Spain - most times. 2017-18 was my first year of coming and going when we like, not when we have to. Of course, it coincided with the coldest winter; I was stunned when I got into the car at 2pm and the outside temperature display said 4C - I've never seen si...

Back to the Ryanair flight, my wife told me that someone ahead of her was stopped and told that the alcohol meant that the cabin bag had to go in the hold. There wasn't any argument; she didn't see a situation where bottles had to be actually confiscated for lack of suitable baggage so boarding (lat...

I'm starting to sound like Fiat's marketing dept (I did look into the 2nd gen 4x4 Panda when I got thinking about switching to La Vinuela; a lot of tarmacced but steep and sharp corners) but it's fitting your bill more and more. I sometimes got the old one-litre fourpot consciously and thought it wa...

I check www.milanuncios.es quite a bit. Ads are 99% in Spanish of course, but occasionally there are dual-lingos. I got my car via the site, and picked up a monitor for €15 locally for a young chum. Private and public sellers, and it's also possible to place wanted ads.

I think the Panda 4x4 is a sound starting point, Wicksey. If you really must have the ground clearance, there's the Cross version with extra height and claddings. Otherwise, I would baulk at the increased cost. The boggo 4x4, (if it has snow/mud tyres like the UK version) would probably fit the bill...

That's pretty much the point of it, Olive. Even with Priority+2, the airport shop purchased alcohol has to go in the hold, and boggo custards with a carrier bag will have it swiped and "binned". The only way the "can't wait to get to my apartment and drink my gin" traveller, or j...

Managed to track down the email, these are the exact words: In order to prioritize the comfort and safety of all passengers, Ryanair will implement the following restrictions on your upcoming flight to Spain: • Customers will not be allowed to carry alcohol on board and all cabin baggage will be sea...

Depending on the company (and on or off-season) they can be quite relaxed about it if still driveable but also, if you're hating it, will exchange if you bring it in. Someone tried to force the lock on mine and, when I 'phoned the hire company, they were happy to leave it until return seeing as it d...

Good idea, Wicksy, although it also took me a lot of talking. I don't need 4x4 here, but the diesel lugger is for the cross-Europe trip (also can be dragged out if there's a highway stretch) but the little Modus is the go-to for shopping, Spanish classes etc. Circa €50 in tax and €230 in insurance (...

My wife nipped back to UK last week with Jet2 (who, in many ways pull the same stunts but get away with it) and flies back to AGP with Ryanair today. She was meant to travel light but had a last minute "I need" panic (including, bizarrely, a particular pair of tweezers) and is checking in ...