Hello Santander
 

Hello!

I'm new to the site, but not new to the life of an expatriate... My girlfriend and I have just accepted a teaching job in Santander and are seeking as much advice as possible! We don't move out there for a few more days, and will be staying in a hotel the first few nights, but will then be seeking a flat to rent - any advice? Is there much on an expat community in Santander? What advice would you give a couple moving to this part of Spain? We already speak a bit of Spanish, but will of course be seeking to improve as soon as possible. We're taking our car but are also seeking to purchase a couple of second-hand bikes too.

Sorry that this is a bit vague, but we are simply seeking as much information as possible!

Cheers,
Rich:)

Re: Hello Santander
 

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: Hello Santander
 

Hi Rich,

Sorry I'm no help to you as my wife and I are considering moving out to Santander soon but are (like you) looking for some hands on information

Do you think you could get let us know how you are getting on.

What qualifications did you need to get the teaching job?

Kind Regards

Tom

Re: Hello Santander
 

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: Hello Santander
 

Thank you Rosemary,

Kind Regards

Tom

Re: Hello Santander
 

Hi Rosemary,

Can you tell me how to post my own thread

Thanks

Tom

Re: Hello Santander
 

Hi and welcome to BE.

Click on the link below...it will take you to the main index page for the Spain forum. A little down the left hand side of the page you will see a blue rectangle with the words 'New Thread'. Click on this and away you go!

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=75

Re: Hello Santander
 

Well done Rich..its great to go to Spain with a job and depending on the terms and consitions of your employment you will have to consider health care, pensions, holidays and payment. Good idea to stay in a hotel for a short time but you could do some preparatory work before you go and find rental agencies or go through the ads in the local newspaper. Rents are fairly low at the moment because there are many unsold properties and everyone who has an unsold property is trying to rent it out so bargain with the landlord. Go into a local Gestoria ( official form filler in) and get yourself an NIE number and register with the town hall.
I would buy a cheap car there too at some point.
Dont forget to pay Voluntary Contributions to Department of Pensions in the UK to maintain your UK pension. Its just a form and bank details.
Open a bank account in Santander and inform your emplyer of the details.
Get a map of the city and familiarise yourself with the areas as it is a large place.
Speak to other members of the staff and find pout where the best place for work would be to live.
Take your time before you decide to do anything and dont forget to haggle over everything...its a buyers market in Spain.
Good luck..

Re: Hello Santander
 

First, best wishes in your teaching. There should be enough customers in Santander to keep you in work. Levels & standards of English in Spain are not as good as one might suppose.
Second, official things to do:
*Get "empadronado-ed" ie register with the ayunamiento to obtain a "Padron", but for which you need an address.
*NIE, or Residence Permit, which you get from the Policia; I believe some expats do it all via a "gestor", especially where their Spanish is very limited. Obviously there's a fee, but it might be worth it.
*Bank account
*Register with the Health service

Other expats will probably give you better/more detailed advice than mine because my wife is Basque so I was able to be included with her bank & health registering, saving lots of hassle.

Books, CD's & DVD's are much more expensive in Spain, in general. I buy through Amazon UK & pay 60p extra for postage of CD's/DVD's to here & £4 instead of Amazon's standard £2.80 for books. Forget Amazon.es; their prices are about 50p less than the shops. Seems the Spanish "net book agreement" still lives!!
2nd hand is less widespread than the UK & many things such as cars, bikes etc are more expensive. If you can, buy 2nd hand bikes in UK.
Would advise buying 2nd hand LHD car here & sell your UK one in UK.

Most food can be found as in UK, apart from little things like mince pies, stuffing mix, both of which we now make our own, it being more fun! Decent strong, loose tea such as Yorkshire, is hard to find too; it's tea bags here!

I fly to UK about every 3 months to see my mother; Bilbao-Stansted with Easy Jet is great. The Brittany ferry to Santander we find horribly expensive.
Sorry to rabbit on. Hope you get settled in well.