Living in Mallorca

My intention with side is to collect practical information about shopping, markets etc. 

 

100516

 

On Mallorca-Market you can find an overview of markets on the island. a2zMallorca gives a more detailed information including fiestas. 
The biggest flea market is in Consell every Sunday morning. Palma has a flea market at Les Avenidas Saturday morning. If the weather is good there is also flea markets in Alcudia Saturdays at 10 by the Jolly Roger, Lago Menor and Saturdays at 9 at the industrial estate So Bugadell on the road to Andratx 100516.

There are plenty furniture stores on Mallorca. Manacor is the centre of the furniture industry.  IKEA is situated by the Via Cintura near the exit to Manacor. The prices are about 50% higher than in Sweden.

The biggest department store is the two El Corte Inglés in Palma. Also Carefour has several stores.

Yellow pages in Spain is called Paginas Amarillas. Yellow Mallorca is the online English speaking Company Guide. Baleares Little Pages is a free catalogue with a lot of companies. Can be picked up at many places such as Palma Nova Agency, C/ Miguel de los SantosOliver 3, Palma Nova. 070316

Warning!! The caterpillars of the Pine Processionary Moth are visible in the spring. DO NOT touch them. They can give serious reactions especially in children and dogs. For mor information look here

TIB is the Website for complete information of the transportation within the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands ( Services, timetable... ). 050601

If you only stay for shorter periods, renting a car is most economical (se Car rental in my Links). If you stay longer you might want a car of your own. I have found a book Motoring in Spain by Brian J Deller which contains necessary information and it has got its own site for the updating of current laws and regulations. 050831

I recently bought a car myself and got some experience in the complicated process. This will not cover everything but I have tried to include the most important facts. I bought the car through a dealer, which is to be recommended. 061221

  1. You must be registered at the town hall (Ajuntament) there you live. You need your NIE number and the deed for your house (escritura) or a rental contract. You will then get a certificate of residence (Certificat d'empadronament) not meaning you necessary are a resident of Spain. Take this and a copy to the dealer.
  2.  Take your passport and copy, also you driver's licence.
  3.  Prepare insurance by talking to different companies. When you have decided which one to use contact you own insurance company in UK if you have a no claims discount and let them fax these details so you can benefit from a bonus from the start. Observe that it is cheaper if a woman owns the car! I chose MAPFREE, which is a big company with good service according to our experiences. On the east side of Majorca you can contact their agent Koen Gross who speaks English T: 971815035 or mobile 656953240.
  4. Check the registration document (Permiso de circulatión) and the technical sheet (Fisha Tecnica) with the ITV test certificate.
  5. The dealer usually takes care of the road tax and the transfer tax.
  6. The dealer takes care of the transfer, which can take up to a month. In the meantime you will have copies of the original documents and a special certificate saying that you have 90 days until you have to present the new original documents.
  7. You have to have all the documents in the car then driving!
  8. You must have two warning triangles and a reflective vest in the car. You are not allowed to leave the car on an open road without wearing a reflective vest. If you need glasses you must have a spare pair with you.
  9. If your car breaks down you have to call a towing truck, as an ordinary car cannot tow you!

Here is a blogg covering almost everything you need to know about Driving in Spain 070710

MOT

In Spain like in the UK MOT, which is called ITV, is mandatory. The first time is when the car is four years old, after that it is every second year until ten years. For older cars it is every year. If you are not fluent in Spanish you can use a garage that takes care of everything including a pre ITV service. 
I use OmsAuto situated near the ITV station at Can Pastilla in the industrial estate Son Oms. They have English speaking personel and very reasonable prizes, 15€ for pre ITV and ITV. The fee at the ITV station depends on size and type of car. For a Seat Ibiza it is about 35€. Telephone to OmsAuto is 971126984 och mail info@omsauto.com . 091120

The hunting season in Majorca is from end of October to end of January. There is a lot of shooting especially early in the morning. It seems that most of the hunting is just for the kill as you find a lot of dead rabbits and small birds when you are out walking. Not really good sport. 070106

Spanish language:
The original language of Mallorca is mallorquin (a variant of Catalan) repressed under the dictatorship of Franco who only allowed Spanish (Castilian). With the regional government of today the situation has been reversed. To some extent this is the result of the nationalist party Union Mallorquin having a decisive role  in the local parliament. It is recommend to use a mallorquin speaking interpreter when dealing with local authorities.
In spite of the above it is probably best to start learning Spanish (Castilian), which is easier and supported by a lot of training facilities.
You can find some guidance on my link site. It is good to learn some Spanish by yourself which is supported by this video

Weather. 
If you have access to the Internet, (see Computer in To have a house in Mallorca) you can find several good weather sites. The most detailed is the Spanish AEMet (Agencia Estal de Meteorologia). They have local forecasts for all the municipalities of Mallorca and also rain radar and satellites.
Other weather sites are Weather Underground and WeatherOnline both focusing on Palma.  090329

 

Home