# Coming back to Spain



## lshilleto (Sep 30, 2008)

Hi Just managed to shoehorn the missus off the pc and wanted to add a few bits and ask for some advice. We really are dead set on moving to spain but 2 things are bothering me above everything else. first is my daughter fitting in at school but she is a tough little cookie and i think she will be ok, second is work, i am a wall and floor tiler of which im sure are in abundance over there. I was hoping to target the expat community but again probably already in abundance or am i wrong? my wife is a hairdresser and she was hoping to taget expats but again the abundance thingy?. My old man is also comin out, he is a builder (i know, way in abundance) but he did build pools in uk at one time and there aint much he dont know bout pools but i guess this is also covered. Sorry will get to the point and that is we are all hardworking and willing to give anything a go. Me and the missus lived in Mijas 1999 for about a year and i got a job as a wharehouse manager for a shop called Imperial furnture ( dont know if its still there) and that was great so you know i can turn me hand to anything. 
so is it bad workwise across the board or is it certain industries.
Just for the record things are getting bad here in good ol blighty. Housebuilding has stopped, construction slowing elsewhere. Ford in southampton laying off and cutting production, banking in a big ol mess and the high street bracing itself


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

lshilleto said:


> Just for the record things are getting bad here in good ol blighty. Housebuilding has stopped, construction slowing elsewhere. Ford in southampton laying off and cutting production, banking in a big ol mess and the high street bracing itself


 Change Southampton for Valencia and you've described Spain. Then add SEAT in BCN plus one or two others.

Since 1999 ime (I've been here non-stop since then) the population has grown mainly through immigration - both within and from outside the EU. Most of these are manual labour and many ARE also skilled handymen. Whereas before Builders had Africa labourers they tend now to be Eastern Europeans - who seem to have a MUCH better command of Spanish. The vast majority worked in building which had an artificial boom. That died. About 650,000 went on the dole in the first half of this year

There are also masses of South Americans here now - certainly more than in 1999. And many are high skilled (I know doctors and lawyers doing casual gardening) searching desperately for unskilled work. The situation is so dire that the government is offering to pay their airfares home and pay them money to go. Unemployment is at about 16% - and in teh south nearer to 20%

Spain took a real hit in the skilled sector in 2000/2001 - when salaries dropped for new contracts/employment by about 40%. In the casual labour section salaries have hardly risen in the last 5 years BUT housing has soared in cost (4-5 times depending on area). 

Frankly - unless you have a job and know you can live on your income - DONT DO IT. Ride it it as long as you can.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I overheard some British chaps chatting in a bar the other day, They were builders - out of work and doing "odd jobs" here and there and they were saying that there is a lot of bad feeling now from the out of work spanish builders, who were allegedly "keying" their vans, sabotaging their work, taking their tools from opened vans while they were unloading etc......They also were having a moan about the Eastern European builders, who were coming along and undercutting everyone... Obviously I cant comment on how true or whether this was just idle tittle tattle. But I think it shows there is a certain ammount of unrest within the building trade, certainly in my area. IMO. I would say that Spain has a far worse crisis going on in the building sector than the UK. There are simply hundreds of half built houses and entire urbanisations sitting untouched and abandoned around here - I have one half built house next door and two opposite me!


As for hairdressing for your wife, well there are an awful lot of ex-pat hairdressers who ""do the rounds"" ie, come to your house and cut hair etc. How successful they are depends on word of mouth and how good they are. So it could be a bit of extra money once you're known in a community. Hairdressing shops would require good Spanish I would have thought, but I dont know and I dont know how that particular profession is coping in the current economic climate.

It is a bit grim for anyone coming to Spain, my husband commutes and has a business in the UK, which is the only way we can stay here. 

Jo


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

jojo said:


> They also were having a moan about the Eastern European builders, who were coming along and undercutting everyone...


And in my experience work very well.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

lshilleto said:


> 2 things are bothering me above everything else. first is my daughter fitting in at school but she is a tough little cookie and i think she will be ok, second is work, i am a wall and floor tiler of which im sure are in abundance over there. my wife is a hairdresser and she was hoping to taget expats but again the abundance thingy?. My old man is also comin out, he is a builder (i know, way in abundance) but he did build pools in uk at one time and there aint much h
> 
> Just for the record things are getting bad here in good ol blighty. Housebuilding has stopped, construction slowing elsewhere. Ford in southampton laying off and cutting production, banking in a big ol mess and the high street bracing itself


Hi there and welcome back to the forum,

I have to say if you are seriously thinking you can make a living in the South of Spain based on the skill set you have described above, then you seriously need to havea re-think. As Chris has already said, things are in a bad way here, especially when it comes to construction in the South.

If you were moving ot the North then you might get a job in construction, as it seems to be continuing to thrive in these parts, but saying that you would defo need to speak Spanish, as not many people speak English in thse parts - lol

Hairdressers are 10 a penny, so not exactly the land of opportunity for those skilled in cutting hair, but I here its high on the list of wanted skills in Australia


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## Pasanada (Feb 5, 2008)

I live on the Costa Blanca; don't even consider coming to the Costa's at the moment. You WILL struggle financially. Spain in 1999 is not the Spain of 2008. There is a lot of misery here right now.


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## epsony (Oct 27, 2008)

Hi. You would be ok if you came to live in this area. There is still building work going on and pools always needed looking after. You have the best of both worlds here, mix with the Spanish, as my English friend who is a builder does, and he gets work from them but also there is an expat community that just have to hear a few good-work stories about you and your name will be passed around easily. (SNIP)


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## DROOBY (Aug 5, 2008)

epsony said:


> Hi. You would be ok if you came to live in this area. There is still building work going on and pools always needed looking after. You have the best of both worlds here, mix with the Spanish, as my English friend who is a builder does, and he gets work from them but also there is an expat community that just have to hear a few good-work stories about you and your name will be passed around easily. (SNIP)


Hi epsony you don't mention the area in which you stay.

Welcome

D


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