buying an apartment in spain
Discussion
After 2-years, I have come to the conclusion that our Man Co is really an expensive employment agency. Their management fees must be trivial compared to the on-charges for employing cleaners and pool man at €10 - 15 / Hr. They do not set tasks or supervise so the cleaner mops the tiled landings everyday, but never does staircases, doorframes and handrails etc. We just let it wash over us.
With regards to Cadiz, it reminded me of Plymouth. A great naval history, but completely neglected owing to its distant proximity to the Capital. The old city suffers from neglect. Many significant building are being left to crumble. Even a recent attempt to display 2 sarcophaguses never gets its glass cleaned and steelwork is rusting. Obviously a harsh climate from time to time. Malaga is a much nicer city with a lot going on and Granada, Seville and Cordoba are possibly better. The walking tour is a must if you are interested in its varied history.
Like the rest of Andalucia, the people are very friendly and there are great restaurants. Michael Portillo is currently doing a series on C5 visiting these historic cities and next Tuesday, it will be on Cadiz.
With regards to Cadiz, it reminded me of Plymouth. A great naval history, but completely neglected owing to its distant proximity to the Capital. The old city suffers from neglect. Many significant building are being left to crumble. Even a recent attempt to display 2 sarcophaguses never gets its glass cleaned and steelwork is rusting. Obviously a harsh climate from time to time. Malaga is a much nicer city with a lot going on and Granada, Seville and Cordoba are possibly better. The walking tour is a must if you are interested in its varied history.
Like the rest of Andalucia, the people are very friendly and there are great restaurants. Michael Portillo is currently doing a series on C5 visiting these historic cities and next Tuesday, it will be on Cadiz.
PF62 said:
That's just meeting management - if you let people mouth off they will so just tell them "tough" and move to the vote. Again, won't win you any friends but will achieve the aim without hours of nonsense.
30+ years in corporate taught me the value of taking people with you is better than forcing something on them whenever possible! rdjohn said:
After 2-years, I have come to the conclusion that our Man Co is really an expensive employment agency. Their management fees must be trivial compared to the on-charges for employing cleaners and pool man at €10 - 15 / Hr. They do not set tasks or supervise so the cleaner mops the tiled landings everyday, but never does staircases, doorframes and handrails etc. We just let it wash over us.
With regards to Cadiz, it reminded me of Plymouth. A great naval history, but completely neglected owing to its distant proximity to the Capital. The old city suffers from neglect. Many significant building are being left to crumble. Even a recent attempt to display 2 sarcophaguses never gets its glass cleaned and steelwork is rusting. Obviously a harsh climate from time to time. Malaga is a much nicer city with a lot going on and Granada, Seville and Cordoba are possibly better. The walking tour is a must if you are interested in its varied history.
Like the rest of Andalucia, the people are very friendly and there are great restaurants. Michael Portillo is currently doing a series on C5 visiting these historic cities and next Tuesday, it will be on Cadiz.
We have 150 properties in our urbanisation, and a budget of >€500k/yr. We have a full time cleaner and a part time concierge directly employed by us, as well as a ‘handyman’ who’s really a self employed builder but is on retainer to us for 5 half days a week. We also now have 3 full time gardeners. With regards to Cadiz, it reminded me of Plymouth. A great naval history, but completely neglected owing to its distant proximity to the Capital. The old city suffers from neglect. Many significant building are being left to crumble. Even a recent attempt to display 2 sarcophaguses never gets its glass cleaned and steelwork is rusting. Obviously a harsh climate from time to time. Malaga is a much nicer city with a lot going on and Granada, Seville and Cordoba are possibly better. The walking tour is a must if you are interested in its varied history.
Like the rest of Andalucia, the people are very friendly and there are great restaurants. Michael Portillo is currently doing a series on C5 visiting these historic cities and next Tuesday, it will be on Cadiz.
Our management company fees are a tiny proportion of the overall budget.
Thanks for the info on Cadiz… we’ll definitely find time to go in the spring as it’s only a couple of hours drive.
Agree on Malaga… we absolutely love it. A proper city, but small enough to walk round and great eateries!
Chris Stott said:
But the evenings have turned cooler now and I had to put the duvet back on the bed end of October. No need for heating yet… so my electricity bill was a whopping €52 last month 
I think I need to take a look at my electricity bill. I was there for 2 nights in November. The only things using electricity when we are not there are the alarm and the internet router, which is only on for the alarm. Possibly a nearly empty fridge freezer too. Maybe the cleaner did a washing load. Aircon wasn’t on when I was there.Only use while there is charging a phone and iPad and a few hours of a Sonos. Bill is going to be €34eyebeebe said:
I think I need to take a look at my electricity bill. I was there for 2 nights in November. The only things using electricity when we are not there are the alarm and the internet router, which is only on for the alarm. Possibly a nearly empty fridge freezer too. Maybe the cleaner did a washing load. Aircon wasn’t on when I was there.Only use while there is charging a phone and iPad and a few hours of a Sonos. Bill is going to be €34
If I am only at the Spanish pad for a week - 10 days PCM I notice my electric bill is pretty much identical as to if I don't go at all. The potencia charge is akin to pretty much a predicted use of 1/3 - 1/4 month at a guess so I don't see any real difference unless I am in residence beyond, say, 1/3 of the month. My own times at the Spanish pad have been seriously curtailed by my own employment situation, pretty much on par with eyebeebe's Mrs situation. Flexibility to WFH but not outside of the country. I was self-employed until a year ago and might look to go back that direction only to give me the flexibility I crave to revert to my old life.
I was due over a few weekends ago for a long weekend but my Mum passed away unexpectedly which has meant the last 3 weeks have been hell. With the funeral behind us I am heading over Thursday night on my own for a bit of down time, reflection and of course sun and to also check on the house as haven't been able to visit for some months and we are heading over from Denmark at Christmas to then spend New Year.
Glad to read all of you other folks are doing well.
A big chunk of your Spanish bill will be the ‘potencia contratada’. In other words the maximum wattage you can draw at any given time. The bigger the number the more you pay. When we moved in we had something ridiculous like 10kw. We knocked that back to (from memory) about 4kw, which is enough to cover the kitchen with all the appliances running. We don’t have aircon, so the kitchen is where the big draw is.
If we go over 4kw, then the main switch in the consumer unit trips, and you have to reset it. But on the plus side the leccy bill is lower.
Getting the reduction done was a pain in the tits, and involved mucho queuing at the local utility company office. However, that was years and years ago, and things may have moved on, and you might be able to do it on line now.
If we go over 4kw, then the main switch in the consumer unit trips, and you have to reset it. But on the plus side the leccy bill is lower.
Getting the reduction done was a pain in the tits, and involved mucho queuing at the local utility company office. However, that was years and years ago, and things may have moved on, and you might be able to do it on line now.
Edited by Riff Raff on Friday 1st December 15:24
Yeah, it will probably mostly be the standing charge… actual electricity isn’t that expensive if you’re carful and do things like washing and dishwasher over night or weekends.
Of course heating and AC can be expensive, but the modern inverter systems are much cheaper to use.
4kwh max is a bit low… my hob can draw 7 on its own.
My potencia is 8, and I can run the kitchen and AC/heating without any trips. Just have to be careful if the missus decides to plug the iron in when I’ve got the oven and hob on.
Of course heating and AC can be expensive, but the modern inverter systems are much cheaper to use.
4kwh max is a bit low… my hob can draw 7 on its own.
My potencia is 8, and I can run the kitchen and AC/heating without any trips. Just have to be careful if the missus decides to plug the iron in when I’ve got the oven and hob on.
Shnozz said:
I was due over a few weekends ago for a long weekend but my Mum passed away unexpectedly which has meant the last 3 weeks have been hell. With the funeral behind us I am heading over Thursday night on my own for a bit of down time, reflection and of course sun and to also check on the house as haven't been able to visit for some months and we are heading over from Denmark at Christmas to then spend New Year.
Glad to read all of you other folks are doing well.
Shnozz, very sorry to hear your news please accept my condolences. I hope you enjoy Spain next week, the weather looks good at the moment. Glad to read all of you other folks are doing well.
Chris Stott said:
4kwh max is a bit low… my hob can draw 7 on its own.
Should have said that the hob, hot water and heating are mains gas. So it's just the oven, dishwasher and washing machine to worry about. You can safely use two out of the three at the same time with no problems.As I said though, the 4kw figure is just from memory. I can't check a bill as we're not in Spain at the mo. We're gaving the gotelé finish removed from the walls and ceilings of the rooms that still have it from next week on, and based on the mess that that caused the last time we did a couple of rooms, there's no way we want to be living in the flat while the work is going on. Should be all done and re-painted by Reyes with a bit of luck.
Riff Raff said:
Should have said that the hob, hot water and heating are mains gas. So it's just the oven, dishwasher and washing machine to worry about. You can safely use two out of the three at the same time with no problems.
As I said though, the 4kw figure is just from memory. I can't check a bill as we're not in Spain at the mo. We're gaving the gotelé finish removed from the walls and ceilings of the rooms that still have it from next week on, and based on the mess that that caused the last time we did a couple of rooms, there's no way we want to be living in the flat while the work is going on. Should be all done and re-painted by Reyes with a bit of luck.
That will be absolutely fine then… the hob is the big one. As I said though, the 4kw figure is just from memory. I can't check a bill as we're not in Spain at the mo. We're gaving the gotelé finish removed from the walls and ceilings of the rooms that still have it from next week on, and based on the mess that that caused the last time we did a couple of rooms, there's no way we want to be living in the flat while the work is going on. Should be all done and re-painted by Reyes with a bit of luck.
I wish I had gas for the hob
Sorry for your loss Shnozz
Ok, I looked at the bill in more detail. I pay €0.58 a day for the potencia . I also pay €8.11 a month for “home electrical protection”. So around €25 a month standing charges. Electricity itself per kWh is buttons.
Seems like the potencia is about right. The kitchen is electric, although we have city gas for the heating. Having said that I’m not sure if the hob, oven or microwave have even been switched on! Hot food has either been courtesy of the kamado or restaurants. I guess at Christmas they’ll all be in use while the turkey cooks on the kamado.
Ok, I looked at the bill in more detail. I pay €0.58 a day for the potencia . I also pay €8.11 a month for “home electrical protection”. So around €25 a month standing charges. Electricity itself per kWh is buttons.
Seems like the potencia is about right. The kitchen is electric, although we have city gas for the heating. Having said that I’m not sure if the hob, oven or microwave have even been switched on! Hot food has either been courtesy of the kamado or restaurants. I guess at Christmas they’ll all be in use while the turkey cooks on the kamado.
Thanks all for the condolences. It’s been a tough time and my 88 year old dad (12 years mums senior) is now my concern so my life might have to be on pause for a little while - but I digress.
To give you an idea eyebeebe, this is is difference between when I was at the house full time versus now occasional use - you can’t even tell really the fortnight periods I’ve been in residence.
Whereas now with occasional use - the potencia is rarely ‘breached’
Fairly sure my potencia is set to ‘standard’ of about 5.6?
To give you an idea eyebeebe, this is is difference between when I was at the house full time versus now occasional use - you can’t even tell really the fortnight periods I’ve been in residence.
Whereas now with occasional use - the potencia is rarely ‘breached’
Fairly sure my potencia is set to ‘standard’ of about 5.6?
Chris Stott said:
That will be absolutely fine then… the hob is the big one.
I wish I had gas for the hob
I have gas central heating I wish I had gas for the hob
In my defence it was partially installed before I bought. Mine is an older detached villa built around 40 years ago with no insulation anywhere so can get quite cold/damp between Nov and Feb. Aircon heating is an alternative but doesn’t have the same impact of central heating throughout. Plus it’s cheap enough to run for a couple of hours in the evening. Home from home
Shnozz said:
Thanks all for the condolences. It’s been a tough time and my 88 year old dad (12 years mums senior) is now my concern so my life might have to be on pause for a little while - but I digress.
To give you an idea eyebeebe, this is is difference between when I was at the house full time versus now occasional use - you can’t even tell really the fortnight periods I’ve been in residence.
Whereas now with occasional use - the potencia is rarely ‘breached’
Fairly sure my potencia is set to ‘standard’ of about 5.6?
Guessing you have electric heating and don’t use air con looking at the seasonal variation when you were there full time? I know when I was over in August just using the aircon overnight was running at €10 a day. Thankfully not needed all the time or that could get pretty punchy. To give you an idea eyebeebe, this is is difference between when I was at the house full time versus now occasional use - you can’t even tell really the fortnight periods I’ve been in residence.
Whereas now with occasional use - the potencia is rarely ‘breached’
Fairly sure my potencia is set to ‘standard’ of about 5.6?
Nice to finally be here when it’s snowing in Zurich, but got delayed 2 hours because of the snow. I think I upset my local taxi firm by being “last minute”
Our Christmas lights aren’t quite as impressive as Chris’s
eyebeebe said:
Phil. said:
Pleased you are enjoying your new apartment.
Have you considered a digital nomad visa for your wife?
Thanks Phil. Yes, we’ve considered the nomad visa. The problem is you are expected to become tax resident to renew it or put another way, spend more than 6 months of the year in Spain. That would mean losing residency in Switzerland and the company only allows her to work abroad for max 20 days a year. Have you considered a digital nomad visa for your wife?
We’ve also looked at EU citizenship via relatives, but we are sadly too far removed. From what we’ve seen from the Spanish embassy’s website and internet searches there aren’t any short term working visas available for Brits either. There’s no option to wing it either. Requests to work abroad have to be submitted in advance and the corporate VPN geolocates you. I could probably install a router level VPN, but if she were caught it would be a sackable offence.
Chris Stott said:
GT03ROB said:
Anyone any thoughts on the mutterings I was hearing a few weeks back about visas for homeowners being more accessible. I heard the French were looking at similar.
I’ve heard the same rumour, but no idea how much truth there is in it. Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff