4, diciembre 2015

Driving in Spain, so far

 

In our last post we celebrated our owning a car.  We definitely have more freedom now than last year, but we still walk from home into El Centro.  It’s nice to be able to go to our larger supermercados and buy more than we did before. Our lives have become a little easier, and when the weather gets ugly with rain and  raw  wind, it will be nice to have the car.

We’ve taken two trips of substance.   Saturday, November 22nd we took  the A-397 south to Marbella to find some heating panels for the walls in our home. There’s a large mall, La Cañada, which has many stores similar to US malls and a huge supermercado, AlCampo.

The “A”  in highway, A-397, refers to Andalucía, the region we live in, our province is Málaga.  In essence we are traveling from an altitude of over 1000 m down to sea level.  Going down is faster than returning as tractor trailers and buses use this route. Patients is a virtue (always in Spain), but where people pass is scary and it’s a long way down through the guard rails if you make a mistake.  From Ronda to Marbella is only 68 km but the road and traffic slow you down, unless  you want to risk passing.  Dramamine is in the glove box! 

We  got to Marbella easily then took the toll road, AP-7  (Interstate quality) for 10 km.  Fortunately I had brought my GPS from the US and it was fine until we needed to find the entrance to the mall.  Signage is different and not as ubiquitous.  Fortunately we had no red lights to hassle with, but we did drive in circles literally and up and down the same street a few times.  I remembered they had a McDonald’s there and saw the turn on maybe our third or fourth attempt, the mall.  Another problem with the GPS was the voice speaking Spanish street names in English, ABSOLUTELY the worst pronunciation of Spanish. They need to fix this to speak English but street names need to be close to how they are pronounced in Spanish.  We had a great day shopping and found many goodies unavailable in Ronda, and now we know how to get there.

As I write this we are both recovering from the “Spanish Flu” not the 1918 version.  If you don’t believe in flu shots, ok.  If you do and haven’t received one yet, you should, it was nasty and Cindy is still recovering. Because of the bug we were locked inside for four beautiful days.  Monday, November 30th came and we needed to get the hell out.  We knew that Jerez De La Frontera * (212.000) had another IKEA and we just needed a few more items before Landen, Lauren, Baleigh and Ricky arrive.

*Back in the good ol’ days when Spain was Muslim and Christian towns with La Frontera in their name represented the border, frontier, between the competing religions. 

As you can see from the above map “you can’t get there from here”. Between us and Jerez  are mountains, sharp and jagged, all part of the uplift as Africa and Europe continue to collide.  The coastal plain from the Mediterranean inland to our area is narrow and then mountains rise steeply.  It reminds me of driving to some degree in Vermont.  I remember driving to Middlebury College for soccer games.  Shortest route was over Appalachian Gap, fastest route was a host of backdoor routes from Richmond, to Hinesburg, to Bristol, and finally Middlebury, the last route was farther by 10 or so miles but 30 minutes faster.

They look like they are just minutes different, but if you’ve ever driven in Vermont you know traffic makes all the difference. The route in the middle had other shortcuts involved too. Every soccer official in Vermont has a mind full of shortcuts to locations throughout the state.

Due to my experience with the GPS in Marbella I decided I needed to upgrade the maps.  My European maps would cost another $95, but a new one with a lifetime of upgrades was  116€, a no brainer.  So now I have this spiffy new Garmin.  I knew how to operate it since my old one was a Garmin  and went online to get a manual. Unbeknownst to me this new one has a built-in indicator letting you know you are approaching a speed trap.  Yes, here in Spain they set traps but let you know ahead of time, however, some folks still get caught, and it’s very expensive with points on your license.

What has really helped is just living here for a year and not driving. We’ve learned how to navigate the streets and now  when driving know where we are and how to get from point A to B.  Remember from previous posts, we have no, zero, red lights in a city of 40,000, one-way streets and rotaries move traffic safely and quickly.

Driving is driving, but it’s not.  There are many nuances to driving here.  One that I’ve found that I need to be aware of are scooters and motorbikes.  They scoot through traffic when you stop on your left or right, so you really need to be aware.  Another one today scared the sh-t out of me.  

As I said, driving is driving, but it’s not.  If you come to Europe, and I’m painting here with a broad brush it will be different.  When we first came in 2008 for Christmas, Landen, Cindy, and I drove from Madrid to Ronda.  It was confusing at times, luckily I had Landen as a navigator.  I feel much more at ease now.  Coming when we did in 2008 really didn’t prepare us, experiencing it has, you learn by doing.  If you come to Europe, be it Madrid, London (OMG, the other side of the road), Paris, or Rome, it won’t be driving in the US.  Some signage is universal, but some are not.

100 kph which is 62 mph. Speed limit actually rises to 120 kph or 72 mph. There was talk of raising it to 128 kph or 80 mph

Yield sign when accessing a highway from an entrance ramp.

At first I was confused but then realized it’s the highway with a side road on the left

 

Just a reminder that these may be in the road, or sheep, or goats, or deer.

¡Nuestros Hijos Están Llegando! (Our Children Are Coming!)

This will be the theme of our next post.  Christmas will be like 2008, in Spain.  With a couple added highlights, Baleigh’s Ricky, Landen’s Lauren, actually they are all our now, and Rafael and Kathy, Lauren’s parents, should be here too.  So let the fiesta begin. The lights in Ronda are being strung and the city will have lights everywhere culminating with the parade down La Bola. 

16, noviembre 2015

Our Search for a Car in Spain

Our car, Seat Ibiza 2014 TDI. SEAT is owned by VW and made in Spain.  VW also Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche and Skoda.

Buying a car anywhere is an interesting proposition.  We purchased a few cars in the US and I hated the process.  My father would go buy a car and by the time he was finished haggling they gave him the car, for nothing!  I’m not my father when it comes to buying vehicles.  Cindy is much better.

We have lived in Ronda for over a year, minus the trip back for “The Wedding” and we’ve not had a car; buses, trains, and friends have taken us places when the destination was mutual, like a party or shopping, but really it was time to spread our wings.  We also have friends coming to visit and our children will be here for Christmas, and Raphael and Kathy (daughter in-law’s parents) will be in Málaga December to March so we need a car.  Another good point to make here is economics.  The value of the dollar in relation to the Euro.  When we arrived in August 2014 the exchange rate was $1.35 to the Euro, yesterday it was $1.07.  A 10.000 € car went from 13.500 € to 10.700 €, a huge savings.  So the Euros fall, ability to move about more freely, the children and friends are coming just meant that the time was right.  Since I’m speaking about money, let’s talk gas/diesel prices in the world.  I know in the US they have fallen from  $3.50 range when we left to $2.20ish now. Same here and the drop has been as significant.  When we arrived, I’ll use diesel since most cars here are, the price was 1,30 € per Liter and 3.78 L equal a gallon, so the math comes out to 4,91 € or at the 2014 exchange $6.63  in 2014.  Yesterday in Ronda a liter was .98 € per liter times 3,78 equals 3,70 € and now with the more favorable exchange rate, $3.96, down 59% compared to about 62% in the US.  So the drop in price helped everyone and since a Spaniard’s annual income is lower than the US it helps even more.  I put 44 liters into the car yesterday, full tank, and spent 44 €, $46.  Diesel is less costly in Spain and probably Europe, but I’m only guessing in Europe.  Spain it definitely is.  Enough with the economics.

Finding a Car

The car dealers are similar to the US. Many are private and deal only with second-hand cars, which are really a good buy since we have no Vermont WINTER, and  SALT.  Cars here last. The average Spanish car is 10 years old and being diesel, they run forever.  I used three websites: http://coches.net, http://coches.com and http://segundomano.es, they’re all very good and there’s a wide selection. We visited a dealership that sells Fiat and Toyota, but unlike Cody Chevrolet or Berlin City with massive lots full of cars and trucks, I haven’t seen one.  They will have just a few newer models, some used and do not have the huge inventories you would see in the US. Also in the states salespeople come out to greet you and really hover over you, not here, much more relaxed.  So you just have to adjust to the new reality which was not really a big problem.

The first car we looked at was in Marbella, 48km south and our good friends John and Carol Small who are fantástico, as John would say, were wonderful and headed there and dragged us along.(Word of caution to friends and family, especially those who get car sick.  The road to Marbella will do that, as Cindy can attest to.  This road is the App Gap in Waitsfield  on steroid and we will have a supply of dramamine in the glovebox.)  The trip to Marbella was our first and is really different from the rest of our world here.  Many Europeans and others who own second homes and English is spoken by many, however, we went there to test drive a Seat Leon like John’s.  The car was white, lots are white, nice car, a few dings, Spanish cars have dings.  The car was ok but we decided to keep looking, it was the first car.

I found a used car dealership in Ronda on the recommendation of our friend Miguel who owns the local jamon store. Mobikars is located in north Ronda and I went to see what they had.  They had no automatic but a nice Peugeot, white with low mileage, and the former owner was the daughter of the owner of Mobikar, Paco Castillo (more coming on Paco and you’ll have to keep your Pacos straight). I called Cindy to tell her about the Peugeot which was a manual, but she said we needed the automatic, and she’s right again.  It is just so much easier especially when in cities and mountains like here in Ronda.  The wife knows!!

So we found a nice Seat Ibiza 2014 TDI with DSG (automatic transmission) with only 48.000 km, 30,000 miles at http://karavan.es .   I contacted Paco Castillo and met his partner, Paco.  Paco Castillo said if I wanted to see the car he would pick us on at our house on Wednesday morning and drive us down.  He had some business to do in Málaga so we went with him and while there visited a Fiat/Toyota dealer.  We had a Prius in the US and loved it and  hybrids are automatics, but the one they had on the lot was too expensive so we continued our journey to see the Seat Ibiza. We met the salesperson, Francisco Millián Gutiérrez,  another Paco, I’m not making this up.  In fact we have a friend in Hull, MA from Spain with connections to the our family who I plan on writing about in the future who is another Paco, and the young man I’m helping with English is Paco too. Now back to the car. It was just what we were looking for and grey, actually more silver.  We decided we liked the car which ticked all the boxes, so the end, well not quite.  Important to remember when buying a car here, road violations follow the car and not the driver.  You must make sure the car has a clean driving record and you will be held responsible for any outstanding fines associated with the vehicle.  Strange but true.  And we still aren’t quite finished.

We brought everything we thought needed to close a deal: Cindy’s passport, NIE, my DNI, bank book (no checkbooks in Spain).  The one document we didn’t bring was the proof that we live in Ronda and have registered with the local town government, Ayuntamiento.  What is interesting is our document here in Ronda was from May but it can only be 3 months old.  So back to Ronda and  the first job here was to go to the Ayuntamiento (town hall) and get a new one.  It was simple enough, we just showed the old one which had all the information and in a minute we had the new one.  I then scanned the document and sent it to Paco in Málaga.  Now insurance on the car, Nick Bergeron where are you?  I spoke with a representative from Linea Directa.  He had lots of questions and I had lots of answers.  The deductable could be 210 €  for a 500 € policy or for 180 € more, no deductable and I spend 680 €.  We took the more expensive policy 100% coverage and a new car if totalled.  He recommended the more expensive policy and you might think, good salesperson.  But driving in Spain is different, remember the car with dings.  Spanish drivers have, let’s say have a reputation.  Also included is roadside assistance anywhere in Europe, AAA type coverage.  Total cost of the insurance as I said was 680 € which is a very comprehensive policy similar to the US and will decrease over 5 years at 15% a year with no claims.  With some good luck that could be 75%.  Now one more detail, pay for the car and since there are no checkbooks or checks of any kind you must transfer money from your bank to theirs.  I had taken a lesson at my bank in Ronda from Julian, great guy.  I setup the system to implement the transaction and tried  3, 4, 5,…more times, nothing.  I called our language school and received help from Javier, another great friend.  I could write another 7 pages, but in short the  cause of the problem was my account was set to only pay X amount, which I guess they set unilaterally. I needed to send 2X to buy the car, so my amount had to be increased which we did over the phone.  This is similar to raising your credit card limit which I have done in the US.  When you make a large transfer in Spain the last part of the process is the bank will send a code to your cellphone to make sure it’s you.  Enter the code as the final step and terminado.  There are definitely more layers of security here involving money.  One more small item when buying in Spain, Impuesto al Valor Añadido, IVA.  This is a value added tax or consumption tax, similar to a sales tax but not exactly the same.  Spain has a 21% IVA (pronounced here as EVA) which is applied to most things you buy, including food.  However, the rate you pay depends on what you buy.  A car is 21%, food is 4%, and for certain items, like entry into a museum, tax free.  So Vermont’s 6% sales tax is in comparison quite small. 

I think we  just purchased a car!

Thursday after all the paperwork had made its way to Paco in Málaga we contacted Paco in Ronda who had offered to take us back on Friday, but unfortunately he was unable to fit us into his vehicle since his family was going with him.  This really wasn’t a problem since the buses here are so good.  Friday morning we hopped on the bus and arrived in Málaga at 10:45 and took a taxi to the car dealer.  Paco in Málaga said, “You’re punctual” and I said, “It’s an American thing”.  We signed the papers, actually it’s Cindy’s car, only her name is on the title.  I had explained that we wanted both names on the title but you can’t do that here so it’s her car.  After all the papers were signed and a little discussion about the buttons and the gear shift we were set to voyage out onto Spain’s highways. (There will be a future article on driving in Spain, which you will be able to experience it by coming to visit us)We left the dealership and were heading home, but first, IKEA.  When looking for the dealership I noticed IKEA was directly opposite and they’re pretty obvious with the patriotic Swedish colors.  Another good item I brought from the US was my Garmin GPS. I could use my phone but coverage can be challenging in mountains and the Garmin is more reliable. (I don’t know who chose the person or computer to give directions in English for Spanish driving, but it’s the worst Spanish pronunciation in the world).  So first stop was IKEA where we bought some items for the impending arrival of family and friends, Friday the 13th was definitely a fun day.

What I know now!

• You can buy a car in Spain and it isn’t that difficult
• Finding an automatic isn’t that hard either, but you’ll have to search to find just the right car, as you would anywhere.
• Many companies offer insurance.
• Spanish people are wonderful and this experience was no different, many were helpful in so many ways.
• Our English friends John and Carol Small took us to Marbella twice to find a car, really generous people.
• You can only have one owner on a car title in Spain.
• Make sure your residence document, Certificado de Empadronamiento, padrón is less than 3 months old
• Make sure the amount of money you want to transfer from your bank here to the seller can be accomplished, you may have to increase the limit.
• Buy or bring your GPS and make sure you have European maps installed before coming.
• We lived here for a year without a car which was a good idea.  You need to see if you fit, we do.
• I will continue to say that Spain has a different rhythm; so did Australia when l lived there and so does Vermont, not better or worse just different.

• Road Trips!