What living in Spain is REALLY like

What to do when stuck in Faro?

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:07:00 +0000

Some friends of mine who have been on holiday in Portugal are, like many people at the moment, stuck, unable to get a flight back to the UK yet. They are waiting at Faro airport for some positive news.

This is a disastrous situation for everyone concerned and I really hope they, and everyone else affected, manage to get back very soon.

I was however looking on Faro Airport Guide and found that there are a few interesting shops at the airport there, but I suppose you'd get bored of those pretty quickly!

I'll let you know how they get on.

Holiday rentals in Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:19:00 +0000

It's around this time of year that many people start planning their summer holidays and looking into holiday rentals in Spain.

If you are looking for somewhere to rent in the summer then take a look at the great selection of rentals on Eye on spain. They are listed by our members and there are some great deals to be head.

To help you out here are some quick links to our rentals sections:

Holiday rentals Malaga

Holiday rentals Marbella

Holiday rentals Estepona

Holiday rentals Alicante

Holiday rentals Almeria

Holiday rentals Torrevieja

Holiday rentals Vera

Holiday rentals Velez Rubio

Holiday rentals Cadiz

Holiday rentals Torrox

Holiday rentals Manilva

Holiday rentals Benahavis

Holiday rentals Carratraca

Holiday rentals San Javier

Holiday rentals Murcia

Holiday rentals Alhama de Murcia

Holiday rentals Torre Pacheco

Holiday rentals Alberic

Holiday rentals Valencia

Holiday rentals El Ejido

Holiday rentals Formentera del Segura

Holiday rentals Los Gallardos

Holiday rentals Guardamar de Segura

Holiday rentals San Fernando

Holiday rentals Alcaucin

Holiday rentals Almoradi

Holiday rentals Rojales

Holiday rentals Aguilas

Holiday rentals Pilar de la Horadada

Holiday rentals Los Alcazares

Holiday rentals Mazarron

Holiday rentals San Pedro del Pinatar

Holiday rentals Mojacar

Holiday rentals Orihuela

Holiday rentals Algorfa

Holiday rentals Ciudad Quesada

Holiday rentals Canillos de Aceituno

Holiday rentals Olvera

Holiday rentals Casares

Holiday rentals Garrucha

Holiday rentals San Miguel de Salinas

Holiday rentals San Roque

Holiday rentals Roquetas de Mar

Holiday rentals Iznalloz

Holiday rentals Pulpi

Holiday rentals Mijas

Holiday rentals Albir

Holiday rentals Torremolinos

Holiday rentals Fortuna

Holiday rentals Ayamonte

Holiday rentals Arcos de la Frontera

Holiday rentals Benalmadena

Holiday rentals Santiago del Teide

Holiday rentals Fuengirola

Holiday rentals Montejaque

Hope you enjoy your holiday in Spain this year.

I've moved my blog

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:21:00 +0000

For those that have been following my (not very often updated blog) here, well it's going to get even quieter from now on.

I have started my new Living in Spain blog on Eye on Spain.

And I plan on updating it very regularly...promise!

How to sell your Spanish property in a crisis - Book review

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:59:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I got sent another book to review (we get sent a lot of books!). After reading the title I thought this was going to be an absolute waste of time as it's about a problem which seems to have no solution at the moment....

Selling a Spanish property in a crisis

But there was one thing that stood out for me...the author, Nick Snelling. Nick is a very respected and knowledgeable person in the field of real estate and Spain. I really didn't think Nick would put together a load of nonsense just to sell some copies of a book.

So I cracked open a San Miguel, sat on the terrace and started reading...this is what I think of Nick's book.

BRILLIANT!

And that's my review....what? You want to know more? Oh ok....

Whatever the reason for you wanting to sell your property in Spain, you really couldn't have picked a worse time to do so, although it's probably through need more than want.

Nick goes into great detail and shows that armed with the right knowledge and tools you CAN sell your property in Spain today. Even in a crashed market such as Spain's Nick shows you exactly how to do it and to give you and your property "the edge".

It's what we've always said. It's no use just having your property listed with one of the remaing estate agents. If you really want to sell your property today then you have to work it....really work it.

The great thing about this book is that Nick makes it easy for you. If you really don't know what you need to do to sell your property then you definitely need to read this. I don't want to give away information contained in his book but some of the advice he gives is very clever, things I've never even thought about. I found some of his tips when it comes to the "For sale" signs particularly eye opening. Simple things you can do which you may not have thought of and which can be very effective.

And this is what this book is full of. Great tips and advice throughout and I would recommend it to anyone who needs to sell their property in Spain during these tough times.

In today's market it's effort that is rewarded. Arm youself with Nick's book and you'll be in a much better position than most to get that property sold.

Well done Nick for writing such a clear, thorough and helpful book. It's just what was needed.

For more information about the book and to read more reviews about it (including an excellent review by Martin Dell of Kyero.com) check out the page on Amazon:

How To Sell Your Spanish Property In A Crisis - Amazon.co.uk

Best of luck selling your property and leave a comment here if you buy the book to let me know what you thought of it.

End of the blog?

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:33:00 +0000

As you can tell I'm not very good at keeping this blog up to date.

I have made a descision recently to do something a little different...so watch this space...although I won't be blogging much on here from now on!

Ads on Spanish TV to be reduced

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:09:00 +0000

If you watch Spanish TV, especially TVE1 and TVE2 you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that the number and length of adverts on those channels are a real turn off. It's actually why we stopped watching those channels.

So today I was quite exctied to read this article but then realised that something somewhere is very wrong. They are currently supposed to not show more than 10 mintues of ads every hour....that's rubbish! For example, Telediario finishes at 9:45. Then at 10:00 there is 5 minutes of weather (yes, 5 minutes) then another 10 or 15 minutes of ads. Then a film starts and 10 minutes later another set of ads. Where is the 10 minute limit?

So now they are going to reduce it to 9 minutes from next year....yeah right, as if they are really going to respect that too.

I for one will still not bother watching those channels with more ads than programmes.

Off of my soapbox now and get back to work.

Jenson Button and Brawn GP on pole in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:21:00 +0000

What an exciting qualifying session in Australia for tomorrow's formula 1 race. Really happy for Jenson Button on his pole position and Rubens Barrichelo in second. What an amazing result for the new team Brawn GP.

Let's see if Jenson can pull it off.

Seems Alonso wasn't very competitive and neither was Hamilton...interesting race ahead.

Looking forward to Australia Formula 1 action

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:26:00 +0000

It's been painful waiting for the Formula 1 season to come round again but it's finally here.

It looks like Hamilton has been struggling a little in the practice sessions so let's hope they can sort something out for qualifying tomorrow. I'll be up at 6am to watch it.

It will be interesting to see how Alonso gets on this season too. He's not really my favourite driver at all but you can't deny the guy's super talented.

Some of us will be going to the Eye on Spain office on Sunday morning to watch the race which should be good. Another early start but Selwyn says he's going to cook us all a fry up...although I don't think he realises how many of us will actually be there.

Anyway, best get to bed, will be up in a bit to watch the qualifying.

Now, I'm just testing something so please ignore the following....

If you are travelling to Cyprus on holiday then check out the best rates for Larnaca airport car hire from CarTrawler. They search many rental firms and they return the most competitive rate for you.

Cheese please

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Really enjoyed putting together today about's Sieasta Show at the cheese factory in Casares. Juan Ocaña is the main man at the cheese factory in Casares making a truly wonderful product. It's just past the Casares turn off on the road to Gaucin. Well worth a visit to pick up some of his excellent cheese.

Adana animal rescue centre

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:01:00 +0000

For today's webisode of The Siesta Show we visited the animal rescue centre, Adana, based in Estepona. We were really impressed by the commitment of the volunteers there. They work incredibly hard looking after 150 abandoned dogs that they have rescued.

But, they could do with more help and more money. Can you help?

Watch today's webisode about Adana

We do a supermarket price comparison in Spain today

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:31:00 +0000

For today's Siesta Show we went to five different supermarkets in Spain to buy some essentials and compare prices. We bought five items in each store and the difference is over 1 Euro between the cheapest and the most expensive. That could make quite a different to a normal weekly shop.

Go and take a look a today's price comparison video >>

Eye on Spain first ever member on today's show

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:07:00 +0000

We're really proud to have Eye on Spain member #1 on the show today. Helen was the first person to ever register on the site and she was the one that made it seem real, all those years ago...

Watch and listen as Helen talks about why she moved to Spain and some of the axieties she felt having just moved here.

Watch Helen's video

Some learning Spanish basics

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Today I was kicked off the sofa for The Siesta Show by Lisa kilkenny as she chatted about her "back-to-basics" approach to learning Spanish.

View the learning Spanish show.

Yummy tapas

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Last Friday night we went out for some tapas in Sabinillas and went to a place called "Lo de Andres". We did, of course, take our camera with us so check out our night of tapas at Lo de Andres.

An exhausting week of filming

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:10:00 +0000

We became TV producers this week, albeit not very good ones. We launched our new daily TV show, The Siesta Show.

It's been quite an interesting experience so far. We've had hiccups with the lighting, the sound and all sorts. It's also incredibly time consuming as apart from the filming there's quite a bit of time involved in playing around with the video, uploading it, getting it on the site, etc, and all at the same time as trying to make the show entertaining!

Anyway, if you missed any of this week's shows you can catch up on them at:

Monday - An intro to The Siesta Show
Tuesday - A chat with Inez Rix about life in Spain
Wednesday - We go for churros and chocolate for breakfast
Thursday - A chat with Technoape (Colin) who's just landed
Friday - Thanks for watching and what's coming next week

Hope you've enjoyed the shows as much as we've enjoyed putting them together.

See you next week.

Watch our video on churros and chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:32:00 +0000

We went down to sunny Estepona today to record today's episode of The Siesta Show. It's all about churros con chocolate. We even managed to film the lady there making them in a very noisy churreria. We actually quite enjoyed doing today's episode, our first one out and about.

You can watch it here.

Our new online TV show is go!

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:45:00 +0000

You wouldn't be able to tell but we've been working really hard to put together our new daily TV show for Eye on Spain: The Siesta Show

Go and watch it and leave a comment.

Hope you enjoy it.

Feliz "Reyes" to our Spanish friends

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:53:00 +0000

Today is the "Reyes" (kings) in Spain. Today is when the Spanish kids get their presents.

So I just wanted to wish any Spanish readers out there a very "Fe.liz Reyes".

We went to the see the Reyes arriving last night. Will post some pics in a bit.

Enjoy, and may you receive many presents!!

Back to work

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Well sort of. Not really back to work yet as brain hasn't quite got back into work mode. Just trying to clear the hundreds of emails that have built up again.

We had a great Christmas. The kids have been happily burying their heads in their new Nintendo DSs which has kept them very quiet for days. I'm totally stuffed with eating so much food so planning a new diet for January. Anybody know any good diets? Don't really want to do Atkins again!

It's rather cold and rainy at the moment but hopefully some sun will shine through soon.

Off home to put the fire on.

Ciao

Merry Christmas everyone

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:39:00 +0000

The kids are mega excited today, of course. They're six years old and Santa is coming tonight!! What a wonderful age and such an exciting time for them.

I just wanted to wish eveyone a really Happy Christmas and a New Year full of joy and success.

It's going to be a tough year all round but I'm really looking forward to it myslef as we have so many cool projects to kick off.

Here's to some fab festive fun for all.

Un abrazo muy grande a todos

Back in cold Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:45:00 +0000

I was in London last week giving a talk at OPP Live on social networking. I actually really like London although it's just a tad too busy for me! I even managed to get a ride in a police car but that's a long story....

Anyway, I had a really interesting time there and met some great people. I've managed to lose all their business cards which isn't so great but hopefully they'll turn up soon.

Talking to the various companies there it seems that everyone is stuggling worldwide when it comes to real estate, or anything else for that matter. With the greyness of the London skies and lots of people moaning about how tough everything is at the moment it was quite a relief to return to Spain even though it's absolutely freezing here at the moment.

I've got a really busy month ahead. We're re-doing Eye on Spain with a new (modern) new look and we've got our big January "feature" to start putting together which we're all really excited about.

Off to warm up my hand again so be back soon.

Costa del Sol Business Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:55:00 +0000

At the end of October the Costa del Sol Business Awards Ceremony was held as part of the Foreign Residents Business day.

I was delighted to hear that our friends at Sol Channel picked up an award for Innovation and really glad that Maurice Boland, of REM FM fame, was presented with an award for all his excellent work, including raising vital funds for local charities.

Let's see if next year we can get Eye on Spain in there!!

Go Obama!

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:06:00 +0000

US presidential elections today. If I were voting it would most definitely go to Obama.

Best of luck Barack (yes, we're on first name terms!), although I'm sure you won't be needing it.

Renting your property in Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:52:00 +0000

We've been working really hard over the past few months with Lisa Kilkenny to put together the ultimate guide for people looking to rent out their property in Spain.

It really is very good, and I'm not just saying that, but if you rent a property in Spain you need to read this:

Holiday rentals guide

Which shop would you buy shares in?

noreply@blogger.com (Eye on Spain) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:48:00 +0000

At the weekend I sat having coffee with a clever real estate agent, Andrew from Hamilton Homes- as I sat there sipping my coffee, Andrew was counting customers coming out of Zara and H&M – he counted 100 customers leaving Zara and then 100 people coming out of H&M. Out of the 100 customers leaving Zara , 40 people came out with a Zara bag having made a purchase of some sort- in statistics terms 40% of customers made a purchase. Andrew then counted that out of the 100 customers leaving H&M only 10 people came out carrying a H&M bag. There I was thinking that Andrew did not have anything better to do while we had our coffeee, but actuallty this pointless exercise really did have a real meaning. Read this recent news report.

In these uncertain times of credit crunch and financial crisis it is good to go back to basics and keep your eyes open and ears to the ground. Next time you are wandering around at the La Cañada shopping centre have a look around and see which shops are selling and which shares you need to be telling your bank or stock broker to buy and which to sell!