Brit In Madrid» Moving to and living in Madrid Spain | Brit In Madrid

Shipping to Spain

Frank — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:45:51 +0000

Being limited to the amount of baggage on my flight to Spain, the high excess baggage charges charged by the airline and the amount of stuff I want to take with me I have been researching how to send the things I cant take on the plane with me.

I looked at using one of the international movers that always advertise on the expatriate websites, but after receiving a few quotes from various companies decided that there must be a more cost effective way. I then stumbled across a number of excess baggage companies, all of which list provide free online quotations which I have listed below.

Excess Baggage Companies

Inter Parcel

Interparcel has a free online calculator, its not as easy as some others to use as you have to enter your parcel dimensions and weight. It does however get prices from DHL, CityLink and other UK courier services.

www.interparcel.com

Voovit

Deliver boxes and tape to your door, their boxes measure 565mm x 425mm x 360mm and hold a maximum of 30kg, they provide a free online pricing calculator. You can also send your own boxes with them and the online calculator will price these if you know the weight and measurements.

www.voovit.com

Easysending

Easysending provide a “door to door” shipping service between the UK and Spain. They provide free packing boxes and other packing materials. Maximum weight per box 30kg, they also ship your own boxes, suitcases and travel bags. Delivery is between 3-4 days, online tracking and free storage for up to 4 weeks.

www.easysending.com

Wedelivertheworld/ Fast Lane International

Provide a free online calculator similar to Interparcel where you have to enter you parcel dimensions and weight. They partner with DHL, they also provide liability insurance and additional insurance can be purchased from them as they are FSA regulated.

www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk

If you do decide to send anything of significant value I recommend purchasing additional insurance, as well all know how the majority of couriers treat things.

I decided to book through the wedelivertheworld website using DHL with extra insurance, once I sent my things and have received them safely (or not) I will write a review on them.

If you have found any more good companies or have any personal experience please post a comment and I will add them to the list.

Moving Date Set

Frank — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:04:41 +0000

Today is a very exciting day for me I have just booked my one way ticket to Madrid!! I fly out on the morning of the 16th April, so just over five weeks. My last day at work is the Friday 3rd of April, I will be sad to leave but I am counting down the days now.

Maria picks up the keys to the apartment in Plaza de España on the 1st of April. There is still so much to organise still and not so much time.

The only downside of flying is I am quite limited on the amount of luggage I can take, British Airways allows one piece of checked luggage (23kg) and one item of hand luggage which must be 56cm x 45cm x 25cm but is not restricted to weight, as long as you lift it un-aided.

I guess I got to start looking at ways to get my things I cant pack in a suitcase, e.g. computer, printer, DVD collection, books etc….I will start looking into how I will get my stuff over tonight if I have the energy.

If anyone has experience in sending personal belongings overseas it would be great to hear your experiences.

Ghost of Spain: Travels through a country’s hidden past

Frank — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:43:03 +0000

With a two hour a 4 hr a day commute into work, I decided to look for book on Spain and Spanish culture. I found one book in particular that caught my eye, Giles Tremlett’s Ghosts of Spain: Travels through a country’s hidden past.

I have only managed to get through the first few chapters so far, but is proving hard to put down. The book covers historical events in Spain´s past such as the Franco era, it also covers sensitive issues such as ETA and Basque culture.

I am currently reading about how the Bikini saved Spain and its role in making Spain one of the Worlds tourism super powers. I will keep you all posted on the book.

Living in Spain Blogs

Frank — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:37:51 +0000

last night I decided to have a look to see what other blogs I could find on people living in Madrid/ Spain. I could not find that many as lots had been started but not kept up to date, but here is what I could find;

Living in Spain Blogs

Madrid Man

Madrid man is a blog about an American living in Madrid, he writes on about many different categories, including food, money, travel, entertainment etc.. which give a good insight into life in Madrid for an American. Particularly interesting was his entry, its all about the bag. MadridMan’s blog runs off the back of his website, madridman.com which is all about places to go and see in Madrid and Spain.

www.madridman.com/blog-madrid

Erik-rasmussen.com/blog

Erik is an American living living in Spain, he live in northern Spain in the region of Cantabrian. Erik writes about many different subject from technology to his up and coming ventures of parenthood in Spain and general life abroad.

www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog

Being Here and There

is a blog about Eli, an American who teaches English in Toledo Spain and here life with her Spanish husband Jose. She has a great entry about learning to driving in Spain compared to the USA, click here to read her post on driving in Spain.

www.beingherenadthere.blogspot.com

More blogs can be found on living in Spain at;

expat-blog.com

www.expat-blog.com/en/directory/europe/spain/

If anyone else is thinking of or is moving to Spain or already living in Spain it would be great to hear your experiences and findings.

Researching living in Spain

Frank — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:59:32 +0000

With most of the big stuff under control now I have decided to conduct some research on living in Spain and living in Madrid. Going on to Google and typing in living in Spain returns a whole bunch of websites, some good and some not so good. The trouble I have found is that the majority of them are aimed at those who wish to relocate to the southern coastal regions of Spain. But this said I have come across a couple of really good websites with lots of really useful information on living in Spain which I have listed below for those that are interested.

living in Spain websites

Spainexpat

Spainexpact is a website specifically aimed at people who want to and are living in Spain. It contains lots of useful information on business, finance, language, lifestyle etc…

www.spainexpat.com

Just Landed

Just Landed is a very useful website with lots of information about working, living and studying in Spain. It also contains a housing, jobs and classifieds section for Spain, the community area of the website is also useful as you can talk to people that are going through the same.

www.justlanded.com

Ideal Spain

Ideal Spain claim to be the worlds largest guide to Spain. The have some helpful guides to moving to Spain and property in Spain.

www.idealspain.com

I will post more useful websites on living in Spain as and when I come across them. Of course I have Maria as a resource as well as what to expect when I move to Madrid, although I feel I will be in for a big culture shock as I have never lived in a city. If anyone else has some recommended websites please post them below, once I have a good number I will create a links page.

Finding rental property in Madrid

Frank — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:58:00 +0000

With the majority of things on my list dealt with I turned my focus to find a place to rent in Madrid. This by all means is not an easy task, but I had the advantage that Maria was already living in Madrid. We had decided that we would move in together when I moved to Madrid. This meant that Maria could go and view any flats we decided we like the look of.

I conducted all my research using the internet, there are a number of useful Spanish property websites which I have listed below for those interested.

Spanish property websites

Idealista

Idealista.com is one of Spain’s leading property websites. You can search for property to rent, buy and share all over Spain. The website is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish
www.idealista.com

Enalquiler

Enalquiler is Spanish property website that focuses specifically on rental property in Spain. Currently it is only available in Spanish.
www.enalquiler.com

Fotocasa

Fotocasa is Spain’s number one property website. You can search for property to buy, rent or share all over Spain. The website is available in English.
www.fotocasa.es

There is two things you should be aware of if you plan on renting a flat in Spain in my experience, firstly unlike in the UK where you normally just supply one months rent as a deposit in Spain its not unheard of for a Landlord to ask for six month deposit up front. This can make renting an expensive initial outlay. Secondly don’t expect decor to be to your taste, most of the properties I have looked at although clean were in a poor state of repair and not well looked after.

Eventually we settled on a nice one bed furnished apartment close by to Plaza de España, for which we had to place three months deposit for.

If anyone reading this is planning on visiting the city in Spain that they are planning on moving to, then Just Landed do a great guide on looking for rental property.

Spanish property search guide

Just Landed – Spain Guide Housing & Rentals

Excellent guide on how to conduct research for property in Spain. Includes helpful topics such as getting started, where to look, appointments, contacts and contains a housing search glossary containing lots of useful phrases and words associated with finding a property in Spain.

Spain Guide: Housing & Rentals

The moving list

Frank — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:36:09 +0000

The first thing I set to cross of my moving list was to notify the water, gas and electricity companies. Simply enough, I called and gave them a moving out date I just has to send them the meter readings the week before I was to move out. Next was the mobile, TV and Broadband contracts to cancel, I just had to give one months written notice, easy.

Then came the turn of the noose around my neck for the past few years, the mortgage. I called the mortgage company up and explained that I was planning on getting tenants in to rent as I was going to move to Madrid. This was not as straight forward as I though as by letting the property out I was going to break the original terms of my mortgage. I had to fill out some paperwork changing my mortgage to one that would allow me to rent it out.

Once the mortgage was sorted I could set about choosing an agency to let my flat out. I had three agencies come around, all of which were in agreement that I could ask for between 800 and 950 pounds per month, of which they would take between 7-10%. I didn’t like this, but I did not want the hassle of advertising for tenants myself or collecting rent.

Next up was the council, this was straight forward enough as I just gave them a moving date and supply the name and date of the next tenant moving in.

Getting organised to move Madrid

Frank — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:26:16 +0000

Once I had decided that I was going to move to Madrid, I was like what do I do now? By this time it was mid January and I had the target of the 2nd week in April, Plenty of time I thought. I still had to work out my two month notice period which left just two weeks of free time. I set about writing a list of the things I needed to do before I left;

To Do List

Redecorate my flat and get ready to let it out, Including finding an letting agency and vetting potential tenants.
Let the water, gas and electricity companies know.
Cancel my phone contract
Cancel my TV and Broadband contract.
Notify the mortgage company that I was intending to let my flat out.
Arrange storage for some of my furniture
Talk my parents into adopting my dog, until he could join me.
Get my mail forwarded to my parents house.
Notify the council (council tax)
Arrange a bank account in Spain
Find a place to rent
Sell my car

It doesn’t seem very much to organise but trust me if you just have Saturdays and lunch times its a lot to get organised.

You may be thinking when looking for a job is not on the list, this was because I was fortunate to get a redundancy payout, which would be enough coupled with savings to last me a while as long as I didn’t go on a crazy spending spree.

The decision to move to Madrid, Spain

Frank — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:54:38 +0000

I first set upon the idea of moving to Madrid back in July 2008 after spending one month traveling along the south coast of Spain. My office had just been relocated from Guildford, a 20 minute commute for me to central London. This turned out to be a 4 hour a day commute wrestling for space on the train and underground. My girlfriend, Maria had just accepted a great job with a major company in Madrid, I had been given the option for voluntary redundancy, it was then the decision to move to Madrid was made. I had always planned that at some point in my life I wanted to live outside the UK, but never Spain. I had always envisaged going to live in Holland as most of my mums side of the family where from there, and I had spent every summer as child until I was 18 there.