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Hi,
my partner and I are moving to Alicante next month to try it for a six month period,trial if it works great,
Thing is....Do I need to take out health Insurance?
Jobs??? where do we start??
Mobile phones???? How do we go about getting spanish numbers etc???
Any advise would be greatly appreciated Thanks
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Go to any phone shop you will need ID passport will do, Get a EHIC card, i would also take out holiday insurance,plus other private ins if you can afford it. Jobs very very hard evan if you can speak spanish.
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Nigel
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I am also moving to Spain with my partner next weekend for a 6 month trial period. I work from home in UK for a global company which has agreed I can do the same from Spain and my partner is singer/guitarist so hoping for gigs in bars and restaurants. Be really interested to hear how you get on and share experiences. I looked at health insurance but was very expensive and found that we can receive care if needed but not anything that could wait for a return to UK. My biggest concern is buying a car. Decided to sell car here, didnt want the drive down, and going to buy on arrival. It seems I may need an NIE or I think a rental agreement may do it. Be grateful if anybody can confirm that. Renting a house in Guardamar for 6 months and will then look for longer term rent if want to stay.
Sandra
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Nigel
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Personally, I would advise against buying a second-hand car in Spain, as the bureaucracy is a nightmare and I had a very bad experience of buying one which broke down within 5 days and cost a fortune to repair over a period of 6 months and then I couldn't even part-exchange it because the paperwork was incomplete.
You could think about a combination of car hire and using public transport - unless you can get a really good deal on 6 months rental. If you only stay for 6 months you will have a big problem then trying to sell the car if you buy one - it's easy enough to buy things in life (cars, houses etc) but very difficult to then sell them.
Or, just having second thoughts about what I said - maybe, if you paid for a gestor (lots of people use these - they're kind of one down from a lawyer - to deal with bureacracy) to sort the paperwork and bought a cheap car, which you could sell on cheaply, you might be okay - but then you have the unpredictable risk of costly repairs, insurance, tax etc.
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My account of moving to Spain. http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/olives.aspx"><img
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Why is the Bureaucracy in buying a car a nightmare? We have bought 2 cars in Spain with no hassle whatsoever. Even the car tax is automatically linked so you don't even have to go to the SUMA office. Even then that would have been simply one direct debit form which you get with your documents. We did not even have to go to trafico in Alicante, either, all done by post. Unless you're buying some old banger from Pedro the Fisherman which hasn't seen car tax or ITV for many a year it's quite a simple process. And wouldn't buying a second hand car anywhere be just as fraught with problems? I do agree on not buying if you're only there for six months, though. Especially in Alicante where the public transport is so good.
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You share your experience, and I'll share mine. Don't question the legitimacy and veracity of my experience and I won't question yours. Some people on this Forum seem to think that on any given subject there is only one truth and seem unable to recognise the contrasting and differing experiences of others. They then set up an argument. I had this a few days ago on another thread when I told of my experiences in a village and someone else suggested that their experiences on an urbanisation were somehow more valid or representative. They weren't; they just stemmed from having a different experience. It's annoying and as usual detracts from the main point of the original post.
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My account of moving to Spain. http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/olives.aspx"><img
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I think I come down on the side of maridav on this one. Eggcup had a bad experience (haven't we all) buying a car and then suggests you shouldn't but a car in Spain. Well, I once bought a second hand car in UK and the clutch went after a week. Private sale, no warranty. Should I now advise no-one in UK should buy a second hand car? Workmate of mine in UK bought a second hand car through the paper. A month later, the police impounded it as it had been stolen. Should I now tell people the system in UK is flawed? Of course not! Eggcup is implying it's the same for everyone which it clearly isn't. If it were, nobody would ever buya second hand car. By all means, share your experiences, good or bad. But alluding to the fact it's all spain's fault is a trait all too common on this site of late. Back to the OP who wants to live in Spain for 6 months. Don't buy a car for such a short period. By the time you get your NIE sorted you will be coming to the time when you want to sell it. Use the buses and trains in Alicante as they really are very good. For healthcare, you can use the EHIC for emergencies. Unless you have some ongoing problems, just look at some travel insurance for the interim. If you find you are going to stay, then look around for health insurance (and a car). Finding work as an entertainer may be a problem. I've known very good, professional entertainers give up ang go to Mallorca or Ibiza for the summer season. It seems a very oversubscribed profession in this area. Whatever you do I wish you well. Just make sure you have enough behind you to pay the rent, food and all the other things. As you already have a work from home job, at least you won't be in the business of looking for work as the unemployment rate in this area is very high. (Apologies for disjointed post and bad spelling/missing words. I'm on my phone and it's a pain)
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Thank you, bob. I agree some people are a bit quick on "questioning the veracity" or think there's only one truth. I explained we found it very easy to buy and register a car. If eggcup had explained her "bureaucratic nightmare" it may have been a bit better.
Bob, have you bought a car in Spain? Did you find it as difficult as eggcup appears to have? Are all the people living near in Spanish registered second hand cars going round saying how much of a nightmare it was?
I somehow doubt it.
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Its interesting to hear all your different views, which is where a forum is useful.
Although have rented house for 6 months, plan is to return to UK only for a couple of weeks having found a longer term rental in Spain. My company initially agreed to 6 months as this keeps me in the UK tax system, but if I am happy to move to Spanish residency and tax, then no problem.
So buying a car is my best option. I have bought and sold a number of secondhand cars in the past and I am sure the same worries apply in Spain as they do in the UK. I just want to be sure I understand the paperwork, etc, which I believe I am getting close to. Basically NIE, ITV(MOT), Insurance on the car, proof of ownership from seller, and then make sure I complete all my paperwork properly. Please feel free to tell me if I have forgotten anything important.
We will both apply for NIE anyway as we intend to stay. I will have letter from company confirming my employment whilst in Spain, copy of tenancy agreement, passport copy, etc. Partner will have evidence of music ability, etc to show he has social interet in Spain. He is very aware of the market for gigs in Spain and again, same as here. But having done some research over the last couple of years, it appears a good prospect. Here in UK playing in a band of 5 struggling to get a pub to pay £200, seems a worse deal than solo gigs paying on average 80 euros. We have already made some contacts and have a couple of offers. My salary will pay all our costs, house, food, fuel, etc so any gigs will be a bonus.
Have hired car at airport with unlimited term so can make sure take our time getting the right car and paperwork in order.
Have taken travel insurance to support the EHIC.
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Now, things change rather rapidly in Spain so I hope this is still valid.
If you buy a car in Spain, you need to show either proof of ownership of property (copy of the deeds) or a rental contract with at least 12 months . When we bought our car, the dealers wanted proof of the padron (being on the electoral role) but the rules now seem to be you can't go on the padron until you become a resident (although different town halls still have different rules regarding this which makes it confusing).
However, we had to show a copy of the deeds to the property. When we bought our second car, we were residents so all we required was the residency card and passport (oh, and the money of course).
If you buy from a dealer, all the paperwork will be completed for you and the registration cost should be included in the price of the car. The dealer should also show you the paperwork on the car. The dealer we went through also did an ITV even though it wasn't due for another year.
If you buy privately, make sure all the paperwork is up to date, ITV, permiso (like the logbook) and that you see the originals and that they match the ID document of the seller. You also need to see the Impuesto documents which is the proof that road tax has been paid. Be aware that any debts on the car will go with it and you may become liable for any unpaid road tax etc.
You then need to complete a transfer of ownership form (this can be downloaded from the DGT website) which you complete just like the V5 in UK. You also need a receipt from the seller which is dated and timed (to avoid any old traffic fines). You will be responsible for the transfer tax (not sure how much it is now but I'm pretty sure it was over 100 euros).
There are some good dealers around, as well as some not so good. The advantage with a dealer is that all the paperwork is completed for you and they generally give a 1 year warranty with it. They will not let you drive it away until you show proof of insurance (which can be done by email from the insurance company).
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You certainly done your homework Sandra. Which company did you get insurance through? I have the EHIC card and like you need to back up. My partner lived in Spain for 10 years .He has his insurance and residency numbers already. He is a chef .I am a Sales Rep with catering experience also.however we really prefer to do something together.but can't arrange flyers advertising etc till we get Spanish phone number etc. Although I would have preferred to get this done in UK to take over with us.. Short term I will look for something anything.working from home etc
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Regarding my nightmare buying a second-hand car in Spain, I wrote an extensive post on my blog last year, detailing all the problems and many people commented that they had experienced similar and additional problems. I'm not making a vague assertion as more than a thousand people who read the post on this site can verify.
I repeat that I would never do it again. I did buy off an individual 'dealer' however, and it is possible that if one buys from a larger dealer one may be taking less of a risk, whilst probably paying more than one would from a private person or small-time dealer.
Even when we then bought a new car, part-exchanging the old one, the Suzuki garage we bought the new car from did not do the transfer which they promised to do and for two years we kept receiving parking fines from the part-exchanged vehicle. This necessitated numerous visits to the Suzuki garage and a letter from our lawyer. Also, even with the new car the clutch went within 6 months and the garage said the clutch wasn't covered in the guarantee, so that was an additional expense.
As bobaol has just pointed out, there is also extensive documentation needed when buying, selling and so on. We paid the transfer tax when we bought the second-hand car and then, when we, years later, sold the Suzuki the buyer refused to pay the transfer tax and so we had to, in order to avoid the possibility of being pursued for any infractions they were guilty of in years to come. We had to pay a gestor to sort this out. So we paid when we bought and we paid when we sold.
Whereas I have bought many second-hand cars in the UK and never had a problem, I've bought one in Spain and it was, I repeat, a nightmare. I know my experience isn't an isolated one from the comments I received on my blog and I would definitely go down the route of car hire and/or public transport, especially for a mere 6 months.
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My account of moving to Spain. http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/olives.aspx"><img
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There you go, now we all know what your problem was.
However, if you were to write a blog on a website in UK saying you'd been ripped off when buying a car, I'm sure you'd get hundreds of replies saying the same thing. I still disagree when you imply that people shouldn't buy second hand cars in Spain. Millions do. Same as UK but I wouldn't tell people not to buy a second hand car in UK because one I had wasn't up to standard.
Still doesn't explain the "bureaucratic nightmare", though.
Mind you, after driving through Alicante the other day I'm not sure I'd like to own a car there at all. The Spanish drivers in the south of Spain have the worst reputation for driving among the Spanish. I can't imagine them being any worse than those in Alicante!
This message was last edited by bobaol on 18/04/2014.
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I am not 100% conversant with the Warranty and Guarantee's on new and used cars in Spain but I do know they are covered by the Sale of Goods act governed by the EU directives, obversely worded differently for Spain, I think that unlike the UK certain priced cars in Spain carry different lengths, not sure but 10,000 to 15,000€ cars have a very long term, and surely if you cant get anywhere with the problem through the seller will these denouce's (spelling?) I keep hearing about on here work.
As for the UK if you bought a used car and it had a problem that didn't get fixed correctly and this problem was still apparent after a couple of times of being sorted out this ongoing fault is covered for 6 years, or until it's fully repaired.
If you do buy a used car in the UK and problems arise and you dont get much help for them, then you can let all hell loose on the dealer. If the dealer didn't give you a warranty, conviently forgot, then your in better shape because you get an automatic 6 months.
I am referring to dealer bought cars here, not private bought.
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IMHO Eggcup & Mariedav are both right which just reflects the way things are in Spain, totally unpredictable. There are lots of rules some of which are applied, some not. Some of the Spanish people you deal with apply them, others don't and there will always be a few with different interpretations.
If you do a bit of research and ask questions like using this website you may be better off, but for sure if you are a novice using a gestor makes a lot of sense in most activities involving government departments, police etc.
But beware if you stay in Spain more than 6 months you will be liable for Spanish tax and that will be a nightmare for some. One aspect that does not receive sufficient publicity is that you may well become liable for CGT on the sale of your UK property!
Also check your medical insurance carefully. Quite often annual travel policies sold in the UK have limits per trip so that the medical expenses section only covers trips of 30 day duration. So get good advice from a specialst broker and always put your needs in writing to them, which can be useful if things go wrong.
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Don't argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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Since a couple of people have queried my description of my experience of dealing with Spanish bureaucracy when I bought a second-hand car in Spain, I have re-submitted a post I made last year, which illustrates the problems I faced. Hopefully now the scepticism which implies I am exaggerating may be laid to rest. (NB I have made no effort to generalise that this would be the experience of everyone, but it does give some idea of the amount of paperwork involved, for one thing)
I would also add that, in contrast to the experience in the post, I gave away a car last year to someone in the UK who needed a car but couldn't afford to buy one (essentially the same process as a private sale in the UK, except no money changed hands) and all I had to do was sign the log book and send it off. There was no extra paperwork to do, no visits to government departments, no contacting previous owners for copies of their ID, no need for my ID and no fee. Nada. The two experiences cannot be compared.
The post is in the following link:
http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/olives/12719/Falta-un-papel-(from-my-first-book-on-Spain).aspx
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My account of moving to Spain. http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/olives.aspx"><img
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OK, eggcup. Thank you for sharing that with us. It seems as if you had a bad experience and I can sympathise. Like you, I also gave a car away, in my case to a relative. And it was simply signing the V5 and sending it off.
However, (there's always a however, sorry) looking on websites then almost 7,500 cars in 2011 (the last year data was available) were sold, or attempted to be sold, in UK by people who didn't own the cars. They were still under finance agreements. Maybe doing the basic checks, like checking ID, checking MOT and road tax could have avoided this. And I'm sure you've seen Rogue Traders on Watchdog. People are ripped off all the time. Cut and shunt (cars that have been in accidents and welded together), warranties that aren't worth the paper they are written on and so on.
Spain has a trafico department in virtually every large town. I think the person buying the car (not giving it to someone you know or a friend or buying from the next door neighbour and so on ) should make it their point to check on the legality of the vehicle.
The actual paperwork in Spain is exactly the same as UK. You fill in a form you download instead of one you have. OK, so you have to take it to the trafico itself but there is always one close by. Bit awkward in UK if everyone had to travel to Swansea.
To my mind, anyone who buys a car, whether in UK, Spain or Outer Mongolia, who doesn't make the basic checks deserve everything they get. In your case, when buying, it was different. You had a rogue trader and I feel for you on that. But watching UK TV shows that there are many rogue traders in UK as well.
Bit like the people who buy houses in Spain and leave their brains on the plane.
We were actually told the story (whether true or not but sound plausible) of a chap who went to an estate agent regarding buying a finca. Couldn't find what he wanted and went to the cafe next door where he bought a plot of land from someone who said he was selling. Of course, when he build his house on it he was told to demolish it as it was rural land. Then they complain about the system in Spain.
I would also like to add that I have both bought and sold cars in Spain. Each time through a dealer. At no time have I had to go to a government office. The first one I bought was as a non-resident. I had to provide NIE, passport and copy of house deeds. The dealer did everything. Next time, I sold the car to a dealer. As I was resident, all I had to do was provide a copy of my residence card and passport. The dealer did everything. My new car and I put the old one in as part exchange. Residence card, updated padron for some reason and passport (Obviously I don't have a national ID card).
Again, dealer did everything. No going to any government department, not even filling in the log book (or V5 in UK). So how can I check if everything was done properly? Simple. One trip to the SUMA office in our local town and they tell me which car is now on my records. So no bureaucratic nightmare anywhere along the line. Obviously if I'd done it privately I'd have had to go to the trafico myself but in none of these cases have I had to. And if you think I'm being ripped off then I paid 7,100 euro for the second car which I sold in part exchange 18 months later for 7,000 euro.
And I'm not posting this to decry eggup's contribution. She has given the negative side and I'm sure we're all grateful. I am posting the positive side on the way I have found it. I do, however, still question the statement that she wouldn't advise buying a car in Spain. The alternatives are to walk everywhere, get public transport (and we don't have any where I live) or import a car from UK. Now, that is a "bureaucratic nightmare".
This message was last edited by bobaol on 19/04/2014.
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I really got ripped off twice in Spain...... my first car a Mercedes E Class 8 Years old cost €4000 it was a cut and shut what that means was that it was 2 different cars welded together in the middle, very dangerous, next car was a VW Passat 5 Years old cost €8000 and it was clocked....there was 80,000 miles on the clock as I thoughb,but there was 180,000 miles showed up on the computer when I went for a service , I bought these 2 cars from garages in the area of Torrevieja, then about 3 Years ago I bought a NEW VW PASSAT for €20,000 and had no problem since, my advice to you is buy a new car and hold on to it for many Years to come, DONT GET RIPPED OFF like me.........
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