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 [...]
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun team (including the lovely Jasmine Harman), who were filming in my area. They have some house hunters who want to move to the Gandia area, which gave the A Place in the Sun team a reason to come here and their first experience, to the [...]
So, 2011 gradually ebbs away – a year that many people in Spain will be pleased to see disappear, hoping that 2012 will herald better times ahead. Unfortunately, I fear that may not be the case and there are compelling arguments to suggest that 2012 may be more difficult and challenging for Spain than 2011. So, how does one round [...]
I am delighted to report that my book ‘How to Buy Spanish Property and Move to Spain – Safely’ has just been published in print form, as well as being now available on Kindle and as an e-book. In fact, I received my first copies yesterday, which is always a nerve wracking moment for an author (does the cover look [...]
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 [...]
Buy Now! Print version from Amazon - only £14.99 Buy Now! Kindle version from Amazon - only £7.99 Buy E-Book Version - only £7.99 80,000 words – 327 pages! 26 sections! plus over 160 vital Spanish Terms and Definitions plus Useful Contacts 9 highly qualified, professional contributors (Spanish and British) Written by a Spanish industry ‘insider’ and professional author “…required reading…” Martin Dell, Kyero.com “…it’s like [...]
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 [...]
Oddly enough, Valencia was, for a long time, the ‘forgotten’ city of Spain. Few Europeans knew that it existed and even fewer visited it. This is despite Valencia being the third largest city in Spain, an important port, the capital of the (very large) autonomous region of Valencia and an intrinsic part of the overall culture of Spain. Of course, [...]
If you do any research into moving to Spain then it will not take you long to find out that the process is nothing less than a minefield – most particularly if you intend buying a Spanish property. Indeed, the more you read, the more that you will come across horror stories which are likely to fill you with misgivings. [...]
I have never been anything other than enthusiastic about the joys of living in Spain nor have I ever pretended to be other than utterly biased about La Drova as the place in which to live. Indeed, I daily thank our good fortune in choosing La Drova which is, to my mind, the perfect place in which to live permanently in [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
In Spain, football is an obsession that seems to govern (at least male!) life in Spain. Rarely can you enter a bar, for example, without a television showing a Spanish football match or endless replays of footballing incidents. If you think that no football is evident, then listen carefully to the ‘talking heads’ and – you guessed it – they [...]
So, I owe a very big thank you to the Spanish state health service! Recently they did nothing less than save my life – which is why there has been an absence of Posts on Culture Spain for a while… A couple of weeks ago, I had a heart attack! This, to put it mildly, was something of a shock. [...]
In a previous Blog I mentioned how you can happily live in Spain without learning Spainish. This is particularly true of coastal areas where there is a network of ex-patriots supplying products and services specifically to English speakers. This is complemented by the Spanish themselves (particularly those under forty years old) who often understand sufficient English to allow for communication [...]
Looking back over the past seven years, I think I have only one major regret about our move to Spain. Ironically, for a Spanish property specialist, it is about – property! Well, in a way… When we came over, we did exactly what I advise in my recent book: we rented a property for three months to enable us to [...]