Moving to Spain

Hi Myself and my husband are moving to Spain in April 2017 and wondered if anyone has any useful advice. We are planning to move to El Faro area and will be looking for a long term rental and jobs.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Karen

Your biggest problem will be finding work

Are you fluent in Spanish

Do you have any unique skills

Would you be happy working for cash under the table and very low pay

Unemployment is very high 

Then there is the question of health care no job means you will have to have private cover

Not wanting to rain on your parade but Tadd brings up some good points. Unemployment in that area is very high at around 34% off season compared with an already high national rate of about 25%.

Free healthcare comes with a contracted job whilst seasonal tourism work generally isn't covered. Anything outside bar work or cleaning would need a good fluency in Spanish. Then there's the question of UK leaving the EU which may make significant changes to things like work permits (or maybe not).

You'd need a sound financial background with probably enough to support yourselves for at least a couple of years. Even becoming a resident means proving private healthcare and sufficient income (fine if you have jobs with a contract).

So saying, many people do it and have a great life here. Many others give up and go home in less than a year.

Many thanks to you both for replying - we are expecting to have to do bar work with low pay although I have worked in education for 25 years and my husband is in retail.  We are expecting to have a struggle to start with but are willing to give it a go.

bar work is seasonal and without Spanish you would probably have to rely on expat bars without a contract which means no health care etc and competition for these jobs is fierce, low pay is less than 5€ per hour

working under the radar is also a big risk which many take and get away with it but clampdowns and purges are becoming more regular

I really wish you luck but have a back up plan