krazykay

Hi everyone I'm new here and still in sunny Fleetwood in the UK lol. Me and my family are looking to relocate possibly to Menorca in the future and I wanted to know of others experiences of living there. Any info would be greatly appreciated

Kay

mikelincs

Hi there.. first question is will you need to find work?, if so then I seriously doubt it's a good idea, unemployment in Spain is horrendous, Uk is worried at less than 8%, Spain would be over the moon if it got as low as 25%, and there is no benefit system to help people if they can't find work. You would have to show a certain level of income, and that you have healthcare provisions in place before you can become resident, and as you say 'family' then I assume you could well have school age children, so you would need to be resident to get them into the state education system.
Do any of you speak Spanish? that will also be important if you are hoping to find work.
Please don't say you want to buy a bar, restaurant or cafe, Spain is filled with people who came out with that dream, and I would suspect only about 5% lasst more tahn a year before they have to sell up and go home.
Do not sell your property in the UK, keep it as a bolt hole and rent in Spain, house prices are very cheap there, but the reason is is that there are so many properties for sale, often at well below the price they were bought for because the owners are desperate to get rid of the financial burden.

Sorry if this sounds negative, but if you search the forum then you will see thsi is a common sort of repy without knowing exactly what you are looking for, thinking of doing etc.

amideislas

Excellent, sound advice.

Spain in general, is a good place to have money, not a place to make money.

But Menorca of all places is certainly not a place to expect to get any kind of job. Not that it's impoverished or anything like that, but the vast majority of people who settle there come with a life savings, a pension or some other means. The (rather small) tourism business provides some limited seasonal work, but certainly not life-sustaining.

The social system in Spain used to be pretty generous. Many sun-seekers from northern Europe showed up, and after finding a job and working for a year or two, found they couldn't be fired or otherwise penalised for slacking off at the beach, or even tipping from the till, and if they were, they could sue their employers for a lot of money, in addition to (what used to be) rather generous unemployment benefits. But that has all changed now.

If you're planning to move to the Balearics, better have the means to support yourself, or else it isn't pretty.

Otherwise, if you're a pensioner or have other means, Menorca is a lovely place to be, even if rather limited in excitement. But if that's what you seek, then you'll probably love it...

krazykay

Hi mikelincs,
To be honest after browsing through the forum this was exactly the kind of response I was expecting, so no offence taken lol. Unfortunately you seem to have me sussed as we were thinking of purchasing a bar/restaurant. We have two houses in the UK and were going to sell one of them and rent the other. I also have a business in the UK that can run without myself so we would have income also a pension. We were either going to find a business with accommodation or rent a house as well. I have two children who will be 12 and 17 when we were thinking of relocating. Myself and my eldest can speak basic Spanish and my youngest is learning. Im very aware of the difficulties of my youngest moving to another country and coping with the language barrier in a foreign school. And can only hope I can teach her enough before we venture over there. I should say that my children are 8 & 13 at the moment so I'm looking into this very thouroghly before we go anywhere. Were not looking to move for another 4 years or so. I hope this has shed some light on our circumstances

Kay

krazykay

Hi Amideislas.
Thanks for your reply. That's the thing about Menorca that is worrying. Closed to tourists throughout the winter months. Although we would have other means we would obviously still like our business over there to be sustainable. We were thinking more in land so the locals would use our bar too but although they seem a friendly bunch I don't know if we'd be shunned for being expats?

Kay

amideislas

Well, look; nothing is easy. So you shouldn't go into anything thinking it might be. It isn't. You aren't going to get rich, but you might be able to significantly reduce your costs of living well by operating a good restaurant or B&B or something. Keeping your costs low whilst offering something of quality that that people really enjoy is the key. It takes a few years to build the reputation. But once you do, you can pretty much predict how it will go every year. Menorca would be one place I'd think you could do that, simply because people don't go to Menorca seeking a cheap touristy holiday, as many seek in Mallorca, for example.

But if you bought a place in Ciutadella (which as the advantage of many of the more sophisticated, "alternative experience" tourists coming over from Mallorca) or any of the other tourist destinations, you stand a good chance of a decent seasonal income, but would need to plan for the slow off-season months. If you can find a place that has a good position at the port, with living space in the same building at a reasonable price, that would be ideal.

Don't rule it out, just be realistic...

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

I will ask if a moderator or admin could move this to its own thread.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

stuboy

Sunny Fleetwood,

Dear oh dear me. I went to Cardinal Allen, it wasn't sunny then