In part 1 of our 5
part series on relocating to Spain, we recommended obtaining a Spanish
National Insurance Number & a Spanish residence card;
we also touched on health insurance and the ownership
of property. In this edition, we discuss the necessity of learning
some conversational Spanish, acclimating to the "mellow"
lifestyle and car ownership & driving.
Moving from your home to a strange
country is never an easy thing to do, especially when they speak
a different language. There are many pitfalls and problems involved
when moving to Spain from another country, which can be avoided
by taking some simple steps.
Leaving your home country to go and
live in Spain can seem an enormously arduous task. The transition
can be made a lot smoother when you take some proactive steps to
avoid some of the pitfalls that lurk at every turn. Educating yourself
before you make the final journey can pay huge dividends in ensuring
your move goes as smoothly as possible. It can also save you from
many of the common pitfalls that so many ex-patriots find themselves
falling into once they arrive in this beautiful and colourful country.
One of the first items on the list
of things to do should be to take some classes in Spanish.
Even if you can learn the fundamentals of this fascinating language
before you set off, it will help you to integrate with the indigenous
population once you are here.
It is a sad fact that there are many
ex-patriot British people who have lived here on the Costa Del Sol
for many years and still cannot or will not speak a single word
of Spanish. While it is true that the majority of Spanish people
living in Andalucia province especially along the Costa Del Sol
do speak English, they still appreciate it when foreigners at least
try to converse in Spanish. Being able to say a few words and be
able to ask for things in Spanish will impress the locals and they
will be more inclined to want to help you avoid some of the pitfalls
that may befall a newcomer to Spain.
Once you have purchased your house
or apartment here in Spain and you have finally moved in, one of
the first things you must learn to do is to slow down. The
pace of life in Spain is much slower than in most northern European
countries and the U.S. and it takes some getting used to. The speed
at which certain tasks get done is also very much slower than most
foreigners are used to. A common pitfall for foreign settlers is
to enter into an agreement with the provider of a local service
where you expect them to turn up on your doorstep in a day or two,
only to be frustrated when they don't arrive until the following
week. Any attempt at remonstration is met with a casual shrug of
the shoulders and the polite reply: "But this is Spain."
This must simply be gotten use to,
or you'll end up tearing your hair out.
The next big headache for settlers
in Spain is getting into a car and driving on Spanish roads.
While for most Europeans this is not too much of a problem as they
all drive on the right hand side of the road, for the British, who
drive on the left, it is fraught with pitfalls. In fact, making
the mental switch to driving on the right happens fairly quickly
and it soon becomes second nature. For most people, that is. There
are some who find it very difficult to make that switch and they
create a problem for other road users. To come into close quarters
with one of these unsure, nervous drivers can and often does result
in a collision.
While they will fervently deny it,
Spanish drivers are not the best. Minor knocks between vehicles
is quite common and often treated as irrelevant and merely a part
of every day life. This attitude baffles foreigners, who upon being
on the receiving end of one of these minor knocks can quickly lose
their tempers at the seeming total disinterest of the Spanish driver
to want to make amends. It is commonly said that all new Spanish
cars should come with a few dents pre-fabricated into their bodywork!
Despite the lack of owning up to the
responsibility of a minor motor accident, Spanish law does demand
that every vehicle is insured with a minimum of third part
cover, so should push come to shove, recompense can be attained
with enough determination and stubborn persistence. A common pitfall
is to expect swift action from insurance companies. It doesn't
happen. "But this is Spain..."
Often, foreign settlers will have
driven their own car from their country to Spain. This is allowed
under Spanish law, but a foreign registered car must, once it has
been in Spain for six months, either be re-registered as Spanish
or taken out of the country.
This law is often flouted by foreigners
who knowingly use their foreign cars to avoid parking fines and
other minor motoring infractions. It's difficult for the Spanish
police to trace ownership details of foreign registered vehicles.
But this practice is being clamped down on and is another pitfall
that can be avoided. If you are caught driving a foreign car on
Spanish roads after the six months grace period is past, the police
can and will confiscate your car and land you with a hefty fine.
To purchase a new or second
hand car from a dealer in Spain is relatively straightforward
as the dealership will do all the paperwork for you. However, privately
purchasing a second hand Spanish car is not as simple and straight
forward as it is in, say the U.S. In Spain, once you have reached
an agreement with the vendor, you must accompany them to a local
vehicle registration office and produce several documents to prove
who you are and where you live. A pitfall to avoid is making sure
you have your passport, or residence card if you have one, your
national insurance number (NIE) and either a copy of the deeds to
your house (called the escritura) or a valid rental agreement for
a rented property. If you fail to produce any one of these, the
office can refuse to make the vehicle registration transfer and
you will have to return, often the next day. "But this is
Spain…"
These are some more of the common
pitfalls that are easy to avoid when moving to Spain. Common sense
should prevail at all times to ensure a smooth integration into
the country that will be your new home, saving you time, money and
headaches. By avoiding the majority of pitfalls, most newcomers
settle in to Spanish life quickly and seamlessly.
I came to Spain about a year ago to do a Master´s degree at ICADE in Madrid. I just graduated last year, and I have fallen win love with Spain (and a Spaniard
I have been reading through you tips for moving to Spain and endorse everything you say and congratulate you on how well it is written.
I run & own a Relocation Cº. in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucia, Spain and I was wondering if in your next article on this subject if you would consider putting a link to our site for anyone considering a move to this beautiful part of the world.
Many thanks for your attention.
Kind regards
Paul