Living on Ibiza

Northern Monkey

New Member
Girlfriend and I have had enough of leaden skies and the daily grind and are currently considering taking career breaks and spending some time living on Ibiza. The plan/hope is to spend as little (if any) time as possible working there so and trying to work out if it is feasible financially or just a pipe dream :D

I've got a pretty good idea of the likely cost of rent, food, petrol etc. but am wondering what other costs there would be and how they compare to the UK (water, electricity, council tax equivalent etc.)

Also, what are the logistics of bringing a car over from the UK - is it really a good idea?

If any of the expats on here (sorry, hate that term) could shed any light on this or have any advice generally it would be hugely appreciated.

Ta,

Stuart
 
Our council tax bill has dropped from £2000 a year for a two bed flat in london to €250 a year for a five bed house here, we have no street lighting, postal deliveries or garbage collections but really, who cares at that price? Water is dead cheap, electricity can be expensive in the winter if you have electric heating but is otherwise much more reasonable than the UK.

We have brought a couple of cars over from the UK and registered them with Spanish plates. To give you an indication of cost; our ten year old Land Rover Discovery cost us approx €1500 to re-register and the six year old golf around €1200. If you want any other info feel free to PM me. Second hand cars here are ridiculously expensive to buy and the main dealers are crap. We take our cars to France or the mainland to be serviced as the costs are half what they are here and the quality of service is far and away better.
 
Many thanks Casper - this is really useful stuff.

Can I just check what the current stance is on re-registering a vehicle is - is it still 6 months?

Also, I keep reading that a RHD is not a good idea from a safety point of view. Is this really the case?

Again, any help would be really appreciated.
 
RHD is only a problem in your own head, once you get used to it , no problem, For overtaking it can be an arse, but there is no rush so just do not bother ( I drive a LHD nissan terano manual, a merc 260 lhd auto and my subaru rhd manual Uk plated, been here for 3 yrs) as for changing the plates, It`s a bit of a grey area, apparently if you get pulled they will ask for proof of when you brought the vehicle in to the country, also apparently if you do not have MOT or the Spanish equivalent ITV they will do you for €1800 for no insurance, again this is an apparently, I have a friend who was stoped last week with the most knacked range rover you have seen, UK plated, no MOT, and told to go on his way, as they say "It`s Ibiza"
Have a good one
Tim
 
It`s a bit of a grey area, apparently if you get pulled they will ask for proof of when you brought the vehicle in to the country, also apparently if you do not have MOT or the Spanish equivalent ITV they will do you for €1800 for no insurance, again this is an apparently, I have a friend who was stoped last week with the most knacked range rover you have seen, UK plated, no MOT, and told to go on his way, as they say "It`s Ibiza"
Have a good one
Tim

What Tim says about it being a grey area is true as far as what the Guardia will do if they stop you. However:

1) You may only drive a foreign registered car for up to six months before you have to get either a temporary red plate or apply for Spanish registration.

2) You must have a valid MOT or Spanish ITV for the vehicle

Theoretically they can impound your car and crush it if you do not have the correct paperwork, But what isn't in doubt is that if you have an accident your insurance is invalid and then the real problems begin.

This might "be Ibiza" but all the insurance policies are written on the mainland.
 
I contacted a local company about the transfer to Spanish plates when I got here for the Scoob, their advice was " wait till you get pulled" then come see us to start the transfer, you then will get a Green P plate until the engineers report / confirmation of homoligation is in order, you also have to ITV it as a Spanish car ( If you have what they call voluntary ITV as I do on the scoob, headlamp deflectors and fog light on wrong side pass, If spanish car, has to be "proper" LHD headlamps etc) then pay tax`s on it, ( there is an alowance if you are moving here if it has been your own can for a certain time)
Have a good one
Tim
 
I contacted a local company about the transfer to Spanish plates when I got here for the Scoob, their advice was " wait till you get pulled" then come see us to start the transfer, you then will get a Green P plate until the engineers report / confirmation of homoligation is in order, you also have to ITV it as a Spanish car ( If you have what they call voluntary ITV as I do on the scoob, headlamp deflectors and fog light on wrong side pass, If spanish car, has to be "proper" LHD headlamps etc) then pay tax`s on it, ( there is an alowance if you are moving here if it has been your own can for a certain time)
Have a good one
Tim

If you have a European Certificate of Conformity from your manufacturer then you don't need the engineers report anymore, just the ITV. Beware though that the car must be exactly as it was when it came out of the factory and if you have added anything like a towbar then you must have a certificate of conformity for it. I fell foul of this last year and had to remove the towbar from my Discovery. It's worth using a gestoria like Gamaservi to do the paperwork for you as nobody at the ITV center speaks English and it can be a daunting if you arrive here without any Spanish.
 
Another way round this is to buy a Spanish car on the mainland somewhere like Alicante where there is a large english speaking population, the car is cheaper to buy, you can make sure it has ITV and then just bring it over on the ferry.
 
Towbars are a bit of a grey area also, I have one on the terrano, because of that, I only get a 6 month ITV ( classed as a commercial vehicle ) A friend took his a few weeks ago, He removed the ball, but left all the brackets, He faild on that ( amongst a load of other things also) It was written on the fail sheet as basically "non standard modification" which they are hot on , ( your tyres must also be the stated size on the spanish equivelent to our reg document )

Have a good one
Tim,

PS nearly all of the staff at the ITV center speak very good English, If you are polite and plesent with them it get`s you an awfull long way, My Spanish is poor, But I have never had a problem at the ITV station, Do not be afraid of taking your own car !!! ( I believe the normal going rate is €100 for someone to do it for you, PM away :lol: )
 
PS nearly all of the staff at the ITV center speak very good English, If you are polite and plesent with them it get`s you an awfull long way, My Spanish is poor, But I have never had a problem at the ITV station, Do not be afraid of taking your own car !!! ( I believe the normal going rate is €100 for someone to do it for you, PM away :lol: )


Hmmm, must have changed since last year. There is a girl with dark hair at reception who speaks English and a young guy in the back office; however none of the engineers seem to at all. I agree though that it is easy taking your car for the ITV test without good Spanish. I took my first car in on my own when I first arrived (and could barely order a couple of beers in Spanish) and had no problems at all. The paperwork is where you need the help from a gestoria.

p.s. I am okay with ordering the beers now!
 
What Tim says about it being a grey area is true as far as what the Guardia will do if they stop you. However:

1) You may only drive a foreign registered car for up to six months before you have to get either a temporary red plate or apply for Spanish registration.

2) You must have a valid MOT or Spanish ITV for the vehicle

Theoretically they can impound your car and crush it if you do not have the correct paperwork, But what isn't in doubt is that if you have an accident your insurance is invalid and then the real problems begin.

This might "be Ibiza" but all the insurance policies are written on the mainland.

So, basically you should carry UK driving licence, insurance, flight arrival, and MOT in the car with you when you drive around?
Is a UK MOT sufficient, or do you need the Spanish ITV?
Most insurance companies cover cars in Europe don't they?
 
Our council tax bill has dropped from £2000 a year for a two bed flat in london to €250 a year for a five bed house here, we have no street lighting, postal deliveries or garbage collections but really, who cares at that price? Water is dead cheap, electricity can be expensive in the winter if you have electric heating but is otherwise much more reasonable than the UK.

We have brought a couple of cars over from the UK and registered them with Spanish plates. To give you an indication of cost; our ten year old Land Rover Discovery cost us approx €1500 to re-register and the six year old golf around €1200. If you want any other info feel free to PM me. Second hand cars here are ridiculously expensive to buy and the main dealers are crap. We take our cars to France or the mainland to be serviced as the costs are half what they are here and the quality of service is far and away better.
Hi
Just wondering do you go and collect your post? How about posting stuff back to the uk? Thanks! Oh and do you take your garbage to the dumpor somewhere similar? In response to the council tax- we pay around £1200 a year for a remote cottage that has diabolical roads, no street lighting for at least 9 miles, no grit bins and a rubbish collection once a week so we won't be missing much!!
 
Collect post from PO box in my local bar, Recorded, get a note & have to go to post office, Parcels, The driver will phone you to go meet him (usually at bar)
Normal post gets sent from the Tabac , Recorded & parcels, You do have to go to post/courier office, Bin's, All over the place, Usually in groups of 4, Normal, Glass, Paper etc lots of recycling, You take your rubbish to them, They are emptied every day,
Tarmac roads are good in most places, Camino's can be rough but that's why we have 4x4's :) ( Camino bashing is a winter pass-time) Street-lighting reasonable in built up area's & also no grit bins,,,,, But we do not need them as we have some snow ploughs "just in case" :):):lol:

Tim
 
Collect post from PO box in my local bar, Recorded, get a note & have to go to post office, Parcels, The driver will phone you to go meet him (usually at bar)
Normal post gets sent from the Tabac , Recorded & parcels, You do have to go to post/courier office, Bin's, All over the place, Usually in groups of 4, Normal, Glass, Paper etc lots of recycling, You take your rubbish to them, They are emptied every day,
Tarmac roads are good in most places, Camino's can be rough but that's why we have 4x4's :) ( Camino bashing is a winter pass-time) Street-lighting reasonable in built up area's & also no grit bins,,,,, But we do not need them as we have some snow ploughs "just in case" :):):lol:

Tim
Why anyone would want to stay living in the politically corrupted, hypocrytical, over rated, wet, cold, socially monotonous UK is beyond me!!! Just a quick moan about life in the UK!!
 
Yes, I was in UK for the weekend, Ten Quid for a packet of cig's (14€)!!! FFS they are €4.35 here (£3.10) our beer is better and cheaper ( WTF is with the 4.8 Stella piss) Reason's enough to move ;)

Tim
 
Yep- greedy corrupted government, suprised we don't get taxed for bloody farting.
Everyrhing is commercialised and why anyone can say its a good place to live must be crazy!
 
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