Hello everyone

My name is Tracey and my husband is Stuart. We are looking into moving to the Tortosa area in the next few months.  We have a whole bunch of questions that we would like to ask and would be so grateful for any help or advice that any of you has to offer.

Our idea was to buy and renovate the ruins on fincas and make enough money to put down a decent deposit on something to live in ourselves.  But after reading with interest the problems with gaining planning permission, etc. etc. I guess this would not be feasible?

I take it that you could not go to the local town hall and obtain a list of fincas for sale that had buildings on them already registered/legalized as houses as opposed to the almacens/casitas in which you are not allowed to live permanently?  -  or would this be just too easy?

I do speak quite a decent amount of Spanish but neither myself or my husband speak a word of Catalan.
Just how extensive a problem would this be?  We are coming out on our own with no dependent children of school age so no problem there but are the food labels in the local shops in Catalan or Spanish.  Would our lack of Catalan impact on our chances of obtaining work in the area?

Stuart has class 1 HGV and full coach and trailer entitlement on his driving licence  -  if we swapped it to a Spanish licence would he still have these entitlements?  He is also skilled in plumbing, electrical work, tiling, flooring, kitchen & bathroom fitting, etc.  Is there much of a demand there for this?  Also I would like to know if there is much opportunity for work within governmental or police departments for English speakers to help with such things as applying for NIE numbers, etc. for myself?  Is anyone an Avon representative?

Are there any health stores along the lines of Holland & Barrett that sell vitamin supplements, herbal teas, soya and vegetarian products, etc.?  I was really disturbed to learn of the fiestas that take place involving animal cruelty  -  is there nothing that can be done about this?  I realise that this sort of thing is part of the culture but surely that doesn't excuse such barbaric treatment of defenceless animals?  Does ARCA have no power to do something about it?

Sorry to have bombarded you with such a list of questions but as I said we would really appreciate any advice so thank you so much in advance of any replies

Kind regards to you all
Tracey