What is Spanish Snowbirds?

moonshadow said:
What do you do do when your road tax expires while you are away? I see from the DVLA website you can re tax up to 2 months before it runs out, but we will be away longer than that. It says road tax can be renewed online but if we dOn't have the reminder I don't understand how that can work, nor can I figure out how to put a direct debit in place. I am reluctant to phone cos if they ask for the reg they will know that we will be driving home without tax once we arrive in the UK. I think I must be missing something somewhere.
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If you have the v5 with you then you can tax it on line using the numbers off the v5
 
vindiboy said:
I have reposted this as I thought it relevant to this thread , and some may be thinking of costs.

What does it cost ?
People often ask about the cost of wintering in Spain /Portugal in a Motorhome, Well on our last trip I was determined to get an answer to what the actual cost of our trip was.I left home with a full tank of Diesel and filled up with Diesel when I was at Calais homeward bound so those costs are included as is the round trip Ferry fare,we had 250 Euros in cash when we sailed and returned with the same amount of cash Euros Everything we spent was on our Post Office credit card including cash withdrawals from the ATMs whilst away and interest that incurred.so our credit card bill reflects the actual cost of the trip.We were away from home for 102 nights, we used Aires and Wild camped, paid a few Euros for some of the Aires ,bought items such as clothes , a Spanish Paella type Barbi cooker, food,drinks and ate out a lot, bought fuel and gas refills .our round trip mileage was 4263 miles 2.8 Turbo diesel Fiat ,we lived really well food and drink wise and had a great time went short of nothing.and brought home a stock of wine and spirits which we always buy at LIDL in Calais, Our TOTAL spend was £2200 and that works out at about £21 -57 per day, I had to have the van fridge repaired in Portugal and that 380 Euros is also included in our costs.
I have just received a refund from Southern Electricity of £103 as I have overpaid on my Electricity bill because we weren't using Electric at home whilst away, or water or gas so there will be some credit there too.So is it cheap to be in Spain for the Winter, you bet it is!
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That works out out around £160 per week, which is mega cheap!
I bet we still can't convince my other half that it's worth doing something like this!!!!! :p grrrrrrrr! ;)
 
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moonshadow said:
What do you do do when your road tax expires while you are away? I see from the DVLA website you can re tax up to 2 months before it runs out, but we will be away longer than that. It says road tax can be renewed online but if we dOn't have the reminder I don't understand how that can work, nor can I figure out how to put a direct debit in place. I am reluctant to phone cos if they ask for the reg they will know that we will be driving home without tax once we arrive in the UK. I think I must be missing something somewhere.
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You do not need the renewal notice to tax on line. Enter the vehicle Reg No. and it will tell you the VED status. (Police abroad are aware of this facility). No VED usually invalidates your insurance. It is possible to set up DD online but it is not as clear as it could be. You have to go through the whole VED process and then it allows you to set up a DD. You then have to opt for 6 month or monthly, the default is 12 months.

It is possible to get VED to cover your trip by cancelling it at the end of a month and taking out a new period to start at the beginning of the next month. It is also possible to move your MOT date by getting the vehicle tested before your trip.
 
Thank you for the suggestions, I just couldn't get my head around it. It will be our first extended trip abroad and there are so many other things to think about. Not keen on doing it online abroad as it will involve bank details on public wif, security risk in my book. We will SORN on 30 Nov and re tax 1st Dec, simples!
 
Hi Jim,

Sorry for late reply to your question,first of all we carry our 90 day travel insurance with all medicals declared it has gone up £31 pounds from last year to £191 95p and is the cheapest I could find(at 69) with L. V.and also carry our E U card but I have been told hospitals ask for Travel insurance as well so I don't want to sit there with a drip in my arm having a heart attack and some Receptionist wanting to argue the toss.
I also use ADAC Plus Recovery that covers wife and my self helicopters transport and repatriation,At 114 Euros per year.
It may sound a lot but with our three months here and the seven weeks we had travelling in Holland,Germany and Denmark.
So it's not to bad as it's 90 days per trip and covers like last year a trip to Portugal by air as well. Remember you only live twice.:lol-061:

Regards Snowbirds (some were in Spain for three months):ninja::dance::sleep-040:



UKBiker said:
Hi,
forgive if i am wrong about this but the 90 day insurance cover is what the insurance companies say they cover you to the same standard as when in the UK surely the rest of the time we are covered within the EU and a few more countries with third party cover.

Regards,

Jim
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Re. The ADAC travel/health/ breakdown, can this be started while already in Spain?
 
I've been doing 'Snowbirding' now for the last few years, usually via ferry to Santandar early in Jan and return via Cherbourg late May early June. I mainly wildcamp but use campsites or Aires occasionally for laundry etc. Don't bother with ACSI as I've found out of season you can barter an equal or better price. I mainly wander over to the East coast of Spain in Early Jan as I find it drier and brighter than further west this early in the year. Wandering continues down the Med and round to Portugal for late Feb-ish.

Wildcamping out of season in Europe is just a delight and I do not even think about where I am going to stop for the night until about 20minutes beforehand. Then it is usually a case of wander down a small road and there you are, a lovely spot, west facing is favourite to watch the sun go down, and no one bothering you.

A spade for digging the 'loo contents' hole, a watering can for water collection, LPG and a solar panel and everything cheaper and warmer. What is not to like.

I'll be on the Pompeye/Santandar ferry Jan 6. Perhaps see you then.
 
snowbirds said:
Hi Jim,

Sorry for late reply to your question,first of all we carry our 90 day travel insurance with all medicals declared it has gone up £31 pounds from last year to £191 95p and is the cheapest I could find(at 69) with L. V.and also carry our E U card but I have been told hospitals ask for Travel insurance as well so I don't want to sit there with a drip in my arm having a heart attack and some Receptionist wanting to argue the toss.
I also use ADAC Plus Recovery that covers wife and my self helicopters transport and repatriation,At 114 Euros per year.
It may sound a lot but with our three months here and the seven weeks we had travelling in Holland,Germany and Denmark.
So it's not to bad as it's 90 days per trip and covers like last year a trip to Portugal by air as well. Remember you only live twice.:lol-061:

Regards Snowbirds (some were in Spain for three months):ninja::dance::sleep-040:
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Is EHIC not enough for health, or am I missing something, again? Our van insurance covers the van and contents.
 
Steveboy said:
I've been doing 'Snowbirding' now for the last few years, usually via ferry to Santandar early in Jan and return via Cherbourg late May early June. I mainly wildcamp but use campsites or Aires occasionally for laundry etc. Don't bother with ACSI as I've found out of season you can barter an equal or better price. I mainly wander over to the East coast of Spain in Early Jan as I find it drier and brighter than further west this early in the year. Wandering continues down the Med and round to Portugal for late Feb-ish.

Wildcamping out of season in Europe is just a delight and I do not even think about where I am going to stop for the night until about 20minutes beforehand. Then it is usually a case of wander down a small road and there you are, a lovely spot, west facing is favourite to watch the sun go down, and no one bothering you.

A spade for digging the 'loo contents' hole, a watering can for water collection, LPG and a solar panel and everything cheaper and warmer. What is not to like.

I'll be on the Pompeye/Santandar ferry Jan 6. Perhaps see you then.
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we're on the economy on the 12th Jan, maybe see you down there. We are visiting my daughter in Sao Pedro de Moel for a few days, loads of places to wild camp, then over to just south of Alicante to visit friends, then heading south followed by west to look at the rest of Portugal.
 
Hi trishandtez,

I don't see why not it starts from the day you buy it.I use it in the UK on my car as well and the AA covers the work for ADAC I even renewed the cover while in Germany last July in one of the ADAC shops with no problem.They have a good web site for details that you can translate to english that I used to cancel the magazine they send and get it instead on line.

Snowbirds.

trishandtez said:
Re. The ADAC travel/health/ breakdown, can this be started while already in Spain?
Click to expand...
 
snowbirds said:
Hi Jim,

Sorry for late reply to your question,first of all we carry our 90 day travel insurance with all medicals declared it has gone up £31 pounds from last year to £191 95p and is the cheapest I could find(at 69) with L. V.and also carry our E U card but I have been told hospitals ask for Travel insurance as well so I don't want to sit there with a drip in my arm having a heart attack and some Receptionist wanting to argue the toss.
I also use ADAC Plus Recovery that covers wife and my self helicopters transport and repatriation,At 114 Euros per year.
It may sound a lot but with our three months here and the seven weeks we had travelling in Holland,Germany and Denmark.
So it's not to bad as it's 90 days per trip and covers like last year a trip to Portugal by air as well. Remember you only live twice.:lol-061:

Regards Snowbirds (some were in Spain for three months):ninja::dance::sleep-040:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info most useful, only two months to before we are off, first trip abroad with the van, planning on taking a box trailer with our motorbikes in, will the trailer cause any problems wild camping ?

Regards,

Jim
 
Hi UKbiker,

I don't think you will have many problems with a trailer over here as may vans pull them and park on Aires with Quads small cars and motorbikes and lots of scooters.
I would just bring good chains to secure them to a tree or your van hitch for extra security.

Regards Snowbirds.:dance:




UKBiker said:
Thanks for the info most useful, only two months to before we are off, first trip abroad with the van, planning on taking a box trailer with our motorbikes in, will the trailer cause any problems wild camping ?

Regards,

Jim
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moonshadow said:
Is EHIC not enough for health, or am I missing something, again? Our van insurance covers the van and contents.
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the EHIC and before it the E111 have been enough for us for 30 years
in france you have to pay a small fee to go to the doctor and then claim 70% back ...but get taken to emergency at the hospital and treatment is free

I have been treated in hospital in both spain and portugal and both accepted the EHIC without demur ,[ had to pay for blood tests in portugal , cost €3 ], as do the state clinics for doctors visits ; DO NOT let them take you to a private hospital , they will want you to pay , just like in the UK
 
lebesset said:
the EHIC and before it the E111 have been enough for us for 30 years
in france you have to pay a small fee to go to the doctor and then claim 70% back ...but get taken to emergency at the hospital and treatment is free

I have been treated in hospital in both spain and portugal and both accepted the EHIC without demur ,[ had to pay for blood tests in portugal , cost €3 ], as do the state clinics for doctors visits ; DO NOT let them take you to a private hospital , they will want you to pay , just like in the UK
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Thank you, I thought that was the case. I was in hospital in France many years ago and I had to pay the 'hotel' costs but the treatment was free.
 
spanish winter

vindiboy said:
We go to Spain and Portugal frequently for Winter so would be happy to give any advice I can, what are the general plans are you interested in using camp sites or pay Aires or wilding, all is very easy in Spain and Portugal and can be done on a low budget or a bigger spend as you wish.
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Hi Vindiboy
just read a few of your posts on aires etc we will give you a post later in November on best stop overs en route to Malaga upto Benidorm,like your posts:goodnight:
 
swiftnik said:
Hi Vindiboy
just read a few of your posts on aires etc we will give you a post later in November on best stop overs en route to Malaga upto Benidorm,like your posts:goodnight:
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Don't forget to post co-ordinates of any good stops, IE: 43.344760, -3.741886, please.
 
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