Hi, new to this, after some advice!!! Any help much appreciated!

Hi i am moving to spain at the end of january, somewhere around the murcia area, but have friends in el campello near alicante so can travel! I have been in the motor trade for many years, and although im not looking to earn a fortune in spain, im not having much like finding jobs available...has anyone got any suggestions as to where i can find work either in sales or even some driving work. Thankyou!!

Hi,  good luck with your move into Spain.  Are you able to communicate in Spanish ? If not you will struggle to find work amongst ex-pat community. Also  you need to get yourself registered as resident , pay into Spanish system for health care and taxes etc. do you have dependent children in education .? So many items you need to research but if properly done its a great place.

Best of Luck

Not having much luck? Nor are thousands of Spanish people, looking for work.

Unless you are fluent in Spanish and can offer a service which others need, and not currently offered, then I fear it will stay that way.

Thankyou for the quick response! Yes I'm aware of getting an NIE number etc, and am learning Spanish. I have the basics, I just don't understand unless people speak slowly! I think I'll learn more when I'm there. I appreciate there is no easy option for work, and many people in the same boat, but having 25 years sales experience with Mercedes,Porsche,Bentley etc I must at least have some chance!!! I appreciate the advice, Thankyou 

Having 25 years car sales experience in UK is not going to help you one iota in Spain,unfortunately, without fluency in both language and how the system works here. Even then it's likely impossible.

Really at a loss to know what to suggest if living/ working  in Spain is your goal, on info provided, but maybe there is an opening for odd jobs for expats in the area.

Sorry if you think I am a miserable 'ol git by this posting but without financial backing living here could be your worst nightmare. So please re-consider your options and don't vacate UK, with a Government who gives everyone and his wives, 10,000 miles away money, for a country where being hungry and homeless is ...just tough.

Listen to the wise such as floella is my best advice. I know it's a very difficult thing to do when you have restless ambitions but really moving to Spain and expecting to make a success of it just like that is not easy. That is not to say some people actually do, it's just the odds are heavily stacked against you. Unless that is you have large capital resources, understand the culture, procedures, markets and have some insight into how business works in Spain.

They who do make a success of living in Spain usually have an income in the form of pensions or rental income from UK property or substantial capital assets.  By the sound of your post you resemble the thousands of people who come to Spain every year and last until their money runs out. Then they end up doing casual black work until the finally give up and return to UK broke.

Ask yourself the question why would anyone employ you? What skills do you have to market above others already here who cannot find work? Spain has 24% of the working population unemployed. I know Spanish graduates who are only to happy to work in menial jobs because it's all the can find. Murcia region is badly effected by the downturn. 

Being in UK you are lulled into a false sense of economic security. Believe me when I say it's very tough in Europe especially Spain. The UK economy is performing well, thats where you have a future along with so many Europeans moving there. 

Wow, not much positive feedback! There is high unemployment where I live now, but there are plenty of jobs... If you want to work you'll find it. I don't need to work, I WANT to work, that's the difference. I can well afford to do nothing, but that's not me. Yes the culture is different, and I agree I need to learn more Spanish, but I'm not easily defeated so easily. 

To be positive about the situation in Spain would be to lie. That is not what we forum folk do and certainly not what you would want to hear. Especially if it all went belly up for you because we had.

Jobs are not only NOT plentiful in Murcia, or elsewhere in Spain,  but many of my professional Spanish friends have had no alternative but to become self employed , within a company, which costs mega bucks... and worse still will work for many months before seeing any "wages".

You are totally correct the culture is VERY different in every aspect in Spain to UK. 

However pleased to read you don't need to earn money, just want to keep active, in which case the occasional odd job will surely come your way. 

Curious though as to why you didn't you mention this in the beginning.

If you don't need to work then that is fine. I don't think that you made that clear in the beginning. You could always do some volunteer work that would keep you occupied. Good luck!

I didn't think that I needed to go into my finances, but yes would look at volunteer work too. I have friends in Marbella and near benidorm and Valencia, so I'm not tied to Murcia. If I spend a year in Spain I've done it, something I've wanted to do, and if nothing else it will have been an experience and hopefully I can learn the language in that time...

I agree. Charities and such are mostly chronically understaffed in Spain, whereas many of them perform very important functions and are well embedded in the local communities. If that's what you're looking for, I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to chose from. They are also a good way to learn about how things work in Spain, how business is conducted, which might help you if you want to go self-employed later.

Nothing to do with your personal finances Russy 1870. You misled the forum by writing originally, "im not having much like finding jobs available...has anyone got any suggestions as to where i can find work either in sales or even some driving work." 

That clearly leaves the impression you were coming to Spain to find  much needed employment and have wasted our time replying in good faith. You should do well in Spain selling property..

Sorry if you feel like I've wasted your time!

Am sure non feel if as their time has been wasted russy. In fact you probably have reminded most of us how easy we thought relocating here would be. If you have only experienced Spain from holidays then you could be in for quite a culture shock.

Even workaholics don't feel the need to keep busy when they first arrive. So much to see and experience the time passes quickly....unless standing in the endless necessary queues waiting for official paperwork to be sorted so one can get on with ones life. 

So my advice is..just enjoy yourself. 

sorry pressed button twice....obviously too much vino with my lunch...hic.

I think I have made it sound like I'm leaving the uk because I can't find work and Spain will be all rosey and easy!! I'm really not that daft! I have a very well paid job and fortunate enough not to need to do a 40 hr 9-5.. I am only 44, too young to retire and just want to use my skills or even attempt something new. I'm well aware Spain has been hit hard in the recession I have friends with property that are almost giving them away... However I still want to try it, and if I end up coming back so be it... It's not all doom and gloom, I do know people in Spain that are happy and enjoy it. I appreciate everyone's views and for letting me know the pitfalls of such a move.. Basically I am looking to slow down abit, maybe do 2-3 days a week, if that, and enjoy life.. Is that so terrible!!! Positive things happen to positive people. 

Hiya Russy,
here's my version of things

I'm a mechanic/trader of near 23 years, also a PCV driver, and also i have done karaokes since karaokes had big silver 12" discs.
Male aged 43, single & no ties  with quite a very clued up head, multi-skilled to say the least & i know how to make money from internet etc

I lived in CB area for 6 months n sorta worked out quick how things are different compared to the UK.... i actually came back to the UK coz i was spoken into it by my ex in 2005....worst mistake i couldve actually done as i was just about to start with a guy who maintained A/C units on properties!......if only i had stayed......(i hope he reads this lol, pleaseeeee gimme a job am the scottish guy from the Oak who got the corner of bar dedicated to him as 'Scotch Corner' lol )

Anyways.... since about 2005 i've sorta perused these forums as i plan to head back down and i've got a few companies who have kept a hold of my details which is a great start but i'm not about to move down there tomorrow without at least doing something/having something to finance my finances if you know what i mean.....i've got my fingers crossed for one company in particular to offer me something in near future and that will be the day i head back down to south spain. 
I love the life over there but i'm not silly to just up sticks & go.... i want to support myself and my current finances whilst there so think carefully what move u decide upon... I'm reckoning about headin back January-ish 2015

Hello scots 1 thankyou for the supportive message! Sounds like you could have done very well and glad the dream is still alive! Like I said positive things happen to positive people! Is scots corner benalmadena way? Think I've heard of it somewhere at the back of my head!! I may be wrong though! I'm also pretty clued up and have sold cars etc through the net and have links to Azimut who sell large boats.. In fact a few years back I was offered a sales position in their new office in Puerto banus.. I declined as I was in a relationship.. Like you my dream is still alive and I will persue it whatever anyone tells me! If it fails so what... Life is for living right? Not stuck here watching the news of some poor sole being beheaded, winters that last eight months, and soaps I cannot bear to watch...I know it's not going to be easy, but nothing in life worth having is! Sod the doubters, I'm going! If you get there and close enough, beers are on me! Russ

If you don't need to work, then why look for a job that could be taken by a Spanish worker who really needs it.

If you are in the position of not having to work, you are very fortunate

Charity work does seem to be your best option

Remember it does take a long time to be fluent in Spanish

Camposol its a dog eat dog world.... the EU citizens come to UK to take jobs same as the UK citizens want to move to take jobs.... life is such nowadays n only the strong survive n make it