Talk Quesada forum

When you first moved over, what was the "thing" when you got to Spain did you regret not bringing/ or forgot to bring with you? ...

Nando’s peri peri rub. Nando’s garlic sauce. Tesco’s back bacon. We’re coming back out on Saturday and this time have ensured these items are in the suitcase.

All those Nando's things are available from the barbecuestore.es.
And why, in particular, Tesco back bacon? I've rather gone off British type bacon with all the added water and salt and much prefer the Spanish bacon now (must have got used to it over the years) but isn't Iceland back bacon the same? And Gama does a lovely looking fresh back bacon at a very good price (cheaper than Iceland) plus all the supermarkets round here are now stocking the British back bacon both fresh and frozen.

Actually I think the OP is thinking of household goods.
When we moved over (a long time ago) things like white goods, TV and virtually all electronic stuff was very expensive but has come down a lot over the years so it's pointless bringing that now.
You also couldn't get loads of things like wooden spoons, hob covers, saucepans with handles and so on. Now everything is available from many and varied stores.
Beds and mattresses seem very expensive here. We brought our king double over (without the mattress) and spent at least twice what we would have in UK for a new mattress. Just replaced it after 12 years (I know, it should be done every 8) and the mattresses were still very expensive. Other beds seemed double what we paid in UK even when we were getting nearly 1.50 to the pound. Bedding was also pretty rubbish with no proper sized pillows (just bolsters) and tacky, rough sheets. Now it seems there are many outlets for the pillows we are used to and lots of good (both British and Continental sized) bedding around.

You couldn't get things like bedside mats but now at least a dozen places stock them and a very good range.

When we go back to UK on a visit, about the only thing we bring back nowadays are puzzle books. Yes, you can get them here but very expensive. My wife used to bring back knitting wool but you can get that in quite a few places here now.
Not sure if there's anything else we would need to bring back with us. Oh, if you have any room bring me a couple of custard slices, will you? They do them here but the custard isn't the same and they put icing sugar over the top instead of proper icing. Iceland do them but they are frozen and not the same.
(In case any of you are interested, Gama now does Eccles cakes - see, more and more stuff becoming available).

And here's me thinking you all went to Spain for the healthier style of living

Ah, custard slices, in Rotherham they are called Vanilla slices, it is funny how same items are called something different in other regions of the uk.....and don't get me started on Breadcakes/Teacakes/Scufflers lol.

Kenbo wrote:Ah, custard slices, in Rotherham they are called Vanilla slices, it is funny how same items are called something different in other regions of the uk.....and don't get me started on Breadcakes/Teacakes/Scufflers lol.

These are readily available in Hamilton’s Bakehouse in Benijofer along with other British treats like apple crumble etc

Fishermans friends very costly,wish I,d brought my kango,Hamas bacon is not as good as it was 5 years ago but now we get sausages and bacon through our friendly local bar but we really try to buy spanish,as in Spain and all that,never had it so good since my Dad grew all our veg.

I'm guessing that the original enquiry was more about trying to decide what household items to transport over to Spain, rather than what types of food you crave but can't get (at least at sensible prices anyway).

There's two approaches to moving to Spain - load up a van and bring pretty-much everything, or bring the bare minimum.
If you go for the 'bring everything' approach then it can be fairly cost-effective, depending on how you do it. If you want small quantities of things shipping over then you generally pay by the cubic metre (around £100) and that can get expensive.

White goods and electrical items can be much more expensive in Spain. If you have new-ish items that you like and think that they have 5-10 years of life left in them, it's probably worth considering bringing them over.
If not, or if you want to go for the 'start a new life' approach then buying new, or secondhand, once you're here is a good move.

You'll probably find that when it comes to furnishing your Spanish home, it's the little things that turn it from a house into a home. If you're one of those people that has accumulated lots of 'stuff' over the years then go through it and ask yourself what you'd keep if you decided to have a good decluttering session. With the things that are left, ask yourself if it would look good in your new home. Don't bring it unless you're convinced it has a place in your Spanish place.

If you have things like hand tools that you've accumulated over the years then throw out the things that are just taking-up space and bring the things that you use often, or that would be difficult to replace. The same goes for hobby materials, kitchen utensils etc.

If you're unsure then maybe ask a friend of family member to store some things for a while rather than getting rid of them. If you decide you don't need them then ask them to take the stuff to the local charity shop.

Pete.

Regret selling all my cd collection to Magpie, giving all my old theatre programmes to the charity shop as well as all my books.

Cheers...food for thought ...
No pun intended...ha