19 Nov 2011 2:47 PM:

We live in West Wales and have a property near Alicante. The majority of our journeys are by air, and we hire a small car when we arrive. We have travelled by car, on two different routes - one using the Plymouth to Santander ferry and driving via Madrid to Alicante, the other through France [via Luxembourg] and down the coast via Barcelona. Both these routes have some beautiful scenery and interesting places to stop and stay if you wish. If using the Santander route, we take two days, sleeping overnight on the ferry, and arriving at Santander at lunchtime, then driving to Alicante in around 8 hours. Through France takes longer obviously - we go via Luxembourg [my sister lives there and we stay overnight] and the second day gets us to around Carcassone or Barcelona, finishing the journey on the third day. Costs are very relevant, and the length of stay is important. The Santander [return] route costs around £600 for the ferry [depends on time of year], with fuel costs of around £300 [at 35mpg]. The France route costs around £50 for the ferry [or cheaper] and fuel around £500, two overnight stay at perhaps £50 each [you really cannot safely do it in one or even two days], the road tolls in France of around £80 or more. Then, for both routes, you have extra insurance cover for your car, and perhaps roadside assistance, and the cost of all your meals en route. And don't forget you lose a number of days off your visit.

For stays of up to 6 weeks or so, it is much cheaper to fly and hire, especially when hire charges are low - you can hire a small car at the moment for around £40 a week! [Much higher I know in summer].

Hope this helps.

Forum thread: manchester to la manga ?

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09 Sep 2007 8:39 PM:

Seems a bit confusing to me. I understood the 'huts' were for police officers, with CCTV monitoring by those officers [or police employees], but the suggestion seems to be that a private security firm will, or may, be doing the monitoring and patrol. It would be useful to have the full information on this, especially if the communities are going to make a decision on funding for security. I am going out in October and will try to get the full picture. Anyone else who can do it sooner?

Community thread: new home urgently required for 2 small dogs

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09 Sep 2007 12:00 AM:

Have just completed purchase on R7. I've been trying to make sense of all the taxation issues for non-residents, but every website gives different advice. Does anyone know if the properties are automatically registered with the tax authorities, or do we have to do this individually? As non-residents do we have to have a fiscal representative for IBI [property tax] purposes? How do we get a 'valor catastral', and if it sometimes takes years to get a value, what 'rates' do we pay in the meantime? What about the charges for 'basura'? It's all probably very simple, but everyone I speak to has a different view.

Can anyone help?

 

Peter

Community thread: can i use my uk driving licence in spain permenently??

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26 Jul 2007 10:33 PM:

I go out to Spain regularly and have hired from a number of companies. I always ask for a security pack when at the office [contains triangles and vests] and pay a returnable deposit of about 18 euros. You can ask for more vests in the pack. However, none of them provide spare bulbs, and all of them deny that this is a legal requirement! I must admit I've never had an 'insurance' document, only a copy of the hire contract. I'll ask for one next time!

Peter C    

Forum thread: Are Car rental companies making you break the Law in Spain!

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26 Jul 2007 10:21 PM:

Hi Bill

We used Simply Air Con, they are English and based I think in La Marina. Email address is simplyaircon@tiscali.es and phone no is 0034 966795027.

They were excellent - gave sound advice and saved me money. I had Panasonic units [first quality] with one downstairs and a smaller one upstairs. They work perfectly, and they are efficient heaters too. Cost me around 1800 euros. Clean workers, and fast, and they put the units where you want them, not where it's easiest for them.

Peter C

Community thread: TAXI FROM FUENGIROLA STATION TO CALAHONDA

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