The state system in Spain, an hilarious insight!
Well, you cannot keep a great gag down and my Spanish lawyer has just sent me a fabulous (short and hilarious!!) video about the state system in Spain. In fact, I featured this video in an article on Culture Spain earlier in the year entitled Bureaucracy in Spain – but I think I am more than justified in highlighting the [...]
The most perfect Art Déco house in Spain
Just occasionally, perhaps only once every four or five years, I come across a house in Spain that is truly extraordinary – somewhere that really does have the ‘Wow!’ factor. Frankly, this is rare in Spain as many Spanish properties lack personality and this applies even to expensive villas on exclusive estates. The latter can appear wonderful but often boast [...]
Gandia, Valencia Province, Spain
Gandia is a town located on the mid eastern side board of Spain. It is within Valencia Province (one of the three Provinces of the Autonomous Region of Valencia Comunitat de Valencia) and is situated some 70 kms south of Valencia City. The immediate area around Gandia is known as La Safor which comprises a number of small towns and [...]
Summer holidays in Spain – 10 things not to forget!
Are you going to be spending your summer holidays in Spain? If so – then make sure that you are well prepared beforehand and pack everything that you need. After all, there is nothing worse than setting out for your holidays and arriving at the airport to find that you have left behind something critical! So, what should go on [...]
Spain, rabbits and the Iberian Lynx
Did you know that there is a really interesting connection between the name España and rabbits – and that the devastating decline of the Iberian Lynx is intimately bound up in both? Well, there are good reasons to believe that the name of Spain (España) derives from the Phoenician word ‘ispanihad’ which evidently means ‘land of rabbits’. This word was [...]
Valencia City of Arts and Sciences
I defy anyone who comes to Valencia city not to be entranced by the City of Arts and Sciences. It is, justifiably, one of the greatest tourist attractions in Spain and a tribute to modern Spanish vision and design. Indeed, the City of Arts and Sciences is such a triumph that, alone, it makes any visit to Spain worthwhile. However, [...]
Culture Spain, Running of the bulls Pamplona – the rules!
The first thing is never consider running with the bulls in Pamplona if you have not seen the encierro before. Even if this is only the Spanish TV1 broadcast (excellent coverage every day of the feria de San Fermín from 7.30 to 8.30 am) which first transmits the run live, then has commentaries, then a re-run with a commentary, and [...]
Las Fallas Valencia, the most incredible fiesta in Spain!
Las Fallas must rank as one of the most extraordinary fiestas in Spain. Indeed, over the past few years it has gained international recognition as one of those remarkable events that you should see – at least once in your lifetime. Certainly, the sheer scale of La Fallas is astonishing with the main festivities taking place over five days (15th [...]
The Alhambra and the Moors in Spain
Some years ago, I was commissioned to write an article which ended up entitled ‘What did the Moors do for us?’. This was, needless to say, a ‘take’ on the famous scene in ‘The Life of Brian’ where the same question was asked about the Romans. Before I started my research my answer to ‘What did the Moors do for [...]
Culture Spain: La Tomatina (the greatest tomato fight in the World!)
Few people would argue that Spain has some pretty incredible fiestas. However, one of the most bizarre has got to be La Tomatina – which is a massive tomato fight. Amazingly, some 30,000 people a year crowd into the village of Buñol to hurl rotten tomotoes at each other. The mess is simply beyond imagination but taking part has become [...]
Culture Spain : MARBELLA VILLA OR BARRIO?
Marbella villa or barrio? The doorbell rang. It was Perla carrying a bucket full of fish. They were small dorada and they were still wriggling. When I had met him in the street yesterday he had asked me if we wanted any fresh fish and I had said yes. This is what he normally does, as he has no phone, [...]
CULTURE SPAIN: THE SAGRADA FAMÍLIA, GAUDI AND BARCELONA
I have to say that whenever I find it difficult to get things done in Spain I think of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. This fabulous building was started in 1882 and is still not finished – with the projected completion estimated to be sometime in 2026. This means that if this date is actually met(!) the Sagrada Família will [...]
CULTURE SPAIN – BULLFIGHTING IN SPAIN
I am sure that most Spaniards would think (probably correctly) that few people outside Spain have the faintest clue about bullfighting. Most non-Spaniards instinctively dislike it – and are shocked by the bloodletting and apparent savagery. And yet, bullfighting in Spain remains popular and is considered by many Spaniards to be a fundamental part of the very culture of Spain. [...]
LIFE IN SPAIN – TEN REASONS FOR MOVING TO SPAIN
I think, like everyone else, I often tend to get too wrapped up in Spanish property and the state of the Spanish property market. It is important, undeniably, but, within it all, I think the whole reason for moving to Spain (or buying a property in Spain) – can be lost. Indeed (and this I have stated countless times), living [...]
SPANISH POLICE – THE POLICE IN SPAIN
Few matters are more confusing initially to someone coming to Spain than the array of police forces encountered around the country. It can be difficult to know who to go to when you are in trouble and why one police force will attend a crime in one place and another elsewhere. In fact, essentially, Spain has three police forces: the [...]
Nick of Culture Spain has invited me to write a view of Spain from the point of someone in the UK aiming to relocate to the country. Some background might be useful in explaining my connection with Spain and thereby the decision process that I am going through (do I move now or wait andwhat makes Spain so attractive?): My [...]
Have you been thinking of buying a property in Spain or moving here but been put it off because you cannot understand the Spanish property market? Are you confused by what is happening and unsure whether to buy now or wait – or do you think that perhaps you may have lost the opportunity of buying your dream home in [...]
One of the most striking changes to Spain that I have seen over the past nine years has been a marked improvement in the infrastructure of the country. By this, I mean virtually anything to do with public works, such as the roads, airports and facilities within towns. To illustrate the point, I could take my own town of Gandia, [...]
As an Anglo-Spaniard with a long history of living and working in Spain on and off over the last 40 years, I was keen to read this recently re-published book of Pritchett’s views and opinions about Spain and its people based on the 4 years he spent in Spain in the 1920s and subsequent visits in the 1940s and 50s. [...]
In January 2002 the Euro became the currency of Spain, replacing the Peseta (which had been introduced in 1869) as the nation’s currency. This set in motion two matters, both of which had a profound effect upon the cost of living in Spain. One of the first effects of the demise of the Euro was an explosion of Spanish property [...]
If you are living in Spain or thinking of doing so (or of buying a holiday home in Spain) then you should know that Spanish property is fundamentally different to that found in the UK and US – and many Nordic countries. You may think that I am referring to the build quality of properties in Spain or perhaps their [...]
As well as being a more than happy house owner and recent resident of Spain, I am also fortunate to have owned a property in France for almost 26 years. Nowadays visits to France are much less frequent than before, usually only a couple of weeks a year in late summer. Our property in France is in a small, typical, very [...]
So, Culture Spain has just received its 100,000th unique visitor – in just over twelve months (since 22 July 2010)! Meanwhile, the number of people coming onto Culture Spain has been steadily increasing day by day, month by month. This, we believe, is because we strive hard to provide information about Spain that is consistently objective and authoritative – whilst [...]
I had an interesting conversation today about living in Spain – with a removals professional who lives here but who works for one of the biggest removal companies in the UK. What this man had to say was enlightening and (rather gratifyingly!) confirmed what I have written in my book about buying Spanish property and moving to Spain. Worryingly, my [...]
Well, bureaucracy in Spain can be frustrating like anywhere else in the world. That is certainly the view of many Spaniards – who often despair of bureaucracy in Spain and this is wonderfully illustrated in this hysterically funny video: Actually, although the video portrays bureaucracy in Spain I think that anyone in the world would be able to recognise the characters and [...]
A few days ago I was sent a link to one of the most hysterical articles about Spain and expats in Spain that I have seen for a long time. Sadly, it was from one of the major UK tabloids and, equally sadly, seemed to give an impression totally at odds to what I had written a few days previously [...]
Lots of predictions will be made over the next couple of days about what will happen in Spain over 2011. Some predictions will, obviously, be right, whilst others will probably turn out to be pure lunacy. However, I think that I can make one prediction that will be accurate – namely that the smoking ban in Spain will change life [...]
I have to say that I have been utterly seduced by Gandia, which is the town in Spain closest to where I live. It is somewhere that has slowly but surely captured my heart – to the extent that I could not envisage living in Spain elsewhere. The odd thing is that Gandia is rather strange! Firstly, the town of [...]
After living in Spain permanently for the past seven years, I would still say that one of the oddest experiences for me tends to be life in Spain during August! This may seem a strange statement – but you have to appreciate how very different August is in Spain, as opposed to (say) the UK. Obviously, August in Spain is [...]
I have never made any secret about my happiness about moving to Spain, where we (my wife and two children) have been for the past seven years. However, I have equally never maintained that life in Spain could be compared to paradise. Living here is certainly not for everyone. Spanish culture (on all levels) is different from the UK and [...]