# Moving to Spain from England



## asmsbs (Apr 25, 2013)

Hello.

Me and my boyfriend are thinking about moving to Spain but have never thought about anything like this before so we don't know a real lot about it. Can anyone offer any information on what kind of things there are to think about and where we will start in the process and what we would have to do when we move to Spain?

I am will be qualifying as a staff nurse next year and my boyfriend currently works for the local council. Can any offer any information on what jobs are like in Spain and if there are chances of actually getting a job?

We don't have kids so we don't have to consider schools just yet so we aren't that fussed where we live. Could any advise us on the areas in Cost Del Soul as that is where we would like to move to?

My boyfriend also have a car in England at the moment and would like to take that with him. Does anyone know anything about taking cars to Spain for a long period of time?

I have had a look at house's in Spain briefly and noticed that both buying and renting are quite cheap. What would be the best thing to do when first moving over to Spain, renting first and then buy once we are settled or..?

I think i have covered my personal questions but if anyone has anything else they think would be useful for us, please let us know.

Thanks.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

asmsbs said:


> Hello.
> 
> Me and my boyfriend are thinking about moving to Spain but have never thought about anything like this before so we don't know a real lot about it. Can anyone offer any information on what kind of things there are to think about and where we will start in the process and what we would have to do when we move to Spain?
> 
> I am will be qualifying as a staff nurse next year and my boyfriend currently works for the local council. Can any offer any information on what jobs are like in Spain and if there are chances of actually getting a job?


:welcome:

you _might _stand a chance if you find a private English speking facility if you don't speak Spanish - but even if you speak native level Spansih there's not much chace of job in a state hospital - Spanish nurses are leaving Spain looking for work

your boyfriend stands pretty much no chance of getting work with a local council without native level Spanish - even with native level Spanish he'd be competeing with hundreds if not thousands of locals for every position 




asmsbs said:


> .
> We don't have kids so we don't have to consider schools just yet so we aren't that fussed where we live. Could any advise us on the areas in Cost Del Soul as that is where we would like to move to?
> 
> My boyfriend also have a car in England at the moment and would like to take that with him. Does anyone know anything about taking cars to Spain for a long period of time?


 have a look at the _*FAQs & useful links *_thread above, there's a whole section about cars etc.


asmsbs said:


> .
> I have had a look at house's in Spain briefly and noticed that both buying and renting are quite cheap. What would be the best thing to do when first moving over to Spain, renting first and then buy once we are settled or..?
> 
> I think i have covered my personal questions but if anyone has anything else they think would be useful for us, please let us know.
> ...


renting first is usually recommended - but before you do anything have a good read of recent discussions here about what you need to do in order to register as resident, unemployment etc


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

If you are employed in England stay there.

20% of the population where I live have left, some to Australia many have returned to Venezuela, others to Mexico, we had a small population from the U.K. numbering 17, there are now only four.

Spain is a wonderful place to live if you have an income or can secure employment, otherwise life is difficult.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

asmsbs said:


> Hello.
> 
> Me and my boyfriend are thinking about moving to Spain but have never thought about anything like this before so we don't know a real lot about it. Can anyone offer any information on what kind of things there are to think about and where we will start in the process and what we would have to do when we move to Spain?
> 
> ...


It might be the best time for you to come to Spain with you finishing up your training, no kids, cheap accommodation options etc, but it's not a good time for Spain for some of the reasons mentioned above.
There's a reason why properties are cheap - few can afford to buy and banks are desperate to get rid of repossessed dwellings. Yesterday I heard that 40 families a day are evicted from their houses.
Etc, etc, etc.
You could look on Spain as a Long Term Project. Start learning about the country, the language, find places you might like to spend time in come the day that Spain becomes strong again, or think about a different country, or ditch going abroad all together (most of Europe is, or will be, in dire straits sooner or later) and think about the perfect place to live in the UK ....


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Unemployment in Spain has now hit 27% plus. Almost seven million people are looking for work, most with families.

Ask yourself realistically what your chances of finding work might be when Spanish nurses and local government officers are desperately seeking work - and they are Spanish, speak the language, know the system. Your partner isn't likely to find work within the Spanish local or regional government system, is he, and your nursing qualifications may not be recognised here. Cuts in public spending on health, education etc. are happening in Spain as well as in the UK.

If you have jobs in the UK it would be imo a really bad decision to give them up as you are very unlikely to find work here. As for buying a property....very many people are desperate to sell to return to the UK where unemployment is still in single-digit figures and the welfare benefits are far more generous than in Spain. But they cannot sell because the market is glutted with properties for sale...hence the 50% plus drop in property prices.

Living in Spain is like everywhere else when you have no job and no money. Contrary to some people's views, sunshine isn't free. Like everything in life, it has to be paid for.
The 'Spanish dream', whatever that is, is a myth for most people...it exists only in their imagination. The plain fact is that unless you are retired with a good income, have a UK business you can run in Spain,an established Spanish business or secure contracted job, Spain is not the place for you and imo won't be for at least ten to fifteen years.

With unemployment at this level it is likely to rise until there comes the inevitable tipping point..and who knows what will come then.

In my view, an authoritarian right-wing government backed by the military and global business concerns.

I hope I'm wrong. The free market has ruined Spain and many other once solid European economies. Shame on us for our short-sighted short-term greed for buying into it.

The reason rents and properties are so cheap is as has been pointed out because of the dire state of the economy.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Come over and do some fact finding trips!! Have a look at employment, cost of living, the various areas...... and see what you think. But* dont burn your UK bridges *, dont be blinded by cheap rental properties and dont make any permanent decisions. Just see what you can find - maybe even apply for some jobs - if you can find any, making sure that they are contracted and not casual.


Jo xxx


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## IanB (Feb 11, 2013)

I can only add my two pennyworth into this. We had planned to retire to Spain and have adequate pension income to live a relatively reasonable life out there. Selling up our home and business here would give us some sensible savings in the bank as well. However we have completed an enormous amount of research into the subject with the help of a lot of people on this forum and other contacts out in Spain, the net result of all that is to put our plans on hold for a little while. We have to wait another year as winding up our limited company cannot be "just done", there are some serious concerns about the reporting of all assets etc. and the level of detail now required by the Spanish tax authorities. Topping this are the problems on a wider scale within the euro zone which at best in my view is as unstable as anywhere else in the world. Property may be cheap both rental and for sale but that in my view cannot be the over riding factor. If you read a lot of the threads particularly fairly recent ones on this forum you will have a much broader picture to work from as there is so much conflicting and contradictory information. To look at "the rules" which in themselves may or may not be applied throughout Spain, I have tended to look at "UKinSpain" which is more or less the web presence of the UK Embassy in Madrid.

I have concluded that times are difficult and we would all like a better life, but there is much to be said for having a little patience and waiting for a while to perhaps get a clearer picture as the dust from recent upheavals starts to settle. That may be a better poicture, it might be worse.


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## asmsbs (Apr 25, 2013)

Thank you everyone for your reply's. You have all made us really think about the idea and maybe wait longer and do more research.

Thanks again


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

One item off your initial list which doesn't seem to have been answered - Your b/f's car. If you move here or are here for more than 90 days, you have to register as 'resident' for which you have to prove sufficient financial means and have healthcare provision. You may be able to get suffeicent cover wrt healthcare with a S2 form from Newcastle but it will only be for a limited period depending on how long you have been paying NI. 

Once you are resident you will not be allowed to drive a foreign-registered vehicle so it will have to be 'imported' and homologated (Pass the relevant testing requirements here including the headlights) and replated. This all costs money, the amount depends on the age make model of the vehicle and how long he has owned it but be prepared to have to find anything up to €2,000. It is invariable cheaper, unless the UK vehicle is a classic, to buy a Spanish vehicle which will have the advantage of being LHD.


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## jeremyinspain (Dec 3, 2011)

Sorry to add insult to injury, but I notice you are just qualifying so are probably young. Unemployment rate for the under 25 year-old band is over 50%. No, that isn't a typo. Over 50%. Do not come without a secure job.

One bright hope I will mention. The only area of the Spanish economy which seems to be growing is foreign (ie not Spanish) language classes. It's for all the Spanish nurses and the like to learn English or German and move away, I'm not making this up, I'm an English teacher.
So if you feel like getting a quick TEFL certificate, you might very well stand a chance. I am asked weekly by parents of children in my school if I will give private lessons.
Best of luck.


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## Karen58 (Aug 1, 2012)

asmsbs said:


> Hello.
> 
> Me and my boyfriend are thinking about moving to Spain but have never thought about anything like this before so we don't know a real lot about it. Can anyone offer any information on what kind of things there are to think about and where we will start in the process and what we would have to do when we move to Spain?
> 
> ...


I can only advise you not to come - my Spanish friends are looking to send their children to Germany to take up apprenticeships as is a wasteland for jobs. Your skills would be take up in Germany or Australia... life here is great with a secure income... there are no benefits for EU members unless retired and they are scarce. In the area I am in for example.. you cannot get an ambulance after 8pm.. Guardia almost impossible to see face -to face at the weekends.. Denia hospital reluctant to provide any service to tourists in emergency. Food stations are being set-up by expats from many countires as the welfare care here is non-existant.. go get the sun in Australia, English is spoken and your boyfriend might stand a better chance too. For example my 3 year old car Peugeot 407 cost 1300 euro to import. Please do not be seduced by sunshine as it does not pay the rent or put food on the table... Good luck though and come her to retire as cannot think of a better place. Hope Spain can get back on her feet but will take a few years I fear.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

You won't get work as a Nurse in Spain.

Qualify, get some UK experience and look at Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you can work in any of those countries and take your partner with you.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I can't speak for Canada or NZ but if your boyfriends qualifications are not on the list of skilled migrant jobs for Australia then you would have to start looking at alternative visas for him. It's a bit of a faff but there would be options open to him, you would be better off asking on the Australian section of the forum for specifics and you may have to speak up a bit though as someone mentioned IT shortage and the place has gone coo coo bananas.
Also the cost for each of you will be a few thousand pounds just to cover the admin of the applications.
Here is a link with lots of info if you are interested.... http://www.expatforum.com/expats/au...iving-australia/4989-thinking-emigrating.html

There is a nurse shortage in Oz so finding work would probably not be a problem and it'd be better if you found private employment, not by the government as they pay slightly less and you would need every cent of it too as the cost of living in Australia is absolutely horrendous. There are also some nursing requirements but I think it's pretty straight forward with UK qualifications, although a first year RN will make significantly less than one with 10 years experience.
Buying a property is probably out of the question too unless you have large savings or are moving for life.

Still if you can jump through all the hoops, afford the entry fee and secure jobs then I can't fault Australia beyond the cost of living. You have your pick of the land really, any climate you want you can just about find and definitely a great lifestyle when you have the time and money to enjoy it.
We'd move back if we thought it would offer us a chance to get ahead but that's not so easy in Oz as it once was but you guys are young and with no other commitments should be able to make it work for you.


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