An old, very fat, red nosed, white haired Briton rambles on, at length, about things Spanish
PHOTO ALBUMS
- CLICK ON THE MONTH/YEAR TO SEE MY PHOTO ALBUMS
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- Adriatic Cruise Oct/Nov 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Doing business
Where there are largish British populations other Britons set up businesses to cater to their needs. Pinoso has a surprisingly large British population for such a small and unremarkable town. Amongst our ranks are builders, plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, electricians, gardeners, saddlers, dentists, hearing aid specialists, IT consultants, beauty therapists, translators, teachers, estate agents, men with vans, hairdressers, masseurs, artists, cleaners, ironers, party organisers, web designers, magazine publishers, writers, musicians, catteries, kennels, charity shops, bars and cafés.The list is pretty long. If there's a potential market one of us will have a go at exploiting it. Obviously a big plus factor is the language. So much easier to deal with someone you can communicate with easily.
But it can't be easy. I haven't seen the population breakdown recently. The stats can be a bit misleading anyway. Pinoso shares a border with other local authorities in Alicante and Murcia and each has their own British poulation but, geographically, some of the villages which fall into other jurisdictions, have Pinoso as their natural focus. So if Pinoso has around 400 to 500 Britons on the council register there may be a few hundred more within striking distance. It's still not a lot of people to sell your product to and in order to keep your head above water you need to be shrewd. Lots of businesses just don't make it.
On Friday night I went to see a play put on by a local, British, Amateur Dramatics group. It was held at a big restaurant cum bar complex in one of the outlying villages of Pinoso. As I was sitting there it struck me what a well organised and innovative business it was and although it is aimed principally at Britons the place seems to attract a good number of the home population too.
So, for once, instead of being nasty about our failure to integrate I wanted to highlight the inventiveness, tenacity and bravery of my compatriots.
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Decisions, decisions
Unless I suddenly flee the country or unless I have a violent argument with my new landlady I expect to become a resident of La Unión next week.
Yesterday I handed over the fee to the estate agent for introducing me to my new flat and next Tuesday I will meet my new landlady and hand over a month's rent and the breakage deposit.
When the agent told me that the landlady wanted to see my wage slips I said that I would like to see her wage slips too and asked that he pass on that message to her. It's obvious enough why she wants to see my wage slips. I'm a risk for her. She lets me into her house and, like all tenants, once I'm in I'm difficult to get out. She doesn't know if I'm the sort of person who will pay my bills or not. She doesn't know if I will smash up her furniture or play loud reggae music at 3am to amuse the neighbours. Wage slips don't actually prove anything of course. Richer people than me like reggae and don't pay bills. Past employment isn't proof of future employment.
I am tempted to be bolshie about it. It's an intrusion into my privacy that I don't like at all. Spaniards don't see it that way at all of course. They are used to handing over identity cards to all and sundry so what does it matter if someone asks your age or how much you earn?
Anyway, provided I don't end up having an argument with my new landlady I will be a resident of La Unión from next Tuesday and I had to decide whether that merited a new blog title or not. The logic was irrefutable. Life in La Unión is now on the tabs at the top of the page or on this link
Yesterday I handed over the fee to the estate agent for introducing me to my new flat and next Tuesday I will meet my new landlady and hand over a month's rent and the breakage deposit.
When the agent told me that the landlady wanted to see my wage slips I said that I would like to see her wage slips too and asked that he pass on that message to her. It's obvious enough why she wants to see my wage slips. I'm a risk for her. She lets me into her house and, like all tenants, once I'm in I'm difficult to get out. She doesn't know if I'm the sort of person who will pay my bills or not. She doesn't know if I will smash up her furniture or play loud reggae music at 3am to amuse the neighbours. Wage slips don't actually prove anything of course. Richer people than me like reggae and don't pay bills. Past employment isn't proof of future employment.
I am tempted to be bolshie about it. It's an intrusion into my privacy that I don't like at all. Spaniards don't see it that way at all of course. They are used to handing over identity cards to all and sundry so what does it matter if someone asks your age or how much you earn?
Anyway, provided I don't end up having an argument with my new landlady I will be a resident of La Unión from next Tuesday and I had to decide whether that merited a new blog title or not. The logic was irrefutable. Life in La Unión is now on the tabs at the top of the page or on this link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)