Hi Stephen, yes we where over last week for three days. (lunes a jueves) We got a few things sorted, bank accounts, went to Ikea e.t.c. For those who like Ikea the Murcia store has it's own hire vehicles, you can hire them for as long as you like (2 hours, half or full day) and it's about the same price as having it delivered.
Just a bit of info regarding bank accounts if you bank with Barclays here in the UK you can use their fee-free overseas payment service. You can download the account form online, open the account at a Barclays branch in Spain, we opened ours in one of the branches in Murcia city, the address is: Plaza Santa Isabel 7, 30004 Murcia. This branch is only about 200 yards across the road from the smaller of the two El Corte Ingles stores. Once you have posted off the completed form and the account has been opened, all you then need to do is telephone and tell them how much you would like transferred. They will tell you the Euro rate at that time, which is about one to one and half cents less than the bank rate but two or three cents higher than the tourist rate. Obviously if you are sending a large amount to complete on your property then it's best to check all the currency companies: Currencies Direct, Moneycorp, HIFX plc all on line. (the above account is only Barclays to Barclays)
Anyway about Frondoso Valley, things have really moved on since our visit in July 08. There must be about 200 houses at different stages of completion, M1, M2 and M4 are all really pushing on and the sales people are saying they are waiting to have utilities connected ready for completions. I think completions will commence early in the new year, ours had the downstairs shower room and the main bathroom nearly complete. The kitchen, air conditioning and the heating require completion plus the internal walls require the final finish, the wardrobe doors to be fitted and the external landscaping completed. It sounds a lot but it could all be finished in less than a month. Some of the childrens play areas are complete, the walkways (some block paved and some tarmaced) and the islands have been landscaped to a high degree, my wife and I was very impressed with the whole scenario. We have had our doubts over the last 3.5 years but everytime we go we realise we did the right thing.
Regards
Geoff y Pat