# thinking of moving to spain..



## mikeandvic (Jan 5, 2011)

hi
we are new to the forum and after some advice really. my wife and i are thinking of relocating to spain(dont know which part yet)! we have 2 girls age 5 and 7 months..
i am a painter and decorator and currently run my own small decorating firm and was wondering if there was any call for timeserved tradesman over in sunny spain
also any advice that you can give us regarding everthing really. renting a place/tips about best places to move to and schools etc..
thanks in advance.
mike and vic


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## jennifercase (Dec 3, 2010)

*Caution*



mikeandvic said:


> hi
> we are new to the forum and after some advice really. my wife and i are thinking of relocating to spain(dont know which part yet)! we have 2 girls age 5 and 7 months..
> i am a painter and decorator and currently run my own small decorating firm and was wondering if there was any call for timeserved tradesman over in sunny spain
> also any advice that you can give us regarding everthing really. renting a place/tips about best places to move to and schools etc..
> ...


Do you speak Spanish? Unfortunately there are lots of expats here who hope to work for the Expat community. Combined with record unemployment it means that there is not much work about.

On the plus side, Spain is said to be one of the best countries for children to grow up in.

Good luck.


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## mikeandvic (Jan 5, 2011)

jennifercase said:


> Do you speak Spanish? Unfortunately there are lots of expats here who hope to work for the Expat community. Combined with record unemployment it means that there is not much work about.
> 
> On the plus side, Spain is said to be one of the best countries for children to grow up in.
> 
> Good luck.


thanks for the reply
britain at the moment as you know has very high unemployment rates and i still do ok(probably due to being established) but how bad is the unemployment situation in spain??
i would be looking to rent for a quite sometime and would be taking savings to pay for rent and living costs for at least 6 months so i am hoping through advertising i would be able to build a reputation..thats the plan anyway


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## jennifercase (Dec 3, 2010)

*Employment situation*

how bad is the unemployment situation in spain??

Not sure of the statistics but I think the unemployment situation here is worse than the UK. Also, you wouldn't have the safety net of a benefit system. A lot of UK workers and pensioners have returned to the UK because they can't find work and, due to changes in exchange rates, pensions no longer stretch as far. The cost of living here has increased dramatically over the past few years and it's no longer a cheap option.

I live in South Catalunya on the coast between Tarragona and the Ebro Delta. Although there are some UK Expats here, a lot have gone back to the UK and our local UK products shop has closed down as a result. If you're relying on working within the expat community, less expats means less business.

Another problem here is the over-supply of property. There are a lot of properties for sale, some of them have been on the market for years. When people don't/can't move house, they're probably less likely to have their properties decorated. However, you'll probably find it fairly easy to find somewhere to rent.

Hope this helps.
Jennifer


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hi guys, sorry to sound pessimistic but the unemployment situation is at least twice as bad in Spain as the UK - 20% on average, 30 or even 40% in some parts. That's over four million people! Because of the collapse of the big building boom there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed painter-decorators ... Plus all the Brits who come over hoping to pick up casual work!

Also, though the cost of living has shot up and is now on a par with the UK, wages are still much lower. The guys who painted our house last year worked ten hours a day for 15€ an hour, in 35C heat. We often get people knocking on the door asking if we want odd jobs done.

Hopefully things will pick up soon, but even our ever-optimistic government is saying it's not going to be for a couple of years at least!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mikeandvic said:


> thanks for the reply
> britain at the moment as you know has very high unemployment rates and i still do ok(probably due to being established) but how bad is the unemployment situation in spain??
> i would be looking to rent for a quite sometime and would be taking savings to pay for rent and living costs for at least 6 months so i am hoping through advertising i would be able to build a reputation..thats the plan anyway


from what I have read unemployment in the UK is around 8% currently

overall in Spain it's around 20% rising to30% in some areas


if you don't speak Spanish you'll be relying on brits for your trade - & they have been returning to the UK much faster than their replacements are arriving for quite sometime


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## mikeandvic (Jan 5, 2011)

thanks for all your advice.. to be honest it wouldnt be for a couple of years anyway so hopefully things would of picked up by then.. it would seem crazy to move there at the moment from reading what you guys have said.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mikeandvic said:


> thanks for all your advice.. to be honest it wouldnt be for a couple of years anyway so hopefully things would of picked up by then.. it would seem crazy to move there at the moment from reading what you guys have said.


yes, hopefully things will improve in the next couple of years - & it will give you time to learn spanish


& thank you for listening to us - sometimes we feel like we're :frusty:


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## mikeandvic (Jan 5, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> yes, hopefully things will improve in the next couple of years - & it will give you time to learn spanish
> 
> 
> & thank you for listening to us - sometimes we feel like we're :frusty:


haha spanish!! i'm still struggling with english! 
i would never make such a big decision like this just on a pipe dream.thanks for all your advice


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## djfwells (Sep 28, 2009)

With a young family, now is not the best time for you to be taking such a gamble and trying to make a new start in Spain. There are certain times in your life when taking a risk is the best option, and other when staying put is the best option.
In my honest opinion, anyone who plans on moving to Spain and does not have at least one of the following is insane : A Firm offer of a legal job; a network of friends and family to help out; Fluency in Spanish and/or another language; an 'In Demand qualification, skill or profession; enough savings to last for the foreseeable future.

As much as I understand that paining and decorating is a skill, there are plenty of people out here who pick up business simply by lying about their experience and you will have to be prepared to compete aginst them.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

All of the above advice is true. It seems you are doing OK in the UK ...are you sure you're not experiencing the post-Christmas blues?
Have a look at my thread 'It's that time of year again...'
We may seem like a bunch of doom and gloom merchants but we see the facts on the ground, as it were.
I personally know of at least four people desperate to sell their properties and return to the UK. All of them either living on investment income or with professional skills and qualifications and very fluent in Spanish yet unable to find employment at an adequate level of remuneration to fund a worry-free lifestyle.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Another thing I am sure I read was that the spanish figures only count the people in receipt of unemployment benefits. Once you have stopped receiving money , you're still unemployed but are not on the official figures. Anyone know for certain ? If it's true then the amount of people without work is far higher.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

gus-lopez said:


> Another thing I am sure I read was that the spanish figures only count the people in receipt of unemployment benefits. Once you have stopped receiving money , you're still unemployed but are not on the official figures. Anyone know for certain ? If it's true then the amount of people without work is far higher.



.....and then there are a huge amount of people who live totally under the radar and never declare income or claim anything so who knows where they stand regarding employment. I wouldnt like to say how accurate the statistics are either way!

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Last May we took Azor on holiday to a 'luxury 'B&B (which I highly recommend) in the Axarquia region. It was situated in a tiny hamlet near a small village which in turn was near a small town.
According to the B&B owner who seemed to know everyone in this tightly-knit community, very few people were employed. Most were in receipt of welfare benefits in return for which they had to do some kind of community work every now and then.
I don't know how true a picture this was but just looking around it was clear that employment opportunities were very limited.
If it was true, there must be hundreds of thousands of communities like this all over Spain...


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