moving in 4 months

hi,moving with wife and kids in 4-6 months.looking for advice on where to live,life and work situations.I know its hard everywhere,im a qualified carpenter/joiner for 20 years and very reliable.My wife works in the hospital research.IS anyone looking for these professions.any input would greatly be apprecciated.cheers

Bazza45:

Just one piece of advice: be realistic... jobs are difficult in Spain ( and will be for a while) .Take that into important account.

Best,

Maria

thanks maria, we dont mind what job we do all we want is to get out of uk, we will have money to surrvive on for 6 months and do hope we will get a job in that time.

me and my boyfriend are moving out there next year, we are not bothered what jobs there is, but i am hopfully going to set up as a mobile hairdresser. Fingers cross it goes to plan!!!! The uk has nothink really....  

 Think carefully about it!  Some of the families that were here a year ago have returned to the UK as there is not enough work. Others are just managing on bar/restaurant work, odd jobs and  cleaning. Find out about the health system and remember that school books have to be paid for.

However if you rent and want to make a go of it and you want a different way of life, the temp. here today is 27 degrees and lots enjoying the beach. Wonderful! 

Best wishes but be prepared to take any work available.

Hi Bazza - the advice used to be that you should have enough savings to last a year before you come out to Spain but I think 2 years is now more realistic.  People are finding it very hard to make a living and shops, bars and restaurants are closing down all the time.  Unemployment is around 19% and it is predicted to rise to 25% over the next few years.  Spanish employers are also very reluctant to employ people who cannot speak Spanish.

As a carpenter you may be able to find casual work in an expat community (mainly the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca) but it will be low paid and inconsistent until you build up a reputation.  As for a researcher post, I think your partner would need to have fluent spanish to be able to work in that field.  Many professional people end up doing cleaning and illegal taxi runs to keep their heads above water here, so do be careful!

I don't mean to knock Spain, as I love it here and would hate to have to go back to the UK.  However, you need to be prepared for the move and it is obviously much more serious if you run out of cash when you have children to consider.

Good luck!

thanks for your reply.yeah we are gonna rent at first and see how it goes where do you think would be a good area to start,we have two young kids so we are looking for a place with good schools etc.cheers

My daughter, boyfriend and baby moved to Spain in April, with only 2,000 euros. they have rented a lovely 3 bed flat and are both working. Although not earning anywhere near as much as they id in the UK they have a far better standard of living. They are loving it!!!  and they don't speak Spanish.

We moved to the Costa Del Sol in March 2008, but unfortuantely due to lack of opportunities we are now back n the Uk, we loved it there and were not happy to come back!!!

 In hindsight we did not have enough money. (£18,000) which went in 6 months!!!! it's really  hard if you have a family, because working in a bar is just not enough to make ends meet.

Now that we are back all we think about is how we can get back to Spain and make a living. Ido have a plan up my sleeve but will be keeping that to myself for the moment. I wish you luck and hope your everything goes well for you.

Barbara