# Hola



## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

Hi I've just registered with the forum and thought I'd say hello 
I've been reading through for a while now trying to get as much info about living Spain as an ex-pat . 

One question if anyone can help what towns/ areas are most densly populated with retired ex-pats from the UK over 60's age group . I need to know as if I ever did decide to take the plunge and move over this is the client base I need for work and lots of them ! 

I know Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca do but where do these people live which parts mainly ? 

Thanks


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Hello Lola welcome.

Southern Tenerife and Southern Gran Canaria attract the old gits and coffin dodgers 

Don't come here though, El Hierro, I am one of the four English residents, two of us are old gits, I think there is a Scot but he is away with the birds,

Hepa


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

Cheers Hepa  was thinking more mainland Spain though .


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Well in southern Costa del Sol you could look at Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola - they're all joined together and are very near other centres of expat land like Marbella and to a lesser extent Estepona.

Lots of OAPs around there.

What line are you in - coffins?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

LolaS said:


> Cheers Hepa  was thinking more mainland Spain though .



Brrrrrrrrrr! they have winters there


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

You would have to check, but I think there must be a fair few around Orihuela costa and Torrevieja. 
I would say however, the British pensioner is not necessarily a solid customer base on which to build a business. Numbers have fluctuated quite a lot in recent years due to property problems, exchange rates, changes in benefits and changes in healthcare conditions. You never know what changes each government is going to introduce (UK and Spanish) and so your market isn't guaranteed. You'll need to do a lot of market research reflecting the elderly population over several years before you make a move


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

jimenato said:


> Well in southern Costa del Sol you could look at Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola - they're all joined together and are very near other centres of expat land like Marbella and to a lesser extent Estepona.
> 
> Lots of OAPs around there.
> 
> What line are you in - coffins?


Thanks jimenato , yep thought they would be the areas . I need to get some sort of idea of how many ..don't know how I'm going to do that mind ! 

I'm a Chiropodist .


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

Hepa said:


> Brrrrrrrrrr! they have winters there


Yes a fair point indeed


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> You would have to check, but I think there must be a fair few around Orihuela costa and Torrevieja.
> I would say however, the British pensioner is not necessarily a solid customer base on which to build a business. Numbers have fluctuated quite a lot in recent years due to property problems, exchange rates, changes in benefits and changes in healthcare conditions. You never know what changes each government is going to introduce (UK and Spanish) and so your market isn't guaranteed. You'll need to do a lot of market research reflecting the elderly population over several years before you make a move


I thought it would be Torrevieja what about Alicante?the same I suppose .
Its what my business thrives on ..pensioners and to be fair no market ever is guaranteed but I'm giving myself a 3 year window to check all these things out do the research etc . I wouldn't move over on a whim.
I have spoke to someone who is in the same line of work who lives in the Valencia area and her business is doing very well indeed after only a year .
Thanks for the reply . I will be visiting Spain in September once the main holiday season is over .


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

LolaS said:


> I thought it would be Torrevieja what about Alicante?the same I suppose .
> Its what my business thrives on ..pensioners and to be fair no market ever is guaranteed but I'm giving myself a 3 year window to check all these things out do the research etc . I wouldn't move over on a whim.
> I have spoke to someone who is in the same line of work who lives in the Valencia area and her business is doing very well indeed after only a year .
> Thanks for the reply . I will be visiting Spain in September once the main holiday season is over .


Good idea.
If you could involve Spanish pensioners some way in your business plan, then you'd have a much bigger possible market.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

LolaS said:


> I'm a Chiropodist .


Wouldn't you have to get your qualifications officially recognised? I don't know much about it....I'm hoping someone else will jump in....


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Good idea.
> If you could involve Spanish pensioners some way in your business plan, then you'd have a much bigger possible market.


Must improve on my Spanish I did live out there 14 years ago .. very rusty now ..but I have 3 years so that's in the plan too obviously.
Wasn't sure if the Spanish would use my services or have the money for that sort of thing ..but again more things to find out .....


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

brocher said:


> Wouldn't you have to get your qualifications officially recognised? I don't know much about it....I'm hoping someone else will jump in....


It's fine I've asked my insurance company .Although there would need to be alterations in the policy etc.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

LolaS said:


> It's fine I've asked my insurance company .Although there would need to be alterations in the policy etc.


I very much doubt that your insurance company is correct. You would have to get a licence to practise in Spain which would require your qualifications to be "homologated" which can be a lengthy and expensive process. SWMBO is a qualified tri-lingual translator and interpreter with her degrees and licences issued by the Catholic university in Madrid but they still quibbled and wanted them to be homologated at a fee of about €500.


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## LolaS (Jun 21, 2014)

Seems like anything/ anybody else they just want cash for a new bit of paper..any excuse .Well like I say I have many things to check out . First see if I can find a few heavily populated ex pat regions in Spain and visit and ask whether it would be a needed service or not ..if not then I forget about the idea ..if its a yes ..then I continue with my knowledge of it all ..and yes it will cost me ..moving does especially to another country . If you never try and discover new things though the world would never turn ..but I also like a comfortable life so if it couldn't be done so be it ..if its a maybe then I'll keep investigating it all .
Once again thanks for the replies .


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

LolaS said:


> Seems like anything/ anybody else they just want cash for a new bit of paper..any excuse .Well like I say I have many things to check out . First see if I can find a few heavily populated ex pat regions in Spain and visit and ask whether it would be a needed service or not ..if not then I forget about the idea ..if its a yes ..then I continue with my knowledge of it all ..and yes it will cost me ..moving does especially to another country . If you never try and discover new things though the world would never turn ..but I also like a comfortable life so if it couldn't be done so be it ..if its a maybe then I'll keep investigating it all .
> Once again thanks for the replies .


Yes, Baldi is right, that's what I was talking about- your qualifications, nothing to do with insurance.It seems to be difficult as well as costly, so you might want to check that out pretty early in your research and get the ball rolling if necessary.

Then of course, you'd have to get licenses/ permissions from the town hall, etc to set up business and for your premises. From what others say, that might not be easy, quick or cheap either!

Glad to see you are going to plan and research well. Good luck!


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