You can probably buy a house in Mallorca without a survey, but it's a standard part of the process, and no respectable estate agent or lawyer would dare process the sale without one.

No free prescriptions for under 60 in England and Wales

I had reason to visit my doctor in Spain with a bad chest infection in January and was seen within the hour
Told to get 3 prescriptions from the chemist then go back for an injection
Five more daily repeat visits until I was feeling better.
95€ for doctor and 35€ for medication was money well spent.

Last time I went to see doctor in UK, it took a week to get an appointment.

One has to add that it will depend on area, exact day you went and so on. Even Spain has waiting lists and some doctors won't take any new patients, so just like anywhere really.

I guess I was lucky :-)

That was a private doctor?

Don’t you use the Spanish NHS?

not on this occasion. I have used Spanish NHS and spent some time in Torrevieja hospital.

Torrevieja hospital is a very new hospital, it was built during the time we lived there. We went several times for outpatient appointments, always effeicient, waiting times kept to a minimum, they did look after a friend when he fell ill, unfortunately he had a very vicious lung cancer which they eficiently diagnosed. He ended up being repatriated, thankfully the cost was borne by the Retired Police organisation, but they did everything, his notes went onto CD to accompany him, the only reason for repatriation was that nhe wished to doie in the UK where his sons were.

Hi Mike,
Thanks for sharing.
I too received very good treatment in Torre hospital.

Lots of great advice, thank you? How did you move the things you did take? I assume most people still have lots of person items even if not taking large furniture items. Would also be quite expensive to replace everything..... Or did some of you just go for it and start completely from scratch, bottle opener and all?

We used a furniture removal service. Do not remember how much, but removal was quite expensive. We drove to Spain and took personal items with us.

I would caution against trusting removal company to ship personal documents and irreplaceable items. Our friends were heart broken when all of their stuff was lost when the storage facility went on fire. They recovered the cost of insured items, but what price do you put on old photos of your children and parents who have since - gone to a better place?

there is a chinese shop on every corner, plastic items are 10 a penny, cutlery and utensils - ikea is down the road and they sell everything you can imagine.

If it were me doing it, I would do totally the opposite of what my parents did. they brought every single thing, cleared the house out... it cost them 5k for a full container load...

I would scan all my photos etc, documents, take what i could in the car, and bin the rest. 5k buys alot of new stuff.

Did anyone go to expense of taking anything then deciding it wasn't worth it or not required and no I dont mean the other half or anything you left that you wished you had taken???

We all have differing requirements some might feel comfortable surrounded by things which remind them of home, while others want a new beginning.

It would be a sad world if we were all the same?

Hi,
I sold up everything, house, furniture, white goods, car, motorcycles, tools etc binned most of everything else what i couldn't sell.

Unless it's almost new it's not worth the cost or hassle to bring it, whatever it is. All i brought was some clothes and personal stuff and had a couple of small boxes of sentimental stuff sent over once settled.

Fresh start all round.

Steve

No prescription charges in Wales regardless of age they are free for all. If you have a Medical Exemption Certificate you can use your Welsh prescription in England and won't be charged there.

More and more GPs operate as a 'medical centre' so yes to see a specific GP may take a few days but if you'll see any practice GP you'll usually be seen that day, certainly down here in South Wales.