# Is this true?



## Agapito (Dec 3, 2013)

The Olive press is quoting

"EXPATS in the south of Spain have to travel all the way to Alicante to stock up on their British favourites, according to an online map.The company behind the interactive map, Which Offshore, claim to have produced a comprehensive and global list of British food stores, to help expats track down British food stockists where ever in the world they may be.

But there isn’t a single listing in the British hub of the Costa del Sol, and Morrisons in Gibraltar doesn’t get a look in either. The nearest mapped stores are in Alicante, or in the capital Madrid."


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Agapito said:


> The Olive press is quoting
> 
> "EXPATS in the south of Spain have to travel all the way to Alicante to stock up on their British favourites, according to an online map.The company behind the interactive map, Which Offshore, claim to have produced a comprehensive and global list of British food stores, to help expats track down British food stockists where ever in the world they may be.
> 
> But there isn’t a single listing in the British hub of the Costa del Sol, and Morrisons in Gibraltar doesn’t get a look in either. The nearest mapped stores are in Alicante, or in the capital Madrid."


Er...... Theres an iceland in Fuengirola, theres an M&S in Marbella (well there was), Carrefour have a British food section and they're scattered all over the costa del sol, there are lots of companies - including M&S, Argos..... who deliver/send to Spain.... So no, thats just nonsense - or advertising!!!

Jo xxx


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## Agapito (Dec 3, 2013)

jojo said:


> Er...... So no, thats just nonsense - or advertising!!!
> Jo xxx


Perhaps the interactive map is from the 1940's


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The so-called map is a load of tripe (not available at your local UK food shop).

In the Axarquia area alone there are several British run food shops (Arkwrights at Puente de Don Manuel and Russell's in Torrox Costa to name but two, plus a couple in Nerja whose names escape me). The Spanish supermarkets also carry a range of international products including British ones, to varying degrees. Carrefour, Eroski and Supersol certainly do, even Mercadona stock a few. I don't tend to buy very much from the British shops as they are expensive, preferring to stock up on a few favourites on trips back to the UK or rely on the kindness of friends coming over to their holiday homes who keep us supplied with our preferred brand of teabags, but for those who want a ready supply of British brands closer to home, they are certainly out there.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Be very wary of anything you read in the Olive Press. They are funded by advertising and have their own agenda.


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## olivefarmer (Oct 16, 2012)

Even rural Covirans have an English section. Our local shop sells custard powder, jellies, corned beef, Colemans mustard etc. All at a premium but fine for those that need the stuff to eke out a diet of pork!


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## moonman (Oct 1, 2012)

there is a shop on the train line near arroyo de la miel (benalmadena), the stop is torremuelle and in the local papers... sur in english and euroweekly they run ads regularly, the name of the shop is ,,,Arkwrights.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

moonman said:


> there is a shop on the train line near arroyo de la miel (benalmadena), the stop is torremuelle and in the local papers... sur in english and euroweekly they run ads regularly, the name of the shop is ,,,Arkwrights.


Torremuelle used to have a "Quick Save" too (I'm not sure what it is these days). I used to live there - a really lovely little community. Right by the sea, a few bars and shops, an international school, a big dog walking area and a good mix of many nationalities

Jo xxx


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## moonman (Oct 1, 2012)

jojo said:


> Torremuelle used to have a "Quick Save" too (I'm not sure what it is these days). I used to live there - a really lovely little community. Right by the sea, a few bars and shops, an international school, a big dog walking area and a good mix of many nationalities
> 
> Jo xxx


i think it may be the same shop , new name/owners. a friend of ours mentioned something last year about it being another shop.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

moonman said:


> i think it may be the same shop , new name/owners. a friend of ours mentioned something last year about it being another shop.


Ive just asked a friend who still lives there and apparently after it was "Kwiksave" it became Supersave, but it's closed down now. The school have bought a section of the back and made more classrooms, Rest is all closed.

So maybe you're thinking of a different shop - closer to the station and hotel maybe??

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

If it is indeed true, the thought crosses my mind: 'Why on earth did these immigrants leave the UK in the first place, if the craving for PG Tips, Marmite, Mars Bars or whatever impels them to drive many kilometres to get their hands on these foodstuffs.
In any town or village in Spain anyone has access to a variety of excellent fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, seafood and various kinds of meat. In most supermarkets there are 'clones' of popular 'international foods freely available. Carrefour has a section for British, German and Russian foods so those with a craving for the taste of home can purchase HP Sauce, tinned frankfurters or blini mix.
I could understand this craving for British food if we were in a country with poor quality produce. I freely admit to salivating over M&S tv adverts for their ready meals when we lived in Prague. We did indeed buy stuff from M&S..but that was out of desperaton for halfway decent grub. The Czech REpublic is not Spain.
One of the reasons we came to Spain was to eat well...and we do. We eat well and healthily. 
I personally wouldn't care if there wasn't a jar of Robinson's jam or a bottle of HP sauce within a hundred mile radius. We buy and eat locally and enjoy every mouthful! Sorry but I am genuinely perplexed as to why anyone living in Spain would miss British products that badly.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> If it is indeed true, the thought crosses my mind: 'Why on earth did these immigrants leave the UK in the first place, if the craving for PG Tips, Marmite, Mars Bars or whatever impels them to drive many kilometres to get their hands on these foodstuffs.
> In any town or village in Spain anyone has access to a variety of excellent fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, seafood and various kinds of meat. In most supermarkets there are 'clones' of popular 'international foods freely available. Carrefour has a section for British, German and Russian foods so those with a craving for the taste of home can purchase HP Sauce, tinned frankfurters or blini mix.
> I could understand this craving for British food if we were in a country with poor quality produce. I freely admit to salivating over M&S tv adverts for their ready meals when we lived in Prague. We did indeed buy stuff from M&S..but that was out of desperaton for halfway decent grub. The Czech REpublic is not Spain.
> One of the reasons we came to Spain was to eat well...and we do. We eat well and healthily.
> I personally wouldn't care if there wasn't a jar of Robinson's jam or a bottle of HP sauce within a hundred mile radius. We buy and eat locally and enjoy every mouthful! Sorry but I am genuinely perplexed as to why anyone living in Spain would miss British products that badly.


The thing is they aren't 'immigrants' they are just Brits living outside their comfortable home environment a.k.a. 'expats'. One may have favourites (e.g. Marmite - like it or hate it - or Wensleydale) but one learns to change one's taste to suit what is available locally that is unless one is extremely rich and can afford to have Harrods deliver the weekly shop.


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## moonman (Oct 1, 2012)

i agree with most of what you say , i love going to spanish restraunts etc , and the fruit and veg is unbeatable, but ,, human nature is, as they say human nature. nearly every expat who drives to gib leaves the place with at least 4 morrisons bags. i dont but as the say etc.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I dont see it as a problem. When we leave our "comfort zones" and live in another country its because we want to, we embrace the changes and make new lives, but, we all have our "old favourites", our old friends, our old lives and theres a certain amount of nostalgia and memory involved. 

Also sometimes, silly little things like our favourite tea, ketchup etc. are more important, cos they are hard to find!

When I lived in Spain, I missed Diet Coke terribly *(Not to be confused with Coke Light!!!)*. I found it one day in Iceland and the excitement was incomparable!!!!!

Jo xxx


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jojo said:


> I dont see it as a problem. When we leave our "comfort zones" and live in another country its because we want to, we embrace the changes and make new lives, but, we all have our "old favourites", our old friends, our old lives and theres a certain amount of nostalgia and memory involved.
> 
> Also sometimes, silly little things like our favourite tea, ketchup etc. are more important, cos they are hard to find!
> 
> ...


I agree with you Jo. I am quite happy living mainly on locally-produced food, but after a while things you once took for granted (like crumpets and thick-cut back bacon) become an exotic treat.

I'm impressed you can tell the difference between Diet Coke and Cola Lite though. Are they really that different? And what about all that killer aspartame? :evil:


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> I'm impressed you can tell the difference between Diet Coke and Cola Lite though. Are they really that different? And what about all that killer aspartame? :evil:


 Oh theres a difference lol!!!! As for aspartame - well, sugar's probably worse and I never eat or drink that - but then again, its all offset because I smoke!! 

Jo xxx


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> I agree with you Jo. I am quite happy living mainly on locally-produced food, but after a while things you once took for granted (like crumpets and thick-cut back bacon) become an exotic treat.



Very true. Sometimes now, though, I find when I am on a short trip back to the UK and indulging in something I've been craving beforehand (like a good quality pork pie or a fresh cream cake) I find once I've got it that somehow it doesn't quite live up to the anticipation, which is very disappointing!

I have pretty much changed my eating habits completely since moving to Spain, although it's maybe as much due to not working any more as to the change of location. I used to be out of the house at least 12 hours a day, often more, and never home before 7pm at the earliest, so didn't have much time or energy for cooking and ate far too much convenience food and ready meals. Now I cook from scratch and enjoy my food far more - anybody who knew me in my old life would be totally amazed to see me making my own soup rather than opening a carton of Covent Garden!


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## Minnie_Goodsoup (Dec 19, 2013)

Aguilas, which is pretty small, has an Ersoki with half an aisle of British stuff, never really bought anything from it, since it didn't have Marmite, which is really the only thing I miss, but not really enough to actively try and seek it out. Everything I like here pretty much has an equivalent.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Minnie_Goodsoup said:


> Aguilas, which is pretty small, has an Ersoki with half an aisle of British stuff, never really bought anything from it, since it didn't have Marmite, which is really the only thing I miss, but not really enough to actively try and seek it out. Everything I like here pretty much has an equivalent.


either that or you can make it yourself.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I must admit just reading about pork pies made me salivate.....but I can't eat them or sausages, doctor's orders. No processed or fatty foods. 
But when I get the urge for a pork pie or glass of Badger I look out of the window at the front of the house and see the silver sea and then out the back and see the peaks of the sierras and then consider that I'm wearing a tshirt and it's February I think 'Viva Espana and ****** the pork pie!'.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> ****** the pork pie!'.


Isn't that illegal?


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Isn't that illegal?


Not yet but no doubt it soon will be! 
And then I shall campaign against it!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I must admit just reading about pork pies made me salivate.....but I can't eat them or sausages, doctor's orders. No processed or fatty foods.


Seriously. That is a good reason to make your own. You control the amount of fat, the seasonings, the tastes, the flavours, the textures. I always eat low fat even very low fat. I always cut the fat off meat (I just don't like the stuff, its taste, its texture - yuk). I make my own sausages (sausage-meat then shaped accordingly - great also for sausage rolls) and even the dogs drive me crazy when I am making them because they know that when they are cooked there will be little doggy-sausages as well when they are cooked.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Seriously. That is a good reason to make your own. You control the amount of fat, the seasonings, the tastes, the flavours, the textures. I always eat low fat even very low fat. I always cut the fat off meat (I just don't like the stuff, its taste, its texture - yuk). I make my own sausages (sausage-meat then shaped accordingly - great also for sausage rolls) and even the dogs drive me crazy when I am making them because they know that when they are cooked there will be little doggy-sausages as well when they are cooked.


I've considered that..but I also need to shed a few more kilos so I'm cutting down on everything...wine, cheese, sausage..
I've lost about 7 kilos so far without doing anything drastic, mainly just putting less on my plate,,more excercise. Not that I was that much overweight, just 'well rounded'.
Worst thing is I have to cut down on coffee...from about eight to one large, one small cup a day..


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## Minnie_Goodsoup (Dec 19, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> either that or you can make it yourself.


I don't think I really miss it enough for that either. I kind of just got used to not eating it.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We eat a very eclectic mix of foods, some British but usually with a French twist, Spanish, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Thai, French, Italian and so on. The only food shop I visit for foods generally unavailable in Spanish shops is FaFa foods in Fuengirola. Otherwise after three years plus living here I can find everything I need in Spanish shops...


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Minnie_Goodsoup said:


> I don't think I really miss it enough for that either. I kind of just got used to not eating it.


Yup! Just like I kind of got used to not eating chocolate, cake, biscuits, pork pies, sausage of all kinds, not drinking gin, whiskey, vodka or any spirits and beer, cider and wine in great moderation, ditto coffee...
No big deal. I feel better too and fit into jeans one size smaller and with room to spare....UK 14!! Whoopee!!


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## jonmlb748 (Oct 30, 2011)

yes but how boring is that,little indulgences make the world go round !


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jonmlb748 said:


> yes but how boring is that,little indulgences make the world go round !


Years of those 'little indulgences. ' may have contributed to the serious heart problem I was diagnosed with last year.
I love life more than gin or pork pies.


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## Minnie_Goodsoup (Dec 19, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Yup! Just like I kind of got used to not eating chocolate, cake, biscuits, pork pies, sausage of all kinds, not drinking gin, whiskey, vodka or any spirits and beer, cider and wine in great moderation, ditto coffee...
> No big deal. I feel better too and fit into jeans one size smaller and with room to spare....UK 14!! Whoopee!!


Wow, well done!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Yup! Just like I kind of got used to not eating chocolate, cake, biscuits, pork pies, sausage of all kinds, not drinking gin, whiskey, vodka or any spirits and beer, cider and wine in great moderation, ditto coffee...
> No big deal. I feel better too and fit into jeans one size smaller and with room to spare....UK 14!! Whoopee!!


Well done to you!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> .UK 14!! Whoopee!!


skinny guts!!!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thanks to MinnieGS, PW and Baldy for those kind words. I've never been either sylph-like or a Botecelli Venus either, in fact whenever I've gone to 8 stone I get asked if I'm well......



But seriously, I would say this...I thought I was fit as a fiddle, as the saying goes, had the odd twinge but put it down to indigestion. A friend told me I could have a free check-up, a kind of ITV , at our local Consultorio, and she nagged and nagged until I went to shut her up...and was diagnosed with a dicky tickerr, as in' 'Allo 'Allo'.. 
So I would advise everyone over 50 to take advantage of this service which I'm guessing is available not only in Andalucia but everywhere. If I hadn't gone I might probably have done something stupid like gone for a walk in the Sierra in blazing heat and dropped dead....
You never know, so best be safe rather than sorry, y'all...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Went to the vascular clinic this morning (follows on from my frostbite a few years ago) and after a load of tests I have now been cleared - no longer have a vascular problem and my Cardiologist cleared me last month (followed on from hear attach two years ago) so I am now discharged from both. clinics. Am still stuck and likely to be for life with the andrology and ophthalmological problems but I'm still sure that I don't have diabetes and all the tests put me in the "normal" bracket. Old age doesn't mean you have to be ill.


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