How we relocated from UK to Spain – an entire flat’s worth of things!
We weighed our decisions for almost 3 months wether to move now or later, and on how to move all of life’s belongings from our flat in Exeter (UK), to our new house in Alicante (Spain).
At first, we had three moving-options :
- Everything goes in boxes, get a mover company to load up onto their lorry and transport it to Spain and we just pay their fee (per box, TV, bicycle, etc.)
- Pack everything in boxes (same as option 1) and send via courier company (DHL, UPS, freight forwarders, etc.). We just pay to the courier company whatever their charges are per cubic meter.
- Rent a storage, stuff all of our goods in there and hire (rent) a big van/lorry to move the stuff ourselves across to Europe mainland.
Based on many factors from mover company costs (ridiculously expensive -in our case was more like £4,000-£5,000k/lot), paperwork for courier companies, goods security (breakage or lost boxes or items) and flexibility of bringing more stuff (if we wanted to).
We decided to go for Option 3 -do everything ourselves manually.
Which route would be best for us?
Now, we face with another dilemma of which route do we take for ‘The Big Move’. After weeks of combing through the web, forums and getting tons of great feedback from our new friends in Facebook group (After Brexit in Spain), I came to understand that there were a few possible routes for our drive from the UK to Spain.
Please note that we were based in Exeter, Devon – the South West of England.
With all the following options, we started with getting a van hired from Enterprise (Marsh Barton).
Van Hire (Rental)
Enterprise Van Hires
Extra Large Van – 11.4m3 Load Space (max load 3000kgs) – £500 (9 days for a return trip)
Cross Border Permit V103B by DVLA – £160 (Paid to Enterprise upon collection of vehicle)
Enterprise Van Hires FAQ
Can I rent a van from Spain and drive it over to the UK instead? No, Enterprise Spain won’t allow it, blame Brexit.
Can I exclude having the V103B or secretly drive the van to the EU? You could try, we’ve never tried this before as we didn’t want to take the risk as we had a massive load in the van. It was just a piece of paper like an Invoice from Screwfix. I felt cheated paying for the darn piece of green paper as no one asked for it from UK to Spain and back. Thank you Brexit.
Do I need a special license to drive the Extra Large Van? No, you just need your full-UK driving license for cars and a good set of common sense when driving a long and tall vehicle. When the wind is blowing hard sideways -SLOW DOWN.
Do I need to buy extra insurance for the van/car to cross border? No, it’s all included (at the time we did the crossing in March 2023).
Do I get the van details ahead of time to book for the ferry/train? No, you’ll get it on the day you pickup the van at Enterprise. To pay for zFEM (France), you can do it last minute and print the sticker to display while driving. To update the ferry/train, you could update on their website immediately when you pick-up the van.
The van uses Diesel and AdBlue, who fills up the AdBlue? You’ll be responsible for the AdBlue. Refill it in Spain at the pump, it’s cheaper about €1.00/litre, if I recalled it correctly.
Do I need the extra coverage by Enterprise when booking or picking up the van? We didn’t take the extras cover (it was about £250/hire). But you risk having to pay for blown out tyre(s) or any damages on the vehicle when it’s still in your hands. I took the risk because I was a mechanic before and also from my level of confidence handling such a massive vehicle. No, I don’t drive trucks/trailers for a living.
Can’t find what you’re looking for on these FAQs? Click here to go to Enterprise FAQ page.
Here are the boring (but important) details you’re looking for :
Route 1
Drive from Exeter to Port of Dover, take a train-carriage via the Euro Tunnel. It is a train and you cannot drive over to France like on a highway. You’ll park your car/van/camper on a train carriage and the train goes to France, drive off the carriage and continue your journey from there to the Spanish border.
The train is a lot quicker to cross the channel, but is further up north of both England and France. So you decide which part of UK you are coming from and where’s your final destination – France or Spain?
Referring to the map shown above, the trip stats should be as follows :
Driving Duration :
The drive from Exeter (UK) to Channel Tunnel (Dover – UK) alone costs us 412km and 5-6hours for a van.
24 hours (at 120km/h or max speed for cars) -ours was 100km/h in a big van estimated 30-33hrs
with toll-roads from Tunnel exit to Hendaye (Spanish border).
or
28 hours (at 120km/h or max speed for cars) -ours was 100km/h in a big van estimated 35-38hrs (about 3 days) without toll-roads from Tunnel exit to Pamplona (Spain).
Driving that long in a big van is a little bit much to do in one go and we’ll have to stop at minimum of 2 nights for hotel stays with the van fully loaded. Chances of getting the van stolen, or broken into, or vandalized or even give me anxiety thinking of it qualifies for ‘Strike 1‘.
Fuel & AdBlue
The van we’ve got from Enterprise Van Hires was a Ford Transit 350 (2.0L Turbo Diesel) running about 30mpg (Mixed Traffic or Heavy load) to 35mpg (Highway). It has no air-conditioning installed.
Diesel Price : £1.689/litre
Distance : 1,370mi
Total Cost : £350 (Diesel) + £10 (AdBlue) — x 2 as it’s a round trip = £720
Rants : Don’t know why they didn’t fit A/C in the van -probably because the UK is always cold? How about misty windshield when it rains? Duh.
Tips : AdBlue system fitted vans needs the liquid to be topped up before you could start the engine, so don’t run out of this additive. In Spain they have AdBlue filling stations and the UK has 5 litre bottles for sale. It was about €1.00/litre in Spain.
Tickets / Passes / Hotel Stay(s) / Food Allowance :
EuroTunnel – £200/way x 2 = £400 (for the extra large van 6.4m long)
zFEM Zone Pass (Clean Air Zone) in France to drive though Rouen (France) or Paris (France, obviously) – approx. €10.00 (Click HERE for link to the info website)
Hotel Stay(s) at Ibis Budget (France) – €60/night x 3 nights = €180 (it’s a van, driving 8-10 hours a day is a LOT)
Food Allowance : €40 for 2 pax for 4 days = €160
Toll Roads :
We tried researching for our class-fare on the big-van, but we couldn’t find an accurate estimate, so you’re on your own on this bit.
It’s either take non-motorway roads (add +6-8hours extra on driving) or take the toll-roads (spend 6-8hours less) but pay about €80-€150 for the toll-fees. That’s for the big van, but it may be cheaper if you’re travelling in a regular car class.
This was a ‘Strike 2‘ for driving though this route.
Customs Checkpoints or Police
Please note that Consu (my wife) is Spanish, I’m Malaysian and we are driving a British (UK) registered van.
I’ve combed through a lot of forums and asked around about issues with moving our goods through the tunnel to France and drive to the Spanish border. I’ve found a lot of horror stories and some were very inconsistent. I don’t like vague situations, it’s either a yes, or a no -I won’t settle for a ‘maybe’.
Horror stories goes like, some people gets stopped by Douane (Customs) at France side of the tunnel, had to unload and they go though the entire list of goods even when the goods are bound for Spain. Ain’t no body got time to unload 11.4m3 worth of stuff?!
OR
Drove out of the tunnel, went though French checkpoint, everything clear and when driving on the highway, they got stopped when driving on the highway to check again for whatsoever reason.
OR
Got stopped by French Police while driving though France (to Spain) and been harrassed for not having high-visibility vests near enough, to grab, to wear if there’s a breakdown. What??!
Sounds like a joke to me! Okay, let’s call that Strike 3 for this route. It’s out!
Honestly, I know pretty much how Spanish Police are as I drove quite a lot in Spain in our Spanish family car. I’ve never been in such sticky situation with them so far -touch wood.
We both speak Spanish & English, and maybe 2-3 words of French, so if it’s a French problem, then it’s a no-go.
Route 2
Drive from Exeter to Portsmouth, take a ferry from there to Dieppe (France) or Le Havre (France) and continue your journey from there to the Spanish border. Dieppe is further up north closer to the Euro Tunnel and Le Havre is a little more south (closer to Rouen -our planned stopover).
Depending on ticket availability, ferry ticket price, fuel prices and possibly French toll charges (depending on which route), you decide which port you prefer to disembark from. Let’s do Le Havre for this case study.
Driving Duration :
The drive from Exeter (UK) to Portsmouth (UK) costs us 140km and 5+hours for a van.
21 hours (at 120km/h or max speed for cars) -ours was 100km/h in a big van estimated 28-30hrs
with toll-roads from Le Havre to Hendaye (Spanish border).
or
24 hours (at 120km/h or max speed for cars) -ours was 100km/h in a big van estimated 31-35hrs without toll-roads from Le Havre to Pamplona (Spain).
Ditto here, too long a transit time and too much chances of failure with a fully loaded van.
For that, it qualifies as a Strike 1.
Fuel & AdBlue :
The van we’ve got from Enterprise Van Hires was a Ford Transit 350 (2.0L Turbo Diesel) running about 30mpg (Mixed Traffic or Heavy load) to 35mpg (Highway). It has no air-conditioning installed.
Diesel Price : £1.689/litre
Distance : 1,168mi
Total Cost : £300 (Diesel) + £10 (AdBlue) — x 2 as it’s a round trip = £620
Tickets / Passes / Hotel Stay(s) / Food Allowance :
Ferry Ticket – £550/way x 2 = £1,100 (for the extra large van 6.4m long)
zFEM Zone Pass (Clean Air Zone) in France to drive though Rouen (France) approx. €10.00
Hotel Stay(s) at Ibis Budget – €60/night x 3 nights = €180 (it’s a van, driving 8-10 hours a day is a LOT)
Food Allowance : €40 for 2 pax for 4 days = €160
Toll Roads :
We couldn’t find an accurate estimate. It’s either take non-motorway roads (add +3-6hours extra on driving) or take the toll-roads (spend 3-6hours less) but pay about €50-€100 for the toll-fees. That’s for the big van, but it may be cheaper if you’re travelling in a regular car class.
So, this is a ‘Strike 2‘ for driving though this route.
Customs Checkpoints or Police
Please note that Consu (my wife) is Spanish, I’m Malaysian and we are driving a British (UK) registered van.
Ditto on this part for possible nightmares. Okay, let’s also call that Strike 3 for this route. It’s out!!
This next and final route option was my least favorite at first, as we’ll have to pay a lot for the ferry. But it changed my mind after thinking of the misery of driving 3 days to our destination, plus work of unloading the goods into our home.
Route 3
Drive from Exeter to Plymouth, take a ferry from Port of Plymouth to Santander (Spain), drive from Santander to Alicante.
Driving Duration :
The drive from Exeter (UK) to Plymouth (UK) costs us 88km and 2 hours for a van.
Total of 10 hours (at 120km/h or max speed for cars) -ours was 100km/h in a big van estimated 12-14hrs per way without toll-roads from Santander (Spain) to Alicante. Yes, 100km/h is an actual speed limit in Spain, you’ve been warned.
The ferry/cruise ship was about 22 hours per way that we were sleeping, watching downloaded Netflix, having meals or going for a long walk around the cruise-liner. Click HERE to read the full story of the Pool Incident.
Fuel & AdBlue :
The van we’ve got from Enterprise Van Hires was a Ford Transit 350 (2.0L Turbo Diesel) running about 30mpg (Mixed Traffic or Heavy load) to 35mpg (Highway). It has no air-conditioning installed.
Diesel Price : £1.689/litre
Distance : 594mi (one way)
Total Cost : £154 (Diesel) + £5 (AdBlue) — x 2 as it’s a round trip = £318
Tickets / Passes / Hotel Stay(s) / Food Allowance :
Ferry Ticket – £650/way x 2 = £1,300 (for the extra large van 6.4m long)
zFEM – Not Needed!
Hotel Stay(s) at Ibis Budget – Not Needed!
Food Allowance : €40 for 2 pax for 3 days = €120 (Less due to travel time)
Toll Roads :
Who needs motorways in Spain? The regular E or A roads are great as they are. We saved a lot on this.
So, this was a great plus for this route. Brownie points here.
Customs Checkpoints or Police
Please note that Consu (my wife) is Spanish, I’m Malaysian and we are driving a British (UK) registered van.
We have an elaborate goods-list, Empadronamiento and passports ready. We got waved through as my wife intended to move back to Spain permanently. The Aduana (Customs) guys in Santander were cool, didn’t even ask for my passport, when I was the driver.
Guardia Civil doing the ‘PIT Maneuver’
I got cut off by Guardia Civil (Police) when driving at cruising speed on the highway. The officer (passenger) even stuck his head out the car to stare down my soul. I was wearing sunglasses, focusing on driving and wasn’t touching a mobile phone or anything.
So, I kept on driving. They didn’t stop us, just overtook on the left, swing left and took off -fast. They were probably looking if I was texting or distracted while driving.
It was like a PIT-maneuver swing, but from the front-left side of the van, haha.
Driving a UK registered van was like having a whole leg of lamb hanging on my back while strolling through a lion’s den. You’ll attract all the wrong attention. Follow the road rules to the letter, stay focused, have a co-pilot do things for you and you’ll be fine.
Conclusion on Routes
Phew, that was a long explanation. So, Route 3 was the best for us as we let the cruise ship from Plymouth to Santander do the hard work of driving about 20+ hours.
Yes, we paid a lot for the ferry, but we also get to ensure our cargo was safe in our own hands. The only time we were apart from The Beluga was when we parked the van in the cruise-ship’s garage and went up to our cabin for 22 hours. The garage was locked by the crew and only accessible about half-hour before arrival.
We just enjoyed the cruise experience and arrived fresh in Santander to face the Aduana (Customs) Checkpoint which went surprisingly well.
Other Driving Requirements
There are a few other things that you should prepare before your long journey regardless of your purpose of driving in Spain :
Lamp Sticker
This sticker helps to block the your UK headlamp settings from blinding drivers when you’re driving on the opposite side of the road. It’s easy to install, better to do it after dark, park up the vehicle against a flat wall to aim the sticker. It is illegal not to have this sticker on regardless day or night in Spain/France.
UK Sticker
The big ‘UK’ sticker helps authorities identify your vehicle as UK registered, also to make it easier for them to harass you for being a Brit, hahaha! I get that a lot in Spain, even from the Spaniards too.
High Visibility Vest
You should bring this in case of a breakdown or stopping on a highway at night. Not just for the Police or authorities, but for your own safety. Invest in one, it’s inexpensive compared to your life’s value.
Battery to Charge Mobile Phone
We brought a modified 60Ah car battery with a USB plug to charge our mobile phones in case of an emergency. We also have a power bank ready to charge the mobile phone for GPS while driving down our route.
Food & Water
Research says, an average person loses 300ml of water every hour while driving. Long story short, we finished a 6 litre bottle in just 3 days, that was for the 2 of us on the return journey.
As the drive would be long and you won’t exactly know when and where to have a stopover, we would suggest you to bring ready meals either made or bought. We made our dry sandwich with roasted chicken and some veg. Keep it in a cooler bag, it should be fine. Bring extra peanuts or breakfast-bars just in case the ready-meals gone bad.
We brought an entire Ikea bag full of food and snacks for the ferry and the drive. It was well worth it. Stuff sold on the ferry were overpriced (as usual) and we didn’t even like the variety they had. Honestly, the potato crisps are better from Tesco, Aldi or Lidl.
Toolbox
I’d never go on a long drive without my tool-bag or backpack, just in case. If anything goes wrong, I could attempt a fix to keep the van moving. The toolbox should include a flashlight. Since we were moving everything over, the tools were left close to the cargo-doors so they were easy to reach.
Fire Extinguisher
I would highly recommend you to bring at least a 2.0kg Carbon Dioxide or a 6.0kg ABC powder fire extinguisher, just in case if anything catches fire on the journey. We brought 2 units and we thought you should too. There’s nothing worse than watching the van and the load burning down to the ground without having a shot at putting out the fire when it was still small.
Ditto here, leave the fire extinguishers where it’s easy to reach. We had one behind the driver’s seat and the other at the back end of the cargo-door.
How did we load the van?
Arranging The Load
The cargo should also be arranged in the order of : heavy or hard in the bottom – light or fragile on the top layer. If it is long, flat and hard, it’s going to be by the wall in the bottom.
We had nothing sliding around and hitting or tapping on the walls as almost everything was wrapped with cling-wrap. Nothing worse than having the 12-14 hour drive having something ringing, tapping, squeeking or rolling about.
Anything that runs on batteries must have their batteries removed or power switch taped over if it’s not removable. Batteries or flammable chemicals should be isolated properly.
We had everything done as how we explained in the above, and we had zero casualties of broken or damaged goods.
Packing List
We were very detailed with the paperwork. Every item has a number label that corresponds to the Packing List as seen below.
The Packing List format also has an item estimated-weight column for you to know if it’s going overweight according to the van’s load-limit. The Condition column is usually written as ‘Used’ as all items MUST be 6 months or older to avoid getting taxed.
Just use Google Translate to get the item description in Spanish if you don’t know the word. It is advisable to have your item’s receipts in hand -just in case. Only bring the receipts out if the Customs asks for it.
Feel free to share the link to this post to your friends and family.
Feel free to read this guide below on what you can bring and what you cannot to the EU/France/Spain – just in case :
If you wish to learn more about the latest rules on relocation from UK to Spain, here’s another document by FIDI -about exports and imports of personal effects :
For any goods coming back to the UK, here’s what the UK customs published on the Gov.UK website :
What are your Immigrations & Aduana (Customs) status?
Ask yourself this, are you…
a. Moving to Spain for good?
b. Moving stuff over for your home in Spain?
c. Bringing stuff over in your Camper-Van, Motorhome, Caravan for a return trip to the UK later?
Disclaimer : The information we provide here are based on our experience and should NOT be relied upon 100%. You MUST do your own research from our findings should you wish to follow our methods.
a. Moving to Spain for good?
If you’re moving to Spain for good, do consider reading more about how to get a NLV (Non-Lucrative Visa) if you’re a retiree or have income generated in the UK while you live in Spain.
If you intend to work or start a business, you’ll probably already done your research on how to get your paperwork done. If you have questions, you could post them to the Facebook Group – After Brexit in Spain.
We did not research further on what a British or EU citizen need to do in order to live in Spain (legally) as I’m Malaysian and married to a Spanish national, so we have different circumstances and/or processes to go through to live in Spain. It wasn’t easy, cost a lot of money, but doable.
Time Limit to move goods over to Spain
Do note that there is a time limit for how long you could bring your stuff over the border to move permanently without getting taxed (Spain’s IVA equivalent to UK-VAT) at the border crossings. I’ve researched that it should be less than 6 months from the date of your Empadronamiento certificate. Any more than that, you might be questioned or taxed by the Aduana officer(s).
To check on the rest of the relocation rules, read the FIDI guide posted above. You could download the file to your device to print it out hand have it in paper form.
b. Moving stuff over for your home in Spain?
We have read (and seen) a majority of Brits moving stuff over to Spain as they have a home here and would like to furnish or bring their necessities over the border. Before Brexit it was a lot easier than it is now.
Post Brexit, you have either the French border (tunnel and seaports) and the Spanish border (seaports) closely guarded if they noticed that you’re bringing more than a regular traveller would in a car or a small van.
Surprisingly, you’re most unlikely to be Customs checked at the airport if you’re bringing big suitcases. That’s what we’ve noticed over the years. I’m not sure about boxes of stuff, but we’ve never been waved over to open our suitcases, except for my visit to Los Angeles in 2015 -that was a nightmare.
It also depends on the mood of the Aduana (Customs) officer you’re facing. If he woke up to a good cup of coffee, no traffic driving to work and probably his favorite football team won last night’s match -you’re off to a flying start. He’ll most probably wave you over and won’t bother to check on your paperwork, goods, etc.
Do take a picture of your goods all laid out on the floor (if possible) and make a general list of items that you’re bringing in your vehicle just in case Aduana asks what you’re carrying in your vehicle, you could show them the list. It actually shows that you’re transparent and have nothing to hide. Your items should have a ‘current used value if you’re selling it at a car boot sale on a bad day‘ as Sally Myburgh of After Brexit in Spain said.
c. Bringing stuff over in your vehicle for a return-trip?
If you’re going for a road-trip or a long travel, which I noticed a lot of people are doing post-pandemic, you could bring stuff over in your vehicle within reason.
Just make sure that you’re not bringing illegal substances (including CBD oils etc just in case), tobacco, alcohol, dangerous tools (like machetes or axes), petrol or diesel (commodity) or most things you shouldn’t bring in a suitcase as check-in luggage -you should be fine.
Do take a picture of your goods all laid out on the floor and make a general list of items that you’re bringing in your vehicle just in case Aduana asks what you’re carrying in your vehicle, you could show them the list. Saves the hassle of rummaging through your stuff to show what you have. It also shows that you’re transparent and have nothing to hide.
What if we were taxed?
Spanish tax is called IVA at 21%, equivalent to British VAT at 20%.
If we were to be taxed on our route option, the charges for taxes would roughly be calculated as follows:
Ferry Ticket £1,200
Van Hire Charges £550 (Deposit £300 -I’m not sure if this is included in the calculation)
Goods Value £2,500 (eg. on our Packing-List)
Total : £4,250 x 21% (IVA)
Total Tax to be paid : £892.50 going directly to the Spanish Aduana (in Euros)
The amount is quite eye-watering, to be fair. So, don’t chance it and do it right to avoid being taxed or getting the goods seized. Yes, they include the cost of your transportation into account for the final figure.
How was the drive?
The GoogleMaps app was running most of the journey to avoid traffic jams and tight-roads. Thanks to my co-pilot Consu (my wife), she counter checked our route to make sure we are not going into some tight lanes. It will be a total nightmare to be stuck in one with a massive van.
Exeter to Plymouth
Starting from Exeter towards Plymouth, the journey was not too bad. I was focusing more on getting used to the massive van and the dynamics of the vehicle itself. Cornering and stopping have to be handled sensibly with 100% focus. Remind yourself, it is a BIG and HEAVY vehicle.
We arrived about 45 minutes earlier than planned at Port of Plymouth for boarding onto the cruise-ship. It’s just me to be extra early as the plan cannot fail. It was mission-critical not to miss any connections.
Driving into the ferry and parking in the lower deck (Garage) was fine. We were told to switch off the van’s ‘shake’ alarm so that it won’t trigger when the ship starts rolling in open-seas. Handbrake on and I left it in 1st gear.
Santander – Madrid – Alicante
Driving out of the cruise-ship was easy, the marshalls guided us out. The first stop was queuing for the Border Police (CNP – Cuerpo Nacional Policia) where they checked for our passports and stamped for entry. I was so excited for this part as it was my first ‘Ship Stamp’ as the rest were all entry by flights! Checkpoint -passed!
Driving off the CNP booth, not too far down the lane, I saw an official with high-visibility vest standing by his tent looking at a clipboard. As we approached, with a friendly face he waved us into the inspection lane of Aduana (Customs). Four other officers were there in plain clothes with vests on.
Getting waved into the Aduana (Customs) Inspection Lane
They approached Consu’s side of the van and asked if we are bringing any goods in the van. Consu replied in Spanish answering them yes we are moving goods from our home in England to Spain. I was on the ready with the paperwork I’ve prepared since a month ago, consisting of a Packing List with values, our new home address paperwork, passports and Empadronamiento papers. Everything was on a clipboard to make it easy to quickly pull out whatever document they asked.
One of the officers (must have been the team leader) asked us to show them the back-door of the van. I went over to open the door and they were surprised that we had the van full (almost) to the roof! My guess was they had never seen someone moved that much stuff themselves.
I was expecting the worse, and the Aduana team leader went on to signal me to close the doors. He went on with “Since you’re moving to Spain permanently, we won’t have to check the goods”. I just nodded in agreement.
I was so surprised that I even asked if he wants to see my passport or anything, and he said no, there’s no need for documents. We quickly hopped up into the cab and drove off smiling from ear to ear! We got lucky? Maybe.
I took an entire month preparing for this moment and literally getting anxiety-filled sleepless nights, ended up with an easy pass.
Disappointed that my pile of paperwork didn’t get used ….but at the same time feeling glad we didn’t get scrutinised to the bone to be taxed.
The long-drive starts …here
It was 11.30am, with GoogleMaps was firmly set on Alicante, we began driving on the other side of the road. It feels weird for the first half-hour. The practise run in the Port of Santander compound was good as I needed to reset my brain where the road lines were supposed to be in reference of my seat.
We drove all the way down towards Madrid and hit rush-hour traffic at 4.30pm. We just realised that the aircond wasn’t cold enough. I thought it was a setting, so I guided Consu to fiddle with the controls if the thing worked. Nope, nothing and we were in crawling traffic in a 35°C hot metal van. Purrfect!
About half-our later, we are out of the traffic mess. It was a broken down car on the fast lane that caused the traffic jam. The Guardia Civil (Police) that was controlling traffic on the scene saw The Beluga (with a big UK sticker up front) approaching and yelled “Hello!”, we waved and drove off. See, I told you we get special treatment in Spain!
Time to get into the pit-lane
After driving for about 6 hours, we had to do a pit-stop for both food and a toilet break. Our choice was Repsol service stations for their consistency of having a toilet in every station. We refueled the van just enough to reach Alicante and topped off some AdBlue additive at the pump as the warning light came on.
Just so you know, in Spain, it’s hard to find a public toilet, unless if you’re in a park or bus-station or the airport. So, the best way is to grab a drink at a restaurant or get a drink at a petrol station to use their toilet. It’s not a rule, but we felt obligated to buy something to use their toilets.
We continued our journey and arrived at about 11pm in Alicante. We were so pooped, so we decided to go straight to bed and deal with the goods the next day.
The very bottom line
We believe that to relocate from UK to Spain was do-able ourselves from the beginning to the very end. With careful planning, double-checking on the itinerary, careful packaging of the goods with proper inventory (packaging list) and of course proper immigration/Aduana related paperwork, you too can do it yourself.
Choosing the option of getting a mover-company is easy for most people, but our goods were not of high-value to pay 2 to 3 times the actual value of goods just on transportation. Ridiculous.
If you are planning to do your own paperwork for Immigration, we salute you as we did it ourselves from the start to finish, proudly without the help of a lawyer or an attorney!
Yes, it is doable and it won’t be that much faster to use an immigration attorney to get it done. If you research the proper steps and document requirements, you are already 80% there.
