Green Lemons are Limes

Car

Yet another thing we got wrong!

We found a car we wanted to buy, Spanish plated, old and cheap.

But we were still waiting for our appointment to get our NIE numbers.

Again we listened to the wrong people this time the person selling the car, we were told we would not be able to get it transferred into our name until we had our paperwork. WRONG!

After renting a car for much longer than we needed to we found this just wasn’t true. You can legally drive a car on a piece of paper issued by an asesoria until you have the correct documents and it can be insured.

We would never dream of driving an uninsured car, as it turned out that’s a good job.

My first ever drive out in our new car and it broke down!

Unable to speak Spanish, I didn’t know what to do. I found the documents (they were in English) and called the number. Thankfully they spoke English but when the mechanic called me back to find out where I was, which I wasn’t 100% sure of, if truth be told, he only spoke Spanish.

Panic started to set in but then it hit me, one of the Estate Agents we had been dealing with (not the bad one!) was within walking distance.

I walked up and he was so helpful, came back to the car with me and spoke to the mechanic on the phone and then stayed with me until it was fixed. 

The car didn’t give us any more problems after that until it was written off almost a year later.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Rental properties in the Spanish village we wanted to live in were very far and few between. Barry had found the only one which was available at short notice, hence it was far from ideal.

The first week of our Spanish life was busy, with trying to clean up our rental property. Really is unbelievable the amount of filth some people live in and the amount of tat they leave in a rental property. We moved all the things we didn’t need or couldn’t clean into one of the bedrooms, it was full. Then we stored all the items we had brought with us but didn’t need straight away in the most unusual bedroom I have ever seen. It had a toilet plumbed into it but in the middle of the room, what’s that about?

We found a bar where the landlord spoke some English, he would turn out to be the person who lead us in a direction we never in a million years thought we would go! His wife was a teacher, so we arranged to start having Spanish lessons with her. It was already frustrating not speaking the language, I would say ‘hola’ to the people I pasted in the street, but when they tried to talk to me, which most did, I was lost, no clue what they were saying at all. I wanted to fit in and be a real part of the community. To do that I had to get at least some Spanish under my belt.

It turned out that I found it very difficult in the classroom setting, even though the class was just for Barry and myself. Having had not the best English education I had no clue about verbs and grammar, let alone past, present and continual. 

However I wanted to learn, I needed to be able to communicate, I found going for a coffee after the class was working much better for me. I needed a more practical approach. 

This wonderful couple would help us in so many ways, our teacher even set up the appointment for us to get our residences because we didn’t have NIE numbers we were able to do them both together. She made sure we had all the paperwork we needed and yet again we travelled to Almeria, this time knowing where the new offices were.

This time it was easy, we went in for our appointment and bingo came out with the documents we needed.

*Top tip: getting your paperwork does not need to be as hard as we made it, go straight to an asesoria and save yourself time, money and hassle.

We have arrived

The first day in our new country was a mix of excitement and nerves.

First thing in the morning we went to school, we had taken a translator with us. But yet again had fallen into the trap of thinking, if someone speaks more of the language than you they must be fluent. 

The headmistress called the English teacher in to help, but that worryingly didn’t help at all, as luck would have it, the sports teacher walked past just then and his English was streets ahead of the other staff members.

All the paperwork was completed and the girls would start school the following week. 

Now to see our new home.

As we climbed the narrow alleyways in the beautiful mountainside village that was now our home, my heart began to sink. I would have to make this trip every time I went to the supermarket, the only place to park the car was on the outer town road.

 How were we going to get our belongings in?

The answer was we would have to block off one of the towns tiny roads and walk it up the alleyway and to the house.

Barry’s description of the house was wonderful, the reality was not.

It had bag’s of potential but we were only renting, so wouldn’t want to do too much.

It was full of the owner's belongings and was disgustingly filthy.

Everywhere needed painting urgently, especially the bathroom and kitchen.

We only had two weeks to knock the house into shape and make it liveable before my dad came to stay.

It was time to get to work.

On Our Way 

The date was fixed for our big move. Barry would go on ahead and find us somewhere to rent and getting the girls into the local school.

I would move out and stay with Dad for two weeks, allowing the girls to finish the school term and for me to clean the house once it was empty, so it was spotless for our lovely new tenant.

The girls finished school and we spent time at goodbye parties and making sure we spent time with family.

Barry and a family friend drove a van full of our things over to Spain and started looking for our next home.

His description of our new home sounded amazing, it was a townhouse, which benefits would include really getting to know life in a small town, the community and customs. It was also easy walking distance to the school.

Get the girls into school was proving a little more difficult, they wanted to meet me and the girls before they would accept them.

The two weeks flew by and it was time for our new life to begin. 

Dad took us to the airport and outside customs, we said our goodbyes. It really felt like we were saying goodbye forever, which was totally crazy as Dad had already booked a flight for two weeks to come and see how we were getting on. 

New Home?

Barry and I flew back to Spain to sort out the paperwork for our new house, we had paid a deposit before we left the last time, now we needed to meet the solicitor and get our NIE’s to proceed with the sale. 

It was a flying visit, so with no time to lose we drove straight to the solicitors. We sat down and as she explained the property we were buying. Hang on, that’s not right! She described the stable building, no mention of the house or the land, she advised us not to buy it as it was clear there was a major problem with the paperwork.

I was disappointed and angry, we had come here to buy a house and now we would be leaving empty-handed. We went directly to the estate agent to get our deposit back. They suggested that if we had used their solicitor it would not have been a problem. Not for them maybe but for us when the true owners turned up at the door wanting their house back, with the paperwork proving ownership, I saw red. Barry sent me out of the office as smoke was threatening to come from my ears, I do not often lose my temper but when I do I really do and Barry knows this.

They told him they did not have the deposit in the office and to return the next day, so away we went with our fingers crossed that they would give it back and we wouldn’t have to take legal action.

The next day we returned, to be told they still didn’t have our deposit and to come back later. So we hung about and waited until the time they had said, this gave me too much thinking time, my head was spinning with how I would solve this problem. I was not leaving again without my deposit, if need be I would sit in front of the office telling everyone who walked past what they had done and make a real nuisance of myself if they called the police even better. 

Thankfully, I didn’t have to put the plan into action and they gave back the deposit on our return and we never dealt with them again.

This regrettable situation did not put us off moving to Spain but we did need a different plan if we wanted to move before the Stat exam. We decided to rent and keep house hunting, giving us as much time as we needed, rather than try to rush things.