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Thinking of moving to, or buying a property in Spain? - the following are some useful links to help you find out more information. They are, by no means, exhaustive, so it's a good idea to also check out your favourite search engines. |
Table of Contents
- How do I go about moving to Spain ?
- Where can I find a good lawyer, estate agent, professional advice, etc.?
- Buying a house in Spain? - you jest!
- Property for sale - if you are not fazed by now
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| 4. How to get English speaking TV in Spain - |  |
How do I? . . .
Where can I find ... ?
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Firstly - buy the book! - There are a number of publications we used, - Buying a home in Spain, and Living and working in Spain - SURVIVAL BOOKS - Tel: 01937 843523 to order. Secondly, ask around amongst people who have already bought properties. Get recommendations. Go and chat with these professionals. Invariably they will speak English. Don't sign anything without discussing it with someone, even your auntie Mabel! You don't have to consult a lawyer to buy a property in Spain, in fact many people will tell you it's the exact wrong thing to do! Many people leave everything to the agent, and if he has been in business for thirty years and is a respected member of 'the collegio', then you will probably be OK - BUT REMEMBER! -
Unless you are very confident or foolhardy - get advice. We used a lawyer in Almunecar called Pierre Valcke. He is Belgian, but has lived and practised law in Spain for twenty years. He speaks excellent English, Spanish, French, German, rtc., etc. He is very friendly and down to earth and his fees are very reasonable. He is based in Almunecar and probably covers most of the Costa Tropical (Nerja - Motril). Well worth chatting to on most matters legal. - TEL: 0034 958 639 010 Thirdy, check out the internet. There is a veritable wealth of information out there - many of the bookmarked pages here are on sites that have extensive advice and help on matters relating to living, working, or just buying property, in Spain. |
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Fun buying houses! One day I will write a book!. The experience of buying a house in Spain is definitely an experience never to forget! Firstly - the sale of houses in Spain is taxed. Nothing strange there you would say, after all in the UK we have stamp duty. The difference is that both seller and buyer pay tax on the 'exchange of contracts' on a house in Spain!. This stems from the time when much of Spain was inhabited largely by goatherds, (still is in many areas!), who moved around a lot, thus avoiding paying taxes to the King. Some bright spark in the government decided that the only way to catch these cheeky chaps out was to put a tax on property - every time you sold or bought a house, there was to be a tax imposed.
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Another equally bright spark decided that 6% tax was too high an
imposition, so came up with the brainwave of declaring a lesser value to
the authorities.
This led to houses being sold for £100,000 with a declared value of £40,000 or less! Of course the tax (currently set at 6%), is payable on the declared value. All house 'exchanges' are conducted before the Notario who is a sort of official government solicitor, who's job is to make sure that a fair sale is conducted and that everybody, including the government gets paid. Obviously, since he has to inspect and verify all payments, this means that he can only be told about the declared value, so he officially expects the payment to the seller is £40,000, - he also has a cheque for the tax man for £2400 (6% of £40,000) This is further complicated by the fact that ALL these figures are entered into the deeds of the house for all time, and yet everyone leaves happily . . . . how? |
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Satellite TV in SpainThe TV channels available in Spain are pretty dismal (even if you speak the lingo!). To make life tolerable the only sensible thing to do (if only to keep up with home and world news), is to install a SKY digital satellite system. This consists of:
Depending on:
If you have a SKY contract in the UK, you could simply unplug the digibox bit, stick it in your hand luggage, and bring it to Spain. Strictly speaking - if it was installed for free, or on one of the reduce price options, - you shouldn't take it out of the country, and if it is still in the first year of the contract, it should be attached to a UK telephone line - (difficult if you are living on the Costa Brava!!). However, if you bought it outright, - well it's yours, and really up to you! There are a number of suppliers in Spain (Mostly advertising in the free 'Brit' press), who will provide you with either a full system, or just a dish and LNB to connect to 'your' digibox. Some will even organise a viewing card for you, which can be useful if you haven't got a UK address anymore!. The costs of a 'full' system vary, depending on who you deal with and the digibox and size of dish supplied. Some boxes work better than others, and you will more than certainly need a larger dish than the 44cm one supplied with the SKY box. The best models are mainly (but not all!) from Grundig, Sony and Panasonic, and if you plan to reside in southern Spain, a dish of at least 1 metre, and bigger if you want to receive channel 4, ITV or the Premium or subscription channels. I know someone who uses a Grundig 2000 with a 1.2m dish and a FTA or Free To Air (sometimes called a FTV or Free To View), card from the BBC which they obtained prior to leaving the UK, and they get BBC1, BBC2, BBC Choice, BBC 4, BBC News 24, CBeebies, BBC Radios 1,2,3,4 & 5, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5, TCM, Sky News, ITN News 24, CNN and Euronews - in fact there are up to 50 channels which are 'free of subscription'! The cheapest systems bought and installed in Spain, start at around 500 Euros (300 quid approx.), and go up to over 1000 Euros for 'fully loaded system'. The GDS 2000 system mentioned was 170 quid!! - How? - he bought the box before leaving the UK at a Police stolen property Auction for 25 quid, ordered a new remote control, (which was missing), for a further 25 quid, and paid a firm of satellite installers in Spain 120 quid to supply and install the dish + LNB, and tune everything in! I also know someone who paid 300 quid for the latest GDS 3000, 240 quid for a high quality 1.3m dish and LNB, and 30 - odd quid a month to SKY, and he gets everything including all the film channels etc. So you really 'pays your money and makes your choice' when it comes to SAT TV. For those of you that are interested in maybe trying a half way house, there are a number of dealers in the UK who sell both new and used digiboxes. Many of these can be found on the internet, and a few even sell there wares via the auction sites such as EBAY. The used boxes are more expensive than the police auctions, but usually come with a 12 month warranty, remote control, and in many cases a viewing card. If you want to know more, I recommend that you try the links below. They are to various related sites and worth a browse, and in the case of the Manual tuning link - a veritable wealth of down to earth information and useful links. SES ASTRA
- Shows the footprint or broadcast areas of the ASTRA satellites (SKY) |