M&T's Move to Ibiza

TiffyBarrett

Well-Known Member
I thought that this would be the perfect time to start my thread on our move to Ibiza.
After last nights confirmation on the Withdrawal Agreement, M and I are extremely happy that our move to Ibiza should will be pretty standard!

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy for us, we've basically spent the time selling all of the furniture that we had in our villa, packing up and shipping a few things to the UK that 'we don't need right now but we don't want in storage' and having the rest of our stuff including frames/decoration etc packed up professionally and put into storage. We've pre-paid for 6 months of storage in the UAE before it's shipped to Ibiza but we might not end up using it all if we find somewhere permanent to live when we first go over that we're really happy with.

From this...

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To this...

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Tuesday was the last day in the house, but with our sofa's being picked up at 5:30pm that night it just felt eerily quiet so I went to the pub to get out of there and waited for M to finish work at 9, join me for a quick pint and then head back. The next morning our bed was collected, the curtains were down and the painters were in putting it back to the standard Emaar beige colour for the next tenant (bleurgh!!). I went to work with a car load of our belongings whilst M finished emptying the villa and checked us into our serviced apartment, where we shall live our lives for the next 2.5 months.

We made the decision to drastically down-size now rather than in April simply to avoid the stress of having to do everything within the last week or two before leaving the country for good. There'll be enough to worry about at that time with getting visa's cancelled, closing bank and mobile accounts, selling my car etc that selling our furniture now and closing off electricity/gas/house accounts is a huge weight off 12 weeks before we leave.

Getting to the new apartment last night was a bit of a reality check! 3 bed villa to 1 bed apartment and a lot of our stuff :spank: M and I discussed this when we were unpacking and realised that it will probably be about the same size of our first apartment in Ibiza, and we need to take a more realistic look at our things and what we actually want/need. We were both a little overwhelmed - it's obviously a massive move for us so a lot of feelings flying around - but we grabbed the lift from the 22nd floor to ground and found the hotel/apartments pub for a pint and a chat.

So as of today we have taken the first really big step to leaving the UAE and our jobs... and forever now prepping for our move! EXCITING!!!
 
Kudos to you both for making the decision and taking the action to move to Ibiza - I don't for one second doubt that this will be the best move you have ever made. Best of luck with everything!
 
That's super! & I do hope that you enjoy your stay at the serviced apartment. I assume that means it's furnished. Who could ask for more (other than perhaps additional rooms, lol)? To me, it would all be such a culture shock, what with who knows what differences between the two countries... I grew up in southern California and when we visited London it was vastly different! My big hang up was the flow of traffic being opposite!

Well, I'm sure you two are weathered travelers such that you'll find comfort wherever you go. Best of luck, right? Congratulations! How exciting to move to Ibiza! :lol::cool:
 
That's super! & I do hope that you enjoy your stay at the serviced apartment. I assume that means it's furnished. Who could ask for more (other than perhaps additional rooms, lol)? To me, it would all be such a culture shock, what with who knows what differences between the two countries... I grew up in southern California and when we visited London it was vastly different! My big hang up was the flow of traffic being opposite!

Well, I'm sure you two are weathered travelers such that you'll find comfort wherever you go. Best of luck, right? Congratulations! How exciting to move to Ibiza! :lol::cool:

Hey!
Yeah the apartment is furnished and cleaned regularly etc so it's just our personal belongings that we need. Making it a lot simpler for us right now.

I think moving from the UK to Dubai was the bigger culture shock - moving over to Ibiza seems like a doddle in comparison!! I've just got to get into the habit of not being such an early bird, as Spain in general just isn't built that way haha!

Thanks so much :)
 
What jobs do you plan on in Ibiza?
Will you buy or rent a home?

We're not 100% at the moment, but I am leaning towards being Autonomo and freelancing for copywriting & social media projects. I do it in my spare time now so can ramp it up a bit. Can also go back to being a PT if I wanted to or felt the need to. M at the beginning will be taking a break, getting creative and creating content - he deserves it after 12 years at Apple!

We'll be renting an apartment and saving for a villa. We have a small property in the UK, and intend on having a villa that we can eventually rent out in Ibiza. :)

best of luck for the move.

don‘t forget life mainly happens outdoor in ibiza, personally I said goodbye to a lot of materialistic stuff when I made the move from switzerland.

100% - we just like our 'wall' - a collection of our memories. That's all we packed up really!
 
As you well know PTs were 10 a penny along with everyone from Yoga this and that to cleansing wizards.. but I think people have coped on to all that nonsense and do it themselves for FREE... I have no doubt you and M will find something and have a happy time moving and settling in... ?
As for your wall ? just hang everything out side when you find the right place
 
all the best with your move @Tiffany Barrett My missus and I moved to Spain just under 4 years ago (mainland so different but some things apply all over) and it's been a real learning curve. You've probably researched a fair bit already, but I would consider the following (all a bit boring I'm afraid and I'm sure some is very obvious)

- language - outside classes, get involved in intercambios where you meet a local and swap languages, good way of meeting people, breaking down barriers etc. Stick to castellano.
- national holidays - there are loads in Spain (if it falls on a tues/thurs then people often take the mon/fri off as an (unofficial!) puente ('bridge') - what is open is often down to the individual business
- opening hours - loads of places still shut 2-5pm (not the big chains though)
- Sp tv is 95% crap. some good stuff on La 2 sometimes. but stivi's right - a lot of life is outdoors-based. people don't generally invite each round so much and prefer to meet out
- driving - drivers can go loco in Spain. don't take it personally when people beep in a traffic jam or for observing the speed limit, it's what they do.
- people shout a lot too - it's not usually meant in anger but can take getting used to.
- you might occasionally find some anti-British/anti-foreign sentiment. Best handled with charm, a joke and a reply in Spanish. (see also police)
- Carrefour have very good range whilst Lidl's getting better for veggies now. Not sure if Caprabo operate in IBZ (?), poor selection but their cards give you automatic savings whereas the others are just discounts based on future spends. Mercadona are the cheapest but not always best quality/range (and they treat their staff like dirt). Processed/oven/ready food is a lot less common than in UK. You will cook a lot more!
- cigs are only sold at TABACS (old school tobacconists who were given protected status during the dictatorship) or machines - normal shops can't sell them.
- health - pharma ONLY sold at pharmacies. Heavily regulated. A lot of medicines/pain killers are actually cheaper in UK (though that may change!). I think that during the grace period, you can still get signed up at local health centre. In order to do that, get your empadonamiento residency from local ayuntamiento (council/town hall) + UK passport will still be ok as validation till end of year. if you go private, MEDIAFIATC offer insurance (covering some dental), but major ops will be referred back to state system.
- Caixa bank are ok but you can't 'tap' their debit cards at other ATMS. I'd advise setting up residents account to avoid tax headaches. British/Sp banks have a transparency arrangement, completely separate to EU so no changes there. Assets are taxed once a year in the infamous declaracion - a ballache of a document where you have to list all income and capital (including that secret stash in Andorra)
- get involved in expat whatsapp groups - quite useful for tipping people off about police checkpoints and stuff (if you've er imbibed one too many..don't try this at home, kids..)
- utilities - make sure your leak is in the week. nobody comes at weekend. I use Telefonica for mob/broadband (not cheap but reliable), gas natural, endesa for electric, I dunno who does water in IBZ
- oh yeah and always take a copy of your NIE everywhere!
 
- driving - drivers can go loco in Spain. don't take it personally when people beep in a traffic jam or for observing the speed limit, it's what they do.
- people shout a lot too - it's not usually meant in anger but can take getting used to.

Out of all of your notes I chuckled at the above. I drive in Dubai (and have done in Ibiza) and I honestly think Dubai pips anywhere for the madness on the roads ?

Thanks for your notes - a lot of them I knew but always open to new advice - gracias!
 
Hi @Tiffany Barrett, I'm renting out my apartment this summer as I wont be able to come over for a while due to work.

PM me if you are interested or need any advice on buying e.g real estate agent, mortgage brokers, lawyer contacts etc, I bought mines while overseas and it was pretty plain sailing thanks to all the help I got.

All the best!

Amazing thanks - I'll pop you a message :)
 
Out of all of your notes I chuckled at the above. I drive in Dubai (and have done in Ibiza) and I honestly think Dubai pips anywhere for the madness on the roads ?

Thanks for your notes - a lot of them I knew but always open to new advice - gracias!

I'd like to retract this statement and say that Saudi is now the top of my list for crazy driving!
 
We have just moved here too, landed 4th March, the dog and belongings arrived 6th March...thank you Ibiza Transport....and my husband rode over on the Harley with his friend...who is now riding like the wind to get back to England before everything locks down....?
 
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