Hi all, hope you can give me some advice,

OH is a Building service/Mech Engineer and we are considering moving over to Spain living somewhere within travelling distance to Malaga..

He really likes the lifestyle and climate and would really like to give it a go, but because of his industry he is unsure, he has a couple of companies he knows could work for, although he has the basic spanish , he is worried about communication problems.
We did wonder as the companies he would be considering are International if they would have a mixture of people not just Spanish.( something we would have to look into)

Also what would the travel be like in the mornings from say Torre del mar or Mijas or could someone shed some light on other places we could consider???

We are really confused at the moment and are worried about making a big mistake?


What do you think

WW

my OH is in the same profession, but we live on the Costa de la Luz which is v. spanish so after some terrifying interviews in Seville for 'international' companies I'm afraid to say his Spanish, at that stage, wasn't up to it...plus the pay was rubbish!

He decided to look for work in Gibraltar and has a job in his line of work there, the commute for him is about 1.25 hours each way from where we live, we could move closer but don't want to!

Maybe, if you haven't decided where to move already, you could think about somewhere in Spain with closer links to Gib? you get the lifestyle in Spain but the benefits of working, essentially, in England. If your OH rides a motorbike, even better! I've been putting my foot down on that one though....baaad wifey.

Good luck, it's a tough decision, we've been here nearly two years now and just about getting there. I really think that getting a job he'll enjoy is the make or break of a move here, for us ladies we're better at dealing with not doing much!...so wise to think realistically about it.

If your OH wants to speak to anyone in Gib about work, let me know, my husband might be able to put a word in - put the CV to his boss.

If travelling from Mijas to Malaga the N340 gets VERY busy, and narrows to two lanes near airport turn off, hope this may help.

Thank you, we thought travelling to Malaga would be a long painful journey

Thanks,

I am sending you a PM

Brace yourselfs for long hours, typically twelve and traffic in Malaga horrendous my 12 kilometer journey took an hour.

Pay is a lot less than the UK for the same job.

Malaga people tend to be arrogant, working in an International company for me didn`t help, I transfered from our UK office to Malaga and boy was it different.

Yours may not, but in the 2 years I was with my company 12 people arrived from various countries including the UK the longest any of them stayed was one month.

I stayed longer as my wife is Spanish, but a brit doin a Spaniards job does make you stand out, don`t expect the best jobs or the most profitable, they work on a system called Enchufe, which is very much not what you no but who you no.

My advice would be to come for a month, and decide for yourself.

You can find better places than Andulucia.

There mitzy glad I`m here now then.

Thanks for the help and you are quite welcome to be here as long as you abide by the site rules. ;-) ;-)

Never been banned from a disscussion site yet.

But plenty of people wish i had, sometimes the truth hurts.

The other thing you have to remember is the regulations, the lack of them can be an eye opener.

I`m an Engineer and we work with gas, seeing the Spanish Eng using his nose to detect a gas leak was funny.

They don`t carry leak detection equipment as we have to in the UK, he instead realied on some Washing up Liquid and the phrase no problem.

They also don`t pressure check for leaks before and after workin, again as they don`t carry the equipment, and speaking to most of them there to stupid to know how to use the equipment anyway.

And that`s a International German Company.

Things change in time. lol
I have a book that shows how to cut a branch into a live gas pipe in the main road.
They used to drill a hole into it upstream and put a pigs bladder into it and pump it up to seal the pipe while the put the branch in, Mr Corgi would of been well impressed.
We used to use Fairy till they reckoned it burns through the pipe. ;-))

I wouldn`t bet much money on that.

The Spanish guy who fitted our gas oven/hob used his cig lighter to check for leaks

That was the recognised way in the UK for a long while too before soapy water.

Lee, from reading your post i get the impression that the job WW's husband does is very different from yours so i doubt very much that your charming story is an accurate case study but it's a shame to hear you had such a bad experience.