Basura

Go into your local town hall.

I don't think you need to register for basura collection, Janet. We've never had to do so in Mojacar or Mizala (Sorbas) as there has always been a nearby basura container available.  Even in Mojacar village I used to hang my bag on a hook on the wall of my little house every night and a dumper would come rattling down the Cuesta de la Fuente early every morning collecting all the bags!  There was never any problem about receiving bills as all the relevant details had been taken care of at the time of house purchase. 

The only exception I can think of is when you don't have a basura container nearby which could happen if you have no neighbours in the countryside or live in an basically uninhabited, unfinished urbanisation, of which there are probably many these days.  If either of these happens to be your case, the town hall would have to be informed that you require them to organise the supply of a container which as long as you dont live in a very remote area, they should be able to arrange with the consortium which deals with the basura for the area.  You might need to show proof of ownership or rental agreement though. 

I was under the impression Everyone has to register for Basura,and pay  as ,even though you have a big communal bin, you must pay for the service.  It’s so easy to just put rubbish in a bin but is it correct you don’t need to register?  We’ve never registered as we were only ever there for two weeks holidays ,as not retired , but I feel  now,we are retired and going to be there for the three months allowed we should pay.  

When we moved here years ago, we went to the town hall, its part of the over all padron, so the town hall gives you the bill quarterly and you go to the bank and pay it. 

But also beware, when we lived in Valencia, we lived there for 3 yrs, for 6 month on and 6 months back in the UK. which in those days was perfectly legal We were told by the  English neighbours that we should register for a padron, so we did..  Jump forward 5 years and we move to Andalucia, suddenly without any warning the tax office takes 700 euros out of our bank leaving us with 3 euros in there!!! This they say was for back taxes for when we lived in Valencia, because apparently once you register for a Padron, the town hall notify the tax office that you are now residents and therefore should be paying taxes. (non resident tax) Even though we were fiscal residence in the UK and paid all UK taxes.  The tax office eventually admitted their mistake, but  5 years on we are still waiting for the return of the 700e. I am not holding my breath!!

If there is one thing I have learnt here is that its a 3rd world country, more so than Egypt, in Egypt its 'honest' Dishonesty, here its one rule for the Spanish and one for foreigners, especially the Brits now that Bretix is here. My Spanish neighbours do not declare what they earn, they do not pay for a Basura, they keep the minimum in their bank account and do all transactions in cash so that they cant be traced.  If I was staying I would be playing by their rules in future.

Anyway I digress its Sunday, too hot to do very much, so I am prattling on. Have a nice day one and all.

Thanks Jenni, so , I’ve heard before we shouldn’t be on the Padron at all, and we’ve been on since 2002! I went in and spoke to the townhall in Bedar in March this year and said we shouldn’t be on it as we don’t Live in Spain amd don’t want to be considered resident for tax!  We were told, no, the tax man won’t charge you residents taxes. So we stayed on as we know the more the merrier.  So, do you mean the Townhall only tells the tax man we are there and “not resident “so then due for Non Resident Tax?  We’ve always paid that anyway every year.  

Hi Trudi,

If you have been paying Non Residence tax and you can prove you are a fiscal resident in the UK (you have to get a letter from the Inland Rev) then you should be fine. No nasty surprises.

JX

Thanks Jenni,  Yes, we’ve had to show our accounts at the bank Cajamar . Last time , I asked when we would be asked again to sign non resident , the woman said “oh you won’t have to worry anymore” don’t quite know what that’s about but fingers crossed, I always worry about that as I don’t want a problem when i’m in Scotland!   Enjoy the sun, any signs of you “getting out “ yet xxxxx

Honestly Trudi, I wouldn't listen to anyone, in the 12 years we have been here I have been told things by the town hall, the lawyers, accountants, estate agents. and quite honestly none of them know what they are talking about. One of the reasons is that the government change the rules when they feel like it and not everyone keeps up (only Dario ) and so feeds us mis information. So if some woman in a bank told you that I would take it with a large bag of salt.

O yes all booked to escape end of Sept yayayayayayay   XX

WOW, So, for good ?   Where are you going xxx