La Vida Gaditana

Tracking our move from Maine to Spain one post at a time

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Hunkering Down in Conil

17 March 2020

Greetings from the land of the lockdown. Spain officially went into lockdown yesterday (Monday, 16 March). But restaurants, bars, shops, and other services started shutting down on Friday after the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced a “State of Alarm”.

Perhaps irresponsibly, we did not call off a planned trip to Seville last weekend. We were meeting friends there to celebrate Amy’s birthday. They arrived the day before us and said the night before our departure that the town was “still hopping.” It was definitely not hopping by the time we rolled into town.

We thought about heading home on Saturday morning, but the restaurant where we had a reservation for Amy’s big birthday dinner--Sobretablas--posted on Instagram that they would remain open through Saturday night dinner and close as of Sunday. As it turned out, Saturday lunch would be our last meal pre-lockdown because Sobretablas called at about 6:30pm to say they’d decided to shut down immediately. As with everything during the last week, things were changing fast. Once we got the call from Sobretablas, we packed up and within an hour were on the highway back to Conil.

I will say we went out with a bang though. We got lucky in that a restaurant on Amy’s “must try” list, Barra Baja, was still open at lunchtime and it was fantastic. Next time you’re in Sevilla (post lockdown), do yourself a favor and book a table. A couple of highlights:

Gorgeous tomato and orange salad, so simple, so delicious

Caramel volcano cake with rosemary ice cream, no words

#NosQuedamosEnCasa

It’s very early days here. The AP reports the number of deaths in Spain due to the virus has jumped from 309 to 491 in the last 24 hours and new infections have risen to 11,178, up nearly 2,000 in that period.

With a population of 46 million, yesterday Spain became #4 in the world in terms of COVID-19 cases, surpassing South Korea and edging closer to Iran. This is not what we want to hear. We have yet to #flattenthecurve even with the lockdown. But experts don’t expect to see positive results for about 10 days.

What are the rules? We must stay at home and can only be out on the streets to go to the grocery store, the doctor, or to care for relatives. We can walk the dogs, but not on the beach. The rule seems to be one person/one dog. But Robert has passed the police while walking both dogs and no one has stopped him. I think the bigger problem would be if there were two of us walking one dog. We follow the rule to the letter in the afternoon by going out together, one person/one dog ;> I think those dog walks are going to save our sanity.

Our route through the wheat fields in Puntalejos

Our streets here in Conil are very quiet. Few people are out. Robert went out this morning to the local fruit and veg co-op and shelves were fully stocked. He had to wait outside for about 5 minutes to go in, as only three people at once were allowed in the shop. Once inside he had to wear gloves. We’ve heard it’s the same at the Mercadona, our version of Giant or Safeway.

We’re taking things day by day. We’ve already read that the health minister doesn’t think 15 days of quarantine will be enough, and so it will probably be extended. But we’re confident this is the right thing to do since it’s clear that people can be asymptomatic and contagious. We have to self isolate to protect the most vulnerable people and to help the healthcare system cope. At least Spain’s leaders are addressing the massive hardship for many Spaniards. A €200 billion relief package has been approved to help cushion the impact of the crisis. That’s 20% of Spain’s GDP.

Who knows if it will be enough. Our town really runs on tourism–summer folks coming to the beach in the high season; folks in their RVs nearly year round; and a loads of surfers in the winter. The economic impact here, and throughout Spain, hell, throughout the world, will be massive.

OK, that’s where things stand right now. We’ll keep you posted as we hunker down in Conil.  

[lavidagaditana]

February 2020 updates

It’s 3 February and currently 16 degrees climbing to a high of 22! Yes, I had to google that; celsius is still a mystery to me. So, it’s currently 60 and climbing to a high of 70 today! #reasonstoloveespaña

I’m going to try to be better about posting house updates. Progress is slow, but things are happening. Last week it was the geotechnical survey. Don’t ask me what that actually entails or when we’ll know the results. The next thing is the archeological survey. Then we revise the plans accordingly, and on and on it goes. Maybe they’ll break ground by 2021 at this rate. #patienceisavirtue #youcantrushart

Prepping the plot for the geotechnical survey

In December, the painters spiffed up the facade at #14, which has brightened up our stretch of Calle Arrieros significantly. Check out the before and after shots.

Not a true “before” shot since they’d already started scraping, but you get the idea.

The most exciting development was what they found under the render around the door.

After! (Clearly someone filled in part of the doorway to make for a smaller entrance. One day we’ll bash that out and put in a proper double door.)

So now #14 looks like a proper house from the outside. The inside, not so much. But we’ll deal with that mañana.

Finally, we did a bit of exploring our immediate surroundings last Saturday to scout out future dog walks. Our house sits below the castle, and there are paths crisscrossing the hillside with fantastic views east toward the sierras and west toward the bay of Cadiz.

Looking east from below the castle of Medina Sidonia

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One Year Down

1 January 2020--Robert writes: Yes, we are a little late, but on November 5 we celebrated our first full year in Spain. As you might expect, it was a pretty eventful year, what with learning to speak Spanish, buying a car, attempting to get a Spanish drivers’ license, searching for a house, buying a house (plus the lot next door), being caught off guard when everything shuts down during the myriad Spanish holidays, and navigating Spain's bureaucracy.

New car pictured above (it took three months to buy this baby).

We encountered many challenges in the first twelve months and continue to do so. But none so great that we ever reconsidered our decision to move. Perhaps not seeing one drop of snow last winter was enough to clinch it.

We have certainly enjoyed the weather here in Cadiz province. I think the average in the region is about 300 days of sunshine per year. And while we weren’t counting, it certainly did feel that way. We did have rainy spells in November and March/April. But other than that, we enjoyed beautiful sunshine and temperatures that were, on the whole, lovely. Like in the US, we did have plenty of hot summer days but one of the great things about being by the coast is, when the sun sets, the temperatures really do drop.

A view from the clifftop walk near Fuente del Gallo beach in winter 2019

We are very thankful to have found a property and a town that we both like in Medina Sidonia. (Thus ended the whole campo vs. pueblo debate.) It will clearly take another year--at least--before our new house is built and we can move in, but that's okay. Conil is great and 2020 should be exciting as the new house takes shape.

Location of future Casa Masciola

We'll also have another twelve months to work with our Spanish teacher, Fátima. We've definitely improved our Spanish, but we still have a ways to go. And since there are no formal language schools in MS, we need to buckle down this year to take advantage of having a school and a teacher close by.

The frustrating days of trying to understand the culture and how things work here are certainly fewer and farther between. We've settled in nicely and can pretty easily manage the challenges. Having a network of new friends has been tremendously helpful. We are so grateful to have met some wonderful people  who’ve offered invaluable advice and support at every turn. It's hard to express how amazing these folks have been to not only provide us a social network, but to help us learn how to navigate life in Andalucia. We hope to play that role for newcomers one day.

Amy writes: I’m grateful that Robert wrote a nice round up of our first year in Conil de la Frontera since I’ve been procrastinating for two months. I’m also grateful for all the dear friends who visited us in our new home in 2019 and look forward to many more visits in 2020 and beyond.

To wrap up this post, I’m just going to list some reflections from this first fourteen months.

Some things to love about Spain:

No one is ever in a hurry. (This one could easily go into the “Things about Spain that drive you insane” category too, but I’m trying to keep this positive.) It’s one of those stereotypes that, in our experience, is true more often than not. Spaniards also seem to be a very patient people. We are working on this skill.

Spaniards have perfected the whole work-life balance thing. Most shops close by about 2pm on Saturday and don’t re-open until Monday. They also close for a couple of hours at mid-day. There are countless national and regional holidays throughout the year. And more often than not, the holidays are an excuse for a four-day weekend (referred to as “el puente” or bridge). And then there’s August, when many businesses just close up shop so the staff can head for the beach.

Life here is not all about abundance, consumption, and convenience. (Again, this could go into the “drives me insane” category, but. . . positivity.) If you cannot find something in a nearby store today, you either don’t really need it or you’ll find it further away in the future, maybe. Again, we are working on embracing this perspective. Poco a poco . . .

Spaniards have perfected the long lunch. Saturdays and/or Sundays are for long, leisurely lunches, preferably enjoyed on a patio. No Spanish server will ever make you feel like you need to hurry up so they can turn your table. In fact, it’s difficult to get a check when you’re finally ready to pay up and leave. We often see tables with three or four generations enjoying a big meal for hours (also Spaniards never seem to run out of things to discuss). Kids run wild (in a good way), but since Spaniards are pretty loud as a rule, it all sort of blends. Also, lots of restaurants have jungle gyms to occupy all the littles.

Tapas bars (see below). We’re still working on our tapas bar skills. Be aggressive is the mantra (but smile). Dive in. Think fast. Be loud and decisive.

Things not to love about Spain:

There is a litter epidemic, especially here in the south. (By contrast, Galicia was very clean and tidy.) It has been utterly shocking to see the amount of trash everywhere from city streets to country walking paths. It’s downright depressing, truly. Also, dog poop. Many people don’t bother picking up their dogs’ poop even when they take a dump right in the middle of the sidewalk. I could say a lot more on this subject, but I will leave it there.

I almost said bureaucracy. But I’m honestly not sure if there’s more bureaucracy here, or if it just feels like it because we’re new immigrants who don’t speak the language so everything is doubly or triply complicated. We’ve been incredibly lucky to have found a terrific lawyer. Juan Antonio and his staff have helped us navigate countless bureaucratic hurdles. And when it comes to our new property in MS, our friend Kirsty has been so helpful.

Actually, I can’t think of anything else about our adopted home to truly dislike. Don’t get me wrong. There have been lots of challenges, but those come with any major life change, right? Fortunately for us, the small successes, friendly people, and beautiful surroundings have so far dramatically outweighed the frustrations.

So here’s to an even more adventurous 2020!

[lavidagaditana]

Oh yeah, and we bought a vacant lot too.

When we first saw our house at Calle Arrieros, 14, there was a big empty lot next door. The agent told us that it was owned by the town and wasn’t for sale as far as he knew. According to Francesca (the vendor), it had sat empty for decades, ever since a storm blew over the house that used to be there. Hmmm.

Well lo and behold, within six weeks of our agreeing to buy the house at #14, a sign appeared on the wall in front of the empty lot at #16. When our lawyer Juan Antonio called the number, he learned that it was owned by the state of Andalucia and was up for auction. We would have to place a secret bid no lower than the minimum and within the next 10 days and then wait for another month to find out if we “won”.

So off to Cadiz we went with Sara, who works for Juan Antonio. She helped us navigate the process of placing a secret bid, no mean feat. About five weeks later, and a week after we closed on #14, we went back to Cadiz for the auction. Of course, we were the only bidders on our lot, so WE WON!

I can’t imagine why no one else bid on this beauty. On the left is the wall dividing the two properties (#14 to the left). The low wall to the right runs along Calle Arrieros.

It’s like a missing tooth between #14 and #18, just waiting for an implant. Okay, terrible analogy. Anyway, it doesn’t look like much, but the plot is about the same size as #14 and rises to a high point with a fantastic view to the west. One day, we’ll be able to watch the sun set over Cadiz from our mirador while sipping an ice cold copa de fino.

Right now, our mirador is overshadowed by the big ass pine tree in the garden at #14. But I’ve got plans for that tree . . . .

Fast forward to today, September 9, 2019. We had our first meeting with our architect José María and our project manager Kirsty Biston to review the first draft of a design for a house to be built at #16.

We’ve decided to build our home at #16 first and then focus on renovating #14 as a guest house.

Needless to say, today was super exciting. We loved José María’s initial plans and brainstormed some revisions. Stay tuned . . . .

[lavidagaditana]

We bought a house

A long overdue post about our house and vacant lot purchases. It’s a book length story, and since I don’t have time for all that I’m going to give you the bullet points.

On March 11, we made an offer on a derelict patio house in a beautiful pueblo blanco called Medina Sidonia. After some back and forth with the sellers (called vendors here), we agreed on a price.

Between then and June 7, there were many many visits to our bank in Conil de la Frontera and the office of our (wonderful) attorney Juan Antonio. There was A LOT of drama with the vendors. In short, there was an embargo on the property with the tax office (like a lien) and several heirs to the property who had to be paid off in the process of selling. We were dealing with a new and inexperienced bank manager for our mortgage. The entire process was muy frustrante to say the least.

Finally on June 7, we went to the notary’s office in Medina Sidonia, along with the SIX vendors who would split up the sale price on the actual day, the bank manager, our attorney, the real estate agent, one of the vendor’s attorneys, some guy from the tax office, and various other characters who I never identified. We were there for several hours before the notary finally gathered us around a table and read out the deed to us. The bank manager had us sign a bunch of checks, which he handed out to the vendors (lots of bad blood and nasty looks flying around). The tax guy took his cut. And finally someone handed us the keys. Here we are with the vendors (the ones who like each other, that is). Francesca, the matriarch of the family and primary owner, is on my left with her hand on my shoulder, sweet.

So now we own a great big house on Calle Arrieros in Medina Sidonia. It needs a little work.

But before we get to that, Robert had to “carry me over the threshold.”

Needless to say, we didn’t make it over the threshold.

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We love this place because it sits just below the castle and the Iglesia de Santa Maria. It’s a two-story house built around an internal patio with an additional garden behind it and a back gate that leads out to a pedestrian walkway. We imagine a beautiful guest house with five or six rooms and space for events. One day . . .

But what about that vacant lot? Next post . . .

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Me and B on the train to Sevilla after a whirlwind visit. We cannot wait for her to come back very soon.

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So many friends . . .

Lucky for us, many of our friends have not been deterred by the seeming remoteness of Conil de la Frontera. We loved hosting them all and look forward to lots more visits. Who’s next??

Winner for First to Visit: Carrie Austin d’Arbustino!

Winner for Most Dramatic Arrival: Sandy Greene

Winner for Most Circuitous Route Taken from USA: Tommy Egan

Winners for Most Tuna Consumed and Sunsets Viewed: Alan Tate and Kerry McCuaig

Winners for For Packing the Most into the Shortest Trip: Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Stergalas

Coming soon, our most intrepid fellow traveler yet. . .

[lavidagaditana]

The Joys of Food Shopping in Conil

A guest post by Robert Masciola June 8, 2019

Conil de la Frontera--One head of green cabbage, five carrots, a one-pound bag of peanuts (in the shell), three nectarines, a large bunch of basil, a large bunch of parsley, a small bunch of mint, one red onion, one yellow onion, one pound of Swiss chard, and a dozen local eggs.

Yes, I know this sounds like a grocery list. That’s because it is (or was). I bought these items yesterday from our local fruit and veg co-op, Las Virtudes. All the items, except the nectarines, came from local farmers. And the parsley was free (always).

Our region, the Costa de la Luz in Cadiz Province, is an agricultural powerhouse. I won’t deny one of the reasons we moved here was the 3,000+ hours per year of sunshine. (Quick side note: right now we’re getting 11 hours of daylight since the sun doesn’t set until 10PM!)

In addition to all that sunshine, we get just enough rain. We’re south of the Guadalquivir Valley, which receives more rain than other part of Andalucia. Our proximity to the river valley and the Atlantic make Cadiz Province the rainiest part of Andalucia. As you head east, rainfall diminishes and temperatures become more extreme.

But, back to my main point. The bill for the items on my shopping list came to €8.15 (maybe 10 bucks). Back home, just a dozen local eggs would have cost me about $5.00. Add in chard, the herbs, etc. I am guessing I would have spent $20 or more. And those are Maine prices. If we were back in Silver Spring, ay ay ay!

I’m the grocery shopper in our family, which is fine by me since I’m also the main cook and food obsessive. I love going to the mercado and practicing my Spanish on the very patient vendors. And I love the seasonality of the offerings. Artichoke season just passed. Over the winter I discovered a local green called tagarninas, a wild thistle that locals forage and sell by the roadside. They do the same during wild asparagus season. Just recently someone introduced me to a stone fruit called nisperos, super sweet and delicious. And don’t get me started on the winter strawberries.

I have to admit, I’m still shocked when I see the receipt at the market or the co-op because my comparison is to the farmers’ market in Portland. I know, it’s apples and oranges (pun intended). There’s a longer discussion of food prices and comparative life expectancy and income inequality, which I’ll save for later, much later . . .

If you were expecting something more from this guest post, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But c’mon, let’s give it up for Conil de la Frontera, la huerta de Andalucia! This is a pretty impressive haul, correct. And did I mention it only cost €8.15 and the parsley was free? Viva verduras!

[lavidagaditana]

Seven Months. Already?!

7 June 2019

Conil de la Frontera--I’m clearly a terrible chronicler of this adventure. I have no excuses, but lots of reasons, for neglecting this little blog. Many of them have to do with the cellphone store and the ayuntamiento (or town hall), but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I last posted here in the middle of January after we visited Antequera and Malaga. Since then, so much has happened. Many friends have visited (and even some relatives!). This was a rare weekend without visitors, which is why I have a little time to catch up on the blog.

I’m going to try to avoid a lengthy narrative, so here goes (boring stuff first, but I am a completist, so bear with me):

Administrative issues: Well we thought we had successfully registered with the town in December (empadronamiento), but alas it was not meant to be. Lesson #1: when the town sends you an official looking document, read it before filing it away. Google Translate is your friend.

Here we are on December 14 after our third visit to the ayuntamiento. We look happy because we mistakenly believe we have successfully registered. Not so fast people . . . .

Long story short (and really not complete even now): we didn’t follow the instructions in above-mentioned letter so they cancelled our application back in December. They didn’t tell us that until February when they sent us a letter by registered mail. We returned to the ayuntamiento to correct the situation, filled in some forms, got them stamped, and left. Apparently, that was a complete waste of time because those forms went nowhere (don’t ask). We didn’t know that until May when our attorney said we needed to prove we were registered in order to get a certification of our tax residency. Back to the ayuntamiento to get some proof of our registration. Oh, wait. We aren’t registered you say?

We had to start over from the beginning, this time with someone from our attorney’s office with us. We still don’t know if we are registered, but we got the tax residency certificate, so all is not lost. La lucha continua.

Internet and cellphone: I won’t bore you (much). But no account of our first six months in Conil would be complete without mentioning how much time we actually spent in the Airwifi and Yoigo shops. Things went awry almost immediately after having the fiber optic internet installed. We decided to switch providers, but wanted to keep our cellphone number. Right. Buena suerte.

We are on a first name basis with the staff at each of these stores. The good news is that we finally have reliable fast internet and television via Yoigo and relatively reliable cellphone from Airwifi. This took at least four months and countless store visits. Thanks to Carrie Austin d’Arbustino’s intervention in April, things seem to have fallen into place. Sort of. Still no Sky TV channels, but I don’t really care anymore thanks to HBO España. (One small hiccup with HBO España: the Dothraki in Game of Thrones has Spanish subtitles. Doh!)

Spanish: Each of us has a tutor now. We meet with our respective maestras a couple or three times per week for 90 minutes. I’m not sure if our Spanish is improving. Ask me in another six months. Poco a poco. . .

Our town: We love Conil. Our little townhouse is clean and comfortable, and our landlords Bob and Karen are very nice. We’re very close to the beach and clifftop paths, and a short ride to town.

In April the beach bars, or chiringuitos (see above), started to open for the season. Now it’s possible to walk from our house to town along the beach, stopping for cañas or copas at several bars along the way. We’ve identified a half dozen favorite restaurants in or near Conil. The staff are very nice and make us feel welcome even though no hablamos español. Standouts in town are Feduchy, Barra de Rosario, Vascook, and Mangiafoho (for excellent pizza and pasta!!). Nearby standouts include Patria near La Muela, Califa Express in Vejer, and Codigo de Barra in Cadiz.

Transportation: Since my last post, we bought a Vespa and a Volkswagen Golf. Pro tip: Don’t expect to drop into a car dealership and test drive a car; you have to make an appointment. Also, do not expect to drop into a car dealership and drive away in a new car. It took us several visits to the dealership just to test drive and then order a car, and then we had to wait a few months for our car to arrive. Perhaps Cadiz is different from other parts of Spain, but I got the impression in both VW dealerships we visited that no one was particularly desperate to sell us a car. I guess it’s better than the alternative, i.e., feeling like a captive at the dealership until you leave with a car.

The Vespa purchase was simpler once we figured out which shop in our town is the authorized dealer (not as easy as it sounds). We chose the scooter from a catalog and it came from Jerez. It’s vibrant, to say the least. Whoa! We’re calling it El Sapito.

More to come. . .

[lavidagaditana]

New Year, New Country

We’re 11 weeks into this adventure. We’ve ticked a lot of stuff off the list. immigration papers, pet passports (yes, that’s a thing), a nice place to live, broadband and cable tv (which works sometimes), Spanish cell phone, bank account, a car, and a source for corn meal. Yes, our car has been towed, we’ve locked the dogs in the car, we’ve gotten lost countless times, and we still have difficulty making ourselves understood by most of the locals we encounter. But people are very friendly and patient for the most part. And we’re both learning to be more patient, which is a challenge at our age and long overdue.

We went to lovely Malaga province the weekend before last and spent a night at the parador in Antequera and a night in my favorite city hotel, the Room Mate Valeria in Malaga. While in Malaga, we had sushi and tacos (not at the same place), two foods we’ve been missing, and we rode the big ferris wheel.

Last Saturday, we checked out Jerez, also lovely. You have to love a town whose pretty back streets smell like sherry. Gorgeous cathedral, imposing alcazar, loads of tabancos or sherry bars, and delicious food. I’m sure we’ll be back there soon.

Here are some snapshots from the last few weeks, in no particular order.

Antequera

Peña de los Enamorados, Antequera

Near Antequera

View of the ferris wheel from the Room Mate Valeria, Malaga

Working dogs of Jerez

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We met this guy on the beach yesterday.

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¡Felices Fiestas!

I’m way behind on the updates. So I’ll just run through the latest progress on the immigration front and then post a few pics from our last few weeks.

1. Empadronamiento: Check. After two failed visits to the Conil Ayuntamiento to register on the padron, we sought the assistance of our new gestor, Erin. Briefly, you need to take your passport, a copy of your lease (in Spanish), and a copy of the receipt for your most recent rent payment (in Spanish). We didn’t get all this right until the third try. And we took Erin along for good measure. Success! We are now official residents of Conil and have registered to VOTE. We can vote in municipal and EU elections, which are coming up in May 2019. We better get crackin.

2. TIE: Check. We went back to the Extranjeria in Seville one month after our appointment and sure enough they handed over our cards. We were there for less than 10 minutes. We then spent a lovely 24 hours in Seville, had some delicious food, and soaked up the Christmas spirit at a couple of Christmas markets.

3. Nochebuena y Navidad: Check. We got a tip from a server at one of the local bars that we should stop by on Christmas Eve in the afternoon for live music and good food. He was not kidding. There was a band playing traditional Andalucian carols or villancicos. After awhile the entire restaurant joined in the singing and most people danced as well. It was a hoot and one of the funnest Christmas celebrations I’ve been to in a long time (as many of you know, I’m a bit of a scrooge). Tumblr won’t let me post a video, so you’ll have to go over to my Instagram to check that out.

4. Crates: Check. The crates were supposed to arrive around January 7. So you can imagine my surprise when I got a call from the driver telling me he was in Conil and asking how to find our house (IN SPANISH). Worse still, I had just set off on a beach walk with the dogs a half hour drive away from our house and Robert was out running. Anyway, all’s well that ends well. The crates are now sitting in our parking spot in the parking garage and we’ll see how much of our stuff is intact when we open them up this weekend.

Without further ado, some random pics from the last few weeks.

I believe that’s a bunker from the Spanish Civil War on Fuente del Gallo beach.

Mural, Sevilla

Tasty arepa with guacamole at Condende at the Feria Market in Sevilla

They grow strawberries in December in Conil!

[lavidagaditana]

It’s Our Monthiversary!

We’ve been in Spain for a month, and in our new home in Conil de la Frontera for a week. Figuring out the most basic things--things that we rarely paused to consider in the US--has been challenging. I figure we’re creating fresh brain cells everyday. 

Examples of things that have had us stumped (other than the bureaucracy related to being an immigrant, that’s a given):

hot water (hello propane tanks)

turning on the stove (yes, propane tanks again)

navigating the Spanish versions of Home Depot (Leroy Merlin) and Best Buy (Media Markt) (how do you say “plunger”?)

where to get a haircut (how do you tell the guy how short to cut it?)

where to park (what does that weird sign mean?)

finding a doctors office that takes our insurance (still haven’t figured this one out)

talking to the veterinarian about the state of your dog’s poop

The list goes on. Ibuprofin comes in 600 mg tablets. Going to the physiotherapist for a deep tissue massage only cost €20, and I didn’t have to fill in any forms or even tell them my name. Same went for a visit to the veterinarian. Boogie got an x-ray and two injections, and the vet didn’t even create a file for him. You get the feeling that in the US we are just making everything more complicated than it needs to be with all these waivers and privacy policies. I jest (sort of).

We did figure out how to select a new TV at the Media Markt with help from a nice English-speaking clerk. He explained that we really should get the one that has “usb recording”. You stick a flash drive into a usb port on the back of the TV and it acts like a DVR. Cool. But, there’s a catch. It only works with the antenna stations (i.e., the stations that mainly show soap operas and game shows in Spanish), not the stations coming from the fancy box (the one with all my “programs”, i.e., Trevor and GoT). Am I going to have to start watching TV shows when they come on?

Still, we can stream the Daily Show on Youtube/AppleTV, so life is good.

The big news is our move to Conil de la Frontera after three weeks in a less than ideal spot near Barbate (goodbye angry guard dogs, public urination, ever-crowing roosters, no hot water, and damp everything). This is getting long, so I’ll just end with some pictures from our first week in Conil.

That’s the beach at Fuente del Gallo. Our townhouse is on top of those cliffs.

Strolling through the center of Conil. It’s been warm and dry this week, which is a lovely change from the last few weeks of near constant rain. The flowers are happy.

The view of Fuente del Gallo from atop the cliffs. It’s a little scary up there. Guard rails are for chumps apparently.

Goodnight sun.

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Turning the NIE into a TIE (skip if you’re not interested in Spanish bureaucracy)

Well, after months of confusion and anxiety the day finally arrived; we had our cita previa (appointment) at the Foreigners Office (extranjeria) in Sevilla on 20 November. For those of you preparing for a move, I’ll provide the somewhat boring details.

Keep in mind, we are on non-lucrative visas, which we applied for at the Boston consulate. The consulate will ask you what date you are moving to Spain and put that date on the visa as the start date with an end date a little over 90 days out (for example, the dates in my visa are 4 Nov through 16 Feb), which they paste into your passport.

You have 30 days from the date you enter the country to visit the extranjeria to apply for your residence permit or TIE. Depending on the extranjeria you are going to, you may or may not need an appointment. We needed one for the Seville office and booked it before leaving the USA (thanks to our friend Carrie C.).

Why did we have to go all the way to Seville for our appointment if we are living in Cadiz province, you might ask. Good question. Of course, it’s a little complicated.

The Boston consulate does not require (or did not in July 2018) applicants to provide proof of accommodations in the form of a lease. This was not crystal clear to us on their website and someone from the internet said to just bring proof of a hotel reservation for a couple of weeks starting on the day of your intended arrival, and explain that you will find a long-term rental when you get there. So that’s what we did. We were unsure in July where we would ultimately be living so wanted to book at a hotel that allowed free cancellations. I chose a chain hotel in Sevilla, booked a room for two weeks, and printed out the confirmation page. I even had the thing translated and included it in my visa application package. Total waste of time and money. While the person who checked us in did ask us our address in Spain, when we said that we didn’t have one yet, he didn’t bat an eyelash. And the woman with whom we interviewed actually chuckled when she saw we had translated the confirmation page.

A few weeks after submitting our visa applications, we lined up a three-month rental in Barbate on Airbnb. But, because we listed an address in Seville on our application, our NIE is linked to Seville. Carrie C. wrote to the extranjeria in Cadiz to find out if we could apply for the TIE there, and the answer came back, No Way. So off to Seville we went.

Quick tips based on our experience:

Take the complete package of materials that the consulate returns to you at your appointment.

Get your Spanish passport pictures taken at a photo shop in Spain since they’re a little different from US passport photos. Just search google maps for “photo store”.

Fill out, print, and sign this form in advance and include it in your package.

Go to a bank with this form completed and pay your fee in advance. Santander near the extranjeria in Seville took our payment and gave us a receipt. Note: a few bloggers who went to other offices said they went to their appointments first and then went to the bank, so we went to our appointment without having paid. This resulted in the attendant that took our package giving us a major eye roll and sending us off to the bank with an irritated huff. Luckily, the bank was just across the road. But it was a waste of 30-45 minutes and added stress. Lesson: every office is different! Read the instructions carefully.

Empadronamiento, si o no?

Helpful folks on the Spain Gurus Facebook group told us that we needed to sign up on the padron in the town where we were living BEFORE the cita previa at the extranjeria.

So within days of our arrival in Barbate we headed to the town hall (ayuntamiento) to register on the padron. This was frustrating to say the least. We tried twice and never did register. The woman who “helped” us both times insisted that we needed an NIE in order to register. I tried to explain that WE HAVE AN NIE. It’s printed right on the visas that’re pasted in our passports. I, of course, showed it to her. No dice.

She just insisted over and over that we must go to the policia in Cadiz to get the NIE and then come back. Whatever. In the end, we didn’t need it, and I got very worked up for no reason. The bottom line is that each extranjeria will have its own list of requirements for your TIE appointment. The Seville office did not list the padron as a requirement, and they did not ask for it (yes, read the instructions carefully, then read them again and ignore the internet). Other extranjerias may require it.

Now we’ve moved to Conil de la Frontera and must register on the padron here, so it’s a good thing we didn’t register in Barbate. I’ll save all that for another post.

How now?

After we paid our bank fee and returned to the office, we jumped the queue and went back to the same attendant we’d already met. He reviewed our materials, took our finger prints and signatures, and then handed us a letter telling us to return in exactly one month to pick up our TIEs. Success!

We’re going to combine that appointment with an overnight visit to Seville and enjoy the Christmas market while we’re at it. Okay, that was a long post. More on our adventures in and around Conil in a future post.

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Views from our first week in Barbate

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From Maine to Spain, in pictures.