Maybe1day

2nd Power cut this evening, A month or two back they lasted for up to 3 Hrs, whoops just got another one so I don't know when this will go out.

A few negative comparisons with Andalusia.
1, Cleanliness
Roadsides have alot of rubbish hanging around, Roads and pavements are poorly maintained. Refuse collection is sporadic.
Just had another power outage the 4th now !
2, Correos/postal service appalling mail is only delivered when there are a few letters six or more, dates do not count so it maybe 2 months. Cash for COD deliveries can also take over 10 days!!!
3, Car tax, In Andalusia my car tax was 79 Euros, in Catalunya it is 108 Euros.
4, getting registered for health service, Andalusia same day, Catalunya almost 3 months and multiple visits to local offices, Paid out several hundred Euros in medicines which was not refundable even though the UK had been paying from the beginning.
5, Medicine management a disater for the patient.
6, Long wait for notification of appointment for ear nose and throat specialist 4 months.
7, water charges horrendous after initial allowance, fast rising scale.
8, mobile coverage for 3G and 4G disgusting. 4G rarely works, 3G 50/50 but very slow during the day. Unavailable at weekends. This is 6km from the sea and 2Km from the centre of a 45K population town.
9, Internet very poor and downlink goes down to 3Kbt/s at weekends. Uplink is generally good over 200Kbt/s.
10, registration of vehicle with Tarragona DGT, after 9 months no doc,
Andalusia 2 weeks!!
11, Shops in Calafell appear to open between 10 am and 12 ? best not to talk about the afternoons................
As for the lingo, well good luck, a bit of a farce, there appear to be about 6 words in common use for closed, which is what they should do and embrace Spain instead of wasting time and money for the $%^& that they have put together.
Please no replies about how nice the rambla is or how sweet Tossa is.
Just a parting shot, when you buy a property in Andalusia, the tax is 8% here it is 10%., Petrol and diesel are more expensive as is food. I am partial to fish but unfortunately the choice here is somewhat limited in comparison and the presence of ammonia in Galeras and Gambas makes them uneatable here. I am not refering to frozen but what is purported to be fresh with a caught date!!! what a joke!

quiltman

Not much different here in the Philippines!
1. Exactly the same!
2.Philpost is rubbish. Takes weeks for mail to get from Manila to here - if it arrives at all. No deliveries where we are so have to go to PO and see if you have mail.
3.Car tax, not too bad around £40 but does include 3rd party insurance
4. No health service! There is a national insurance scheme - PhilHealth which pays part of the cost. You just find a doctor and go wait in line and pay.
5. To be fair, if you find a good doctor then not too bad , but you pay for all medicines.
6.Consultants/specialists - Better here - you just find your specialist, make appt or turn up at his/her clinic. no need for referral. We usually call 48 hours in advance to get appt.
7. Water charges can be high - depends where you live and how much you use.
8. mobile coverage good in cities but very patchy out of town.
9.Internet - some of the worst in the world UNLESS you can get Fibre , which luckily we have on our subdivision so we do OK. Most of the time! Get a fault though and you'll wait a long time for a fix!
10. Vehicle registration is crap here! For example we have been waiting over 4 months just to change the named owner for one of our cars. New vehicles take up to 3 months before you get registration papers. Bought a used motorbike for our driver - minimum 3 months to get it re-registered.
11. At least shops here are open longer - 10.00am to 9.00pm is normal in Malls. local shops even longer.

We get power cuts regularly - at least an hour, often longer, plus our electricity is the second most expensive in Asia.
Lingo - 7000 islands, 200 dialects. Luckily most people speak a type of English.
Property tax is 6% to the seller , petrol and diesel are cheap for us compared to UK but expensive when related to local wages.

There, do you feel better knowing you are not alone? I know how you feel and a good rant is good for the soul. I feel better now as well.

Moses2013

With around 32.000 km², I'm sure you could have found some positives. I'm also pretty sure some people rather pay the 10% tax to live in Begur or your mentioned Tossa, than paying 8% for a place in Huéscar.

Rosemary

Did you choose the area or was it forced onto you due to a work commitment?

Rosemary