brissybee

You go Beedubya...

JLFS

I am Spanish living in Spain, having returned a few years ago after being brought up in the UK since the age of 7.
I am doing well here in Spain, but I know what pain in Spain and Sergia are getting at.
There is a lot of slagging off the UK from expats in Spain, the UK is a hellhole and such.....I would rather be skint in the sun etc etc.

They dont know what they are talking about, the hoops you have to jump through to get a job in Spain is unbeliveable.

Some spend their life going from one bad job to another (Guatamala to Guatapeor)
There is really no long term support for the unemployed so you have to suck it up and spit it out.

No matter how black things seem in the UK at the moment, they have a long way to go to equal Spain.

Pistolpete2

jobs exist for PARTLY and NEWLY qualified accountants, I reiterate!

pain-in-spain

Yes JLFS, you know what it's like in Spain and like me you have a long experience with both here and the UK to be able to give a balanced view. Like I've said many times before, I am sick of the Brits here who slag off the UK and those in the UK who wrongly assume there's a better life elsewhere (which of course, sometimes there is) but it's so much part of our genetic make up to be negative and dismissive and big up everyone else except ourselves - of course if you are a proud Brit who loves their country you are labelled a fascist racist pretty quickly, maybe this is partly the reason for the way we've become.

My father left Spain in the early 60's after he met my English mum on the Costa Brava he couldn't wait to leave as he knew he'd have more opportunity in the UK. He didn't always have it easy though and I remember growing up my father constantly speaking about his country and how much he wanted to go back, my love for Spain came through him and this is what drove me to move here. Of course, what many don't realise is that things always look different from a distance, I was shocked with so many things after moving here and the UK began to look a much better alternative.

As you say, I've gone from one bad job to another and with each one have taken a much lower salary till it just can't go any lower, in my last job I was on 1000 euros per month, I was sacked in favour of keeping a girl who didn't have papers to work here and her pay was all cash, I've come up against this situation many times. I was lucky to have had a so called indefinite contract for 6 months (before that I too was paid cash) and this entitles me to 420 euros per month benefit for 6 months after which it is withdrawn completely. Since moving here 8.5 years ago I've been out of work every 6 to 18 months and often haven't had any benefits due to having had to accept unofficial salaries as there was no alternative. I've had to live on my savings for nearly half of the time I've lived here.

The UK is suffering at the moment, I am very informed on current affairs but would rather be back in London looking for work than here as quite frankly I've well and truly had enough!

deborahjg

One of the reasons we are heading back to Perth is the job situation for my hubby is better in Perth than in the UK. He was made redundant here and has had no luck at all on the job front. At 46 years old he doesn't want to wait any longer here as it's proving hopeless.

Looking on the job sites in Perth there are jobs there in his line of work to go for and he just wants to get back as soon as possible and start working again.

We live in the South-West but know another family who moved back and live in Kent and have been unemployed here ever since.

They are moving back to Perth in the Summer.

Sergia

I have read that UK unemployment has risen. It is 7.9% and after reading everything here I am getting more and more worried. We want to go back to the Northeast in summer cos neither of us (my husband and I) have a permanent job. I sounds bad everywhere! However, unemployment rate in Spain is 20%.