dissapointing shops

Ive searched for two different, decent types of shop, without luck in Queasada/ Torrevieja, including links in this forum:

Art Supplies - I want Windsor and Newton or Cotman water colours, good quality A3 cold pressed watercolour paper, decent acrylic colour tubes.

Indian Spices - not extortionate prices, im talking £5 a kilo for stuff like Paprika and Turmeric. I found a couple of places that wanted £2-£3 for 50g jars.

Previously i wasnt able to find 150mm flexible pvc air con exhaust, a 5m Cat 6 ethernet cable, or a spanish version of Halfords. Makes life hard work, and I really want to support the local economy.

Looks like i'll end up spending my money on the internet unless anyone else has any leads?

(Also, I dont understand why wet fish is expensive, we're on the shores of the Medditerranean, its wall to wall fish. Should be dirt cheap??? )

Buy your spices by the kilo on the markets. That's where I buy them. I don't find fish that expensive. You just have to know where to go for certain things, ethernet cable is dead easy to get. As for Halfords, they are not quite the same but there are car accessory places about.

Try Hindustani Foods in Torre a wholesaler for spices etc

Google art supplies stores and there are several in Torrevieja that might be worth a try.

Ethernet cables can be found in the Chinese shops.

Norauto is the nearest equivalent to Halfords.

For quality art supplies, try:

Picoyas in Benijofar: https://www.facebook.com/Picoyas/

and my wife's favourite, Lloc d'Art in Elche:

Address: Carrer Juan Ramón Jiménez, 2, 03203 Elx, Alacant, Phone: 965 45 89 43

Hours:
Sunday Closed
Monday 10AM–2PM, 5–8:30PM
Tuesday 10AM–2PM, 5–8:30PM
Wed 10AM–2PM, 5–8:30PM
Thursday 10AM–2PM, 5–8:30PM
Friday 10AM–2PM, 5–8:30PM
Saturday 10AM–2PM

You can also get art supplies in all the Chinese bazaars, but not the same quality as the specialist art shops.

Paulr wrote:F

You can also get art supplies in all the Chinese bazaars, but not the same quality as the specialist art shops.

Absolutely. Its all to do with the amount of pigment in the mix. and cheap watercolour paints dont cut it when you mix them, cos the pigments arent pure. Windsor and Newton or Rowney are the only ones worth buying. And I managed to get several sets (tins) of the original Derwent Aquatone watercolour sticks before we came. They stopped making them, i got the last few tins. which now change hands on ebay for £100+ a set. They dont make them like that anymore. They are fantastic for landscapes.

another im stuck for are sharkfin plectrums and steel strings for a mandolin....

Paulr wrote:For quality art supplies, try:

Picoyas in Benijofar: https://www.facebook.com/Picoyas/

and my wife's favourite, Lloc d'Art in Elche:

Address: Carrer Juan Ramón Jiménez, 2, 03203 Elx, Alacant, Phone: 965 45 89 43

Carrer Rafael Alberti 20
Benijófa
I couldnt find Picoyas, it says it No 20, we drove round , this is No 20:

baffled, doesnt look like a shop to me????

There is a brilliant art supplies shop in Torrevieja called Artes Cova, in Calle Canónigo
It has the Windsor and Newton paints and all first class supplies

We went to the music hall in Torrevieja town centre for help with special wax for our cello and they couldn't be more helpful. They would help you with any parts for a musical instrument. There is also a shop on the 1st floor of the indoor market that may help you. The wife speaks English but the husband does not.

Yes richardlionheart, that is Picoyas. Obviously shut when you were there. Check the opening times on Facebook. They stock what you need.