How to send a PC to Spain when I do not have an address there?

August 28, 2006 6:53 AM

I am Moving from UK to Spain. Will stay in Spain for 3 months and need to send a computer and monitor. But I do not have an address in Spain. How to send it?

The rest of my stuff will fit in a suitcase. The only thing I need to send as a parcel is the computer. I will not have an address in Spain as I may stay one place for 1 month and another place for 1 month. The destination is Barcelona. In what way can this be done?

Can I send via an Mail Box Etc office in UK and pick it up in an Mail Box Etc in Barcelona?

Do DHL and other companies offer solutions for situations like this?

Other smart solutions?

posted by toreo to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Do you have an American Express card? I have heard that you can receive mail at American Express offices overseas. It may be an urban legend, but could be worth checking out.

Or are you staying in a hotel? Usually you can receive mail at hotels. I'm not sure about such a large package - but worth asking the hotel, if you're staying at one.
posted by Amizu at 7:04 AM on August 28, 2006

I'm not sure how customs works within Europe but from the US to Spain, we did have to clear customs which meant a final shipping address was required. Check the customs regulations to see how it works. and obviously if you are using a shipping service, they should be able to help you through the formalities.
posted by JJ86 at 7:06 AM on August 28, 2006

There are no customs as such between the UK and Spain. Do you have a friend or somebody with a permanent address you could send your package to? That would be the easiest solution. Otherwise I would call Parcelforce/FedEx/DHL/UPS and ask how they would do it, they will have offices in Barcelona where to keep your belongings for example until you pick them up I'm sure.
posted by keijo at 7:18 AM on August 28, 2006

I wouldn't bother sending the monitor at all. If it's a CRT (not a flat panel) then it's probably not multi-voltage, meaning that once you plug it in to your Spanish mains, it's going to die. If it's a flat panel, just find a suitcase big enough for it and drag it along too. Hopefully, it'll have an external power supply that's multi-voltage, or replacable with another one.

As for the computer - is the power supply that compatible with European mains? Could you stretch to buying a new one when you settled in Spain? Or a laptop?
posted by armoured-ant at 10:16 AM on August 28, 2006

Post Restant appears to be what you're looking for. It's been around for years - so I looked up our good friends at Wikipedia and it (at least according to Wikipedia) it is still in use.
posted by Sk4n at 1:29 PM on August 28, 2006