Tips

What to do in case of a power failure Firstly, check whether the failure is limited only to your house, and if so, of course check your fuse box. If the failure is general, call Iberdrola, at 901 20 20 20. A tape comes on, asking you to press 1 for “electricity”, then to press 6 if the problem is “avería” (power failure). Thereafter, a tape will tell you to give your contract number (top right hand corner of your invoice). You must give the number in your best Spanish! Thereafter you will hopefully get in touch with a person, who normally will be able to tell you what the problem is, and how long it will take to have the failure repaired.

What to do when no water comes out of your tap Call the supplier, which in our urbanization is Apobersa, 965846113. State your name and address. If they are aware of the problem already, they will be able to tell you how long it will take to solve the problem. If they are not aware of the problem, they would normally be at your door relatively quickly.

Correct postal address Please remember that the correct postal address for everybody who is renting mail boxes from the Asociación de Vecinos, located in the Avenida Principal (some few hundred meters before the Golf Club) is: Sierra Altea, Buzón :::: E-03599 Altea la Vella. Please use this address in all your correspondence. Do NOT use as your postal address, the name of your street, and its number. This is important because the postal services (Correos) do not deliver to your house; only to your post box. Accordingly they will return the post as “Incorrect address” or similar. Private persons and businesses will address their correspondence to you at the post box address you have given to them, and there should not be any problem. However, major problems frequently occur in correspondence with various public institutions, e.g. the tax authorities (Agencia Tributaria, or Hacienda), traffic authorities (Trafico), the Town Hall (Ayuntamiento), Telefonica, Iberdrola, and in general with any institution that has (and needs to have) your street address. Even if you have given them your post box number, they may prefer to use your street address, so you should insist that they use the correct postal address. Some of them, e.g. the tax authorities, completely refuse to send letters to your post box address. This can, for example, result in you not receiving a tax claim, or a warning that costs will be incurred, if you do not reply within a time limit stipulated in the letter that you never received! You should also check the address stated in the papers of your car. For example, four years after a new car has been registered you will get a reminder that the car is due for the ITV inspection. Similarly, if you have exceeded the speed limit at a secret radar point, the police will send you a warning that you must give them the name of the driver. Then, because you never got their letter, you will get a fine for not having responded to a letter you never received! In addition, your bank account will be embargoed. These problems can be overcome, if you inform Trafico in Alicante of your post box address, and insist that this be used. Another problem is to get the postal address included in your local certificate of registration in the “Padron”. You will be told that there is no way they can indicate your correct postal address. However, if you insist sufficiently, they may accept to include this information in a separate box in the form, under “Observations”.

Practical tip: If you are unable to convince an institution to use your post box address, you may try this one (example): Calle AAAAAAAA, 14, Buzon 511, Sierra Altea, 03599 Altea la Vella