UK Driving Licences Invalid Without Medical

One of the most important pieces of advice I give in my book is that you should always seek professional advice rather than simply doing research on the internet of taking information from a guide book.

Listening to Brian Deller on REM.fm bought this home yet again as he mentioned the case of an expat involved in an accident who while legally using a UK licence had not had the medical that is required by law in Spain.  Because of this, he says her licence was deemed invalid, she lost the case and her insurance would not pay.

I stopped looking when I read that UK licences were valid!   So of course I will be straight down to Trafico tomorrow to get my licence changed. 

And for those who kept them (like me) because they don´t need to be renewed until you are 70 will be disappointed to hear that they are talking of bringing in the same renewal procedures in the UK.

Brian Deller is author of Motoring in Spain and you can find his website at:  www.spainvia.com

Expat Celebrities - Tell Your Story

Several magazines, newspapers and radios are looking for expats to tell their stories about their experiences abroad.

Two of the most recent posts on the forum at www.expatsreunite.com include:
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I'm a UK journalist working on a story for Woman & Home glossy monthly magazine. It is about women, (single or with families) who have emigrated and left a lone parent in UK. The parent, preferably a Mother, needs to be at least late 60's and widowed or divorced. The feature is in no way invasive, but discusses the emotional and practical implications involved in leaving a parent. If you are interested in telling your story to me, I would need to know reasons for emigrating, telling parent and family, how often and by what means you keep in touch (email/skype/phone etc.) I would require a clear picture of yourself and your parent. If you are interested in telling me your story, please contact me asap at jancollier@fsmail.net Many thanks
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My name is Mark Butler and I work for the Guardian Newspaper's G2 supplement. We are currently looking for people born and raised in Britain whose families came to the UK from another country generations ago, who have now moved back to their ancestral homeland for 'roots' reasons. This is for a forthecoming special feature, and we would like to interview and photograph willing participants and invite them to share their family history and photos with us.

We would particularly welcome links with Ireland, Australia and Bangladesh, but any would be most appreciated.

If this applies to you, or you know someone who this applies to, then we would be delighted to hear from you.

I can be contacted by email at mbutler.media@googlemail.com

Learning Spanish While Networking

A new website is in pre-launch called My Happy Planet. The idea behind the site is that you meet up with people online to share language skills for free. Put an English person and a Spanish person together and they can exchange lessons for free from the comfort of their own home.

It will undoubtedly turn into a social networking site with a twist but it is a great idea in principle. Especially as the site grows and you may be able to find someone in the region you plan to settle in, or already live in.

I would be interested in feedback from anyone who uses this service.

Register for free today at www.myhappyplanet.com

Mind Your Language! (True Story)

There once was an expat, who having been in Spain for a few months felt she had mastered the language quite well.

After a long week of shopping to furnish the new house she had just purchased, she was feeling quite tired and bored with the whole shopping lark and had one last stop to make to buy some cushions.

At the store, she asked the man at the counter where they had the cushions. "Excuse me?" he said with a strange, almost horrified look on his face. "I want some cushions" said the expat, starting to get a little irritated.

"I don´t think that is what you want madam" replied the shopkeeper. Appalled at the rudeness of the man daring to tell her what she wanted, she insisted "I know exactly what I want so give me those cushions NOW".

When the shopkeeper still looked at her with that strange look on his face, she started to think about what she had said. And with horror, it slowly dawned on her that instead of asking for cushions (cojines), she had in fact been demanding that the man give her "cojones", that is to say testicles!