# Relocating to Costa Del Sol



## alisha24 (Apr 23, 2016)

Good Afternoon,

Me and my partner are looking to relocate to the Costa Del Sol close to Marbella within the next 12-18 months, we are both 25 years old with no commitments therefore think relocating would be a great opportunity. At present I am a Event's Manager and my partner works within retail. We are looking to attend Spanish Lesson's in the UK to have a grasp of the language before relocating.

I have briefly scanned through a number of the post's reference relocating and a lot seem to be negative reference employment opportunities and unemployment. At present is the employment situation within Spain for British Expat's poor and is it proving difficult to emigrate and begin a life within Spain?


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

alisha24 said:


> I have briefly scanned through a number of the post's reference relocating and a lot seem to be negative reference employment opportunities and unemployment. At present is the employment situation within Spain for British Expat's poor and is it proving difficult to emigrate and begin a life within Spain?


Yes work is difficult to come by, but improving. Though if you look in the papers, like the Sur In English Classified section you will see work opportunities, though a lot of them are very unreliable. So my main point is finding good reliable well paid work is not easy, but not impossible. Clearly been here and knowing people makes that easier, so expecting to walk straight into good work is tough


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## alisha24 (Apr 23, 2016)

Thank-you for your response, reference employment opportunities is this just for area's close to Marbella or other regions such as Costa Blanca. Ideally I would be looking to have at least 6 months savings behind me encase looking for an opportunity is hard to come by


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

alisha24 said:


> Thank-you for your response, reference employment opportunities is this just for area's close to Marbella or other regions such as Costa Blanca. Ideally I would be looking to have at least 6 months savings behind me encase looking for an opportunity is hard to come by


What kind of work are you looking for?
In some ways you're in a good position to make the move; young with no dependants. However, unemployment is very high for young people. However, look at this post from another thread

If anybody is looking for work in Spain here's a link that gives info about Spain in general and each region. This, along with many other little treasures, is posted in the FAQ's sticky

https://ec.europa.eu/eures/main.jsp?catId=2627&lmi=Y&acro=lmi&lang=en&recordL ang=en&parentId=&countryId=ES®ionId=ES0&nuts2Code= %20&nuts3Code=null&mode=text®ionName=National%20Le vel

Things are improving, but...
Quote:
In line with the economy as a whole, the Spanish labour market has experienced some improvement, bucking the trend of job losses prevalent since the beginning of the crisis. This situation is reflected in the Labour Force Survey which indicates a rise in jobs and an increase in the employment rate in the third quarter. Furthermore, the number of unemployed persons decreased by more than 570 000 in a year, although the unemployment rate is still* the second highest *in the European Union. 
From the end of the info about Spain in general
Quote:
Foreign workers registered with the Social Security system now total slightly over 1.6 million, and their number rose by 4.06 % in 2015 after six consecutive years of decline. The most numerous workers from other EU countries are from Romania, Italy, the UK and Bulgaria, while workers from Morocco, China, Ecuador and Bolivia are the most numerous from outside the EU.
While there have been improvements, the Spanish labour market is still showing signs of* serious structural problems*: the* high rates of unemployment* among young people and the over-50s, the high percentage of long-term unemployed, the high rate of temporary jobs, the low level of (accredited) employment-oriented training and the high number of discouraged youths who neither work nor study. 
And here's some info about Andalucia where so many people on the forum post that they are coming to and will be looking for work
Quote:
The latest data available from the Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2015 reveal an unemployment rate of 31.73 % (1 281 900 persons unemployed and 2 758 100 persons employed). Malaga and Seville have an unemployment rate below that of Andalusia as a whole (28.97 % and 31.23 % respectively). Cadiz *(37.18 %*) and Jaen (*35.38 %*) are the provinces in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia with the highest rate of unemployment (41.26 %). The activity rate in Andalusia is 58.69 % and the rate for men surpasses the female rate by more than 13.50 percentage points. 
Daunting eh?
Let's try The Basque country in the north, where people who are looking for work and a better life style don't seem to know about
 Quote:
Data from the Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2015, found a downward trend in the unemployment rate at * 13.76 %* compared to 15.21 % in the same quarter of last year. 
*
**To me it's clear, if a person from the UK wants to come to Spain for a better life style and to get that they need to work,and they need some guarantees, they need to look at Madrid and to the north.*

PS They even tell you what kind of jobs are available. In Madrid it says

 Quote:
given the current provincial unemployment rate of 16.27 % and with 460 986 people registered unemployed in September 2015, it would be hard to say that any jobs are under-subscribed. These may not have been filled for other reasons such as lack of skilled workers, etc. However, it can be said that some jobs are harder to fill.. This applies to the occupations of Optometrist, Doctors in general, Audiologists and Speech therapists. The demand for these occupations comes principally from the health sector. 
Guess what it says for Andalucia...


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## alisha24 (Apr 23, 2016)

Thanks for the information, as I am currently an Event's Manager I would be looking for employment within the Hospitality Industry i.e Hotel's


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

alisha24 said:


> Thanks for the information, as I am currently an Event's Manager I would be looking for employment within the Hospitality Industry i.e Hotel's


There maybe some companies here that you can apply to
Event Management Companies Spain and Morocco. Event Management Companies for events and meeting Spain and Morocco


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## alisha24 (Apr 23, 2016)

The link which you have sent is great thankyou!, reference Costa Del Sol apart from Marbella are there any particular area's which stand out to have a high expat community


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

alisha24 said:


> The link which you have sent is great thankyou!, reference Costa Del Sol apart from Marbella are there any particular area's which stand out to have a high expat community


I'm sure there are, but I'm not the best qualified to reply


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## soja (Apr 10, 2016)

The costa del sol has the highest concentration of British immigrants, from torremolinos to estepona but the unemployment situation is dire.


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## alisha24 (Apr 23, 2016)

In order to be employed are people working further afield and commuting


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## soja (Apr 10, 2016)

There are people leaving Spain and moving to Germany and the UK because there just aren't any jobs that are permanent or well paid, many are short term or seasonal contracts so it depends what your skills are. The coast is better than inland because of the tourism but if you only speak English then it's going to be harder than it needs to be. The jobs are in places like Madrid and Barcelona.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

alisha24 said:


> In order to be employed are people working further afield and commuting


I live on the coast near Marbella. Most people I know are retired and not looking for work.
The leisure/retail sector here employs a lot of people, in fact it's the main employer. To get a job you would need fluent Spanish and at least one other European language, Dutch, German, English, Russian, French, to a reasonable standard.
In spite of a thriving leisure sector unemployment is high, even in the high season, running at over 30%'so there is a lot of competition for jobs.
Hours are long, pay isn't good and work is seasonal, April to October.
Of course there are jobs but everyone I know who has found a job got it by being 'in the know'. Contacts are more important here than anywhere else I've lived.
You might be lucky and pick up a couple of months' high season cash in hand work, who knows...


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## st3v3y (Aug 27, 2015)

You may also consider looking at Gibraltar and commuting? There are plenty of people who live in Spain and cross the border every day. I was speaking to someone recently and she moved down from England with no expectations and had saved enough to give her 12 months buffer in case she didn't find work. In the end after doing seasonal jobs for a couple of years and living a beach life she started working for an agency in Gib and ended up being offered a full time position in an office there. 

The key is giving yourself enough 'breathing space' until you find the right position. Just because the sun is shining doesn't mean it is all sweetness and light but life is what we make it and is certainly for living so I hope you figure it out!


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