Why would you want too?

Hi! . Don't get me wrong, but every time I see this question posted (and believe me it's posted quite often in the various forumn's), I could scream . Why would you want the hastle of taking your own food (Unless it's dietery related), when there are plenty of great supermarkets over there, (There's even english supermarkets), where you can buy anything that you would find at your local morrisons/sainsbury's, etc... . Leave the food shopping, till you get there! Regards, BBB.

I have to agree with bellyballyboo. I simply cannot understand why you would want to take food with you to Beni. If you are Self Catering, everything you could possibly need can be bought from an abundance of shops and Supermarkets in and around the Resort. You can even buy HP Source for your bacon sarnies from a little English Supermarket on The Yellow Brick Road.

By all means pack such items as tea bags, coffe and powerded milk if you are arriving late in the evening or early in the morning. But why you would need to take your own food with you is a bit of a mystery to me

My next door neighbour takes quite a lot of stuff away with her as her son has allergies and food intolerances, so do not mock!

CazzMicknTom wrote:

My next door neighbour takes quite a lot of stuff away with her as her son has allergies and food intolerances, so do not mock!

I'm sorry, I think you may have misunderstood my reply. I was certainly not making a mokery of the Poster's question, but as another member had mentioned Special Dietry Needs, I did not feel it was necessary to repeat that point in my post.

bellyballyboo wrote:

why would you want the hastle of taking your own food (Unless it's dietery related)

.

Clearly if there is a specail dietry need or other medical reason for taking your own food with you, then what we are trying to say is that there is no need to as most food products that you can buy in the UK can be bought in Benidorm. There are several English Supermarkets that can cater for your needs.

But that said, it is always wise to read up in your Flight Ticket booklet what you can and cannot take with you, as there may be restrictions.

I agree totally, benidormhereIcome.

Always remember my other half telling me a tale about when he went abroad with his (Then) girlfriend. She'd packed a pack of lurpack butter (Unknown to him), is HIS suitcase, you don't need three guesse's as to what's coming next!! Needless to say she was soon an ex-girlfriend! . BBB

we are going to beni next tuesday. we are wondering if we can take our own food e.g. bacon but we are unsure whether you are allowed

To go back to the original question.
TT.
It is actually illegal to take meat products and dairy products into any EU country from another EU member state, and further restrictions apply to those countries outside the EU.
Having said that, I know of people, including myself who do bring/take food back from Spain, but not dairy products/meat....more your garlic, olive oil and Spanish pepper.

Bacon or jamon in Spain is plentiful, the Spanish version is like our smokey streaked version, but your "Danish" back bacon can be found pre-packed in most supermarkets in Benidorm, and more importantly it is priced more or less the same as in the UK when the conversion from Euros to Sterling have been converted.

You also have to think of the health risk to yourself, when transporting fresh products that will soon "turn off" packed in a suitcase on Alicante airport tarmac, and then thrown into the back of a coach in a space jam packed with other cases, buggies and wheelchairs with the hot exhaust pipe running under the length of the coach.

When buying products abroad it is well worth noting that the well known "English" brands will be more expensive, even in "English" supermarkets.
If you must have HP Sauce, then it will be more expensive than a Spanish equivalent, the same applies to other products like beans and cereals like "Kellogg's".
My advice would be to take dry products like teabags, salt/pepper, dried milk, and things like a dishcloth/tea towel and scourers for the washing up"¦things that can be popped into those spaces between your clothes"¦or shoved inside your shoes.
Tinned stuff, this will greatly increase your luggage weight, the only good thing about this is, that when you have eaten all the food, you'll have more room and weight for other goodies on the way back, but also remember that airlines are hot on excessive luggage weight, and you may end up being charged more for your excess weight with the food and bacon, than buying a whole live pig at the other end.

Food is cheap in Benidorm, but just as long as you buy other brands which are just as good and in some cases better than the "English" brands.
Sticking to your well known favourites can be expensive.
Washing up liquid is washing up liquid whether it be " Fairy" or any other type. bear that in mind when shopping.
IMO:Leave the bacon at home hun

There is a similar topic running asking about cheese HERE

This information is geared for imports into the Uk, but it applies to all EU countries.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/illegali/topics/faq.htm

You may find it hard to believe the food items you bring back to the UK could have such a serious effect. Many of the restricted items are part of your everyday life and are eaten by you all the time, in the UK and abroad. However, these personal import rules exist to ensure that any risk is minimised.

All countries within the European Union have the same import controls - not just the UK. The rules apply to most countries outside the European Union - including the USA, Australia, and New Zealand

SanJi x

sanji, your link would seem to refer to food from outside EU.
if you follow the link to the database search you will see i think that you can import to the uk all sorts of meat for your personal consumption as this search seems to imply

http://importdetails.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Location=None&Module=IDDSearch

and so conversely should be able to export it.

i have taken bacon abroad in the past(vacuum sealed) and regularly bring back serrano ham, again vac packed, from spain.

to answer the original question, provided what you take ie bacon/cheese is vacuum sealed i don't think you will have a problem; but surely the whole idea of going abroad is to try other things and the spanish bacon is very good.

sanji, your link would seem to refer to food from outside EU.

It does indeed serves me right for rushing thanks for pointing that out

the spanish bacon is very good.

Love it can eat it until it comes out of my ears.

SanJi x

Cheese and all dairy products are disallowed to flights within the EU.

Checked at Manchester Airport on Sunday

Wonder what that is all about then?

SanJi x

I live in Germany and take cheese back with me everytime I visit the UK.
It shows up on the XRay (Have been asked what it is more than once) but have never been stopped from taking it.

I have a gluten/wheat intolerance and I can safely say Benidorm is one of the few holiday resorts where there isn't a problem.

The Herbal Shop, on the bank opposite one of the Indoor Market entrances has a range of products for all diets

I'm used to the intolerance now though, and Spanish cuisine is very forgiving in terms of a lack of wheat etc in the ingredients.

Maybe for a newly diagnosed person it could be quite daunting, so we'd be best to offer advice. But I recommend the Herbal Shop to anyone

Hi all,
I live on the Costa Blanca and for anyone with a wheat/gluten intolerance one of the best places to shop is Mercadona as all of their gluten free products are clearly marked "sin gluten". Sin translates as "without". For example check their packaging on meats, pates, bread, cereals etc and you will see that you don't need to shop in specialist shops. Most towns here have at least one Mercadona (where I live there are 3!) so don't worry; also a lot of their overhead aisle notices are in Spanish & English and some of their staff speak English. I do most of my shopping in Mercadona (except when I go to Carrefour but that's about an hour's drive away from me) as it is also competitively priced and I can buy HP Sauce there (can't have a bacon butty without it!).
HTH.
Laguna

The best way to get "proper" bacon in Benidorm is to go into one of the thousand and one English bars and order a breakfast. This will set you back a whopping three quid or so, with tea and toast (sliced bread is actually harder to find than "normal" bacon!), and save all the hassle of washing up, not to mention hot bacon fat spitting all over your half naked torso!

Mercadona have recently introduced a new range of sliced bread and the shelves are labelled "nuevo". They do sliced white, integral (brown) and multi ceral which is like granary and very tasty. They are only small slices not like the usual large sliced loaves which you get in UK but these loaves are the nearest to "normal" bread which we Brits are used to. One of the things I miss most is Warbie's toastie bread, yummy! Great with a full English too.
Laguna

I never have trouble finding English bread. Its sold in the indoor market and numerous British supermarkets, its usually kept in freezers.
The one I buy is called Roberts it stays really fresh, just keep it in the fridge. You can also get Mothers Pride, Hovis and other makes, white and brown.
And don't forget the lovely baguettes and cobs, much better than you get here, they are yummy with cheese or ham.

Lizzie.