People on here are dissing my job offer in the ME as ludicrously low (£2600 tax free). How much do you earn after tax in Spain then? he he I am curious what jobs people do in Spain except teaching and running a cafebar.

Have you checked that with a tax professional? If you're only working overseas for a year (which straddles two tax years) you may find that's not the case, see this post as an example - Job offer in Dubai for my wife, help please. If you're thinking of going to Spain after your year in SA, do check the tax rules there as well just in case.

Most on the forum are retired I think, and will be living off pensions. FWIW, I meant it was ludicrously low in context for the ME, not in comparison to other countries. Most people going to the ME will earn a lot more than their UK salaries.

Many of us are retired and bought our properties as cas buyers when we moved here. Speaking personally, I bought a small house and used it as a holiday home for a few years until I was sure that I could sell my Uk house, give up my job and have enough money to live on for 10 years until I started to receive my pensions. I would never have wanted to try to earn a living in Spain as salaries were and still are very low and working hours not attractive to me. I hear a lot of things from Spanish people about abusive employment practices such as employers not paying on time, not paying for all the hours worked or paying some wages in cash under the table to avoid paying the full amount of social security contributions which of course affects employees future pension entitlement.

I must say I am surprised as I didn't figure people from Europe would be going to that entire region in general for under 100k EUR (high 80's in GBP) per year. But that's obviously an out-of-date outlook if those figures are way off...

In Spain people come from all walks of life - many come with the hope of setting up a B&B and/or pub, some are professionals who want a change in lifestyle but want to continue plying their trade (plumbers, electricians, etc.), others are retired and some live from passive income.

Wages in Spain are quite low and they really stay almost flat for many jobs, in that they don't spike up for accountants or junior legal professionals for instance. You really have to get up there for those wages to shoot up, or own a successful business of your own. But overall this isn't a place you would normally choose to come to for wages/money alone.

You buy the 'lease' for 10 years or whatever, exactly the same as in the UK or anywhere else, I would assume. And then there is rental payment.
We paid £25,000 for the lease on the cafe in Shoreham and paid £700 a month for the rental.
If you buy an existing business, then you are also paying for the 'goodwill' and the contents.

Oil workers and engineers and corporate people might get £80k a year in the ME but not teachers, especially ESL teachers unless you work for Aramco or BAE Systems.

Thank you for getting back to us and providing further clarification.
Regarding the necessary licenses and permissions, you will indeed require more than one license to operate legally. You can find this a useful guide. https://hostelmarkt.com/actualidad-h...r-y-cafeteria/
This should help clarify the requirement(s). However, I do not know if it covers all aspects and you should seek advice before signing any agreement..

Additionally, there are other important considerations. One of these is obtaining a Manipulador de Alimentos (Food Handler Certificate), which is mandatory for anyone involved in food preparation and handling. All bars have food in Spain.

Moreover, please keep in mind that running a bar as a sole operator is impossible. You will need to ensure the appropriate staffing.That brings in other requirements to ensure you working within the law.

OK folks so a cafebar then seems to be a bit more complicated than just opening up as you have to gain certificates to deal with food so if I were to move to Spain, perhaps I could buy a mini supermarket then instead.

I wouldn't bother looking in the Benidorm area as there are thousands upon thousands of mini supermarkets!!

Steve

All I know is that nothing is cheap anymore and everything in Spain requires permits that cost money. Any flats that are cheap will either be illegally occupied or extremely bad standard, or tiny.

Example here:
https://www.idealista.com/en/inmueble/107265632/

There are ok cheap flats in my price range I think but not in towns or cities. They are quite far away or in unpopular cities. Same for Italy. You can buy flats under 100k eur even houses but they are not in desirable locations.

Right, I thought it would have been more across the board in order to entice people to accept job offers in that part of the world.

Have you looked at other countries? Switzerland seems to pay very well, to the point where a single person can easily afford rent and still save up for something.

Sorry, this is still new to me. The only time I dealt with business properties was outside the UK and the basis was very similar to residential units. You signed a contract for a fixed monthly amount and that was it.

Why are you paying for a 10-year lease... and then every month as well? Are the funds going to the same person? Or are these the so-called "business rates" that go to the council so basically a form of tax (akin to "council tax" on homes?), and then only the monthly rent goes to the actual owner?

No, it is confusing if you have never done it before, but its very common in many countries.
So first off you either decide to 'buy' and existing business or you take out a 'lease' on commercial property. Both of these almost always attract what is known as a 'premium'.
You are paying a sum of money for a 'lease' that allows you to enjoy the space, or in the case of an existing business, you are buying the current tenant out of their contract and paying 'goodwill, the stock, fittings etc' for a specified time. Whatever term was left on the lease you purchased with the business or whatever term you agree with the freeholder (1 year, 5 years, or 10 years), this is one payment.
You then enter into a contract to pay 'rent' on the property you will be running your business from, and the cost of insurance (if it's not already added to the rent) as well as picking up the cost of power, light, rubbish collections, etc.

The OP, from the sounds of it, has not done one iota of research, as they would fail even in the UK. How they would cope here with all the lovely paperwork and bureaucracy we have would be a wonder.

And €75,000 will not even scratch the surface.

My wife owned and ran a couple of businesses: a gift shop in a busy shopping arcade and then a cafe with our son in Shoreham-by-Sea. i owned and ran a Jewellers shop, small warehouse and a workshop and the words of a good friend who owns three bars around here (two in Benidorm).

If you want to make or end up with a small fortune in retail. You better start with a very large one.
The only people who make any money will be the freeholder of the building.

As there are many cafebars in Spain, presumably people do make a good living at it. Not everyone perhaps, but there are many cafebars. anyway, I only asked the question, I am not actually buying anywhere yet. As you say 75000 won't even scratch the surface. But some people must be making a good living out of running them in Spain otherwise no one would buy them.

I haven't looked at Switzerland as I thought it was too expensive to live there. Also, I have never seen any ESL jobs going in Switzerland. I will have a look though. I did try Germany but there were so many applications. I think one school there attracted 460 applicants so I was told and they hired internally in the end. ANy job nowadays worth going for will ultimately attract a lot of applicants. I think Spain gets lots of applicants from young teachers who want to live the lifestyle there but the salaries are low. (like 25000 euros a year maybe 30k euros)