# thinking of moving to Spain next year



## aswalmer (Sep 8, 2011)

Hola everyone, I'm new to this forum so all suggestions are very welcome. I'm am possibly moving to Spain with my young family this time next year after saving a nice nest egg for us. At present I'm a uk police officer in London and today's rush and troubles I see on a daily basis have urged me to take this move seriously / career break. I am doing my TESL course in order to teach English in Spain aswell as my partner setting up a little cafe. Can anybody please advise me on the best places to move to in Spain which is great for tourism and local customer year round.

Many Thanks

Andy


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

aswalmer said:


> Hola everyone, I'm new to this forum so all suggestions are very welcome. I'm am possibly moving to Spain with my young family this time next year after saving a nice nest egg for us. At present I'm a uk police officer in London and today's rush and troubles I see on a daily basis have urged me to take this move seriously / career break. I am doing my TESL course in order to teach English in Spain aswell as my partner setting up a little cafe. Can anybody please advise me on the best places to move to in Spain which is great for tourism and local customer year round.
> 
> Many Thanks
> 
> Andy


Hi & welcome

is your nest egg enough to set you up in business & support you and your family for a year or so?

have a really good read of the recent threads about moving here, unemployment is seriously high & many many Spaniards are leaving Spain to look for work in the UK among other places because there simply isn't the work here

as far as where to have all year business for a cafe - well in the good times I'd say almost anywhere on the coast really, but perhaps especially the Canaries........they at least have all year good weather there

how well do you know Spain? 

do you have any favourite parts?


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## aswalmer (Sep 8, 2011)

Thanks for your reply. I will have around 10k and plan to rent. The only places I've been to in Spain are Ibiza and Mallorca but not the mainland. I know many people come to the uk for better employment and work but from what see every day, the uk is far from perfect apart from free handouts. We are looking for a slower pace in Spain and really wanna make a life over there. We are hoping to reside more inland where the rent is cheaper and to set up business on the coast ( alicante, Malaga etc ) to get the tourist trade aswell as local trade. I have spent hours searching online but every page seems a good option so I thought the best people to ask are the people living or who have lived in Spain. We plan a couple of weekend breaks to different areas in Spain at different times of the year so we can see how busy our chosen areas are. 

Thanks

Andy


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

aswalmer said:


> Thanks for your reply. I will have around 10k and plan to rent. The only places I've been to in Spain are Ibiza and Mallorca but not the mainland. I know many people come to the uk for better employment and work but from what see every day, the uk is far from perfect apart from free handouts. We are looking for a slower pace in Spain and really wanna make a life over there. We are hoping to reside more inland where the rent is cheaper and to set up business on the coast ( alicante, Malaga etc ) to get the tourist trade aswell as local trade. I have spent hours searching online but every page seems a good option so I thought the best people to ask are the people living or who have lived in Spain. We plan a couple of weekend breaks to different areas in Spain at different times of the year so we can see how busy our chosen areas are.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Andy


10,000 euros or pounds will barely get you started really, I'm afraid

that would be eaten up in the first few weeks just on rentals of a home & a business, business licences, traspaso, deposits, - fitting out a cafe if you don't find one ready to go will cost more than that

you need to save _enough to support your family for a year at least_, working on the assumption that you won't make any profit for at least a year - heck, when I was setting up restaurants in the UK in the good times, we didn't expect to more than break even for a year, let alone make a profit

I know it's not what you're wanting to hear, but that's the reality of it


the Spanish aren't leaving spain for better jobs..............they are leaving for ANY job


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

*That being said..........*



xabiachica said:


> 10,000 euros or pounds will barely get you started really, I'm afraid
> 
> that would be eaten up in the first few weeks just on rentals of a home & a business, business licences, traspaso, deposits, - fitting out a cafe if you don't find one ready to go will cost more than that
> 
> ...


I arrived in Madrid on 5th February this year without a cent to my name. I lived with my daughter in central Madrid and worked around the clock teaching English. Now, just 7 months later my daughter and I have a thriving teaching academy and employ 8 teachers. That being said, I have no young children to worry about so I had no hesitation about "having a go". There are still opportunities here in Madrid for anyone willing to get off of their backsides.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> I arrived in Madrid on 5th February this year without a cent to my name. I lived with my daughter in central Madrid and worked around the clock teaching English. Now, just 7 months later my daughter and I have a thriving teaching academy and employ 8 teachers. That being said, I have no young children to worry about so I had no hesitation about "having a go". There are still opportunities here in Madrid for anyone willing to get off of their backsides.


yes, it CAN be done

but as you so rightly say, you're in Madrid - a whole different kettle of fish

and as you say, you don't have a young family to support, so if it had all gone wrong it would be easy to upsticks or just try something else

I know you'll agree that it's totally different in a brit tourist area & with kids to worry about


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> yes, it CAN be done
> 
> but as you so rightly say, you're in Madrid - a whole different kettle of fish
> 
> ...


I'm in Madrid and my earnings are down because I concentrate on classes in companies, where the good money always was before. Now they've got neither the money nor the staff for classes.
So Truebrit sounds like business is booming for you, but you're not in Madrid city, are you? You set the business up really quickly. Is it quicker to get licenses these days, 'cos years ago it took ages (years!) to get them. I wonder how much are you paying your teachers? Enough to live on and support a family? 
Well, good luck to you and may the students continue to enrol!


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## aswalmer (Sep 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your honest and quick responses, my partner wants to set up near the coast and I'm willing to travel inland for teaching work etc. Our home rent is all sorted for the first year so it's just getting everything in place. Can you please message me your company details so as soon as I'm ready for the move I could enquire about possible contracts. 

Again many thanks to all.

Andy


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

aswalmer said:


> Thanks everyone for your honest and quick responses, my partner wants to set up near the coast and I'm willing to travel inland for teaching work etc. Our home rent is all sorted for the first year so it's just getting everything in place. Can you please message me your company details so as soon as I'm ready for the move I could enquire about possible contracts.
> 
> Again many thanks to all.
> 
> Andy


He can't send you a PM until you've made 5 posts. He could however send you a visitors message.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I'm in Madrid and my earnings are down because I concentrate on classes in companies, where the good money always was before. Now they've got neither the money nor the staff for classes.
> So Truebrit sounds like business is booming for you, but you're not in Madrid city, are you? You set the business up really quickly. Is it quicker to get licenses these days, 'cos years ago it took ages (years!) to get them. I wonder how much are you paying your teachers? Enough to live on and support a family?
> Well, good luck to you and may the students continue to enrol!


Hi Pesky, it took 9 weeks to get my license and I pay my teachers 18e on contract and 24e autonomo.


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## aswalmer (Sep 8, 2011)

Thanks 

Andy


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## djfwells (Sep 28, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> Hi Pesky, it took 9 weeks to get my license and I pay my teachers 18e on contract and 24e autonomo.


I can well beleive those rates of pay for a thriving capital city and commercial city, where English speakers are thin on the ground, but out on the Costas I wouldn't be at all surprised if the rates were half that.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

djfwells said:


> I can well beleive those rates of pay for a thriving capital city and commercial city, where English speakers are thin on the ground, but out on the Costas I wouldn't be at all surprised if the rates were half that.


it's a few years ago, but I used to get 10 euros autonomo from an academy - and times were better then so I wouldn't be surprised if they have gone down


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> Hi Pesky, it took 9 weeks to get my license and I pay my teachers 18e on contract and 24e autonomo.


Thanks for the info Trubrit.

I think those rates are pretty much the going rates at a _*good*_ academy in the Madrid area, and fine for a single person, but it's not enough for a family to live off.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Realistically, the OP has very little prospect of making a go of teaching English and running a cafe on the Costas at this present time and in the foreseeable future.
Unemployment in Spain as a whole is running at 21% and rising and it's much higher on the Costas. In my area it's over 34% and will get worse now the season is almost over.
Spaniards looking for work and down-on -their-luck Brits are heading for the UK.
Many of them will not receive these mythical 'free hand-outs'. (See 'A salutory warning' post).
£10k will not see you through a year, as someone has pointed out. Rent, utilities, transport - you will have to put your UK car on Spanish plates - taxes if you are self-employed which begin at just under 300 euros a month regardless of your earnings. All these will eat into that. There will be the cost of travel to the coast and you may well find fewer opportunities for English teaching inland. There are an awful lot of TEFL teachers about so competition will reduce rates of pay.
Then there's health insurance - you won't qualify for free health care until you have paid sufficient contributions into the system and to do that you must become resident and registered on the padron which could disqualify you from free emergency treatment as you will lose your UK residency rights.
Contrary to what many people seem to believe, life in Spain is not that 'laid-back' if you are living without regular well-paid work and on a tight budget.
Even in Brit immigrant areas a good knowledge of Spanish is essential. Some areas of Spain are every bit as 'rough' as some areas in the UK (there are some dodgy Northern Europeans here).
As for running a cafe...ask yourself why so many are for sale in almost every area. Off-season many touristy places are dead.
The truth is that the immigrants enjoying life here are those who are retired with good pensions, those with permanent well-paid jobs or those who have partners working abroad or internet-based businesses.
Of course there are exceptions and a combination of experience, skill and luck will see some make a go of it.
But for every twenty, one succeeds....and nineteen will fail.
The odds are not good.
Sorry to be so unenthusiastic, but we tend to get a lot of posts from people wanting to move to Spain at this time of year.
Happy holiday memories.....


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

just to add my twopennyworth. Ask yourself why you want to leave the UK and why you want to move to Spain. If the answers are "laid back lifestyle, sunshine, fed up with the UK" then dont do it! If your answers are, you have experience in running cafes/bars, you like and understand hard work, you are fluent in spanish and understand the complicated business and employment laws, you have no income in the UK and nothing to lose then well maybe!

Spain isnt an easy option, its not sunny or laid back all the year round and sadly the economic crisis in Spain is worse than it is in the UK.

What you could do is have an extended holiday and live off your nest egg for a few months, relax and enjoy the break, but dont burn your UK bridges or buy a cafe

Jo xxx


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