The way the Spanish chuck away perfectly good stuff continues to amaze me. Once a week everything from furniture to TVs, household appliances to children's toys is left at the basura, the rubbish bins., much of it in perfectly good condition.

There is little concept of a second-hand market here - no junk shops, charity shops, car boot sales, yard sales and no small ads in the papers. Even eBay in Spain is not eBay as we know it in the UK or USA.

True a few shops have sprung up in guiri areas, such as on the Costa del Sol, but in my experience the second-hand furniture stores around San Pedro are nearly as dear as normal shops. There's also the odd car boot sale, I believe, but I've no idea how successful they are.

A sort of informal recycling takes place, in that if rubbish is worth having, someone'll grab it and take it home. I'm just surprised that, especially in a recession, people don't try to sell their unwanted items to get some much-needed cash.

Having just merged two households and 119 years of accumulated stuff, Mrs W and I are going to have loads of surplus items to get rid of. It seems a shame to chuck them away. Anyone any ideas? There'll be furniture, lamps, pictures, household appliances, cutlery, crockery, tools, etc.

Please post a comment below with your suggestions.

© Paul Whitelock

Tags:  basura, rubbish, recycling, second-hand, junk shop, charity shop, car boot sale, yard sale, small ad, eBay, paul whitelock, www.a1-solutions-spain.com