I see!!!

Thanks for that advice! I really appreciate it!

I think that is probably going to be the best avenue to pursue!

If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know!!! He he!

Cheers Keith!!!

Alison xxx

You probably will have more chance than some couples down here. Try some of the Travel Agents like Airtours, First Choice etc, I know they often recruit and I also know many who don't speak Spanish, which might help you whilst you are learning. I think you need to apply in UK to their branches there.

If you husband wants to do airocnditioning it might be an idea for him to learn the relevant words for this area to start with and maybe also yourself. I know a builder who came down here did, and he has a total spanish crew working for him. As someone else suggested I would either look at Costa del Sol or Costa Blanca where you have many expats to start with. The main thing is once he had built up a relationship and shows he is reliable he shouldn't have too many problems. The hardest thing to find is reliable Brits for jobs and some Spanish won't work with Brits because of it. The other side is of course if he is successful you could have it as a business and help him run it.

Also maybe rent out your house for the time being in UK until you have been here for a while, in that way it keeps the house as security in case you decide you don't like living here or things don't work out quite how you planned. You get then review it later. But I have seen too many people sell up, then don't like it here or it doesn't work out quite how they expected and are worse off. If things work out well for you and you love it here, you can look at selling it and buying a property where you like and you will also know the areas much better.

Best of luck and hope it works out well for you, which I think you have a good chance of doing if you do it right.

Thanks Mercedes!!! Really appreciate your advice! Someone else also suggested renting our Uk home out...that's probably a good idea so that we stay on the property ladder! I'm just going to check out the Uk tour operator sites now...hopefully something good will come from that.....!

Many thanks xxx

I would agree with not selling your home, we did and regret it 100%. I would give anything to be back there now so please think about renting it out, if things don't work out for you your home will still be waiting.

Good luck

Sparkle

There have been alot of negative comments, but the majority are true in certain circumstances.

I know a number of skilled people, hairdressers, beauticians, estate agents, sport coaches who have all gone home, because they said they couldnt make it work....did they really do all they could to get business? No! Their hearts werent in it.

Any good skilled person I think has a good chance...if they are good, reliable and charge a fair price. Even do a few freebies if thats what it takes to get your name around whatever it is you are going to do.

The travel agents I have seen are generally quite busy, mainly because Spain is a little behind the UK when it comes to the Internet. But you need the language.

You can get many cash in hand jobs, bar, waitress, shops, babysitting etc, and if you are confortable with that thats fine, but you need to think about health cover etc. Although paying tax is horrible, you do feel part of the system...well I do anyway. When you are part of the system (i think you need to be part of the system), there are colleges (Arte Y Cultura) where you can go to learn spanish for free or very very cheap.

Regarding property in the UK...tricky!!! If you have that to fall back on you may not go to your full potential here! However, if you sell it...you´re right, you may never get back on it. We sold up in the UK but then we were able to pay for a place here and live ok for a year or so without having to worry too much.

Wages are low here and it is difficult as JDR said to get jobs with contracts, however, they are around and for every person that goes back, theres another that stays.

Get talking to people around the pool, in the local cafes etc...its all word of mouth.

I always think its better to regret things you did do rather than the things you didnt!

Ps...thanks for the Karma!

Thank for your comments jo197...I certantly see where you're coming from! If we don't sell our house we'll always have it in the back of our mind that it wouldn't be a problem if it didn't work out...we may not try as hard to make it work then!
Also, I'd always be worried that we couldn't get a tennant...there's no way we could afford to pay our mortgage if we was living in Spain. And don't you have to pay some sort of tax in Spain if you have property/assets?

Also, although very unethical, has anyone left their debts in the UK? I'm just thinking of loans/credit card repayments whilst working in Spain...could we afford to keep up the repayments??

OMG don't even go there!!!! Seriously, we sold our house and ran our own business in Spain. We hit lots of problems which were unforseen before we left and the manana way of life did nothing to help when your trying to bring in an income. We left with no debts whatsoever, cleared all our credit cards etc and I would hate to think that you returned having run from this as it would be a nightmare scenario to come back to. We are having enough problems as it is trying to claim flippin JSA and are being treated like we are immigrants because 'we have come from abroad', even though we were only away 11 months!

To think you would not work hard if your house was still here....I don't think you would. A new life and a new start will mean you will work at it and try your hardest if you feel you might not then I wouldn't advise going at all.

We made many good friends in Spain and they helped and advised us on many things, but personally I could not live the life they were happy to. Living from week to week earning low wages doing cleaning, bar work and odd jobs would not be a life for me. We were able to run our own business there but it was far from successful and yes we lost a lot of money and I would advise anyone thinking of starting out to really think hard and make as many plans, including what to do if it did not work out.

I wish you all the luck in the world and if it is your dream then go for it, but it was our dream and is now our nightmare, so please please look into this carefully. Only you can make this decision and know what is right for you. Spain is a lovely country with lovely people, but it also has it's problems and it is not as cheap to live there as many people think.

Sparkle

Have PMd you.

Keith

Hi Keith,

PM'ed you too!

Alison.

Alison I don't know where you are in the UK, but while I agree with the posters who suggested you rent out your property, do be wary. Unless you can leave some capital behind to cover voids, you could easily slip in to the red between tenants. I would investigate whether the council would consider renting the property off you, and the same with housing associations. This way you get a guaranteed rent, and they will usually agree to redecorate before they hand the property back. You could get a lease for 2/3 years or more. Another possibility is if there is a need for rented homes for forces personnel...I know someone in London who does this and he is never without a tenant.
Not sure about walking away from debts in the UK...if you have owned your home for a while I would re-mortgage and repay them, as you can always set the mortgage interest off against the tax liability.
I know the argument about people who always have something to fall back on usually end up having to....standard advice to people contemplating stage and show business careers.. however many of the ones who keep going have done just this, building up assets that enable them to ride out the
hard times, and keep going.