# Jobs in spain



## sjmbrighton (Jun 7, 2009)

Hello all,

Newbie here,

My wife and I are thinking of selling up and moving to Spain (Valencia), but things seem to be quite confusing. We are still young so would be looking to continue working, I'm a network engineer and my wife does admin type work. I've noticed there doesn't seem to be a great deal of jobs advertised and have also heard that a lot of positions aren't advertised as such and that internal candidates are prefered.

Have any of you guys had the experience of trying to find work before arriving or is it best to wait till you've settled in? also does anyone know if IT jobs are in demand in spain? I can't seem to find any details on it on the web.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated

many thanks : )


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

The simple answer is - there is precious little work available. Unless you speak FLUENT Spanish then your chance of employment is minimal except with the Brit/US multi-nationals. 
Almost every company is laying off staff and in Málaga province some figures say that unemployment rates could hit 30% before they drop. 20% nationally is a very real danger within the next few months. 

If you look through dozens of previous posts you will see I have precised a lot of the info. That said, you only need one break to get one job. I hope you get it.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

sjmbrighton said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Newbie here,
> 
> ...



Hhhmm, I think you should come over and do a bit of research first. Selling up is not a good move, house prices are apparently starting to rise in the UK and they definately are not in spain, in fact they're predicting another 20% drop over the next 18 months.

Jobs here are scarce, the tourist industry is very poor this year, the car industry is in decline and the construction industry has crashed! So there is serious unemployment over here, and thats amongst the spanish and the expats already here!

But as I say, you should come over and have alook and see what you can find out, you never know and if it doesnt work out you'll have had a holiday

Jo xxx


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

sjmbrighton said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Newbie here,
> 
> ...


Can either of you speak Spanish do at least conversational level ?

If not, a long holiday might be your best bet


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

sjmbrighton said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Newbie here,
> 
> ...


Hello SJMBRIGHTON and welcome to the forum.

The first thing you could do is register with jobserve.co.uk and put in a filter of "spain". You'll find quite a few agencies posts looking for people for the Spanish market. Obviously they're not looking for people to run tcp/ip cable in buildings or helpdesk level 1 staff, but if you have a specialism, specially SAP, CRM, Oracle DBA and the like, you might find it very interesting.

Another sight worth a look is infojobs.net - this allows you to put in key words and not necessarily an area. So, you put in C++ or .NET programmer and you might get lucky and find a company advertising in English, though even then you are likely to need Spanish also. Defenetely worth a look though. Both the above can be tested before you come over.

Be aware that Spain is VERY paper oriented. So, if an agency from the UK gets you in because you have a demonstrable expertise in say, SAP FI, CRM or MRP II, then not an issue. But if you come to sell yourself, you will need paper to backup your claim. Generally this needs to go through a process that can take 9 months to make your UK qualifications, Spain recognised.

Bottom line then. If you're in IT and can get a job to come to via a reputable agency, do that. Also, if you get a job in say, Barcelona, the salary will conpensate for the cost of living there... or at least it should, and if it's SAP you're into, it most defenitely will. The benefit to Barcelona over Madrid is that (vaya, vaya, alli hay playa) they have beaches 

Good luck and happy hunting.

Xose


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Thanks Xose, good industry-specific information. As we all know, in Spain it is very often who you know rather than what you know so agressive networking is important. I have an interview tomorrow with a local company presidente. There is no vacancy advertised, nor is there even a specific vacancy but he heard of my telecom experience and thought that we should "at least have a coffee". Let's see, what have I got to lose? Nothing!


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

SteveHall said:


> Thanks Xose, good industry-specific information. As we all know, in Spain it is very often who you know rather than what you know so agressive networking is important. I have an interview tomorrow with a local company presidente. There is no vacancy advertised, nor is there even a specific vacancy but he heard of my telecom experience and thought that we should "at least have a coffee". Let's see, what have I got to lose? Nothing!


Someone said on here recently (was it you?) that networking can be a double edged sward.

In answer to your “self question” – what have you got to loose? – depends on the impression you leave him with, who he is (perceived as this is what counts) and who he knows.

Have a good one.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Thanks Xose. I have met him a few times and know enough of his organisation to know that there "could" be a match. (Been doing some digging this week too! All looks clean!) ¡Vamos a ver!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

You can also look at jobs up for grabs here
Jobs in Madrid - Spain - for English Speaking Professionals
Jobs in Spain employment vacancies and opportunities in Spain - Recruitment Spain


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> You can also look at jobs up for grabs here
> Jobs in Madrid - Spain - for English Speaking Professionals
> Jobs in Spain employment vacancies and opportunities in Spain - Recruitment Spain


Hola Pesky,
I loved the Recruit Sapin one. Thought to myself, blimey, looks like the technology poligono industrial that's just closed up near JoJo's moved to Gibraltar - talk about LOADS of IT jobs there!

Then I noticed some of them go back to 2006. Clearly they suffer from the same syndrome that I notice in most Spanish web sites - cost of building, not a lot, cost of ownership, not a lot either, and so hardly the most up to date sites on the web. 

Still, good for contacts though.

Xose


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Xose said:


> Hola Pesky,
> I loved the Recruit Sapin one. Thought to myself, blimey, looks like the technology poligono industrial that's just closed up near JoJo's moved to Gibraltar - talk about LOADS of IT jobs there!
> 
> Then I noticed some of them go back to 2006. Clearly they suffer from the same syndrome that I notice in most Spanish web sites - cost of building, not a lot, cost of ownership, not a lot either, and so hardly the most up to date sites on the web.
> ...


I hadn't noticed the dates. I'm always looking for teaching jobs and they seem to move with the times more. It is true to say though, you never know what might come up on those sites.
What I have noticed is all the on line betting gambling job offers in Gibraltar.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

I have been involved with the IT industry in Gibraltar - my clear understanding is that they are nearly all laying people off and if there are jobs on offer I'd want to be very sure that these are definite current vacancies before I spent too much time looking for accommodation in Gibraltar.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

My take on coming to Spain to work is to think how you would do it if you were planning to relocate to somewhere in the UK... I dunno... Cornwall from Manchester for example. Would you go down there and hope, look when you got there?? Or would you apply before hand and go for an interview etc??? Bearing in mind that you speak the same language and that there are probably more jobs available in Cornwall. But apart from that, you need to be using the same logic!

Jo xxx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

something else that a friend pointed out to me earlier today. There are a lot of school leavers coming on to the job market in Spain at the mo and a lot of expat kids who are totally bilingual. My friends daughter has just got herself a holiday job and a lot of others are all going down to the coast looking for bar work etc for the summer with varying degrees of success. The point is, they are ALL bilingual and are all prepared to work for peanuts

Jo xxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

jojo said:


> My take on coming to Spain to work is to think how you would do it if you were planning to relocate to somewhere in the UK... I dunno... Cornwall from Manchester for example. Would you go down there and hope, look when you got there?? Or would you apply before hand and go for an interview etc??? Bearing in mind that you speak the same language and that there are probably more jobs available in Cornwall. But apart from that, you need to be using the same logic!
> 
> Jo xxx


Good advice. I think the "holiday" that you use to sus the situation out is a good start, but "diving in" to a country without a job to go to is a big risk. That's ok if you are prepared to take that risk and that it's not the end of the world for you if it doesn't work out.
Is smbrighton reading these posts or are we so negative the original poster has got throughly p**s off?!?


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

jojo said:


> something else that a friend pointed out to me earlier today. There are a lot of school leavers coming on to the job market in Spain at the mo and a lot of expat kids who are totally bilingual. My friends daughter has just got herself a holiday job and a lot of others are all going down to the coast looking for bar work etc for the summer with varying degrees of success. The point is, they are ALL bilingual and are all prepared to work for peanuts
> 
> Jo xxx


...and most of these shool leavers (and licenciados ) will be expected to work for nothing as they are getting the privilage of practice at the firms expense 

Having said all this, there are clearly several types of Job Market and I'm not sure this is necessarily the exclusive market for would be expats

By far the best option IMO if the option is there, use an agency. They circumnavigate all the crap an individual has to go through here when it comes to certification, past performance and the like. If a person has a particular skill, be it in IT, Medical, Business administration or whatever and their level of Spanish is just passable, the agency will have insider knowledge of how much an employer is willing to give up to get that expertise for that price.

Aside from the skilled pro, there's also a world of opportunity in Spain when it comes to new markets for the entrepreneur. Have a look around the UK "nice little earners" and you'll find most of them aren't here yet. I find it impossible to find the builder, the gardener, the general DIY replacement type that isn't a bloody company and charges an arm and a leg for a day's work. A friend of ours has used up most of his iou's getting an old friend to lay some patio stone for him. I'm finding it impossible to find a guy to come and cut grass, strim hedges etc., but easy to find a gardening company to come and do it - at about €200 per day!!

Bottom line, if you are patient, keen and able to provide a small operator type service on areas not requiring certification such as plumbing and electrics, there's work out there and those people looking for help here and there will tell you that's it's impossible to find unless they turn to good old Luis who's over 60 and won't be around much longer. 

Just an observation, a relative has recently started this kind of thing in the UK. Fixing garden fencing and the like. Within months he's up to his ears in work. Word of mouth got out faster than he realised and he doesn't even need the local add any more. That kind of thing works here too. Trouble is, most people have only realised this with their tractor for ploughing small holdings and the like. The small job builder/cafts person, grass cutting/hedge trimming white van dude has yet to arrive. I live in hope


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

> Just an observation, a relative has recently started this kind of thing in the UK. Fixing garden fencing and the like. Within months he's up to his ears in work. Word of mouth got out faster than he realised and he doesn't even need the local add any more. That kind of thing works here too. Trouble is, most people have only realised this with their tractor for ploughing small holdings and the like. The small job builder/cafts person, grass cutting/hedge trimming white van dude has yet to arrive. I live in hope


He's here Xose, working on my garage soon to become a living room *at this very moment*. He started working on a house in my "urbanizacion" 8 years ago and since then has worked almost exclusively here. One man job, gets help if he needs it. But this is the Sierra de Madrid. Perhaps Madrid is different!


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> He's here Xose, working on my garage soon to become a living room *at this very moment*. He started working on a house in my "urbanizacion" 8 years ago and since then has worked almost exclusively here. One man job, gets help if he needs it. But this is the Sierra de Madrid. Perhaps Madrid is different!


Perhaps it is. Unless of course there's someone else looking for a guy like him and can't find one.

His name's not Luis is it - about mid 60's ish


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Xose said:


> Perhaps it is. Unless of course there's someone else looking for a guy like him and can't find one.
> 
> His name's not Luis is it - about mid 60's ish


No, Demetrio, age dunno, younger than 60. Anyway, he's MY builder. Don't take him away


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Xose said:


> ...and most of these shool leavers (and licenciados ) will be expected to work for nothing as they are getting the privilage of practice at the firms expense
> 
> Having said all this, there are clearly several types of Job Market and I'm not sure this is necessarily the exclusive market for would be expats
> 
> ...


You gotta be joking?? theres a bar down the road from me and you wouldnt dare go near the place and say does anyone know a "gardener/builder/odd job man/pool cleaner/man with a van.... You'd be run down in the stampede!!!!! There are 100s, no 1000s of guys like that around here and all desperate

Jo xxxx


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

jojo said:


> You gotta be joking?? theres a bar down the road from me and you wouldnt dare go near the place and say does anyone know a "gardener/builder/odd job man/pool cleaner/man with a van.... You'd be run down in the stampede!!!!! There are 100s, no 1000s of guys like that around here and all desperate
> 
> Jo xxxx


Desperate?! - in a Bar?! Yeah, that sounds about right actually.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Xose said:


> Desperate?! - in a Bar?! Yeah, that sounds about right actually.



Yep!!! . Typical isnt it!!! However, everyone locally knows where to go if they need someone cheap and eager!!.... er....well cheap anyway  

I

Jo xxxxxx


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

jojo said:


> Yep!!! . Typical isnt it!!! However, everyone locally knows where to go if they need someone cheap and eager!!.... er....well cheap anyway
> 
> I
> 
> Jo xxxxxx


Well, no one here knows. But I bet they'd be told quickly if they went in a bar and asked the question

To be honest, I was actually referring to the proper Autonomo type who does it for a living. I think most of the people around here would rather pass on €100 of labouring for a day than risk being stitched up and loose their dole etc.

Oddly enough, the areas of child minding, elderly companion, house help for cleaning and ironing etc., have taken off big time with papers stuck in the local newspaper shops, ferreterias and the like. Is it that the blockes are lazy sods - or is it perhaps that the weird laws of who has to be "in the system" and who doesn't to do a particular type of oddjob are making it easier for the domestic assistant type to do this kind of thing?

The more I think about it, the more I realise Spain has a lot of catching up to do regarding people's abilities to get by. The idea that if you make 1€. in theory, you must be in Autonomos is an absolute joke.

No wonder half the populace are breaking these stupid laws anyway.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Xose said:


> Well, no one here knows. But I bet they'd be told quickly if they went in a bar and asked the question
> 
> To be honest, I was actually referring to the proper Autonomo type who does it for a living. I think most of the people around here would rather pass on €100 of labouring for a day than risk being stitched up and loose their dole etc.
> 
> ...



It seems that the "bar" here is full of those expats who come over and think it'll be easy to get work and come over, have a bit of a holiday first before they start working and then when the money has almost run out they suddenly look around to see that there are no jobs and there is no "milk and honey"??? Maybe I'm being unfair, but I'm gonna venture into the aforementioned bar before long cos my garden is a mess and I KNOW I'll find someone who wants a days work.. Scary tho, cos I dont necessarily trust the Brits and a lot of them not only need more money than the job would be worth, but some still want UK rates of pay. 

It really is a strange culture that seems to be growing. Cos apparently there's another bar, further in town that houses the Spanish "workers" (or not), who hang around there waiting for casual labour??????

I dont think any of these guys would be paying autonomos, its all "cash in hand".. Cos, unless you can guarrantee a reasonable monthly income you just couldnt do it!


Jo xxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

> I dont think any of these guys would be paying autonomos, its all "cash in hand".. Cos, unless you can guarrantee a reasonable monthly income you just couldnt do it!


I'm autonoma, when i can afford it. As you say, you need a reasonable monthly income to be able to be self employed. It's crazy! But you can sign on and off being self employed from one month to the next. The months that I know are going to be a bit lean, I sign off being self employed


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

sjmbrighton said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Newbie here,
> 
> ...



Welcome to the forum.

I was in the same position as you are before I came. I also work in IT and so does my wife. I work with IBM Software and she is a server admin. 
At the mo there is very little work available and the salaries here are not great at all, but if you don't need a fancy lifestyle then you will be fine. Also most positions are in Madrid/Barcelona.
You'll need to speak fluent Spanish to gain a job here.
If you are really keen to come I suggest you do what I did:
Work on the language and specialize on something that the local market lacks. (for example a couple of network produts). Whilst that could be difficult and certainly you wouldn't see a lot of job offers I am sure you would raise your chances if a job ever came along...
I took the chance and it worked for me...

Best of luck!


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## minarul (May 12, 2009)

Hi Every Body,
i am from bangladesh it's in south asia i want to come spain for any job, anybody can help me about that matter.

God will help us.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

minarul said:


> Hi Every Body,
> i am from bangladesh it's in south asia i want to come spain for any job, anybody can help me about that matter.
> 
> God will help us.


Spains a big place, what qualifications do you have, are you fluent in written and spoken Spanish and will you need a visa or sponsorship?? There is mass unemployment in Spain so you will be up against several 1000s locals for any job unless you are very highly skilled

jo xxx


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

minarul said:


> God will help us.


Forget him.....go direct to Steve Hall!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

XTreme said:


> Forget him.....go direct to Steve Hall!


:tape2::tape2::tape2:


Jo xxx


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

XTreme said:


> Forget him.....go direct to Steve Hall!


:faint: Bad boy!


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## Caz.I (Mar 21, 2009)

XTreme said:


> Forget him.....go direct to Steve Hall!


Wow. Didnt realise you held him in such high esteem. :angel:


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

Caz.I said:


> Wow. Didnt realise you held him in such high esteem. :angel:


Caz.....Steve Hall has got his finger on the pulse of _everything_ that goes down in Spain....women excepted of course!


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

my husband and i are hoping to move to Spain next year (to Marbella itself not one of the other towns along the coast) I know the area very well - my dad lives there although he is not up to speed on the work side of things - I was wondering what our chances of finding work woud be - I am a PA and would like to do something part time - and my husband is a restaurant and bar manager in a hotel here - would we be able to find work or should we wait another year? we also have a small baby (8 months) that we would like to see what the nurseries are like etc - he is actually the reason we want to move, I want him to have a better lifestyle in the sunshine!!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

T&PConti said:


> my husband and i are hoping to move to Spain next year (to Marbella itself not one of the other towns along the coast) I know the area very well - my dad lives there although he is not up to speed on the work side of things - I was wondering what our chances of finding work woud be - I am a PA and would like to do something part time - and my husband is a restaurant and bar manager in a hotel here - would we be able to find work or should we wait another year? we also have a small baby (8 months) that we would like to see what the nurseries are like etc - he is actually the reason we want to move, I want him to have a better lifestyle in the sunshine!!


You´ll stand a better chance of finding work if you´re both totally fluent in written and spoken Spanish, but its not good here. There is mass unemployment in Spain almost 20% at the last count I believe. Altho you say your father lives here, in which case I assume you wont have any major bills to pay, so that may take the pressure off a bit???

If I were you I´d perhaps take an extended holiday and see what you can find, dont burn your UK bridges.

Jo xx


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

As I've said on here before, the only logical path to pursue is to plan on starting your own business.

Your chance of finding work is very slim indeed....and even if you do, it'll be long hours for very little money.

Don't _completely_ discount that option, but make starting your own business as your primary focus.


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

jojo said:


> You´ll stand a better chance of finding work if you´re both totally fluent in written and spoken Spanish, but its not good here. There is mass unemployment in Spain almost 20% at the last count I believe. Altho you say your father lives here, in which case I assume you wont have any major bills to pay, so that may take the pressure off a bit???
> 
> If I were you I´d perhaps take an extended holiday and see what you can find, dont burn your UK bridges.
> 
> Jo xx


My husband is italian and can speak spanish and I am almost there - I have recently been mae redundant here in the UK so things arent great - my mum and step dad have a place out there that we can stay in rent free for a few months so we could sort ourselves out - we were planning on keeping our house in the uk and renting it out - the house market is so low out there that we are hopefully going to buy shortly there anyway (even if its just a holiday home to begin with) we just want to see if its possible to find work too - not too sure if my husbands line of work is too seasonal?!?!? am fed up with the unpredictable weather here! We will be out in Sept anyway to have look round and see how things are for a couple of weeks - what do you think?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

T&PConti said:


> My husband is italian and can speak spanish and I am almost there - I have recently been mae redundant here in the UK so things arent great - my mum and step dad have a place out there that we can stay in rent free for a few months so we could sort ourselves out - we were planning on keeping our house in the uk and renting it out - the house market is so low out there that we are hopefully going to buy shortly there anyway (even if its just a holiday home to begin with) we just want to see if its possible to find work too - not too sure if my husbands line of work is too seasonal?!?!? am fed up with the unpredictable weather here! We will be out in Sept anyway to have look round and see how things are for a couple of weeks - what do you think?


I think thats a good plan. I really dont know about the work situation for your husband, but he´s certainly halfway there with the language, not the best time of the year as you say, but who knows, he might be in the right place at the right time. 

As for the property market here, well if you have family here already, you know its plummeting and some say still has a way to go????? 

You´ve gotta give it a go or you´ll always be left wondering, its good you´re not selling your UK house and renting it, thats what we´re doing and we rent this end too, rents are cheaper here than the UK , so for us it works well. My husband commutes cos he couldnt get work here, but for now that suits us.

Give it a go, see it as an adventure !!

Jo xxx


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

jojo said:


> I think thats a good plan. I really dont know about the work situation for your husband, but he´s certainly halfway there with the language, not the best time of the year as you say, but who knows, he might be in the right place at the right time.
> 
> As for the property market here, well if you have family here already, you know its plummeting and some say still has a way to go?????
> 
> ...


you are right we will see it as an adventure - it is something we have talked about doing for the last 4 or 5 years and heavent moved due to several reasons one of which was havign our baby boy the other was my mum was so sick and has recently died so I no longer have the tie here in the UK to stay - I would love to be in the sunshine all the time - I bet you love it!! 
I long for the day when we can finally move out there!! lane:


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

T&PConti said:


> My husband is italian and can speak spanish and I am almost there - I have recently been mae redundant here in the UK so things arent great - my mum and step dad have a place out there that we can stay in rent free for a few months so we could sort ourselves out - we were planning on keeping our house in the uk and renting it out - the house market is so low out there that we are hopefully going to buy shortly there anyway (even if its just a holiday home to begin with) we just want to see if its possible to find work too - not too sure if my husbands line of work is too seasonal?!?!? am fed up with the unpredictable weather here! We will be out in Sept anyway to have look round and see how things are for a couple of weeks - what do you think?


Hi Mrs Conti,
Sorry to ask a question rather than help with yours - but it's always fascinated me with people that have Italian connections..... why Spain?
Where I worked in the UK, as many people had holiday places in Italy as in Spain. Mainly Toscana as I remember. The pictures I've seen of the place were fantastic. Admittedly the people in question were those that were, doing rather well in life, but not rich by any means and those that had holiday villas in Spain weren't exactly short of a few bob either. 

Also, I did a European tour in my younger years. Me and a couple of friends did St Tropez and up through Monaco, via the French and then Italian Riviera, into Switzerland and up through Germany to Belgium. The Italian Riviera didn't quite match the French (and definitely not the Monaco bit), but it was still a gorgeous place none the less. I certainly wouldn't say no to a place anywhere along that route!

So, as your other half is Italian, is it that Italy is far more expensive than Spain?

Xose


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

T&PConti said:


> you are right we will see it as an adventure - it is something we have talked about doing for the last 4 or 5 years and heavent moved due to several reasons one of which was havign our baby boy the other was my mum was so sick and has recently died so I no longer have the tie here in the UK to stay - I would love to be in the sunshine all the time - I bet you love it!!
> I long for the day when we can finally move out there!! lane:



Yes I love it, however, I will say this and I never thought I would, it can get too hot and there are times when I´d love to see some rain!! At the moment, I tend to keep the children indoors as much as possible (so much for the outdoor life lol)cos it really is too hot and altho we have the pool, its not good for then to be out in it all day long, especially midday. Also the other surprise for me when we moved here was how incredibly cold it is in the winter!!! I didnt think I´d be scraping ice of my windscreen or sitting huddled around an oil heater every night. The houses here arent built to insulate against the cold, nor do many have central heating!

Apart from that tho, its lovely here

Jo xx


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

Xose said:


> Hi Mrs Conti,
> Sorry to ask a question rather than help with yours - but it's always fascinated me with people that have Italian connections..... why Spain?
> Where I worked in the UK, as many people had holiday places in Italy as in Spain. Mainly Toscana as I remember. The pictures I've seen of the place were fantastic. Admittedly the people in question were those that were, doing rather well in life, but not rich by any means and those that had holiday villas in Spain weren't exactly short of a few bob either.
> 
> ...


Hi Xose 

there are a few reason why Spain rather than Italy - firsty my husband is from Napoli and though it is very beautiful along that coast there is a very real shortage of work there is also a very high "cammorra" influence which I dont want my son growing up with the way my husband did; also Spain seems cleaner, the weather in the South is sunnier almost all year whereas Italy still has seasons and the winter can get very cold! Also the schooling is much better in Spain the cost of living is cheaper in Spain than Italy and I know the area we are planning to move to very well (as well as I do here in the UK) and therefore would feel more comfortable moving there and myhusband wants me to be happy as he has already moved from Italy to the UK so moving again isnt as daunting a prospect for him as it is for me!! 

Where do you live?


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

jojo said:


> Yes I love it, however, I will say this and I never thought I would, it can get too hot and there are times when I´d love to see some rain!! At the moment, I tend to keep the children indoors as much as possible (so much for the outdoor life lol)cos it really is too hot and altho we have the pool, its not good for then to be out in it all day long, especially midday. Also the other surprise for me when we moved here was how incredibly cold it is in the winter!!! I didnt think I´d be scraping ice of my windscreen or sitting huddled around an oil heater every night. The houses here arent built to insulate against the cold, nor do many have central heating!
> 
> Apart from that tho, its lovely here
> 
> Jo xx


Whereabouts do you live? I have always been out to Marbella in several different times of the year and yes in the Summer it does get very hot and I can understand the thought of rain could be appealing but have never experienced the ice etc you mentioned even in Winter in Marbella !??! Am I ill prepared!??! I know sometimes you need to put on a sweater in the winter time but it doesnt last too long before the sun is out again!! my father hasnt lived in the UK for years and would never move back now he has been in the Costa del Sol for 20+ years he says its far too cold here and expensive to consider it!!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

T&PConti said:


> Whereabouts do you live? I have always been out to Marbella in several different times of the year and yes in the Summer it does get very hot and I can understand the thought of rain could be appealing but have never experienced the ice etc you mentioned even in Winter in Marbella !??! Am I ill prepared!??! I know sometimes you need to put on a sweater in the winter time but it doesnt last too long before the sun is out again!! my father hasnt lived in the UK for years and would never move back now he has been in the Costa del Sol for 20+ years he says its far too cold here and expensive to consider it!!


I live in Alhaurin de la Torre, which is about 45 mins drive east away from Marbella, 15 mins west from Malaga airport and about 10 mins drive north from Torremolinos!!

It started to turn cold about mid october, by December I was wearing tee shirts under jumpers, hoodies on top of that and if I went outside I´d put a big coat on top of that, jeans and winter boots, I even bought some ski boot things. The car temp didnt go above 10c and usually around 2c in the mornings until end march. Most of the time there was a biting wind and it rained and rained and rained for what seemed like eternity. When the sun shon I would go and sit outside just to warm up, but I still wouldnt have taken my jumpers off..Maybe it was just me (although my kids were complaining of the cold too).

That was the biggest shock to me and is well documented on the forum, I became known for my moaning about the cold!! 

Where I live you certainly need much more than a sweater in the winter

Jo xxx


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

jojo said:


> I live in Alhaurin de la Torre, which is about 45 mins drive east away from Marbella, 15 mins west from Malaga airport and about 10 mins drive north from Torremolinos!!
> 
> It started to turn cold about mid october, by December I was wearing tee shirts under jumpers, hoodies on top of that and if I went outside I´d put a big coat on top of that, jeans and winter boots, I even bought some ski boot things. The car temp didnt go above 10c and usually around 2c in the mornings until end march. Most of the time there was a biting wind and it rained and rained and rained for what seemed like eternity. When the sun shon I would go and sit outside just to warm up, but I still wouldnt have taken my jumpers off..Maybe it was just me (although my kids were complaining of the cold too).
> 
> ...


Oh my that does sound cold!! Crikey I really cant remember it being like that - good grief it sounds like here!!! I am hoping that was just a bad year or maybe the climate change is really affecting it there! 
I have to say it still wouldnt put me off although I guess with such hot summers sometimes a bit of cold isnt such a bad thing, its just we never usually have the hot summer! We had temperatures in the 30's 2 weeks ago and now we are back to being a bit chilly and of course grey skies again - so your usual July temperatures really!!


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

T&PConti said:


> Oh my that does sound cold!! Crikey I really cant remember it being like that - good grief it sounds like here!!! I am hoping that was just a bad year or maybe the climate change is really affecting it there!
> I have to say it still wouldnt put me off although I guess with such hot summers sometimes a bit of cold isnt such a bad thing, its just we never usually have the hot summer! We had temperatures in the 30's 2 weeks ago and now we are back to being a bit chilly and of course grey skies again - so your usual July temperatures really!!


Hi again,
Don't get too depressed  - take a look at Jo's post again. "Rarely above 10 C and usually about 2 C in the mornings"....

Where you in the Uk this past winter? What were the temps in the morning?!

As for houses and their insulation, I think Jo's right, as covered in many posts on here, in that your average "build to let" in the South defenetely sounds like they have no insulation, central heating or any other form of energy efficiency. But I know from contacts and family from the South (I have an aunt who's from Malaga) that the houses built for Spaniards by Spaniards are insulated - be it technology or wall thickness in the older properties - and tipically they are warm in winter and cool in summer. Not to be compared to the single 8mm brick jobbies. If you buy a house, and it's, for example, a finca type place, have a look at the wall thickness and then do the same with one of those white adosadas, 10 in a row, and note the difference.

I live in northern Spain, Galicia. Green and lush with vegitation. In the winter it rains, in the Summer it's sunny and occasionally rains also, but there are many micro climate zones up here and without the rain, we wouldn't have the valleys, mountains and lakes we do. Houses here are most definetely insulated - floor, walls and roofs. Central heating is more or less normal up here, though there are some properties without it and manage well with an Aga kitchen or wood burner.

I've had a look on other forums at rural properties in the UK that use Oil fired central heating, and I can testify that cost here has nothing to do with the UK usage levels. I also had a look at usage in Canada  10,000 letre tanks filled twice a year - WOW. We have 1000Ltr and it lasts the year no probs. But again, house insulation is everything to that cost.

Sorry for the ramble - didn't want you to think that kids go snow boarding down Benidorm High Street in the winter. Not yet 

Xose


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## T&PConti (Jul 12, 2009)

Xose said:


> Hi again,
> Don't get too depressed  - take a look at Jo's post again. "Rarely above 10 C and usually about 2 C in the mornings"....
> 
> Where you in the Uk this past winter? What were the temps in the morning?!
> ...


Thanks for that!! Have to say your comment about Benidorm did make me laugh!! Mind you i wouldnt go near Benidorm with a barge pole!!! Places like that have unfortunately really spoilt people's views on the coast there! 
You are right re the temps tho as in the Winter here it must be in the minus 2 sometimes!! so a temp of 2 degrees isnt that bad!! 
Galicia is supposed to be gorgeous I have a friend whose wife is from there although I have only been to Barcelona and of course the Costa Del Sol - although once we move out there I would love to visit Seville and Madrid too! 
Once we get out to Marbella in Sept we will have a look at what properties are available for sale and rent, then we will know roughly what we are looking at although by all accounts I think the cost of living is much cheaper than where we are in Surrey at the moment!


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

T&PConti said:


> Thanks for that!! Have to say your comment about Benidorm did make me laugh!! Mind you i wouldnt go near Benidorm with a barge pole!!! Places like that have unfortunately really spoilt people's views on the coast there!
> You are right re the temps tho as in the Winter here it must be in the minus 2 sometimes!! so a temp of 2 degrees isnt that bad!!
> Galicia is supposed to be gorgeous I have a friend whose wife is from there although I have only been to Barcelona and of course the Costa Del Sol - although once we move out there I would love to visit Seville and Madrid too!
> Once we get out to Marbella in Sept we will have a look at what properties are available for sale and rent, then we will know roughly what we are looking at although by all accounts I think the cost of living is much cheaper than where we are in Surrey at the moment!


Galicia is gorgeous and as yet, real. Let's hope they never let it get spoilt. There was a huge interest up here from Madrid and, of all places, USA. House prices went through the roof along the coastal areas. The crisis stopped it and I hope, made them look elsewhere.
It might not be 40 in the shade all summer long, but personally, I love sitting in the porch having a drink and watching the rain after a few long days of stifling heat - really clears the day, like someone run a chamois leather over the atmosphere, crystal clear and gorgeous.

I lived in Camberley many moons ago, and I can say catagorically that cost of living in Spain has nothing to do with the cost of living in any of the 3 counties (Surry, Hampshire, Berkshire)..... despite some saying that there's not much in it any more. The last time I had a plumber come and fix my boiler in the UK, I almost needed to get a re-mortgage. Things here aren't given away, but they do still get out of bed for 100 Euros. I think people forget those things once they've been out of it for a while. 

Xose


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

T&PConti said:


> Oh my that does sound cold!!


You want XTreme temperatures then you need to live here!

So far I've seen a maximum of 45 and a minimum of -15.


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## Antalucia (May 28, 2009)

T&PConti said:


> Thanks for that!! Have to say your comment about Benidorm did make me laugh!! Mind you i wouldnt go near Benidorm with a barge pole!!! Places like that have unfortunately really spoilt people's views on the coast there!
> You are right re the temps tho as in the Winter here it must be in the minus 2 sometimes!! so a temp of 2 degrees isnt that bad!!
> Galicia is supposed to be gorgeous I have a friend whose wife is from there although I have only been to Barcelona and of course the Costa Del Sol - although once we move out there I would love to visit Seville and Madrid too!
> Once we get out to Marbella in Sept we will have a look at what properties are available for sale and rent, then we will know roughly what we are looking at although by all accounts I think the cost of living is much cheaper than where we are in Surrey at the moment!


If warm winters are important to you then you should consider the Costa Tropical. Statistically we have the warmest winters in mainland europe. It does get cold particularly at night but in about 10 years I have never seen any frost or ice. You need to look near the coast area as there is a microclimate - 10 minutes inland and it is a different story. For temperature details look at salobrenaweather.com.
It is meant to be a subtropical microclimate around the town of salobrena - very pretty and still very old world spanish not much development at all. A nice place to live! (still bring a jacket, jumper etc.!!)

Antonio


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## Antalucia (May 28, 2009)

sjmbrighton said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Newbie here,
> 
> ...


HI SJM,

Don't know if you are from Brighton (UK) but I was born and raised there and moved out to Spain about 10 years ago - time flies!
Things are tough here in Spain at this time, I've skimmed through the replies and most seemed to be providing good guidance. All I would say is don't be in too much of a rush to make the move. Life even in the good years was not as easy as you would have imagined. Yes I did it, yes I would do it again but not now. Wait for things to start to pick up and try then. As you said you are quite young so don't rush it. At the moment there are more moving back to the UK than are moving out here (or at least that is the impression).

Best of luck

Antonio


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