tinafen

We are considering moving to spain in the near future. can anyone help with how i find work, and general everyday stuff???? thanks

Veleta

You might want to be a bit more specific about what you need to know if you want some useful replies.

Where are you going to live?
What skills/qualifications do you have?
What type of work are you looking for?
Do you speak Spanish?
What "everyday stuff" are you talking about?

fionamw

Hi, welcome & the very best of luck...
What Veleta said, plus you might try running a few searches within BE, there have been loads of threads on moving to Spain, work, etc.

tinafen

Thank you for replying. We are looking at Valencia area, I speak passable Spanish, we lived in the Dominican Republic for a year and not many people outside the tourist area speak english there. I can get by fairly well. I am looking for any type of work, I have previously worked as a pa and have run a hotel and restaurant. My husband is a driving instructor and also a qualified bus/ coach driver. We thought maybe airport transfers or something for him?As much information as we can gather beforehand will be much appreiciated, the way of life in the DR is much like Spain as far as we can gather. A bit of advice from someone who is experienced would be great. Thanks again Tina

cricketman

Sorry to be a damp squib, but I would say Spain and the Dominican Republic have about as much in common as..... the UK and the Dominican Republic

i.e. not very much

except some people in both countries speak Spanish, that is true

The kind of jobs you are looking for I would say are almost impossible for you to get within Spanish society unless you speak 100% fluent Spanish and have contacts.

In the expat areas you may have more luck although they are going through bad times at the moment. Or you could set up your own business...plenty of threads on here with advise on that

Best of luck anyways

Fred James

That's not a good idea. Unless you are a registered taxi you are likely to get beaten up by taxi drivers or arrested by the police if you try this.

The police are now using number plate recognition to check on "regular" users of the airport departure/collection areas and fining bona fide "family" drivers.

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index...20177&Itemid=9

As Cricketman says, unless you have contacts getting a job now in Spain is very, very difficult - in some areas unemployment is over 25% and rising.

Spain is probably the very worst place in the EU to move to at the moment if you are looking for employment, sorry to be negative but that's the situation.

whitelinen

My advice is to look into the reasons why you feel you want to leave the UK and come to Spain. Maybe try and fix whats wrong with your life in the UK
and revisit the idea again when the economic outlook improves because the chances of getting work here are zero.

Valencia, like many areas of Spain is very insular and even the indigenous population with contacts find it very difficult to get work, unemployment is very high.

As for airport transfers search on this site for more info but with declining tourism etc, less flights etc etc legal registered taxis are having a hard time.

If you are young maybe look at other countries if you dont want to stay in the UK?

HBG

I went into town today with my son-in-law, who had never been to Torrevieja, to show him around, and have a look around myself because I only travel into town around once a month now. I showed him the 'Spanish' beach (Playa del Cura), the marvellous new Church, and some authentic Spanish bars, where you still get free tapas with your Cana.

He made me laugh when he said that we hadn't seen any English tourists, having read that the town is supposed to be practically English. I then searched the market area where I knew some English bars to be found. We gave up after an hour, they had all closed.

My son-in-law is a perceptive chap, and after noticing a lot of closed shops, asked me about local unemployment, saying that he could 'smell' of recession.

I had never thought of it that way before, but you could. We finally spotted two English couples at the tobacconists, who were buying cartons of English cigarettes, and you got a free bottle of whisky if you bought three cartons.

Xabiero

One thing to consider is that in the area you are particularly looking at, more and more people are speaking Valenciano as an everyday language rather than Castellano, especially outside of the traditional tourist areas. As mentioned above, the indigenous population are becoming even more insular than before in order to protect their own jobs and there's little sympathy for a foreigner looking for work which is quite natural in the current climate.

Airport transfers are no longer an option. The authorities are cracking down heavily on 'illegal' airport runs, i.e. those who are not licensed, by simply recording registration plates as vehicles visit an airport and pulling out those registrations that they perceive to make more trips than should be necessary. (This has caught out a few people with large families in the UK.) I know many people here in the northern Costa Blanca who have seen this particular avenue of income closed off.

Restaurant and bar work? Considering the last venue to advertise a vacancy for a waitress had over 200 applications within 48 hours of the position being displayed means that there is plenty of competition.

My advice is to research well and take your time. Think about why you want to move to Spain and whether it would be the right move to make. Forget sun, sea and fiestas. A thriving summer resort can be a miserable ghost-town during the winter with very little employment opportunities. (And, believe me, when the heat of summer finally disappears, Spain can be very cold at times!) If you can afford it, make three or four recce visits to the area you fancy at different times of the year - a long weekend would do - and attempt to feel the vibe of the area. How many For Sale or For Rent signs in the main commercial areas? Too many could mean a distinct lack of trade and subsequently a distinct lack of opportunity.

We took more than two years to research the viability of a move before we eventually decided to do so. That was almost ten years ago. We still earn substantially less than we did in the UK but I have to admit that it has been a positive experience (for the most part) and we wouldn't have changed a thing, even though our last project failed miserably as the crisis took hold. But then none of us could have done much about that.

Just take your time ...

John C

steviedeluxe

Although the UK can give very strong competition in this aspect.

Xabiero

That's probably down to all the expats returning to the UK looking for work!



John C