# want to move to spain



## dod1979 (Jan 3, 2011)

hi there all.. firstly happy new year..!!

Well where do i start, i would like to move to Spain and am looking for advise from the members of this site, i am 31 and married with 1 child just now (18 months old) but we do plan to have more in the future, i am a qualified Air-Conditioning engineer with over 15 years experience in the trade and without being modest i feel i am very good at my job, i am currently a supervisor for a large companys service and repairs division looking after 8 engineers and mostly do work for major oil companys in and around Aberdeen (Scotland).
My Wife is 27 and works for an oil company but we want more time together and more time with kid(s). hopefully a move to Spain could mean only i have to work and free up my wife to enjoy life more as just now i leave at 5 am and get home at 6pm and the wife is 8am-5pm and as soon as i get home i look after my son whilst my wife goes of to her horses.. then we basically see eachother for an hour or so before bed.

I would like some information on how much an A/C engineer could make a year, how much we could buy a decent 3 bedroom house (villa) for, any reccomended areas to live in (preferably countryside as we live in the country just now) general costs of liveing and basically any other information which we may find usefull.. 

thanks for reading

Dod


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

dod1979 said:


> hi there all.. firstly happy new year..!!
> 
> Well where do i start, i would like to move to Spain and am looking for advise from the members of this site, i am 31 and married with 1 child just now (18 months old) but we do plan to have more in the future, i am a qualified Air-Conditioning engineer with over 15 years experience in the trade and without being modest i feel i am very good at my job, i am currently a supervisor for a large companys service and repairs division looking after 8 engineers and mostly do work for major oil companys in and around Aberdeen (Scotland).
> My Wife is 27 and works for an oil company but we want more time together and more time with kid(s). hopefully a move to Spain could mean only i have to work and free up my wife to enjoy life more as just now i leave at 5 am and get home at 6pm and the wife is 8am-5pm and as soon as i get home i look after my son whilst my wife goes of to her horses.. then we basically see eachother for an hour or so before bed.
> ...


Hi there and welcome!

If you look back through the threads on this forum (search for "move to Spain") you will see that there is a huge problem with unemployment in Spain at the moment, likely to last few years yet. Four million people, many of them highly qualified, chasing very few jobs.

Do you speak fluent Spanish? If not, you will struggle to get work, quite frankly. Even if you manage to get customers among the English-speaking community, you would still need good Spanish to negotiate building regulations, purchase parts, negotiate your way through the Spanish bureaucracy for small businesses (which has been known to drive grown men to tears ...)

The cost of housing really depends on where you are; you can get some great properties inland at very good prices because demand is low at the moment. But I would really recommend renting something for a while, until you are absolutely certain you have made the right move! 

The cost of living is rising fast here and is probably about the same as in the UK now. Electricity, fuel and food prices are soaring and it is no longer a cheap place to live. Winters can be very cold and damp - it's not all sunshine and stress-free living!

Hope this doesn't sound too pessimistic, but like I said, if you read back through other threads you'll see this is really not a great time to give up a good job in the UK! Hopefully you can find some other way to see more of your family.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Hi there and welcome!
> 
> If you look back through the threads on this forum (search for "move to Spain") you will see that there is a huge problem with unemployment in Spain at the moment, likely to last few years yet. Four million people, many of them highly qualified, chasing very few jobs.
> 
> ...


...........and you forgot to mention the working hours here in Spain!!!


they really aren't family friendly - normal hours are anything from 8 or 10am to 2ish, then start again around 4 or 5ish till at least 8 or 9ish

you might think that you can dictate your own hours if you are self-employed, but really to compete with the Spanish you would have to be available at all sorts of hours


the best advice anyone could give you right now is to stay put & look at a move to Spain as a long term goal - take lots of trips to different areas at different times of year & learn spanish now


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> ...........and you forgot to mention the working hours here in Spain!!!
> 
> 
> they really aren't family friendly - normal hours are anything from 8 or 10am to 2ish, then start again around 4 or 5ish till at least 8 or 9ish
> ...


You forgot saturdays as well ! 
There was a thread started last year with a similar scenario to this but I can't find it. 
Basically most of the A/c companies around here also do the coffee m/cs in the bars as well. The pays not good unless you are working for yourself & the chances of finding a job with a contract are remote ,to say the least !
Unless you are completely fluent you won't have a chance.


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## dod1979 (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks for your replies so far people, it wasnt going to be a move this year it was going to be a goal to try to get there before im 35 so gives me a few more years yet, i understand that due to recession and economic climate just now its going to be hard to find something at this moment, i have a good job just now and have good prospects within the company, with good potential to become manager in next couple of years but like i said its not about me, its about wanting a better life for my family and to be able to spend more time with them but sounds like id have to work harder and longer to achieve that, its really just a dream at the moment and thats why these forums are so good to get straight honest answers rather than googling and gettin ads that say nows the time to move..!! lol.

thanks again.. (dream killers..hahaha..!!)


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## djfwells (Sep 28, 2009)

In my opinion, before you start to do anything else I would do one of two things (both if you can) :

1) Ask your curent employer if they have any opportunities over here in Spain, or failing that if they have any associated or affiliated companies that may.

2) Check that any trade or professional qualifications you may have are valid and recognised here in Spain. If they are not then start the process of getting them validated ASAP, as it can often take months to do.

Moving here and just 'hoping' that things will work out for you would be a big mistake.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Spain is for holidays unless you are already in secure employment, have a UK company which you can direct/manage from Spain, have a partner working in the UK or elsewhere or are retired with a good income.
As others have said, Spain is not cheap any longer. Very many British immigrants are desperate to go back to the UK but are unable to sell their properties even at the discounted rate now common.
You will be self-employed so will have to pay a monthly payment of around 400 euros to cover Social Security for you and your family - regardless of whether you earn 1000 or 10000 euros a month - with the former more likely, frankly.
Unemployment is currently around 20 percent, double in some areas. Yes, you can get 'cheap' property. But why come to Spain and give up your home and job to live in a cheap property? The only extra you will get is more sunshine but sunshine without money is nothing.
If you want to attract Brits as clients you'll need to be in an area with British immigrants. But then there will be a lot of competition. 
Come over and see for yourself before making any decision.
I'm anticipating lots of similar queries to yours...we seem to get them after the summer and after New Year.
I can understand why but life isn't easy here unless you fit into one of the categories I set out above.


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