# cheaper shopping in spain



## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

hi!
when i was in malaga last I noticed a shop called LIDL, which we use in the u.k. I phoned the head office to try and get a list of the shops in spain, unfortunately they could not help. but they did give me a web address: www.lidl.es so what we need now is someone who speaks spanish, to get on the web, or phone the head office in spain, which is listed (I don't speak the language) to try and get the branch addresses, so it can be posted. It brings to mind other discount stores:
ALDI, NETTO, ETC that also may be of some help. Then of course there may be some good spanish discount stores, Lets try to put a list together and put it on one of the moderators web sites. I know in england LIDL will email weekly their special offers so may be the spanish do, then all we need is an interpreter. Well it's just an idea, let me know what you think? griz


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

griz616 said:


> hi!
> when i was in malaga last I noticed a shop called LIDL, which we use in the u.k. I phoned the head office to try and get a list of the shops in spain, unfortunately they could not help. but they did give me a web address: www.lidl.es so what we need now is someone who speaks spanish, to get on the web, or phone the head office in spain, which is listed (I don't speak the language) to try and get the branch addresses, so it can be posted. It brings to mind other discount stores:
> ALDI, NETTO, ETC that also may be of some help. Then of course there may be some good spanish discount stores, Lets try to put a list together and put it on one of the moderators web sites. I know in england LIDL will email weekly their special offers so may be the spanish do, then all we need is an interpreter. Well it's just an idea, let me know what you think? griz


It's a "trozo de pastel" to find the nearest shop.

Go to their web page - www lidl es and click on "Ofertas de la semana" or some such. It then asks you to enter your "Codigo Postal". Type that in and it'll take you to the nearest shop - address shown on the top right of the page.

...and yes they do have a mailing list but be aware, do you really need another set of spanners, hammers, digital camera, TV etc., etc. The middle row is full of bits and pieces and not all garbage. They are very tempting prices and you end up buying more than the food shopping.

With the above, a list of all Lidl shops shouldn't really be necessary.

I must admit, here in the north (Provincia de A Coruña) the food must be a hell of a lot cheaper than in the South from what I'm reading. There are options of course - Milk at 0.64 and over the € depending on which you get, but I avoid the high commercial inflated ones and I can't tell the difference in my coffee.
Same for Tatties, Eggs, Poultry and Fish. You makes your choice and you pay your dosh - great example of this was Christmas Eve when the Spanish pay an arm and a leg for shell fish that is half price by the 26th.... go figuere!


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## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

Xose said:


> It's a "trozo de pastel" to find the nearest shop.
> 
> Go to their web page - www lidl es and click on "Ofertas de la semana" or some such. It then asks you to enter your "Codigo Postal". Type that in and it'll take you to the nearest shop - address shown on the top right of the page.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that info. I for one would still like a list, if poss. 'cos I am not one of the lucky ones YET! who live in spain, and as one of your points is that prices vary up & down the country I think with abit of this sort of info. it would help people like myself who are thinking of moving, either from u.k, or within spain itself, to do more research to add to their armoury i.e house prices, taxes, fuel prices, heat winter/summer, and all other things needed when living on a shoestring. also when looking at adverts for property, I do not get a post code or whatever to enable me to use your system. kind regards griz


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

Xose said:


> I must admit, here in the north (Provincia de A Coruña) the food must be a hell of a lot cheaper than in the South from what I'm reading.



Tis very true, although it much depends on what one wants to eat !

You can buy Heinz baked beans in some shops, but 1 tin costs 0.89 Euro

Eating British food in Spain can be expensive !


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

griz616 said:


> Thanks for that info. I for one would still like a list, if poss. 'cos I am not one of the lucky ones YET! who live in spain, and as one of your points is that prices vary up & down the country I think with abit of this sort of info. it would help people like myself who are thinking of moving, either from u.k, or within spain itself, to do more research to add to their armoury i.e house prices, taxes, fuel prices, heat winter/summer, and all other things needed when living on a shoestring. also when looking at adverts for property, I do not get a post code or whatever to enable me to use your system. kind regards griz


Hi Griz,

A general rule is that food and drink costs less in the North and also if you steer clear of the trendy (especially non-Spanish) establishments when eating out.

For example, a beer (bottle) in our local costs 1.30 Euro, but the same beer in a trendy establishment in the city may set you back anything between 1.80 & 2.50

The majority of bars in Marbella ae likely to charge you a minimum of 2.50 rising to 5 Euros and above for a beer and the although many restaurants are very expensive, if you eat out at a local Spanish establishment it can be half the price

Also, I personally find Irish bars are generally very expensive.

House prices vary depending on the location. I think its important to work out what you want from life in Spain. Some people just want the sun and others want a more relaxed way of life thats cheap and cheerful.

The South has lovely weather for much of the year, but the summer gets very hot in Andalucia and Valenciana and not a lot of people take that into consideration before making the move. Its also true that it can get rather chilly on a winter evening and therefore you do need adequate heating that is not going to cost you a small fortune. Maybe new build or built in the last 5 years is the way to go.

I think its always wise to rent before you buy wherever you decide to move to, just incase things don't work out and maybe you will find somewhere else you like more and want to move there instead.

Property prices are going down, especially in Andalucia, but the same is likely to apply to Spain as a whole during 2009 and 2010.

Petrol prices are much the same as in the UK.

Electricity and Gas are similarly priced and it depends on what taxes you are refering to, as to whether they are more or less than the UK.

I hope that helps anyway, Dave


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> You can buy Heinz baked beans in some shops, but 1 tin costs 0.89 Euro - Eating British food in Spain can be expensive !


Why in Gods name you'd want to eat Heinz beans when you've Fabada on your doorstep, young sir - defeats me. 

Just polished off a good one  - No - not from a tin. Even died in the wool Asturians praise my Fabada.


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## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

chris(madrid) said:


> Why in Gods name you'd want to eat Heinz beans when you've Fabada on your doorstep, young sir - defeats me.
> 
> Just polished off a good one  - No - not from a tin. Even died in the wool Asturians praise my Fabada.


What's Fabada????? & have you got a recipe??????????? griz


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

griz616 said:


> What's Fabada????? & have you got a recipe??????????? griz


Its essentially a stew and traditionally it comes from Asturias. Its very nice actually, well I think so and obviously Chris in Madrid agrees. I just bored of eating the same stuff all the time and often revert back to the odd tin of bakes beans or campbells soup of the tomato variety - lol

You need specific beans for Fabada, but try putting Fabada and recipe in google


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

griz616 said:


> hi!
> when i was in malaga last I noticed a shop called LIDL, which we use in the u.k. I phoned the head office to try and get a list of the shops in spain, unfortunately they could not help. but they did give me a web address: www.lidl.es so what we need now is someone who speaks spanish, to get on the web, or phone the head office in spain, which is listed (I don't speak the language) to try and get the branch addresses, so it can be posted. It brings to mind other discount stores:
> ALDI, NETTO, ETC that also may be of some help. Then of course there may be some good spanish discount stores, Lets try to put a list together and put it on one of the moderators web sites. I know in england LIDL will email weekly their special offers so may be the spanish do, then all we need is an interpreter. Well it's just an idea, let me know what you think? griz


Lidl and Aldi's are huge chains with shops throughout Europe. Check out the Sainsburys website and they have the same sort of store locater, that requires you to enter your post code. (Put in whatever post code you like, they do give you a list of shops in the area - normally two or three at the very least.) I've run into the same thing when looking for chain grocery stores in the US.

The other thing I think limits Lidl's ability and interest in publishing a list of all their stores is that different stores stock different merchandise - according to what they can get cheap. On the French Lidl site, they ask you not only for your post code, but also your town and district. You can sign up for their newsletter, but even there they want your post code "so we can send you information about the special offers in the Lidls closest to you." What's on sale at one shop may or may not even be in stock at another one.
Cheers,
Bev


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## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> Its essentially a stew and traditionally it comes from Asturias. Its very nice actually, well I think so and obviously Chris in Madrid agrees. I just bored of eating the same stuff all the time and often revert back to the odd tin of bakes beans or campbells soup of the tomato variety - lol
> 
> You need specific beans for Fabada, but try putting Fabada and recipe in google


Hi, I've found it on: Spanish food "fabada white bean stew" now all I have to do is find out what white beans are? thanks griz


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

Griz

I just about every Spanish supermarket you can find tinned Fabada. The market leader is from a company called "Littoral" and ime (prior to becoming adept at making it) is notably better than most tins. It's a good start unless you can find a GOOD Asturian restaurant near you.

There are many different "white Beans" in Spain. FABES (the basis of Fabada) is one. Then there are JUDIONES (big beans) which are a speciality of La Granja in Segovia. They all come dehydrated and need to stand 12 hours in cold water before seeing any heat. Similar to BROAD BEANS really.

Basically it's bean stew with huge amounts of fatty and Spicy chorizo sausage, black pudding, pork belly, fatty bacon and onion plus garlic and a bay leaf. Stuff it all in a pot, slow cook 3-4 hours then leave to cool and reheat and eat the NEXT day. Not ideal for summer lunch! - Excellent on a cold damp winters day.


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> I just bored of eating the same stuff all the time and often revert back to the odd tin of bakes beans or campbells soup of the tomato variety - lol


I must have been here longer.


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## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

chris(madrid) said:


> I must have been here longer.


Lucky you!!!!
But seriously you have started me on something now I've found the:
uktv.co.uk/food/recipe website and the lovely recipes that are on it under spanish foods, 512647 is the fabada. my wife loves it when we are in spain we live on spanish food, but don't know how to cook some of it. Now we know. griz


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

griz616 said:


> 512647 is the fabada. my wife loves it when we are in spain we live on spanish food, but don't know how to cook some of it. Now we know. griz



Good for you, Fabada is good wholesome food, especially nice in winter.

Pote Asturiano is another, main ingredient is potatoes.

If you like meat you might want to try "Solomillo de Buey" when in Spain - the best bull's meat and in my opinion its very tasty or as they like to say here Rico, rico...


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## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> Good for you, Fabada is good wholesome food, especially nice in winter.
> 
> Pote Asturiano is another, main ingredient is potatoes.
> 
> If you like meat you might want to try "Solomillo de Buey" when in Spain - the best bull's meat and in my opinion its very tasty or as they like to say here Rico, rico...


Thanks for those. I never tried bulls meat, but I like all meats, have eaten & enjoyed cheveau in france, why not bull in spain, I like tatties too, so I will be looking up both of those on the net. Keep em coming. I will have to get the wife to send you her recipe for spinach & mince curry, let me know? griz


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## griz616 (Sep 9, 2008)

*cheaper shopping in spain*



chris(madrid) said:


> Griz
> 
> I just about every Spanish supermarket you can find tinned Fabada. The market leader is from a company called "Littoral" and ime (prior to becoming adept at making it) is notably better than most tins. It's a good start unless you can find a GOOD Asturian restaurant near you.
> 
> ...


My wife has just read this, & as she loves cooking, & it is a cold damp winters u.k she is definately going to try it yum yum. will let you know, thanks griz & wife


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> "Solomillo de Buey" when in Spain - the best bull's meat .


Dave - It can also mean it's OX as opposed to "standard cow". We visit a BEEF restaurant near us fairly often - The owners are friends and the lady is the village butchers daughter. Her dad told us that what he sells as "Buey" is most certainly a different animal to the normal stuff. "Buey" and "Cebon" is often slightly drier meat.


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