should I buy in UK or Spain?

Hi Bob, you may find items you buy in the UK are not covered by warranty in Spain. There are a few discount electrical shops around the Albox/Huercal Overa areas, we find El Curro to be very good and supposedly one of the best for any problems that may arise. Both shops have people who speak some English, another retailer is Tiene 21 who have shops in Huercal, Antas and Vera but not sure if they speak English.

With regards to bringing stuff over, things like Colemans mustard, marmite, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce are very expensive here so if they are favourites of yours bring a good supply.

Good luck with your move,

Best wishes,

Paul.

Thanks Paul, good info.

Bob

We have just moved to the Albox area, and after researching during our last trip to Spain before we packed up and left, we found there were certain types of items that are expensive in Spain in contrast with prices in the UK.  

Light fittings and light shades, plus decent light bulbs, we found worth bringing out with us. We saved a fortune by going to Dunelm and buying various fittings and shades etc.  I’ve seen identical fittings to ours in Albox only last week that are 4 times the price we paid in the UK so that was well worth the effort.  Curtain hooks, rods etc are handy to bring over too, as you will probably  have more choice for the price. We also brought out security lights for outside and around the pool.  The other type of items we made sure we brought out (we had a tip from someone) was garden furniture, as it’s much cheaper in the UK when you take quality into consideration.   Strangely, bring a good tin opener out, as ours broke and we failed to find a strong one here and so had to get one sent out by family! Bizarre!

All types of furniture are expensive in Spain and so there is a thriving second hand market in unwanted furniture items here, which proves interesting browsing. We have a superking bed, and haven’t found anywhere yet here to buy that size of bedlinen, so brought spares out, from Dunelm again, just in case. 

On the food front,  I brought out plenty of spices to make curries. You can get them here, but the more obscure specialist things are still eluding me.  I also brought out various items I buy from Holland and Barrett, like various nut butters, spirulina and so on.

Hope this helps a little.  Good luck with yr move........we are settling in nicely now and are so glad we came out......I’m sure you’ll feel the same. 

Warm regards, Chrissie xx

Hi, just a quick one. Remember to plan for the cold winter nights aswell! I went to mojacar last January to help my sister and brother in law get over an operation. We spent quite a time trying to find a winter quilt to cope with the cold nights! Found one in Turre,  but would have been cheaper at home. (Also annoying as my sister had some already, but in storage in uk prior to full move!) Good luck with your move. Steve.

Chrissie, superb info, much obliged for your time etc, especially the spice warning.

Funny about the garden furniture, Spain lending itself to the alfresco style of living.

There maybe some business/niche advantage there.

This blogging malarky is pretty good.

Many thanks

Bob

Thanks Steve, my wife has already thought of that as we were over there on a recce early March.

It can be 40 degrees and she still gets cold feet, LOL

Bob