Utilities in Spain

We are often asked about the utilities in Spain.  If you buy in a town you will almost certainly have mains water but if you have a villa on the edge of or outside the main town you may not have mains sewage but have a septic tank instead.  This surprises a lot of people but in parts of Spain this is normal.  If you buy a rural property you may not have mains water but use a private well or have water delivered by tanker to fill your huge storage tank.

 

Generally mains water is of drinkable quality these days, gone are the days when you had to buy it bottled.  To get around shortages of water there are now a number of desalination plants around the coast taking sea water and cleaning it up for local use.  There are also a number of reservoirs now that are also small hydro-electric plants.  Water supply in the Alicante region doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.

 

Gas has until recently been bottled only in most areas but towns are slowly having mains gas installed.  Again this surprises many Brits looking to buy in Spain, and of course using bottles of gas for central heating is pretty expensive.  Using portable gas heaters is common practice and fairly economical too.  Modern air conditioning units have settings for cooling or heating and are sufficient for use in a bedroom, although not necessarily that cheap to run.

 

For many years Iberdrola were the only electricity company but in recent years de-regulation has allowed competition and there are now other options.  Also duel tariffs are available too now, so cheap electricity at night and in the morning with a slightly raised rate for the afternoon and evening means savings can be made.  Solar has come a long way too and with 320 days of sunshine a year in south Costa Blanca developers now include solar in their new build homes.

 

There are a few ‘anomalies’ that I have come across over the years.  For instance, where our house is located the water company are also responsible for collecting the rubbish so instead of the cost of rubbish collection being included in the local council tax it is added to your water bill instead!

 

 

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Memories of a young Traveller - Don’t drink the water!

Don’t drink the water!

There was once a (rather bad) sitcom named that.  But in actual fact back in the 60’s and 70’s the tap water in Spain, even in the hotels, wasn’t of drinking quality.  Although none of my family experienced problems we did hear of others who suffered tummy upsets.  Buying water in a bottle was another new experience, the UK didn’t have shelves of bottled water in the supermarkets in those days.  Trying to clean your teeth without swallowing the tap water was another new experience too and one as a 5 year old I remember as being rather tricky.

As we didn’t use tap water we didn’t have orange squash either, something all British children drank at that time.  And there was no lemonade, it was orangeade or cola or fizzy lemon.  To a child this was very strange.  And another daily drink missing was fresh milk, so no warm milky drink at bedtime.  Milk came in strange cartons and tasted funny because it was treated so it didn’t have to be refrigerated, (fridges were a luxury item still).  To a child used to full cream milk in bottles delivered by the milkman before breakfast daily it was all a bit odd.  In those days we still had cold milk at school too at morning break time, a third of a pint if I remember correctly.

And there was wine!  Wine was not allowed for 5 year olds but it seemed the Spanish consumed vast amounts and it was very cheap and available everywhere at any time.  In 60’s Britain wine was drunk at a dinner party, bought from a local off licence that could only open for a few restricted hours a day and certainly wasn’t cheap.

And another strange food was olive oil, copious amounts used on the food that was presented.  It tasted odd, sort of nutty and fruity at the same time.  My grandad complained about it being greasy but the food wasn’t greasy.  We had no idea it was healthy and would one day be a mainstay in British cooking too.  Can you imagine certain TV chef’s reactions if they were told they couldn’t use any olive oil – they would have to completely re-write their cookery books!

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Memories of a young traveller Childhood Spain – Sunburn and donkeys and coach trips

Childhood Spain – Sunburn and donkeys and coach trips

We didn’t use sun screen in those days, we used oil on our bodies.  No one worried about skin cancer and getting sunburnt was just part of the holiday.  We used large amounts of ‘after sun’ to cool our hot skin every evening.  We even laughed about how red we were and how you could spot the new arrivals as they were so pale or so pink.  I blistered on several holidays on my shoulders and back, but it was never considered a concern – how times have changed.

Highlights of the package holidays were the excursions.  Early in the holiday you would select your choices and on the appropriate day we would pile onto the coach with our hotel issued paper bag containing out packed lunch.  We visited caves with underground lakes, old Spanish villages that clung precariously to the hillside, waterfalls of icy mountain snow melt, vineyards with bodegas, potteries and glass blowing factories, to name just a few of the trips.  At each we would buy souvenirs that would take pride of place back home on the mantle until our next holiday.

I collected a huge array of Spanish dolls dressed as Flamenco dancers, all sizes and colours, taking at least one home each year.  Each year at least one person boarding the plane would be carrying a two foot high donkey wearing a sombrero, wondering why it had seemed such a good idea to buy it!  But to me that was a symbol of the Spain I knew and loved – donkeys wearing sombreros pulling carts.  Privately owned cars were few are far between in the rural areas in the 60’s and early 70’s, people used bicycles, donkey and cart or walked.  Spain was a relatively poor country and the roads were full of potholes and bumps.  The other common sight on the roads were old tractors – rusty, noisy and belting out black fumes – but pulling a cart in which sat the family.

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Memories of a young traveller Childhood Spain – friends

Childhood Spain – friends

It seemed each year we met a particular family that became our friends, some for just the holiday but some became long-term friendships, a few even life-long for my parents.  In fact we remained friends long enough for me to attend at least two weddings of my childhood holiday friends.

On one visit to Majorca our new friends had two children with whom we later holidayed again a couple of years later in Ibiza and when teenagers we hired a couple of boats on the Norfolk Broads.  Their son was two years older than me and one very bored siesta time, when we were supposed to be resting away from the heat of the day, about ages 8 and 6, I remember sitting with him on the balcony trying to aim Spanish Smarties (that didn’t taste that nice) at unsuspecting sunbathers four floors below!  Fortunately we were never found out!

One year we met a family on the plane and got chatting.  Their youngest daughter, Tracey, was a year younger than me and we became firm friends.  It was a friendship that was to last many years and as teenagers we visited each other’s houses for holidays without our parents, she lived in a very rural location in the Cotswolds and I in suburbia in Surrey, and we both envied the other’ one’s location!

That particular holiday when I met Tracey there was a children’s fancy dress competition, the catch being that all the costumes need to be made from crepe paper, which the hotel supplied in reams of all colours.  My sister, Tracey and I entered as ‘The Three Bears’ in wonderful costumes made by Tracey’s mum (who was a good seamstress) and I had a notice written on card saying ‘The Three Bears’ hung around my neck.  I was the middle size so I was Mummy Bear.  The winner was a ‘fried egg’(!) and we came second, but were announced as ‘The Three Blind Mice’.  And our runner-up prize?  One pair of swimming arm bands to share between the three of us!

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Memories of a young traveller Flying

Memories of a young traveller

Flying

Spain is a place of happy childhood holidays.  Our first visit was the week following my 5^th birthday and Spain was exciting and different, and the beginning of a life-long love.  I’d been on planes before, we flown to Northern Ireland regularly, sometimes twice a year.  Dad had friends and business clients who owned a hotel and an early memory for me was one cold Easter helping clear snow from car windscreens with my older sister while standing on some sort of box so I could reach.  We would have our tea in the kitchen early as we were so young, and got told off for running around the hallways, all the staff knew us.

We toured Ireland too; it was there I first rode a horse, first threw pennies into a wishing well and nearly got washed into the Atlantic by a freak wave.  We always had a holiday somewhere in England as well but my Mum longed for warm sunshine and package holidays to Spain had just begun, so Spain it was.

When flying to Ireland as a toddler I have a clear memory of worrying about the propellers spinning off and Dad reassuring me they couldn’t.  So my first memory of seeing a plane with jet engines is wondering where the propellers had gone!  No propellers was very worrying!

I wasn’t a ‘good traveller’, in fact I’m still not, plagued by motion sickness and ear problems all my life, flying can be a painful and unpleasant experience, but planes get me from A to B quickly and boats just make me feel ill for longer!  My parents and fellow travellers must have been very patient with me.

Spain in the 60’s didn’t have high rise buildings, air conditioning, kiss me quick hats, larger louts, fish and chips or pubs.  What it did have was terrible roads, strange food, lots of donkeys in hats pulling carts along dusty tracks, hot sunshine, warm sea and wonderfully friendly people.  We seemed a very long way from England or Ireland that first visit – to me, a little 5 year old, we had entered a whole new world.

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Memories of a young Traveller Ibiza

Ibiza

My first visit to Ibiza was probably before 1970.  In those days the island was a lot less ‘touristy’ and less well known than Mallorca, which by the end of the sixties was already established as a holiday hotspot.  This was evident the moment we arrived as I remember the old airport terminal was little more than a long white single-storey building with palm trees planted along the front.  Wandering down the car-less lane towards the beach we passed the white mountains of sea salt waiting to be transported and were able to collect handfuls of the rough crystals – no fences keeping children out!  The whole island seemed very laid back and relaxed, a far cry from the 18-30’s party island image for which it became known a couple of decades later.

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The Ten best things about the Orihuela Costa 3

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Our Spanish Dream Bull Running part 49

 Bull Running

I hesitated about adding this one, it is a controversial subject, although not as inflammatory as bull fighting.  Whilst Pampolma is by far the most famous, and possibly also the largest and most dangerous to both man and beast of the bull running festivals, there are thousands of towns and villages across Spain that have their own annual events.  I attended one in Benitachell some years ago from sheer curiosity.

Part of the town is shut off to cars and strong cages set down both sides of the street.  The cages are for people, not the bulls!  Some are two storey with seating areas on the roof of the cage.  These seats are usually reserved by a local business or groups.  In some villages the ‘cages’ are built fresh each year from local tree felling instead.  We witnessed a case in an inland village a few years ago where tree trucks were set upright into the pavement each year instead of cages – that year one was placed outside the bank, the doors of which opened outwards so the tree trunk prevented the door from opening.  Instead of moving the trunk the bank manager opted to keep the bank shut for the whole week so the bull running fiesta could proceed unhindered!

The foolhardy or brave, depending on your perspective, gather at one end of the town whilst the young bulls are in a large pen.  Once the men start running the bulls are ushered out of the pen to chase the men.  The idea is, of course, to get to the end of the course before a bull gets you!  Along the way people cheer the runners on from the safety of the cages.  The gaps between the bars of each cage are wide enough for a person to slip between for safety when a bull gets too close for comfort, but not for a bull.  Except one very enterprising youngster during the Benitachell run which somehow managed to get his head and horns through by turning his head sideways, then straightened his head and tried to pull his now stuck head back out – the bull shock the cage so hard the people on the top couldn’t get off quick enough as the cage below rapidly emptied!  Encountering an angry bull that close up is not an experience I wish to repeat in a hurry!

Generally these small village events end with no injuries to either man or bull and are generally not opposed even by the anti-bullfighting lobby.  However 2015 was quite different as several fatalities were reported during the larger events (including Pamploma), bringing the matter very much into the news.  It may be a nightly event for a whole week in the town.  Whether ex-pats actively oppose these events as animal cruelty or accept it as a cultural activity is a very personal choice and one on which I do not wish to comment here.  Having experienced an event of this nature I personally would NOT choose to go again.

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The Ten Best Things About The Orihuela Costa 2 Food

The Food

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Dave & Beve Welcome You To Spanish Dream Property

Property of the Day

Ref: NCBAO1495 Type: Penthouse Area: Costa Blanca North Town: Denia Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Pool: Yes Price: €380,000 Description: A stunning 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom luxury penthouse apartment located close to the sea in Denia with large gardens and two communal swimming pools. http://spanishdreamproperty.co.uk/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=89808 https://twitter.com/Spanishdp  www.facebook.com/housebythepool https://www.facebook.com/spanishdreamproperty info@spanishdreamproperty.com www.spanishdreamproperty.co.uk http://www.torrevieja.com/eng/webcam.html https://spanishdreamproperty.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/our-spanish-dream-cranes-of-hope-part-50/

Property Of The Day

Ref: HEKP7260

Type: Penthouse

Area: Costa Blanca South

Town: Punta Prima

Beds: 2

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Pool: Yes

Price: €446,000

Brand new front line 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom penthouse apartments. From all the properties there will be panoramic views to the sea and the beach

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Our Spanish Dream Driving in Spain and hiring a car part 47

Driving in Spain and hiring a car

This brings us to the general subject of car hire in Spain.  These days we only use a car hired from a family run business in Alicante, but they will also bring a car to Murcia airport.  No hidden extras, your quote is what you pay, and no long wait at the airport to fill out forms.www.edirentacar.com have looked after our needs for many years now.

The big car hire companies are well known for adding ‘extras’ to your bill.  You arrive at the airport, queue for 40 minutes with 3 bored children, desperate for a decent cuppa and weary from the hours of travel.  When you finally get to the desk you have to confirm all the information already supplied, then you get offered an ‘up-grade’ and you say no.  They make the up-grade sound more attractive and you feel awkward still saying no.  Then they say there is extra insurance cover required for the windscreen and tyres, or whatever, but there is always an extra.  And don’t forget the charge for the child seats required by Spanish law.  And they want your credit card details for the deposit.

Then you pay for a full tank of fuel, being told to return the car with an empty tank.  Everyone knows that there is no way you will risk running out of fuel on the way back to the airport so every car is returned with some fuel in the tank, so why should you pay for a whole tank?  If you are only visiting for short time, or only doing local trips to the shops and beach, you probably won’t use a whole tank of fuel.  However if you do need to refill the tank the chances are you will find the same value in fuel for which you were charged at the airport won’t actually all fit into the tank!

The targeting of hire cars is the subject matter of several newspaper articles each year, both by the criminals and the traffic police.  You are advertising by the un-removable sticker on the car that you are probably on your holiday, so relaxed about personal security and unsure of the Spanish road laws, making you an easy target.  Removing the sticker will mean damaging the paintwork and therefore being ‘fined’ for damaging the car by the hire car company.  The rules are simple: never leave valuables on display, no matter what the temperature shut all windows and lock the car when not in it, drive according to road conditions and within speed limits, wear your seat belt, carry your documents (if you can, also keep a photocopy back at your accommodation), the driver must carry his/her passport, spare glasses and wear sensible footwear for driving.  After collecting your car from the airport drive straight to your accommodation and don’t at any time leave all your cases and belongings unattended in the car if you have to stop en route for refreshments.

Best advice, use local, small, recommended businesses rather than the big companies.  If you become a regular customer they will look after you.

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Property of the Day

Ref: HEKP7334 Type: Penthouse Area: Costa Blanca South Town: Campoamor Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Pool: Yes Price: €260,000 http://spanishdreamproperty.co.uk/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=89383 https://twitter.com/Spanishdp  www.facebook.com/housebythepool https://www.facebook.com/spanishdreamproperty info@spanishdreamproperty.com www.spanishdreamproperty.co.uk http://www.torrevieja.com/eng/webcam.html