Practicalities

How to get things done?  That is the question.  You may, like me, like lists.  A list of all those little things that will need doing at some point soon. 

If you do have a list, maybe you like to look at it occasionally and then forget all about it but on that one day you decide to take action, what do you do?  Often we find things out by word of mouth, you may try the yellow pages (paginas amarillas), the various English language newspapers or try this site.   We are building up information for you about how to get things done.  It is often not easy to get things done in your own language and you hear bad stories or tradesmen don’t turn up, so how do you go about it here in Benalmádena?   What we want to encourage here is for you to share your experience with us.  If you have used a service and been happy with it, let us know: kay@mylocalgazette.com   we can share it with others.

So by sharing experiences, and sharing information on practicalities, we can help you get things done.

The following are some of the areas we are covering:  

Tradesmen    Maps  Travel  Motoring  Property  Spanish  Bureaucracy  Finance

 Be Prepared! 

Were you ever a scout or a guide?

If so then you probably appreciate the casual approach to road signs that you can often encounter.  It presents itself as a challenge.  So when setting off somewhere pack yourself some sandwiches, very important to take a bottle of water and practise some deep breathing exercises to calm yourself on your quest.  Here are some of the possible challenges you may find.

Foliage covering the sign.      

Trees and flowers are all very well and are there to add to the beauty of your surroundings but at times they just get carried away with themselves don’t they?  They just don’t know when to stop.  Maybe the local residents know their way round so well, the signposts just become part of the local landscape that they don’t notice anymore.  This may mean they forget to help out the poor outsiders that visit the place by doing a bit of gardening.  If, as a traveller, it is vital that you know the contents of that sign, then you must pull up at a suitable place further on, get out and walk back to the sign, you may need a long stick but you have to physically move the foliage out of the way. If it is too high then ask a local resident what it says (this is probably easier and less confusing than asking for directions directly or at least it will add to the information required to find your destination).    If you want to be helpful to later visitors, a helpful suggestion possibly that they cut the trees to show the sign – maybe an anonymous letter to the council?  Getting out your pruning shears from the boot probably not a good idea.

Complete lack of a sign at a major junction.  

Here you have to just trust your instincts and go with what you feel. Don’t stop in the middle as this tends to cause unhappiness to your fellow motorists (shouts of ‘hombre’ and well, much worse).   After a couple of miles, it may all suddenly become clear, if not turn round and you never know, approaching the junction from a different angle may bear fruit.  After a few goes at this, it is no good you will have to admit defeat and try asking directions.

Ambiguous pointing of sign.    

This is similar to  above.  You may think that by shouting “which way are you bloody pointing” at the sign enlightenment will occur but it only helps to get rid of your frustration and scare your passengers.  Again, trust your instincts – at least this time  you may only have two ways you need to try rather than 24 so it will cut down the time taken to get you back on the road.

 
Beep beep

My last word is you have to remember that the person beeping their horn behind you is not your mortal enemy, they don’t mean any harm – I think it is a learned response to anything that stops you getting where you’re going at the speed you want to go.  You could try a friendly wave in response to their less than friendly hand signals but probably best not.   Accept that beeping that horn is an integral part of Spanish custom and it is part of the soundtrack of life on the costa.

 Map reading

I will never forget driving twenty miles out of my way in France because a cake crumb was covering a vital turn off on the map being read by my ‘navigator’ (surprisingly we are still married).    Driving and map reading being a source of many a marital discord.  If you find a decent map of the area let me know – in a format I can take in my car. Until then.  Try google maps and happy travelling!