Hi,
I'm pretty familiar with Spain, and have visited a lot (though less in the last 5 years), but I'm thinking of moving over in the next few years and working in language tuition in Alicante or Valencia cities. I'd really appreciate any views people here have on cost of living, as well as the working scene for lagnauge tuition as I know things are pretty screwed around at the moment both cost and work wise - to say the least?!
I know costs of living are hard to say as everyone has different patterns and habits - but here's a bit about us so maybe somsone with similar way of life can help? Couple in our early 30s, we'd specifically aim to live in an urban area, renting a 2 bed flat within Alicante or Valencia city centres. Neither of us drink, smoke or go out clubbing at all, would mostly use public transport, perhaps get a small cheap car (old style Ford Ka or something similar) for get-away weekends or big shopping runs etc. We do tend to eat out, though our tastes are fairly modest, fast food or tapas once or twice a week. One we we do use a lot is landline internet, and we like creature comfort, so we would use A/C on cold in summer and warm in winter.
The other thing I'd like anyones thoughts on is working in language tuition. Obviously we know how grim the unemployment situation is in Spain is, but also have read online that for EFL teachers this has been a good time, as people try to up their English skills for work, emigration, or just for something to do. Is this actually the case, and what is the situation like specifically in Alicante and Valencia? Is there anything in paticular tuition centres are looking for, beyond the usual TEFL/CELTA, reasonable command of Spanish and some teaching experience? Have pay levels changed significantly?
On that note, is there much opportunity to have variety and a bit extra income by offering basic Spanish tuition to ex-pats? I know this used to be quite a big thing but wonder how it's been affected by The Crisis(tm)?
Sorry so many questions for a newbie, but any thought or experiences are most welcome :)