Once the offer of 22,000 euros had been accepted, I turned up in Pontevedra one day in December to sign the contract and collect the keys. It turned out that an 8% tax was due on the purchase, payable on exchange (this would have been helpful to know before the big day), and legally, you also need a Spanish bank account for the whole thing to go through. So, awkwardly, we (the vendor, the solicitor and another man I couldn’t place), all trudged over to the nearest Abanca and sat there for over an hour whilst my first Spanish bank account was opened. I’ve never been so pleased to own an iPhone. Every required piece of identity was stored on it, making the process a fraction less painful.

For a more routine house purchase, I’d recommend getting some legal assistance in a language you’re comfortable with. But this purchase was done on a shoestring, and unexpectedly the estate agent’s solicitor did all the conveyancing I needed, without charge. Result. I ignored the online advice to select a solicitor outside the locality who was unknown by the agent, and that worked out ok. I never understood why I wasn’t invoiced, only that the process seemed far, far more straight forward than in England. And a whole lot cheaper.

Despite the process taking an uncomfortable hour, and my Spanish being unable to cope with this level of formality, a basic bank account, which I still use, was opened and the sale went through. I toddled off, keys in my handbag, contract in my hand, leaving behind a very helpful and patient group of people, most certainly hoping they would never see me again. Only the solicitor did, when I returned a couple of months later to start cleaning and painting, and dropped off an overdue bouquet of flowers to say a huge thank you.