Getting Help When Living in Spain

Summary: How newly arrived expats can get help when living in Spain with all aspects of life and red tape

Moving to live in Spain is such a popular dream shared by so many British people – as a result, and fortunately for newly arrived expats, there are plenty of people who, having ‘been there, done that and got the t-shirt’, are able to offer help and support with aspects of every day life.

One of the most useful resources a newly arrived expat can draw upon the expertise of is the ‘Help and Advice Centre for Spanish Living’.  In this article we’ll look at the work the group does and also give other top tips for getting help when living in Spain.

One of the most commonly held misconceptions is that, because there are already so many British people living in Spain one need not learn Spanish to relocate there!  Well, in part that’s true if you want to live your life in a British community, shop only in British frequented shops and eat only in the establishments selling full English breakfasts every single day!  If you want to buy a property in Spain or even rent a home, if you want to buy a car, shop locally, eat out in a Spanish restaurant or just get along with the local people who live around you, having at least some Spanish under your belt is really going to prove important.

One of the most important times in your life when you will need Spanish is when it comes to sorting out your accommodation.  More often than not people rush in to a property purchase without spending enough time ensuring all is okay with the property they are about to buy.  There is no onus on the estate agent to tell the buyer about any worrying planning applications in the vicinity for example, no onus on the vendor either.  And if the buyer is putting pressure on their solicitor to bring the property purchase process to a close so that they don’t risk losing the property, the examination of all planning applications in the vicinity may well be overlooked for example.

This is just one area where not being able to speak Spanish and not understanding how things work in Spain can be a very real hindrance.  If you did speak Spanish and did understand ‘how things work’ you could visit the town hall and patiently go through the process of obtaining each and every application in the vicinity of your proposed property.  And if you don’t believe me that not understanding processes and not speaking Spanish can bring about problems in the future – what about the hundreds of people in Valencia who risk having their homes demolished because they were illegally constructed by builders who were canny and who registered themselves as the promoters of the properties not the constructors.  These owners don’t even necessarily have the right to claim compensation from the builders if the worst should happen and their homes are demolished.

Okay – so, enough of the scary stories!  There are people who can and will help you when you’re living in Spain.  I mentioned the Help and Advice Centre for Spanish Living above, on their website they succinctly sum up who they are and why they came into being: -

“...we are fair people helping fair people!  We know how it feels to be taken advantage of when dealing with the very special and specific challenges one faces moving to a foreign country...”

You can contact them via their website http://www.helpcentrespain.com/ or you can visit them, there are directions on their website and they are located next to Murcia’s Airport San Javier.

The other way you can get help when living in Spain include speaking to your nation’s consulate, speaking with other expats living near you, getting online and accessing forums, and using a solicitor who is recommended to you by others whose opinions you trust and then taking the advice of that solicitor even if he seems to be taking a long time to deliver you the answers you were hoping for.

There is a lot of red tape involved in the majority of official processes in Spain, so be patient, be prepared to wait, but also, be prepared to seek and ask for help BEFORE you run into difficulties.  There is no such thing as a stupid question – but there is such as thing as leaving it too late to get help when living in Spain when you’re not sure about what’s going on!

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