14 Nov 2025 10:38 AM:

It seems to me there are plenty of expats retired in Spain doing jobs on the side, I have met people who teach English, work as translators / interptreters, do music gigs, drive limousines, stack supermarket shelves, do accounting, manage real estate for absentee home owners, develop software,  all sorts of jobs to match all different skill levels. I would talk to a tax accountant to find out what you can and cannot do and how to make it legal.

Thread: Working in Spain after retiring?

--------------------------------------

07 Nov 2025 7:59 PM:

My personal costs, small villa, 1960s build, partially refurbished with modern bathroom and kitchen, all new electrics done by a qualified electrician, new windows, moderate thermal insulation under the roof but nothing on the walls. We are two people. We cook with gas and also use gas for hot water. Heating is both portable gas and portable electric heaters, depending on the room. We're not on the gas main but get the orange Repsol flasks delivered (order them online). We don't have a car (we're in El Campello where public transport is pretty good)

We have a garden of about 600 sqm with irrigation, which adds to water consumption.

Electric is about 8 Euros per month when we're away rising to the mid 20s  when we're around.

Water is about 80 Euros for every three months. Sometimes as much as 120. Sometimes as little as 40.

Gas is about 16 euros a flask and we get through about one every month in the winter and one every three or four months the rest of the year. We have several spare flasks just in case (well worth the extra cost). Gas installations have to be inspected every few years and Repsol usally contact us to remind us when we are due. So far we have always passed without any quibbles.

We use the pre-payed tickets for the tram. which comes down to about 80 cents a trip.

IBI tax is about 340 for a year, plus about 110 for the basura.

 

Thread: What Are the Hidden Costs?

--------------------------------------

28 Oct 2025 4:28 PM:

Maybe you should be speaking to a different sollicitor? It sounds to me as if they are either out of their depth on this matter or just not interested.

Of course you can stipulate that you wish UK law to apply to your inheritance. Make sure a good solicitor helps you get the wording correct and watertight though. Spanish inheritance taxes would still apply, mind you.

Thread: Arranging a Spanish Will with caveats, any help greatly appreciated?!

--------------------------------------

20 Oct 2025 1:00 PM:

I would start of by carefully reading the constitution of the comminity, to see if there are any rules regarding this (you cannot excluse that they are legally and officially allowed to do that)

If you find nothing in writing, I would discuss it with neighbours and find out if you have allies, or if there is maybe some back story you did not know about.

The president can easily ignore complaints from one person but they can't ignore mass discontentment, especially if you bring this up at the annual meeting of owners.

Thread: Community garden areas

--------------------------------------

10 Oct 2025 4:39 PM:

I wouldn't necessarily blame the sparkys or even Spain. Some of the worst examples I have seen were in tourist owned houses. Lots of people do DIY electrics and will use up whatever colours of cable they have left over or can pick up on the cheap somewhere, being content when "it works" and giving little regard to safety or correct installation. I recently helped a friend renovate an appartment they had bought (1960s build) and although some parts of the house were correctly wired, in other areas there didn't seem to be any recognizable pattern or logic in the colours of the cables, and nothing was labelled. Basically I had to use a multimeter and then sketch all the wiring on paper going from junction box to junction box to work out what was going on.

Thread: Lights are not always included

--------------------------------------