Language

Yes there is more than one pharmacy. The one we use, nearest the health centre, their English is very limited. You need to take a translator to the doctors unless your Spanish is good. The majority of local Spanish, including shopkeepers, do not speak very much English.

Hi Lorraine,

I have to say I was a bit disconcerted to read your message. I have been in touch with the lady who showed us

around the various parks and the town and she said it won,t be a problem. The girls who work in the office help

with a lot of things and there is an English couple who act as translators and help with organising your residency

and registering with a Dr. So that put our minds a rest.

Have you lived in Mollina long? We are a Scottish couple so maybe we could arrange to meet up when we get to Mollina. 

DIANE

Hi Diane, yes of course we could meet up with you when you come to Mollina. I am Scottish too, but have an English accent ( another story). I don’t mean to alarm or put you off, just think folk should be honest. Don’t forget, anyone trying to sell you something is always going to make things sound the best. There is a young Spanish girl in the village who works for the town hall and will go to the health centre for you and help you sort out your padron, residencia, health care ect ect for free, you just pay the ‘legal’ fees. But, if you have no Spanish at all, day to day life can be challenging. Although, technically, if you lived on one of the parks, you would only need to leave it to do your shopping ect, but all your socialising could be done there. It depends what you are looking for. Oh, and there are various folk who teach Spanish, personally I struggle with it, but my hubby is getting quite good. I think I have sent you a pm on here.

There is also another pharmacy in Calle de la Union. There’s a lovely lady called Jessie in there and her English is very good.
I always use that pharmacy and have found her very helpful. 

Hi, sorry I took so long to reply to your reply to me about the language. You say there is a chemist in Calle de la Union, where is that with regards to Mollina? Do you live in Mollina as it would be nice to meet you,     Regards

DIANE

Hi Diane,

To answer your last question, Calle de la Union is a street in Mollina and both chemists are within walking distance of the medical centre.  As you know there are 3 mobile home sites in the village but there are many English people who now live in the village itself. In Calle De La Union there is a lovely English Bar owned by Vic and Mandy and they do lovely home made English grub.  Next door to them there is a very large Charity Shop run by an English lady for a dog charity.  Also in the village there is another English bar called Margaritas, a lovely lady off another of the parks does her Art Group there once a week.  There is a Sports Hall in the village that do many activities for the more senior of us,  Badminton on a Monday, Walking Football on a Tuesday, Walk a Mile (gentle excercise) on a Friday and of course the mobile sites also have activities open to non residents as well as evening entertainment.  You can use your phone for translation in day to day circumstances but you can usually make yourself understood and tend to remember the most basic words to get yourself through.  Personally the only time I have taken a translator to the doctor's was to register in the first place so they knew of all my ongoing conditions and handed over my medical records which I had my UK doctor print off for me (about a £20 fee).  Good luck for the future.

Sue

Hi Sue,    I realised after a bit that Calle was Spanish for street....put it down to a senior moment.  Thank you so much for your well informed reply.  We were down in Mollina last year and decided to move to Lazy Days but unfortunately we have a house to sell here in Portugal where we have been living for the past 9 years.  We don,t speak a word of Portugese except please, thank you and so on. Its the most difficult language to learn. We were lucky that the Dr,s and pharmacists all speak English. We managed fine and I am sure we will be ok in Spain. I always feel if you are polite to them it goes a long way.  Also the google app is a big help.

We were actually in the English restaurant when we were there and had fish and chips which was very good. Where is the other English café you spoke about?  We don't particularly look for English speaking places but its nice to know they are there.  I hope you don,t mind all these questions.  Do you actually live in Mollina or one of the parks?  The reason we are leaving Portugal is because my husband had a seriously illness last year and our property here is quite big and its just got to much for us to look after. I also have bad hips so a mobility scooter is on the shopping list when we finally get there!  We met quite a few people in the "English shop" and John was very helpful by letting us store the stuff we bought in his freezer till we left to drive home.  Well no doubt I,ll think of some other things to ask you so if you are ok with it I,ll be in touch again.

Many thanks Sue,

DIANE