# Need help to move to spain!!! :)



## adam1 (May 26, 2012)

Hi all

I have been wanting to move to Spain for a number of years now. I am renting a flat in uk just now and am a full time student, last year i got a HNC in interactive media and web development from college and am due to complete (and hopfully pass) my HND next month, i have managed to save around 1000 pounds so far. Can anyone give me any advice on the best places to live in Spain? How to get a job in Spain? and also how to start moving out there?. Thanks everyone 

Adam


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

adam1 said:


> Hi all
> 
> I have been wanting to move to Spain for a number of years now. I am renting a flat in uk just now and am a full time student, last year i got a HNC in interactive media and web development from college and am due to complete (and hopfully pass) my HND next month, i have managed to save around 1000 pounds so far. Can anyone give me any advice on the best places to live in Spain? How to get a job in Spain? and also how to start moving out there?. Thanks everyone
> 
> Adam


You might be ready, but Spain might not be ready for you Adam! 
You would be extremely fortunate to find work here in Spain ATM. For one thing you'd have to beat 5 million unemployed Spanish to the door, so my top tip is to get a job before you move. There is less unemployment in Madrid and in the north of Spain than in the south where it's currently around 25 - 30%. Look for companies in those areas and send your CV, look at job sites on internet, for example infojobs.net and also look up unemployment/ work/ job/ economy/ economic situation etc on this forum and you'll find plenty of info to keep you going.


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

1000 GBP might get you here, but you won't even have enough left to pay a deposit and first month rent ....


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## JulyB (Jul 18, 2011)

My advice would be thus:

Save up another five thousand.

Learn Spanish (and I mean properly, books, classes, chatting to Spanish people on Skype - _don't_ just buy Rosetta Stone). You need Spanish to do most jobs away from the coast (where there aren't many interesting jobs anyway unless you love herding tourists), and you need Spanish to get an interesting social life. 

Do your research. Get some work experience in the UK. When you've worked in your field, you have much more chance of getting further employment. As everyone will tell you, the job situation is really, truly terrible here right now, in the whole country. Who knows, in a few years - it could be better, could be worse. Don't let them trample your hopes, but don't turn up in Spain now unprepared - give it time, give it thought.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

JulyB said:


> My advice would be thus:
> 
> Save up another five thousand.
> 
> ...


Good advice,and just to make it clear - I'm not interested in trampling on hopes, just introducing some realism into optimism.


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## JulyB (Jul 18, 2011)

It was a general 'Them', Pesky - I didn't mean you. I have a friend, who came out to Spain full of hope and no planning whatsoever, returning to her original country next week and a lot of people have been telling her that she'd never find any work Spain for the next twenty years. Which is just silly. 

I don't think anyone here is quite that miserable.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

JulyB said:


> I
> 
> I don't think anyone here is quite that miserable.


Not yet anyhow!


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Not yet anyhow!


Lol! So true! 

I would absolutely LOVE to be able to tell people to come to Spain and that they would find work instantly and really enjoy every minute of their time here.
I would love to see a few more Brits in our area as, on a purely selfish level, I really miss the Brit sense of humour and the ironic way of looking at life.
For Spain, I would love more people to come here too, particularly those who would help the Spanish economy in some way and to buy up all that empty property.

But sadly it isn't gonna happen..at least for a long time anyway. 

However, that doesn't mean I'm intent on putting people off... as long as they have a well-thought-out plan.
Similar, in fact, to the one *JulyB* described.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I dont understand why people want to move to Spain right now, unless they have a secure income??? Its in crisis!! 
.. And as for trampling on peoples dreams, well its a hard life. I dreamt of being a popstar once, I dream of winning the lottery, I dream of peace on earth, my son dreams of being an F1 racing driver, my daughter dreams of being the next Beyonce..........Dreams are dreams, not reality and should be worked towards maybe, but not allowed to dictate or to take over reality
Jo xxx


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Might be the climate, that was my main reason for coming here, never have liked the cold English winters.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

jojo said:


> I dont understand why people want to move to Spain right now, unless they have a secure income??? Its in crisis!!
> .. And as for trampling on peoples dreams, well its a hard life. I dreamt of being a popstar once, I dream of winning the lottery, I dream of peace on earth, my son dreams of being an F1 racing driver, my daughter dreams of being the next Beyonce..........Dreams are dreams, not reality and should be worked towards maybe, but not allowed to dictate or to take over reality
> Jo xxx


Ohhh - good post Jo!!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Why do people want to move to Spain? In most cases, but not all, it's because they have been on holiday here and have seen the cover of the book. Very enticing and they want to read more and the only way to do that is move here. Our boy was chasing birds on the Balcon the other day (he is 2 so the birds I'm talking about are the feathered variety) and a couple with a baby spoke to us. They talked about how difficult it is to look after children etc and asked where we were staying on our holiday. We said we lived here. They said with a large hint of envy that we were living the dream and since holidaying here they were making plans to move. We spent some time explaining to them what the 'dream' is like in reality and quite frankly it was clear they didn't believe a word of it. So it got me to thinking why. And on the beach with some friends yesterday we decided that as grim as many parts of Spain undoubtedly are visits to supermarkets, shops and restaurants and bars around this area make it look as though there isn't the slightest problem at all.Certainly down here the black economy is rife and the harsh reality is that although the unemployment figures are very high many of those registered as unemployed are working full time in the black economy. Obviously the vast source of new money in the region is tourism and for this area tourism thrives 12 months of the year, getting quieter in the winter but now bustling with people who still find Spain cheap and now more accessible and welcome than other parts of the world where there is conflict and terror. Hotel bookings are up on last year already and most restaurants look busy. Many require advance booking or you won't get in. We had to go to the beach at 10 am yesterday or there would be no hope of parking the car.

So, people visit here and just don't see problems; but they also don't see that all the people working the bars, restaurants, shops and supermarkets (with some exceptions such as hairdresers) are Spanish. If you come here and need to work and don't already have a job lined up you are going to be very disappointed and shocked because it just won't happen for you.

Having said that, on a brighter note, there is work available if you can find it, and that will almost certainly be based on who you know not what you know. We came here nearly two years ago with my pension, savings and a business idea that we still haven't put into practice. I am now teaching English to Spanish kids, start teaching maths to English kids in September, an later in the year we are taking on the running of two holiday apartments and then next year a villa where we will do the meet and greet, bookings and organising the cleaning (we will employ Spanish cleaners) with the strong possibility of more villas later on. All of this not because we searched for work, all of it from people we have met and befriended since we arrived. Did we think we would be doing any of this? Not in a million years but we came here with an open mind and no need to work. Now we are busier than we ever were in UK (99% due to the boy) and living the 'dream'. As someone on here often reminds us, same life different country.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

thrax said:


> We spent some time explaining to them what the 'dream' is like in reality and quite frankly it was clear they didn't believe a word of it. So it got me to thinking why. And on the beach with some friends yesterday we decided that as grim as many parts of Spain undoubtedly are visits to supermarkets, shops and restaurants and bars around this area make it look as though there isn't the slightest problem at all.Certainly down here the black economy is rife and the harsh reality is that although the unemployment figures are very high many of those registered as unemployed are working full time in the black economy. Obviously the vast source of new money in the region is tourism and for this area tourism thrives 12 months of the year, getting quieter in the winter but now bustling with people who still find Spain cheap and now more accessible and welcome than other parts of the world where there is conflict and terror. Hotel bookings are up on last year already and most restaurants look busy. Many require advance booking or you won't get in. We had to go to the beach at 10 am yesterday or there would be no hope of parking the car.
> 
> So, people visit here and just don't see problems; but they also don't see that all the people working the bars, restaurants, shops and supermarkets (with some exceptions such as hairdresers) are Spanish. If you come here and need to work and don't already have a job lined up you are going to be very disappointed and shocked because it just won't happen for you.
> 
> Having said that, on a brighter note, there is work available if you can find it, and that will almost certainly be based on who you know not what you know.


On another thread I and others (muddy, mrypg9??) said the same about supermarkets etc


> I don't think the amount of people in supermarkets and shoppping centres reflects the impact of the crisis, for the reasons that you give. It may do in the UK, I don't know. People have to eat and usually go to supermarkets to get their food. What they are buying is more telling and I believe there has been a pretty big increase in the sale of own brand goods.
> ...
> I think you can see effects of the crisis in bars, shops that close down, who's in the park with the kids at playtime, the price of a menu del día, the price of houses, the number of kids who are staying on at school - things other than supermarkets and shops.


What I'm not so sure about is the often stated practice of working on a cash in hand basis and claiming the dole. The couple of builders I know aren't claiming any benefits. It's just the way they've always worked. The main bulk of their money has never been declared, so I would have thought there was little due to them on the dole anyway. Put together with the idea that they've been builders for years and years and unemployment benefit isn't for years and years, I don't see how the idea that a large group of the population is working in the black and claiming at the same time computes???


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I can only say what I see where we live. One of our friends is a builder and he has to turn work down he is so busy (he is a Brit) but he is very very good and has built up a reputation over many years. With regard to bars and shops we see new shops opening every week here and bars and restaurants are always very busy (apart from the Brit owned bars). I agree that people are buying more carefully and often supermarket own brands. There is also an increase in obvious new builds including what appears to be a new supermarket. House prices are falling here but not as quickly in other parts of Spain. All the kids I teach have parents who are working (at least at the moment) and they all strike me as pretty affluent. Kids in the parks are accompanied by mums and very rarely dads (although that in itself doesn't mean that the dads have jobs - pride is still very important). None of the Brits we know here and their British friends are planning a return to the UK. The Spanish we know all argue about the real numbers of unemployed while thriving on the black economy themselves. We know a guy who runs three restaurants and all of them are very busy most nights. Yesterday the beach was packed with Spanish families and tourists trying to find a spot, the typical Sunday outing to the beach, and all armed with the most extraordianary assortment of cooking facilities and mountains of food. (We had to make do with our small cool box and we looked hopelessly inadequate!!) Of course Spain is in crisis, I just think that because of the black economy the figures are skewed. Doesn't mean for an instance that I would encourage people to move to Spain. Now is not the time if you need to find work.


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## adam1 (May 26, 2012)

Thanks for the posts everyone, i think after reading i will continue with my studies over heer for the next 2 years until i have a degree and then hopfully move to spain.

x


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

adam1 said:


> Thanks for the posts everyone, i think after reading i will continue with my studies over heer for the next 2 years until i have a degree and then hopfully move to spain.
> 
> x


 Thats the best choice. But you can always flit over to Spain and start making, friends, plans, inroads, gaining knowledge. I moved back to the UK eight months ago, but I often pop over and visit. altho the price of flights has shot up for the summer, but its a good way to "get in"!!!

Jo xxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

adam1 said:


> Thanks for the posts everyone, i think after reading i will continue with my studies over heer for the next 2 years until i have a degree and then hopfully move to spain.
> 
> x


Good for you Adam.

It might be an idea to keep in touch with the news in Europe in general over the next couple of years to see what's happening. Drop in here every few months and look at past posts, see what's up.
And of course come over here and see different places at different times of the year and do non touristy things, like going to supermarkets and furniture shops. Look at office areas out of the cities and what kind of companies are there...


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