# Help Moving to Spain



## JayJay80 (Jun 21, 2016)

Hi all

My wife and I have always wanted to move to Spain, and planned to do this when we retired. However with the property boom in England we now have enough equity to do this earlier than we thought. We still need to work but with our equity would love to buy a leasehold for a supermarket or mini mart and make a living this way, ideally in the Costa Del Sol. Does anyone have any idea how possible this is or is it just too unrealistic?

We'd have to sell our house to raise the funds and then eventually buy a new property somewhere once we've settled in. We speak very little Spanish but are going to do our best to learn, before putting our house on the market we need to know how realistic our dreams are and are struggling to find any answers, so thought we'd search for help here!

Also would anyone have any idea how much you can expect to earn monthly from running a supermarket?

Any sort of advice would be so much appreciated, thank you.

James


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## soja (Apr 10, 2016)

JayJay80 said:


> Hi all
> 
> My wife and I have always wanted to move to Spain, and planned to do this when we retired. However with the property boom in England we now have enough equity to do this earlier than we thought. We still need to work but with our equity would love to buy a leasehold for a supermarket or mini mart and make a living this way, ideally in the Costa Del Sol. Does anyone have any idea how possible this is or is it just too unrealistic?
> 
> ...


With all due respect, everyone says they're going to learn Spanish, but it takes years to learn, it's not something you learn in 6 months with 2 hours of lessons a week. So if you're going to run a supermarket you'd have to do it in an area with a high concentration of British immigrants, so that narrows down your choices on where to live.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Soja is quite right, it takes a long long time to be truly at ease in Spanish, or any language for that matter. Speaking is the easier part. Understanding what is said to you at quick-fire pace is quite another matter. 
I worked as an interpreter/translator and teacher of foreign languages in the UK. I've been in Spain nearly eight years and can say more or less whatever I want in Spanish but I'm still only at the 80% level of complete understanding of what I hear.
So you would have to focus on areas with loads of British immigrants, places like Benidorm, Alicante, Torremolinos, Benalmadena.....but of course there are already very many British-run shops, minimarkets, bars, businesses of all kinds in these areas.
f I were you I personally wouldn't put my UK house on the market as the project you describe seems risky.
But it's up to you.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

I am persevering with an online course. I have now completed 5 months ( 1/2 hour every morning) and today got my 5% fluency award. Am well chuffed as I find it bloody hard however at 5% every 5 months it will be 8'years at this rate before I gain fluency in conversational Spanish.


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## JayJay80 (Jun 21, 2016)

Thanks, this is why we are looking to move to the Costa Del Sol as it appears to have a larger expat community than other parts of Spain, am I right in thinking this? How many people from Britain live and work in Spain and speak fluent Spanish? Is it something we should master before even thinking of moving or is it possible to move and learn more while we're there? Ideally we would like to move to an area with a large concentration of British immigrants.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

There are people living and working/running British pubs in Benidorm for 20 years and have no more than a half dozen Spanish words Sad, ridiculous, but true


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

JayJay80 said:


> Thanks, this is why we are looking to move to the Costa Del Sol as it appears to have a larger expat community than other parts of Spain, am I right in thinking this? How many people from Britain live and work in Spain and speak fluent Spanish? Is it something we should master before even thinking of moving or is it possible to move and learn more while we're there? Ideally we would like to move to an area with a large concentration of British immigrants.


You don't need Spanish to move to Spain, or do certain jobs in Spain, however you probably do when it comes to running a supermarket. It's things like dealing with suppliers, service providers, licensing, accounting, employing people, etc. Some of it can be done by an agent (gestor) but then you still wouldn't really be in control of your business.


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## JayJay80 (Jun 21, 2016)

Thank you, all these things have crossed my mind it's such a big risk. Could be the worst decision we've ever made, or the best. If we didn't have 2 young daughters we'd go for it, but are really hesitant having a young family. Thanks for all your replies and advice


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

JayJay80 said:


> Thank you, all these things have crossed my mind it's such a big risk. Could be the worst decision we've ever made, or the best. If we didn't have 2 young daughters we'd go for it, but are really hesitant having a young family. Thanks for all your replies and advice


I'm wondering if you have any business experience particularly in retail...you ask how much monthly earnings would be, which rather leads me to think you haven't had much experience...forgive me if I'm wrong!
Your earnings will, obviously, depend on how many customers you attract, what kind of profit margin you'd need, how much your overheads would be, on the area you decide on, on the competition....a lot to think about.
Minimarkets in Spain tend to be open from early morning to very late at night, not much time to lie in the sun with a beer or whatever. Then you need to bear in mind that much trade could be seasonal, depending on your chosen area.
There are requirements for living in Spain too, such as the need to prove an income of around 600 euros a person, including children, so in your case 2400 euros a month, plus savings which some areas require. Then there's health insurance as you won't qualify until you've paid into the system, unlike in the UK. Benefits are minimal here, no Child Benefit or tax credits as such. I think you'd have to be autonomo, which costs around 250 euros a month regardless of earnings....but others know more about that than I do.
So you've got a lot to think about. I personally wouldn't entertain the idea, far too risky for me but then I'm very risk averse.
But that may be the reason why I'm happily living in Spain with no worries....


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## JayJay80 (Jun 21, 2016)

mrypg9 said:


> I'm wondering if you have any business experience particularly in retail...you ask how much monthly earnings would be, which rather leads me to think you haven't had much experience...forgive me if I'm wrong!
> Your earnings will, obviously, depend on how many customers you attract, what kind of profit margin you'd need, how much your overheads would be, on the area you decide on, on the competition....a lot to think about.
> Minimarkets in Spain tend to be open from early morning to very late at night, not much time to lie in the sun with a beer or whatever. Then you need to bear in mind that much trade could be seasonal, depending on your chosen area.
> There are requirements for living in Spain too, such as the need to prove an income of around 600 euros a person, including children, so in your case 2400 euros a month, plus savings which some areas require. Then there's health insurance as you won't qualify until you've paid into the system, unlike in the UK. Benefits are minimal here, no Child Benefit or tax credits as such. I think you'd have to be autonomo, which costs around 250 euros a month regardless of earnings....but others know more about that than I do.
> ...


Thank you for taking the time to advise us. Its all very daunting however we tend to do things that are a risk and have done very well in England that way, hence the opportunity to buy a business and property in Spain,but weighing up the risks we can't decide if it'll be worth it:confused2: Maybe we should just wait until we're retired


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Minimarkets in Spain tend to be open from early morning to very late at night,


And in my area tend to be owned by people of Chinese origin!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

JayJay80 said:


> Thank you for taking the time to advise us. Its all very daunting however we tend to do things that are a risk and have done very well in England that way, hence the opportunity to buy a business and property in Spain,but weighing up the risks we can't decide if it'll be worth it:confused2: Maybe we should just wait until we're retired


It's a decision only you can make..
Another point to consider.....I don't know how well you know Spain or how much time you've spent here but living and holidays are totally different.
Before we came to live in Spain we lived in Prague. I'd visited and stayed for long periods, staying with Czech friends, for over thirty years before we actually moved there....moving to live there full-time was something I always wanted to do...yet after three years I was so happy to leave/. We were so glad we didn't buy property there.
We are retired, not looking for work, sold business and residential properties in the UK and have no intention of returning. We have no ties to the UK. But you have to consider what you'd do if you came to Spain, found things didn't work out as planned...and you had nowhere in the UK to return to. It's different with dependents, ours is grown up, off our hands.
All things to consider...but no reason not to make frequent visits.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Rabbitcat said:


> I am persevering with an online course. I have now completed 5 months ( 1/2 hour every morning) and today got my 5% fluency award. Am well chuffed as I find it bloody hard however at 5% every 5 months it will be 8'years at this rate before I gain fluency in conversational Spanish.


Which course are you doing RC?


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Duolingo


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

DAMAR620 said:


> /SNIP/


Please don't advertise on the forum!
Read rule 10 in the forum rules
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/general-expat-discussions/2397-forum-rules.html


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