If you purchase a house in Spain it is normal that the estate agent wil change over all the utilities for you, even if you don’t buy from us, for a small fee we will gladly help in this process. If however you want to set this up yourself then please read on:
ElectricityElectricity in this area is supplied by Iberdrola and they can be contacted online at http://www.iberdrola.com or by calling 901 20 20 20.
When you contact them you will need to give them your full name and address, NIE number and bank account details, they will set up the account for you and facturas will be sent automatically to your nominated postal address. They do have some personnel who speak English but this will probably be an opportunity to practice your Spanish.
You can also check your facturas online at http://www.iberdrola.com/facturaelectronica
Bills are paid bi-monthly.
Your tariff is worked out according to your power rating (potencia), i.e. the amount of electricity that you elect to buy from your supplier in advance. You pay a standing charge in advance and consumption charges in arrears. Note that IVA of 16% and electricity tax (Impuesto Electricidad) of 4.8% apply. There are two types of electrical supply, standard and green, sadly environmentalists will find that they are paying significantly more for green electric than standard.
GasThere is no mains gas supply on the urbnisation and houses needing gas will have to use gas bottles (bombonas) supplied by Repsol Butano. You will need to sign a contract with them, which is only issued after a safety inspection has been conducted. A further inspection is required of all appliances every five years. Bottles can be delivered, but it is cheaper to buy direct from the depot.
Call 901 100 100 to get your local delivery number and call 901 121 212 immediately if you suspect a leak.
WaterAll water is on a meter and the local supplier is Aguagest who can be contacted at http://www.aquagest.es or by calling 96 679 4384.
You will have to go in person to the office located in Calle Lepanto 3, 03177 San Fulgencio and take with you copies of your:
- Passport
- NIE Number
- House Deeds
- Last Aguagest Factura
- Cedula de Habitabilidad
- Authorisation from the previous owner
- Bank account details
They will set up the account for you and facturas will be sent automatically to your nominated postal address. They do not speak English.
Bills are paid quarterly.
TelephoneThere has been a monopoly on phone connections up to date but this is changing and there are other companies popping up offering lines. If you have friends and neighbours in Spain it may be worth having a chat with them to see if they recomment¡d anyone.
The main supplier is Telefónica they can be contacted by simply dialing 1004 from any mobile or landline. Telefónica have an English speaking department to assist with connection, ADSL, bill queries, direct debits and payments etc. You can take advantage of cheaper calls from other providers using a 4-digit prefix (you will have to remain contracted Telefonica).
Bills are paid bi-monthly.
Television
British TV's DON’T WORK in Spain, you get picture but no sound unless you have a multi region TV set so it’s worth checking before you buy one in the UK.
The reason for this is that British TV’s receive the signal in PAL I format, Most TV's in Europe receive the signal in PAL B or G format. The picture signal is that same but the sound signal operates on a different frequency. If you are planning to buy a TV prior to coming to live in Spain it’s advisable to check the technical specifications before purchasing.
If you have a British TV however you do have some options:
- Have the TV "chipped" in Spain so it can receive Spanish signals
- Buy a Spanish VCR and connect it to your TV via the scart socket
- Only receive TV via a SKY digibox and dish although this is very expensive
- Throw away or sell your UK TV and buy a Spanish one
There are several companies offering British television channels but at the moment this is very in the air as there is a piracy war going on with the broadcasting companies who are taking the television companies to court. Prior to this there were several options for receiving British channels but it would be advisable to ask around.
Available TV Channels
There are two systems available on the Urbanisation depending on the age of your property and your physical location.
Older properties are connected to the cable system which receives approximately 40 channels (although the majority are not in English). The current cost to receive cable is 162 Euros per year
The other alternative is the microwave system which relays the SKY satellite signal from a transmitter locally (there are several) which will give you 12 channels in English. These are BBC 1 / BBC 2 / ITV 1 / Channel 4 / Channel 5 / SKY One / SKY Sports 1/ SKY Sports 2 / UK Gold / Discovery / SKY Movies / SKY News / Canal +. Cost of installation is usually 386 Euros + 90 Euros per year subscription.
However if you have to have ALL the channels, you need a 2.4m dish capable of receiving the UK SKY signal. From January SKY are lowering the signal strength and you will need the 2.4m dish to pick up the southern beam of Astra 2D. This system is going to cost you approx. 1800 Euros !
You can also opt to receive the BBC prime signal from the Hotbird satellite this will give you the BBC channels, SKY one and SKY news plus other non English channels. Cost approx. 600 Euros
It always pays to phone around and get a guaranteed signal prior to parting with your money.
