Thinking of moving

Hi,

Can answer some.

Your Dad is over Retirement age & is going to apply for Residency?

Contact DWP in Newcastle or Wolverhampton and they will send him the appropriate forms such that he can obtain a Spanish GP. He then looses the UK one although with Brexit who knows??????

Once he has a Spanish Bank Account then DWP can arrange transfer of pension in euros. Best method.They do it for me but offshore.

Yourself -If under pensionable age, without Disability allowance, etc-'yes Private Healthcare before you can apply for Residencia.

When we arranged Residencia via our Solicitor years ago it was about 250€'pp.

There have been some really detailed posts within the last 4-6weeks.

If you contact either,

CAT SERVICES of La.Alfoquia.   or

GL Expat Services of Turre

Both on Google Search, they can inform you of fees and the current rules regarding Residency, fees, matriculation, private healthcare, etc.

Maybe e mails to both??????

Bob and Sandra

Mojacar Playa and Puerto Lumbreras

for the car yes if you are resident then you would have to matriculate(register) the car is Spain so while in the uk look on ebay for LHD headlights

Obviously your choice but you need to research the cost of matriculation, where, at the end of the day you are.left with a RHD vehicle & driving in the gutter.

Our friend paid over 2000€ with quite a bit of hassle to matriculate an ancient Ford people carrier which months on he now wants to get rid of. 

The Garage, actually the name.of the firm, on.Arboleas, arrange matriculations so you may want to do an estimate. CAT SERVICES did the paperwork & plates but our friend still ended up having to.go to Traffico & Town Hall.

Obviously your choice.

Bob and Sandra

Mojacar Playa and Puerto Lumbreras

Hi, we`ve been "driving in the gutter" as bob puts it since last March 2017 when we brought partners rhd Honda Insight Hybrid down here, Urcal close by Huercal Overa and have had no problems neither, never been pulled up etc.

"The Garage" on the poligono by the bowling alley on the way into Albox handled the pre ITV and matriculation for us, we had the car serviced and had some jobs done, brakes tyres etc, Tyres btw have to be as the car came out of the factory, You can have different tyres but they must be a matching pair, same factory spec and on the same axle which means for instance two matching Dunlops on the front or back and two Goodyear front of back, mix them up and try and do what we do in the UK and you`ll fail.

Bob etc is right in that the first thing any garage will check is your headlights, genuine Honda lhd headlights cost almost 900 euros for a pair yet rhd ones on ebay your lucky to get £150 a pair, all in I think my partner paid just either above or below 2000 euros. Better, traffic so much lighter unless you go to Mojacar during tourist season ."Driving in the gutter" here isn't anything like driving in the UK, the roads are oh so much nicer, in the main better surfaced and repaired

Cat services helped with the paperwork, when you get your car back with your ITV, if the car is less than ten years old the ITV is valid for two years, if older one and you get a sticker on your windscreen to show you have it, you go to the town hall and pay your road tax, hybrids are so much cheaper, the Spanish love Hybrids, Then you can go get your new number plates, we got ours from a place just up from Lidl on the way into Albox.

The Garage even took her car to the ITV station at Lorca, you can do it yourself but need to speak good Spanish and be quick witted or someone will undoubtedly nip in front of you and you`ll have to get a new slot.

Healthcare in general is really good, you can register with a local doctor then apply thru the local social servies in your town and start the process of getting a medical card, takes a few weeks to a couple of months, you`ll get a temporary card but if you need urgent treatment your ehic will usually suffice, Huercal Overa hospitals La Inmaculada used to have a stellar reputation but with staff leaving for better pay its slipped a bit but the town mayor is on it to try and get staff levels and equipment back to what it used to be. Partners dad had a really bad fall in May and when the Inmaculada couldn't sort things he was taken to Torrecardenas in Almeria, another excellent facility.

Partners dad fell and the ambulance was with him inside 20 minutes which is what it took to mobilise a crew and get from huercal overa to where we were !!

Your dad can still get his pension here just by going to a cashpoint and drawing money out like he does now, you don't strictly need a bank account umless your buying a propertywhen you`ll need an NIE, Spanish national insurance number, be on the local padron etc, 

I think you need to start the residencia process after about 3 months but don't quote me, again if your buying your solicitor will let you know and help you get everything you need we used the excellent Mandy and Chris from Cam concepts in Huercal Overa who are English but speak fluent Spanish, they guided partner thru everything she needed and even took us both down to Almerias foreigners office for the residencia.

6 months after residencia you`ll have to give up your UK driving licence and apply for your Spanish one, very similar to the EU UK driving licence, you`ll need to get a medical and do an easy hand eye co ordination thing, eyesight etc but all fairly stressless and easy, quite fun actually

Apologies if this is belated looking at the date of the original post but should give others an idea as to whats involved.

Not read all you wrote but how can anyone pinch your turn? Albox by appointment. Lorca join a line depending on if you have an apointment or not?

Next time you go for an ITV just watch lol, it does happen, just like at the doctor or clinic, the English invented the queue, the Spanish dont recognise the word lol

you mean you can not see the board with your registration number and which line you enter?

As for queue jumping, learn the language  all you have to say is Niiñe, Niña, Sñr or Sña  (whichever is appropriate) Hay una cola. But o no let the bloody natives speak English.  

Hi Alan, just relaying what has been said to me by people whove been queue jumped including mechanis, partner got the great guys at The garage to take her car to Lorca so cant speak personally, your post sounded a bit like gobble de gook lol, but if necessary I will stand to be corrected lol

gobble de gook? Please do explain. 

I do no its correct the man in the bar said so.