15 Oct 2013 11:56 PM:

The UK European Consumer Centre (part of the Trading Standards Institute) are always worth contacting in this sort of situation. We found them really helpful when a company took 1,000€ deposit from us for furniture, the shop closed down, we had no goods and we couldn't trace them. The UK office contacted the Madrid office and eventually they found the company and we got every cent back. Also, the threat of contacting the UK ECC was enough to get a refund when a well known car hire company in Spain took 3 payments from our credit card for a cracked windscreen that wasn't cracked when we left it. Until we threatened to contact the ECC they had been ignoring requests for the money to be refunded. 

If these car hire companies were reported to the UK European Consumer Centre then it may put enough pressure on them to make sure their cars are legal/roadworthy. Also if they refuse to pay the fine or are not in any hurry to pay the fine I'm sure being contacted by the European Trading Standards might make them a bit more compliant. Surely they wouldn't like to end up on a Trading Standards bad boy list in the UK and/or Spain! 

Mande

Thread: To what extent is Spain a police state?

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28 Apr 2012 7:49 PM:

I agree with Aquadulce - good location.

Spanish holiday resort with a few hotels and a good selection of bars and restaurants. Coastal town with beautiful well kept beaches, marina, shops/supermarkets. The larger resort of Roquetas is nearby for shopping centres, there are also some British bars and restaurants in the urbanisation if you wanted - not many Brits left there now, more of a Spanish holiday resort and still quite a few German owners in the area! Almerimar is a little further along the coast. 2 markets nearby (Vicar and Roquetas). Good bus links for the surrounding area, shops and Almeria City.

It's close to the coastal motorway. Plenty of golf courses around - if you are golfers. If you like to walk the promenade starts in Aquadulce and ends in Almerimar going via the nature reserve - I believe it takes at least 6 hours to do the walk..........never done it myself though!

Pretty much got everything you need in or around the resort. if you get on the beach side of town it has more of a village feel to it. Evenings around the marina are lovely and very popular with Spanish - local and visitors.

Good luck with your search - there are plenty of suggestions on here to keep you busy!

 

Thread: Nice towns to consider living near the coast between Almeria and Valencia

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