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Regulations for dangerous dogs in Lanzarote
Published November 23, 2011 | 
With the recent adoption of our new Billy Boxer puppy here – we felt it necessary to look into the regulations and insurance for dangerous dogs here… so here is a polite reminder for all of us.
All dog owners are required to register their dogs and have them microchipped. Rabies vaccinations are also mandatory. There are fines for owners who don’t have their dogs registered. Indeed when we first had Guido and were chatting to a couple of Guardia… they asked about his information and pet passport. As responsible dog owners we had everything needed – and we advise you to do the same. Irrespective of whether your dog is micro-chipped, it’s a good idea to give them a collar and tag with your phone number on it, in case your pet gets out and is lost. We never had the pet’s name on the tag… as they could be more easily re-adopted… and lost to you forever. We have also heard that it’s a good idea to have the word “Recompensa” (reward) engraved on the tag – as people may be more likely to return your fluffy pal. Continue reading
Feel like I’m getting somewhere…
Published October 30, 2011 | As part of getting ready for the walk of all seven of the Canary Islands next spring I’ve been working with Mitch Mitchell on getting my fitness levels up. After a recent session I felt like I’d taken a beating when the next day came along! But last week, the effort seemed all worthwhile when I bumped into a friend in Hiper-Dino who said “You’re looking fit”. (I’m sure he meant ‘fitter’, he was being polite by over stating! 
).
Coming from someone who does actually know what they are talking about, I was rather pleased to hear that the efforts I am making (with much help and gentle encouragement from Mitch) may have made a visible difference, even so early on in the process.
I can’t recommend Mitch highly enough – so, for your information: If you live on the island and have aspirations of improving your fitness with Christmas coming up, it might be worth having a look at the Winter Wonder Workout program he’s recently launched.
Buying a Second Hand Car in Lanzarote
Published July 29, 2011 | Buying a second hand car here in Lanzarote is relatively simple and painless. If buying from a dealer, they will generally take care of the paperwork for you. However, if buying as a private sale… there is one thing that we feel we should warn you about. Debts are transferred with the car, and so you may be at risk of having your car impounded if these are not paid.
Luckily – there is a nice easy way to check this when transferring the car over to your own name. The form is called “Informes de Vehiculos” and can be downloaded HERE.
Simply download it, and take it to Trafico along with the small fee… and they will run the checks for you.
Good luck, and drive safely!
New “Residencia” Form
Published July 21, 2011 | As of July 2011, the procedure and forms for getting Residencia has changed.
In brief – the EX-14 is now replaced by the EX-18 and is called “Solicitud de certificado de registro de residencia comunitaria”
You can download a copy of the form HERE (you will need Adobe to read the pdf… but will be prompted for a free download if you don’t already have it installed.
Zumba in Playa Blanca Lanzarote
Published July 11, 2011 | Yesterday whilst out with the walking group, I had the pleasure of meeting a very nice lady called Ann. And it was whilst speaking to her that she mentioned something that I think you will all enjoy!
Ann has just started running Zumba classes at the Hesperia hotel in Playa Blanca. Zumba is the Latinesque dance craze that gets you fit while you’re having fun. The classes are as follows:
- Mondays & Wednesdays at 7pm
- Fridays at 10am
The cost is a mere €4 per class (lasts about an hour) and it is for all ages and abilities. Ann describes it as “exercise in disguise”.
So if you want to get fit, meet new people, or simply just have a giggle… then pop along to one of Ann’s classes. You can phone her for more information or to reserve a place on 630 758 654. Make sure you take plenty of water, and a towel.
Enjoy!
Elle xx
DEFRA Announces Changes in Pet Travel INTO the UK
Published June 30, 2011 | 
DEFRA have today announced changes for pets entering the UK.
From January 1st the required period, from the EU and some other non EU countries, for entry to the UK will be a minimum of 21 days from a rabies vaccination and a blood test will NOT be required.
Conditions for entry will be if you can answer yes to the following questions:
- Is your pet microchipped?
- Is your pet currently vaccinated against rabies?
- Was your pet vaccinated after it was microchipped?
- Have you got an EU Pet Passport or Official Veterinary Health Certificate from
- your vet certifying the microchip and vaccination?
- Have 21 days passed since it was vaccinated?
- Are you travelling into the UK with your pet on an approved route?*
Information about new tick and worm treatment regulations will be announced later this year.
For further information, click HERE
Remember that as of tomorrow, January 1st becomes less than six months away – so you will not need a blood test for your pet as the current regulations mean that it could not travel before the 1st January anyway.
Nice to have some money saved eh?
Transferring Your Pension out of the UK
Published June 27, 2011 | 
Most of our regular readers will know that we personally use Kelly Eason from Currencies Direct when transferring funds from the UK to Lanzarote. We have been using him for a number of years now, and trust him… which is why we happily recommend him to all of you.
During a conversation with Kelly recently, he suggested that we had a chat to a man called David Kennedy. David runs his own financial services company in Spain, has been in the industry since 1986, and has been heavily involved with QROPS since it started in the spring of 2006 when the HMRC allowed the transfer of UK pensions out of the country. His company is regulated by the DGS (Departmentos General de Seguros, similar to FSA) here in Spain, and for Investments regulated by FSC (Financial Services Commission) Gibraltar and by September 2011 will also be regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority) UK.
QROPS stands for Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme, and is basically a way that you can access your UK pension early. Once freed up, you can then invest it for your family’s future, release it as a lump sum, invest it in various ventures… … … the possibilities are endless. So – if you had £100,000 tied up in your UK pension… then you could have that transferred tax free to your expat bank account! The whole process takes around 12 weeks.
Please note that this is not your government “old age” pension… this is your private pension – so if you had one through your company, or one with a company such as AXA, Prudential or Pearl… then these are the pensions that you can unlock. You must be between 18 and 75, living outside of the UK (or have immediate plans to), and not currently drawing on your pension.
So, if you have a UK personal or occupational pension tied up in the UK, and want to be able to free up that money, tax free… then why not have a natter to David. It is without obligation… and we know from chatting to him ourselves, that he is a straight talking, no nonsense kind of chap. You can contact him simply by filling out the form below, or by clicking HERE (David has not paid us to advertise on this site)
David is also planning a free seminar in Lanzarote later on in the year… and we will let you know more details about that as they become available.
Not off to the best of starts…
Published June 7, 2011 | Having secured the help of Mitch – Lanzarote’s best known personal trainer, I have to admit to not getting off to the best of starts! Partially my fault, partially plain old bad luck.
I'm not wimping out Mitch - honest!
I first met Mitch about a month ago when he set me a couple of relatively simple tasks, and asked me to keep a food diary. I met him again on Wednesday to be greeted by a laugh as he handed me the food diary I’d sent him the previous day. The sheet he explained was marked with a little note – with words to the effect of “Normally I highlight the bad things of a clients diet, to save time I’ve marked yours with the good stuff”! I have been a good boy with the walking though and Elle and I came to the conclusion that I am at least doing more mileage on foot than I have been by car since first meeting Mitch.
The upside of the food diary comment being that it shouldn’t be hard to impress Mitch with at least some improvement on that score for our next meeting. Despite the difficulties of my current lifestyle and movements I can at least throw in a couple of salads for next time.
Since we first met, Mitch had drawn me up a personalized training program to complete at least three times a week. Life is a little complicated at the moment as I had explained to Mitch, and the design of the program totally took this on-board. Looks a bit daunting and a lot of hard work – but necessary given my future plans.
I have to admit to not getting off to the greatest of starts. I’m seriously willing but have managed to hurt my hand since we met on Wednesday so can’t actually do the program, I’m guessing a week or two before I can start – but I’m doing my best to clock up the miles on foot, will do anything that doesn’t involve my hand, and improve my diet. Visiting friends at the moment so its not always easy to control your diet – I did however have salad with my burger from the BBQ when I arrived! It’s a start…..
Mitch has promised me a beasting next time I see him – looking forward to that – I think!
Click here for more information about Mitch and his personal training services.
Alan x
I took the wrong dog to the vet!
Published April 14, 2011 | 
I’ve been having a bit of fun with that phrase on my status updates on Facebook the last couple of days with this story. And, I think with April 1st having already passed, some people actually think I did take the wrong dog from the reactions. Here’s the truth of the matter. It really isn’t that dramatic – and contrary to popular opinion I am really not that dumb!
Yesterday: “I’ve just taken the wrong dog to the vets…. :/”
Today: Just returned from the vets after taking the right dog today!
Followed by: Of course it being the right time next week, the wrong dog will become an additional right one…!
There is a piece of useful information in this I promise…
Over a recent conversation we decided to bring the dogs up to date with their pet passports. Before tongues start wagging we’re not going anywhere, we don’t owe anyone a suitcase full of money, and we are not international drug dealers on the run! . The thinking being that nobody can ever know what cards fate can deal – and there is no way we’d want to have the boys in quarantine for 6 months should some family crisis or other event force (and we would have to be forced!) to return to the UK for any extended period of time.
So, yesterday I walked down to our vet Yaira (lovely lady at Bari on Calle El correillo in Playa Blanca). Thinking all was in order with current vaccinations I arrived to find out that having taken Guido she could not take his blood test. It turns out that the test can not be taken withing thirty days of the last rabies jab. Hence – Guido was the wrong dog to take having had his last 26 days ago (I hadn’t, as some thought, fallen victim to a case of mistaken identity). Had I taken Pepper yesterday – he would have been the right dog to take as his last jab was in January. I took him today – the right dog – and Guido then becomes a right dog also as of Monday. Clear? As mud I suspect.
So the simple moral of the story is – if you’ve got a dog whilst on the island we suggest getting the blood test up to date, should anything happen where you need to go home in a crisis. If you genuinely care about your dogs (and cats) keep their pet passport water tight – don’t run the risk of adding to the already way to large number of abandoned dogs and cats on the island, or heaven forbid having to leave your best friend behind!
And, don’t take the dog to the vets for a blood test within a month of their last rabies vaccination.
Alan
I can’t speak highly enough of Yaira, and should you need some professional advice on this or any other pet related issue rather than my ramblings you can email her at veterad@hotmail.com.
She is Spanish but speaks a little English too
Full information on taking your pets from Spain to the UK (or vice versa) are available on the DEFRA website.
Speaking Spanish – Body Parts
Published February 4, 2011 | One of my most upsetting and frustrating experiences since moving to Lanzarote was when I needed to go to the hospital. Although I could vaguely converse in general terms… I had no clue about body parts, symptoms or related Spanish words. The reception staff, porters amd triage were fortunately very patient with me… and all was going well until I saw a female doctor who was obviously having a bad day. She was brutal to say the least.
To save you going through the same experience… here are a list of Spanish words that you may find useful Continue reading
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