Cost of Living in Spain to rise from today

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Slice of Life

New IVA/VAT rates came into force throughout Spain today, meaning that already-cash-strapped families will have to tighten their belts still further.

Here´s what´s changed:

The general rate rises from 18% to 21%.

The reduced rate rises from 8% to 10%. Many items previously included in the reduced rate list are now excluded, with their tax rate rising to 21%. This means that entrance tickets for theatres, cinemas, shows, attraction parks etc; hairdressing; flowers, plants and funeral services will all cost considerably more.

The super reduced rate of 4% remains unchanged. Again, many items in this category previously have now been excluded and placed within the general rate of 21%. The cost of many stationery items and school materials will rise steeply – which won´t go down well with parents as their children return to school shortly.

You can read the full list of changes here .

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Cost of Living: East of Málaga, Spain August 2012

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Bus Services: East of Málaga

Ready now: The Green, Green Grapes of Home!

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about our visit to the white village of Cómpeta for the Night of Wine (Noche del Vino).

Whilst we were there, I noticed a very interesting stall that had lots of local produce for sale. There were not only locally-grown grapes and pasas (grapes left out in the sun to shrivel and sweeten on drying beds), but also an old vine root on display along with the bottled Moscatel wine available in sweet, semi-sweet and dry varieties.

Best of all, look what I´ve just picked from the vines on our land! In the photograph below, you can see that the bunch of grapes on the left is pretty much as you might imagine them to look, but the one on the right has grapes that have started to go brown as they shrivel and sweeten in the sun.

Some people might say that these are best of all to eat right now. Not me, of course! 😉

You might also like to look at these posts:

Competa´s Noche del vino: Night of wine

Bus Services: East of Málaga

Patatas a lo pobre: Poor man´s potatoes

All change: A New Camera and a New Theme

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía

Sardines cooking over an open fire on the beach during this year´s San Juan celebration in Torre del Mar, Spain.

My old camera went on the blink early last month, so I had to look for a replacement. I need a camera that is light, and easy to take with me when I´m travelling, with plenty of features, yet not too expensive. Hmmm … not too demanding, am I?

I don´t profess to be anything more than an interested, amateur photographer – but I know what I like, and I keep trying to improve my images. I do enjoy taking photographs and I think that´s half the battle.

Anyway, after much deliberation, I decided on the Canon PowerShot SX220HS … and I´m loving it!

So, to celebrate my new camera, I have decided to change the look of my blog to showcase the photos better.

What do you think? Would you let me know as I value your comments?

Thanks – Marianne

Fresh Figs Stuffed with Goat´s Cheese and wrapped in Smoked Bacon

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Marianne under Recipes

Because our fig trees have more ripe figs than we know what to do with – I decided to re-post a great recipe that always goes down well in our house, every August.

Serve as a starter or as a main course. Delicious!

Simply pluck the fresh figs from the tree and slice off the top and bottom of each fruit. Cut a cross into the top of each fig and stuff with a square of goat´s cheese. Wrap in a rasher of smoked bacon and skewer with a cocktail stick.

Bake in a hot oven for approx 20 minutes.

That´s it – enjoy!

If you like the look of this recipe, you might also enjoy:

Patatas a lo Pobre: Poor Man´s potatoes

Lemon Chicken for a Summer´s Day Lunch

I can see Africa from my terrace!

Cost of Living: East of Málaga, Spain August 2012

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Slice of Life

Whenever I travel, I´m always interested to know how much things cost, and every day, people from around the world find my blog by searching for the cost of living in Spain.

I was interested in an idea I saw on My Sardinian Life, where Jennifer published receipts for her everyday grocery shopping. Alyson at the Algarve Blog and Diana of Canadian Travel Bugs also posted their grocery receipts from Portugal and Shanghai, China respectively.

I wanted to do something a bit different, so I decided that rather than post the prices of random items of shopping that you may, or may not be interested in, I would come up with a list of standard grocery items, which I will update the prices of, three or four times a year. This list can easily be changed, so if there are any other basic items you would like me to include, please let me know in the comments section, below. This way, if anyone else wants to do something similar, we can have a direct comparison between countries.

For this month´s prices, I used the Spanish Supermarket – Mercadona

Standard Grocery List

Milk (semi –skimmed UHT, own brand), 1 litre 0.54 €
Loaf (white, baguette 250g) 0.45 €
Eggs (12, medium) 1.35 €
Chicken breasts (1kg, boneless, skinless) 5.50 €
Apples (1kg, green, Golden Delicious) 1.35 €
Oranges (1kg) 1.39 €
Bananas (1kg) 1.25 €
Potatoes (1kg) 0.92 €
Lettuce (1 head, Iceberg) 0.85 €
Water (1.5 litre bottle) 0.45 €
Domestic Beer (1 litre bottle, Cruzcampo) 1.29 €
Fish (1kg Salmon steaks) 8.75 €
Toilet rolls (pack of 6, own brand) 1.95 €
Washing powder (Box, 35 washes, Elena brand) 5.94 €
Olive oil (1 litre, extra virgin, own brand) 3€
Coca-Cola (1.5 litre) 1.09 €
Butter (250g, own brand) 0.98 €
Sugar (1kg, white) 0.95 €

I´ve also included my store receipt for the few groceries I bought – mostly of items not included on my standard shopping list.

Currency Conversion from XE €1 = 1.23   USD
0.78   GBP
1.17   AUD
1.22   CAD
1.52   NZD
9.99   ZAR

Other household expenses

Gas: We don´t have mains gas here, so we use bottles of butane gas. A 12.5kg bottle of Butane gas costs 16.45 €. One bottle lasts (on average) 21 days (for two people… though around 4 weeks in summer) for all hot water, showers and cooking.

Electricity: For a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom detached house in the countryside with a swimming pool, we pay an average of 80-90 € per month. The cost of consumption for us is slightly lower in winter with heating/lighting, as opposed to air conditioning/lighting/swimming pool pump running for 8 hours a day, in the summer months.

Water: We are not connected to mains water, so when we bought our house part of the purchase cost was for a share in a local water company. We have a water deposit to store our house water. Our water share gives us an allowance of up to 17500 litres of water each week at reduced cost, after which the price rises steeply. Needless to say, we don´t use this amount of water, even allowing for swimming pool top-ups and garden irrigation. Our annual water bill is approximately 60 €

IBI – Council Tax: Paid yearly to the local council. This year´s bill is 338€

Internet: 29 € per month with unlimited downloads (within reason). Speeds up to 3 Mbps

Petrol/Gasoline: 1 litre of 95 octane petrol is 1.49 €

Vehicle excise duty: We have a Peugot 307 1.6 and pay 51 € per year.

Eating out: Glass of wine or beer, including one tapa is 1 € – 1.50 €. Menu of the day (three course meal, served at lunchtime, including bread and one glass of beer, wine or a bottle of water) 8 – 10 €

How do prices compare where you live?

You might also enjoy these articles:

All at sea with the Virgen del Carmen

La Noche de San Juan: Families, fires and football!

Patatas a lo pobre: Poor man´s potatoes