Jo Green

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By Jo Green - Wed 9th Nov 2011

 

Anyone who has lived in Spain for even the shortest period of time will doubtlessly be aware that domestic appliances don't seem to last anywhere near as long as they did in the UK.

I can recall having Fridge-Freezer, washing machines and dishwashers that I moved from house to house for maybe ten years, give or take, but here in Spain I seem to have gone through more appliances in the last 7 years than I have in all of my time in the UK.

My Philosophy (in the UK) was to buy the best quality that I could afford, in the knowledge that a well-known brand name could offer the reliability and technical support required in the event of things going wrong. However, in Spain that seems to account for very little and so I buy the cheapest possible brand, secure in the knowledge that it will break in a couple of years at most anyway.

So buying an appliance at the cheapest possible price is more important in Spain than most other places.

The other consideration here is the energy consumption - not necessarily from a carbon-footprint perspective, but from the standpoint that electricity in Spain isn't as cheap as it is in the UK.

So this is where Spain's "Plan Renove" becomes interesting - and I'm only blogging about this for two reasons :

1) I'm surprised just how many expats are not aware of it (... and to be fair, this is probably because retailers and the government have not exactly been shouting about it), and...

2) It is coming to an end shortly

Without boring you with the details, quoting EU directives, articles and sub-paragraphs etc... the situation is as follows :

- In order to encourage Spain to comply with the EU's latest round of green energy / climate change regulations, they were awarded a grant of 1 Billion euros some time back. Just one part of this grant was set aside to offer significant discounts to encourage consumers to exchange older domestic appliances for newer and more energy-efficient models. The more expensive / efficient the new model, the more discount offered - which can vary between 85 - 350 Euros per appliance.

However, the EU grant was made as a lump sum - in other words when it's gone it's gone - and is expected to be exhausted by the end of November (and only a cynic would draw a parallel with this coinciding with the General Election and a possible change of government).

So in short, if you need a new Washing Machine, Dishwasher, Tumble Dryer, Fridge or Freezer then don't forget to ask for your discount under the terms of the "Plan Renove" - some enterprising retailers are already offering and advertising this as standard, but you would be surprised how many are not.

Here's what you "may" need, so take everything with you when you go to the shop :

Residencia or NIE and your passport

Your most recent water bill