I think the last 2 posts sum the situation up rather well although the 'official' unemployment figure in Spain is now around 22%. For the OP, it's just different working in Spain. Some try and do it officially many work in the black economy. Very few expats get rich but many earn enough to have a reasonable standard of living.

The official unemployment rate in 2007 in Spain was 6%. Now it is around 20%

So your post makes no sense at all and is actually pretty offensive

I can tell you that all the well educated young graduates I have come across without a job are not picking fruit on the black for 20 euros each day. But then again, they don´t even get included in the official unemployment figures!

At my child´s school almost every family has either the mum or dad on the paro. Nearly all are graduates. A friend is a physio and leaves his family every 3 months to go and work in France to earn money to bring back to Spain

Saying that the situation in Spain is similar to the UK or the rest of Europe is completed deluded

I'm not a fan of these figures and different countries have unemployment for different reasons and the way they calculate these figures is also different for every country. In some EU countries you might be unemployed, but because you are doing a course etc. you are no longer seen as unemployed.



You are right that so many Spanish graduates are struggling to find any job, although they want to work. In the UK or here in Ireland you have graduates who could get a job, but don't want to work for the minimum wage, so it's a complete different story.

Hurrah! Finally someone with a fresh opinion and not just sprouting old facts!
Hats off to you
And thank you for putting a smile on my face
Forums are supposed to be helpful, not just posting old news

Try a bit of enthusiasm and support instead of looking at the glass half empty. the typical down trodden british attitude on life that we cannot wait to get away from.

We know were going to have to really knuckle down to find jobs, but that's the fun and excitement about it all. The new adventure, the new culture, everything about it

Were not coming out with our eyes closed and expecting to walk straight into perfect roles, we would be fools to think this, all we ask is a bit of support

Except that what he posts about unemployment in Spain is a load of tosh,.

take a read of this, which is probably a better answer, at least this does quote figures not someone's imagination.

Spain unemployment rate 2016 | countryeconomy.com

For Brits with no foreign language skills, what realistic hope is there in Spain ?

I love how everyone is presuming we don't speak Spanish ! lol

They don't mean you, but people in general. After a few weeks of rain, you always get people believing everything is better in Spain. Of course it can work and with hard work anything is possible.

Hola

The problem is that this is Spain overall - there are massive regional differences

All we try to do here is to open peoples eyes and remove the rose tinted glasses.

Davexf

Exactly )

and that's appreciated, like I say, were not that silly to think were gonna roll into biding jobs straight away, were coming out with 6 months earnings behind us to give us a half decent start to it all

If you were fluent in Spanish you would know that what you had written below is completely ridiculous

"Their is work available its all down to the individual and what they are prepared to do (believe me I know as I work in recruitment!)"

You would also be able to do a quick Google search to find out whether there are recruitment agencies in Spain. By the way, there are, but they are not like the ones you are used to in the UK. The agencies are mainly used for lowly skilled people to do casual hourly or daily work

If you do speak spanish then you'll find things much easier.

As has been pointed out it's probably too early to get in touch with estate agents but there are lots in Málaga and once you arrive you can just drop into a few and see what they have available in the areas you're interested in. Speaking spanish will be a big plus if you're really looking in Málaga itself as you'll find that not all agents speak English - they're not so geared up to foreign buyers/renters as they are along the coast. Meantime browse their sites to see what's available and to get an idea of prices. You can also try private lets via classified ads sites, again it'll be much easier communicating with landlords if you speak spanish.

The link Mina_alicante gave you on the other thread is definitely the best place to get an idea of employment though there are lots of online 'agencies' (which I'm sure you've found already) where you can get an idea of what's available and what kind of salary you can expect. In your position I might be enquiring about some jobs via those sites now if only to see what kind of response I'd get.

No, sorry, once again I have to come to his defence. Even though he's a bit blunt. What he's trying to say but people aren't listening, and what official figures never do tell you is that the real level of employment in Spain can never be known and is WAAAY better than the figures present. The majority of expats (and I'm not casting aspersions here) do not experience life in the majority of Spain only in their enclaves with their English speaking news reports. For example, around 67% working age, healthy people in my village are technically unemployed. Most of them actually do at least some work. much of it is unwritten local exchange type work though, unwritten and informal. It's still a living in that it pays at least the food bill. Sometimes quite literally with food rather than money or with wood for the fire etc etc. Though due to it's low level just bordering on poverty, albeit not as uncomfortable as the word expresses. You couldn't tax it. You really wouldn't want to, It's still part of a 'living' whichever way you look at it. These people are on the unemployment figures but have no need to change their means of gaining part of the family "income". No figures can show a healthy exchange economy. Nor would they want to. This may of course not be of any help to the OPs however it does undermine the idea of the oft quoted broken economy of Spain. Spain actually has quite a healthy albeit fairly alternative economy. It would be very difficult and certainly slow (and arguably undesirable?)to formalize such a deeply ingrained culture.

Wow ...

May I ask Cricktman, what you do for work in Spain please?