Category Archives: Expat

Media Calling Mallorca …

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My UK broadcast media links have not been completely cut as a result of our move to rural Mallorca in 2004. On a few occasions BBC local radio stations have interviewed me by phone about some topical aspect of being an expat. I hope that my years’ experience of being a radio presenter have given me a good idea of what the interviewer wants from a guest contributor. It’s always fun to be back on radio in the UK, broadcasting from our country home in Spain …

The Only Way is … a Farmer and a Goat

Mallorcan farmer at work

TV-star-in-the-making? Far too busy.

This blog has also brought a few media requests my way. Recently, someone from the production team of UK reality TV show The Only Way is Essex (popularly abbreviated to TOWIE) contacted me. They were coming to film for a couple of weeks on Mallorca. Did I know a typical Mallorcan farmer here they could film? Oh, and would I be able to locate a goat as well? The mind boggled – not surprisingly, because there was no explanation as to how these ‘locals’ would be used in the filming …

‘Auntie’ Beeb Abroad

Adam Kirtley in interview mode for the BBC on Mallorca

Adam Kirtley in interview mode for the BBC on Mallorca

Our latest request for help came at short notice, when BBC News journalist Adam Kirtley arrived on Mallorca yesterday to do a story on the likely effects of Brexit on expats. Adam and I spoke by phone mid-morning yesterday and we arranged to meet outside Palma’s Sóller train railway station at 3pm. He said he’d be wearing a checked shirt and Geoff-Boycott-style hat. Despite the fact that he’d clearly mistaken me for someone who knew something about  the headgear of the former cricketer, I managed to pick him out from the crowds of sightseers emerging from the station.

Meeting Expats

The Boss and I drove Adam down to Palma Nova, where we visited the Amadip Esment café and recorded some interviews. We then attended part of a meeting in the town hall in Calvià – the southwest municipality that’s home to Mallorca’s largest number of British expats.  There, British Consul General Lloyd Milen addressed an audience of Brits and listened to their concerns. Of course, there were more questions than answers – because it’s still too early to know what our home country’s eventual departure from the EU will mean for those of us who live abroad.

A bit of bureaucracy meant we couldn’t record any of the meeting itself (we didn’t have enough notice to obtain permission from the powers-that-be), but Adam was able to gain enough information for one of several reports he was compiling for BBC local radio and the World Service.

So I’m going to be on the radio briefly again in the UK, answering questions from Adam. And The Boss makes his BBC radio broadcasting debut …

Jan Edwards Copywriting2016 

Celebrating Midsummer on a Mallorcan Beach

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On the day of the UK’s EU Referendum we did something we’d never done before – despite living on Mallorca for 12 years. Yes, of course, we voted on the in/out decision (having lived here for under 15 years we were still entitled – and had sent our postal votes several weeks ago). But we also took part in a popular tradition in Spain: la noche de San Juan, held on the eve of the feast of Saint John the Baptist.

This evening – June 23rd – is, for most, a magical celebration of midsummer: a chance to get together with friends or family, head to the beach, light a bonfire or some candles, share a picnic, and generally have fun – with a few little rituals in which to indulge (one of which involves leaping over the bonfire’s flames).

People starting to gather on Playa de Muro for San Juan

People starting to gather on Playa de Muro for San Juan

We chose to celebrate San Juan at a favourite beach restaurant: Ponderosa Beach on Playa de Muro, in the north of Mallorca, which – like several beach eateries – was offering something special. For that night they had two invited chefs – Ariadna Salvador and Pau Navarro – who created two tasting menus (one for vegetarians), with the option of matched wines. There was live music from the local Masé Jara Llinàs Trio and, following that, music was under the control of popular DJ Fernando Gullón.

A relaxed beach setting for summer dining

A relaxed beach setting for summer dining

It’s a place we’ve been to many times during the day for lunch, but this was our first time for dinner (so two firsts for that night then). We enjoyed a leisurely meal, with our toes buried in the sand beneath our table, as we gazed out at the lights around the Bay of Alcúdia and the people who’d brought their own food and drink to eat on the sands in front of Ponderosa Beach, in the light of bonfires and candles.

Having eaten a good dinner of several courses, we weren’t quite up to leaping over any bonfires, but did watch a party of people egging each other on to jump over the flames. One guy (who’d clearly forgotten his swimwear for the obligatory post-midnight dip) bravely – or foolishly – did his leap in the buff. We heard no screams so assume he survived intact …

DSC_9940

We headed home late, happy and relaxed, having felt the magic of this celebration of summer.

Jan Edwards Copyright 2016

Five Tips for Home-in-the-sun Owners Hosting House Guests

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“Have you ever thought about running a little B&B?” It’s a question we’ve been asked several times since we moved to rural Mallorca. Our small finca really isn’t large enough for such an enterprise and, in any event, we have neither the inclination nor the energy to do so. So the answer is always an emphatic “no”.

That’s not to say we don’t have people staying with us for their holidays. These occasions are the closest we’ll ever get to running a bed and breakfast establishment, although our guests are always known to us – friends or family members – and we enjoy them being with us.

Having visitors to stay is a popular summer topic of conversation among expats and I’ve heard some horror stories. One friend told me just last week that she would now accommodate only those to whom she’d given birth; one can only wonder what experience led to that decision …

We’re now in our 13th summer here – every one of which has been peppered with guest stays. I pass on the following tips in the hope they’ll be useful if you too open your home-in-the-sun to house guests:

  • Allow at least a week between one lot of visitors leaving and more arriving. You’ll need to shoehorn any neglected activities – work, domestic duties, social life, exercise etc – into the gap between visits and these things will always take longer than expected.
  • If budget permits, using a local laundry service for bedding and towels will save time and effort (summers are too hot for ironing board marathons).
  • Visitors from cooler and wetter climes are often so thrilled to see that big yellow thing in the sky that caution is cast to the breeze and they end up with a dose of sunburn. Make sure they keep the sunscreen topped up and wear a hat. And nag a bit, if necessary.
  • If your visitors are flying with cabin bags only, they will probably appreciate your offer to buy locally any toiletries they may need during their stay. This saves them luggage space and the effort of finding airline-size-compliant potions and lotions.
  • To save any tug-of-war-over-the-bill moments when eating or drinking out with friends, consider having a kitty to which all parties contribute equally at the start of the stay, and top up as necessary. It’s fairer, helps with budgeting, and does avoid those awkward whose-turn-is-it? moments when the bill arrives.
And here's a kitty of another variety. Pip loves having people come to stay ... more fuss for her!

And here’s a kitty of another variety. Pip loves having people come to stay … more fuss for her!

If you have any tips relating to having house guests, please feel free to share: it’s only another three weeks before we’ll be back in hosting mode …

Jan Edwards©June 2016

Buying the House of Your Dreams in Mallorca

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Several episodes of the recent BBC TV mini-series The Night Manager had viewers rushing to Google looking for more information about this lovely island of Mallorca and the specific locations used in the series.  My post about these locations, on my other blog www.eatdrinksleepmallorca.com, experienced a surge in visitor numbers for several weeks as a result. The TV series has definitely fuelled interest in Mallorca …

You may have to settle for something a little more modest than *La Fortaleza (which was used as the location for arms dealer Richard Roper’s home in the series). There simply aren’t many properties like that one around. Whether you’re in the market for a luxurious seafront villa or, as we were, a rural place in need of some work (and priced accordingly), it pays to do some homework before letting your heart rule your head.

I recently wrote about some new friends who bought a house near Inca that needed quite a bit of renovation. They were fortunate to secure the services of an architect who impressed them so much that they invited me to their new home to meet him.

Development opportunity ... or start of a nightmare?

Development opportunity … or start of a nightmare?

Pedro de Salvador Morell has just been in touch with me about his new website, which may be of interest to any readers of Living in Rural Mallorca who may be seriously thinking about buying a property on Mallorca.  With between 20,000 and 30,000 illegally built residential properties on the island – a staggering number – it pays to be sure that you’re not buying one of them!

You can see the website Survey Mallorca here.

One for the coffee table ...

One for the coffee table …

* La Fortaleza also features in the beautiful coffee table book Living in Style Mallorca, published by teNeues. It’s packed with photos of spectacular properties on Mallorca and includes details of some of the interior designers who worked on them. The lifestyle concept store Rialto Living (which offers an interior design service) was responsible for La Fortaleza. No visit to Palma is complete if you haven’t visited this gorgeous store.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, our humble home in rural Mallorca (interior designer, yours truly) doesn’t appear in the book …

Jan Edwards Copyright 2016

Advice on Doing Up/Buying a Property in Mallorca

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Pedro de Salvador Morell (wearing glasses and grey sweater) with Celia and Nod (far right).

Pedro de Salvador Morell (wearing glasses and grey sweater) with Celia and Nod (far right)

Making new friends has been an unexpected aspect of writing about living in rural Mallorca. Back in 2014 an English couple – readers of this blog – wrote to me with some questions about moving with pets to Mallorca. We were soon exchanging emails on a fairly regular basis and, when Celia and Nod visited the island to look for a property, we met for dinner – and hit it off immediately.

They found a rural house to do up, although – unlike previous UK homes they’d completely renovated themselves – this one would be done by local builders. They invited us to see the place in its ‘raw’ state, shortly after they’d bought it and it was clear they knew exactly how they wanted it transformed.

Managing a Building Project

We have had personal experience of having an outhouse built, for our solar electricity components, at our Mallorcan finca – while we were still living in the UK. Unless you can live close by or on site (to keep an eye on progress) and speak enough Spanish to make your needs understood, it’s important to have someone managing the project for you.

Celia and Nod have been very happy with the people working on their project. So much so that they invited us to meet the architect and two senior members of the building team, on the day they were cracking open a bottle of cava to celebrate the almost-completed project. The property has gone through quite a transformation and this friendly couple is excited that it will soon become their permanent home on Mallorca.

I took the opportunity to find out more about the services offered by Pedro de Salvador Morell of PS Arquitectos, based in Palma. For the record, most of his clients are British, Scandinavian, or German. Pedro speaks excellent English. 

What services do you offer foreigners investing in property on Mallorca?

“Our office spans different aspects related to architecture and urbanism, in order to cover the broad needs of our clients. From our ‘Sale and Purchase Report’ – which is a useful tool to know the current state of the property and be able to negotiate the price – to architectural services, such as design, planning and project management, to achieve our clients’ dream house.

“As architecture has three dimensions, we work with plans and 3D models, making it easier for clients to understand the design and ‘see’ the house even before work starts.

“We work with total transparency with the client, using fluent communication and optimization of their resources. And all our work is conducted in accordance with current legislation.”

What were the particular challenges of Celia and Nod’s house?

“They bought a house from the ’90s, built to not-very-good-quality standards, but on a very nice plot. The main challenge was optimizing resources to achieve the building’s maximum potential. We redesigned the interior, modifying the spaces and light entry points, and reorganizing the interior to create a brand-new home.”

In your opinion, what’s the biggest mistake that foreigners make when buying property on Mallorca?

“Believing that it’s not necessary to take advice from local independent professionals (lawyer and architect) during the purchase process. On Mallorca there are professionals specializing in property purchase, and our experience and knowledge of construction and urban legalities allow us to reassure our clients regarding technical issues.

“Our aim is to provide clients with the information needed to help with the purchase decision.”

What would you advise anyone thinking of buying a property to renovate on Mallorca?

“Our recommendation to anyone buying a house here – to renovate or not – is to take advice from local independent professionals. Throughout our years of advising purchasers, we have noticed that no general conclusions can be deduced, as each building has its own history and particularities.

“It is essential to check both the construction status and planning legality of the building, as those determine future building possibilities and, of course, the price itself. For instance, relating to the property’s construction status, there can be structural problems only noticeable by the trained eye of an architect, or construction issues that can affect renovation plans. In this sense, obtaining technical advice prior to the purchase – as Celia and Nod did – can help the purchaser visualize the future results of their purchase.

“There are between 20,000 and 30,000 illegal properties on rural land on Mallorca, as many of them have been built or extended without meeting the legal requirements. Some can be legalized, some can’t, and some can even have a demolition order pending execution.”

And the history of your company?

PS Arquitectos was established in 1980 by Pedro de Salvador, my father. After working some years in Barcelona, developing exclusive villas in Greece, I moved to Mallorca to work with PS Arquitectos. As architects, we guide our clients through all stages of the construction/renovation of a house, from the very beginning (prior to the purchase itself) to the work’s conclusion . . . so that the dream of living on Mallorca does not become a nightmare.

Jan Edwards Copyright2016 

 

On the Road Again: Changing Our Car in Mallorca

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There are plenty of things we don’t really need in our rural Mallorcan lifestyle: earplugs to drown out the sound of noisy neighbours (although the wildlife can sometimes assault the ears); designer footwear (except perhaps by Hunter or Dr Martens), or a lawn mower – just to name a few.

But as we live in a rural area untouched by public transport, a set of wheels is essential.  Preferably four of them (and a spare, of course). We had this driven home (pardon the pun) when our overworked Toyota RAV 4 broke down in August while I was on the way to interview the artist Arturo Rhodes  in Deià for abcMallorca magazine.

The Boss had decided to come along for the ride but, as we approached the Sóller tunnel, dark smoke started to belch from the car. Goodbye turbo. The interview was hastily postponed and we had a breakneck-speed ride back to the Toyota garage in Manacor in a grua (tow truck).

Turbo Trouble

Long story short, there was no way to tell whether a replacement turbo would be the solution. The mechanic was 90 per cent sure the engine was OK, but obviously couldn’t tell definitely until a new turbo was fitted. A large sum of money was exchanged for a car that worked again – and, for a while, better than it had for some time.

Fast forward a few weeks and a new problem developed: if the engine was cold, it started easily. If the engine was still warm from recent use, it wouldn’t re-start. We experienced this several times – including one rather alarming one when the engine died in the middle lane of Palma’s Via Cintura – the motorway around the city. Amidst blaring horns (it was rush hour), we somehow reached the hard shoulder, where we donned flattering fluorescent waistcoats to stand out of danger. Three-quarters of an hour later, the engine had cooled sufficiently to enable us to restart the car.

Goodbye Toyota

Our garage declared our much-loved car a terminal case. Unless we wanted to invest in a new engine. The car was already of an age (and mileage) that meant we had been contemplating replacing it in the not-too-distant future, so The Boss buried himself in the task of finding a replacement vehicle.  Because we need a 4×4, to tow a trailer-load of logs home regularly in winter, our budget would stretch only to a secondhand vehicle.

Buying a secondhand 4×4 isn’t easy on Mallorca. Unlike in the UK, many car dealers offer few used vehicles. We even looked at what was available for sale in Barcelona, just in case there was something that would make the journey worthwhile. In the end, we were fortunate to find one that fitted the bill in Manacor. A fortnight ago it became ours. Next week a tow bar will be fitted and we’ll be able to collect our first load of logs for autumn. It’s just as well that Mallorca’s been enjoying what our neighbours call el veranillo de San Martín – a little Indian summer . . .

Only one of our cats has so far climbed up to sit on the new cars roof.

Only one of our cats has so far climbed up to sit on the roof of our new car.

Buying a Secondhand Car in Mallorca?

  • Car hire companies often sell off ex-rental saloon cars at the end of the season; check websites to see what’s on offer.
  • On Facebook, the page Second Hand Cars Mallorca may yield something of interest.
  • If you buy a secondhand car you become liable for any debts relating to it, such as unpaid vehicle tax, outstanding hire purchase payments, or traffic offence fines. Checks can be made (see below).
  • As with many things in Spain, there’s some bureaucratic stuff to wade through related the vehicle purchase, sale, or importation (which we once did and wouldn’t recommend!). If you haven’t the patience/language skills/time/desire to bang your head repeatedly against a brick wall to want to tackle this yourself, you can enlist some help. We can recommend the following:

Zoe Leggett (also specializes in classic car registration).

Mallorca Solutions – offers a host of helpful services, including vehicle related.

Jan Edwards Copyright 2015

Moving to Mallorca? Prepare to Have House Guests!

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Suitcase packed for holiday on Mallorca

“We’ve arrived!”

“Visitors and fish stink after three days.”  Those words were apparently spoken by the 18th-century American statesman Benjamin Franklin.  We’ve heard variations on that quote several times since we’ve lived on Mallorca, and some horror stories of house guests nobody should have to tolerate. Fortunately we’ve not had cause to use the phrase ourselves.

It’s a sure bet that if you move to Mallorca – or any other place where people like to holiday – your popularity will suddenly soar. In our first year here we had 11 lots of guests come to stay – and most of those would have experienced living with no usable electricity sockets and only the benefit of two hours’ lighting a night. Their curiosity about our new life satisfied, some of them haven’t returned!

As the years have passed, our visitor numbers have thankfully settled down to a more reasonable level. In that first summer, the guest room mattress barely had time to cool down between visitors and, although it was fun, hosting so many visitors was also more tiring than we could ever have imagined. With fewer people coming to stay these days we find ourselves looking forward more to our next visitors.

In less than four weeks we’ll be welcoming our first house guests of 2015: our great friends Duncan and Kristina. We know we’ll have a fun week, with lots of good food and excellent Mallorcan wines. Our only challenge will be fitting everything we’d like to do into our week together.

Here are a few tips – based on our experiences – about dealing with requests from people who want to come and stay:

  • If they haven’t been in touch with you for years, think carefully about their motives for wanting to visit. Cheap holiday? (Sounds suspicious, I know, but I do know someone who allowed an old out-of-touch friend to come and stay with her. The ‘friend’ used her place as a vacation station, disappearing out every day after breakfast and only reappearing at bedtime, and they spent barely any time together).
  • Keep a note of any visits on a chart – that way you can conveniently see what’s already scheduled when you receive a request.
  • Give yourself sufficient time between visits to deal with household, work, and personal matters. You’ll probably eat and drink more than usual when you have visitors, so your liver and waistline may appreciate some recovery time.
  • If you’ve not yet experienced the heat of August on Mallorca, think twice about accepting any bookings for  that month. August is for doing as little as possible!

Jan Edwards Copyright 2015

From Mallorca to the UK . . .

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Leaving the finca – for anything more than the occasional night away in a hotel on Mallorca – is not very practical. With eight cats – including our Birman, who lives indoors – we can’t just throw stuff into a bag and head off somewhere for a few days. It’s one of the reasons we haven’t had a proper holiday since we moved here, apart from a few days in Seville – when some kind, animal-loving friends looked after our brood a few years ago.

Hardly Plane-sailing

So when my cousin’s husband died suddenly recently, I returned to the UK for the funeral alone, leaving The Boss in charge of everything at home. My blog was neglected as I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find flights that were (a) into conveniently located airports, and (b) didn’t cost more than a week’s package holiday on Mallorca! Air links between Mallorca and the UK are woefully inadequate during the winter months, but things could improve next winter, as the Majorca Daily Bulletin has mounted quite a campaign  . . .

The Disappearance of Shorty

Shorty relaxing in the largest plant pot in the garden.

Shorty relaxing in the largest plant pot in the garden

To add to the stress of the past few weeks, Shorty – the ginger feral cat in our glaring – disappeared. He’s a very affectionate cat, who enjoys a cuddle. Or, more accurately, often demands one. He’s also very greedy and was never known to miss a meal.  When he didn’t turn up for breakfast one morning, it was strange enough. As the days passed, and my trip loomed, I began to fear the worst.

In the more densely populated UK, we would have wandered around the vicinity of our home, checking with neighbours that he hadn’t become shut in a shed or garage, or made himself at home with them. Here, where we are largely surrounded by fields, enclosed within dry-stone walls, looking for a missing cat is not so easy. We did, however, search the sides of the lanes to satisfy ourselves that he hadn’t been in a road accident.

Slimline Cat Returns

When I left Mallorca, The Boss promised to let me know immediately if Shorty returned, but there had been no news about him by the time I returned. But, to our great surprise and delight, the ginger one nonchalantly rocked up for breakfast on Wednesday this week – as though he’d never missed a meal.

Shorty had become somewhat barrel-like over the winter, because of his greed, and returned to us looking rather more streamlined. Where had he been? We’ll never know – but it could have been fat-cat boot camp . . .

 

 

Jan Edwards Copyright 2015

Home in Mallorca . . .

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Filed under Expat, Garden and gardening

untitled (1 of 1)-2 Home is where the heart is. And our hearts and home are firmly in rural Mallorca, at our finca. We cannot imagine going back to live in England, but quite a few of our friends and acquaintances have done just that. The recently published NatWest IPB Quality of Life Country Index* – based on a survey of 1,804 (strange number, eh?) British expats by the Centre for Future Studies – reported that 63 per cent of those living on the European continent had thought about moving “back home”. We’re firmly in the other 37 per cent: Mallorca is our home.

Back to Blighty

Last evening we met up in Palma with fun friends Karen and Ian, who are spending a week’s holiday on the island. Until two years ago they lived and worked here. They went back to the UK – not because they didn’t like living on the island but, rather, because it can be difficult to make a decent living here.

They’re very happy back in England, but clearly also miss the island. We miss them – as we miss other friends who have left. Some have sadly regretted their move away from Mallorca. It’s easy to forget the negative aspects of your home country that probably influenced the decision to leave it in the first place. It’s also easy to adapt to the more relaxed pace of Mallorcan life, and forget how fast-paced life is back in ‘the old country’.

Of course there are some things we miss about England, including our families and friends, rivers, the rolling Cotswold landscape, good bookshops, and Waitrose. But we enjoy having relatives and friends to stay with us here, and have found compensations for the other things. One day, if Euromillions surprises us with a substantial win, we may even find ourselves holidaying back in the homeland. For now though, this is home – for us and for our David Austin rose … a little piece of England on Mallorca.

The first rose of autumn for our David Austin 'Lady Hillingdon' rose.

The first rose of autumn for our David Austin ‘Lady Hillingdon’ rose.

*For information, Spain slipped to 11th position in the index. From 2008 until 2011 it had held 7th position. Portugal came in at 12th. Top of the list was Australia.

Jan Edwards Copyright 2014