jojojojojo

Hhhhmmm, how have I managed?? First of all its been one almighty struggle!! When we first arrived three years ago, my husband was going to start a "sister" company up over here, using the UK company as the head office and he was going to go "in" with some friends over here who were doing the same type of work (Home automatom/multiroom media). Anyway soon after we arrived the recession happened. The sensible thing was that my husband should postpone the Spanish idea temporarily and concentrate on keeping the UK company going - and thats how it is now!! He commutes! Then of course the exchange rate dropped by 20% which meant that we had to dip into our savings and move to a cheaper property. the cost of living rose over here - so its been a struggle! One day when I'm feeling brave, I'll work out just how many 1000s€ it has cost us to live in Spain!

Things are picking up a little, altho early days. The exchange rate is a little better, my husbands UK company is doing ok (Unfortunately he's still commuting). I'm also making an all out effort to get a job, my children are now 14 and nearly 16 so I can leave them at home easier, so I am more flexible workwise! If I can get a job that pays enough for me to cover the household bills here then it may work. If my husband can get some work in Spain - he has one possible contract in the pipeline, we may stay. But as things are I've got a feeling that once my son has completed his GCSEs next spring, we'll have to head back to the UK - Not something I want to do and will try anything not to, but TBH, the struggle is getting boring/tiring now, living in Spain is great, but the constant problems and crisis's have chipped away at my resolve. Sometimes I feel that it would be nice to go back to the UK just to relax!

Sorry, I sound so negative. I'm not really, but its nothing like I thought it would be, I DO love living here, but its not been easy. Altho sunny days, swimming in the pool at night under the stars, the beaches, the atmosphere, the views, the lovely people, little villages.......... hhhmmm!!! But being on my own with the kids most of the time, isnt easy!

There - that was quite therapeutic!!

Jo xxx

Mechanic1974

I understand. it all makes sense - u got caught by the recession crash. Im very sorry to read that. I do hope things improve. but its all making sense - the more i read. europe is crashing and at the moment it appears - safest place at moment is UK. At least for me.

I do hope u get through it - and get that contract - as u have children there with u.

Best regards

christian

Mechanic1974

Well im still her in the UK - well Wales to be more precise. Looking out the window at the gloomy windy wet weather, in comparison to sunny - warmer 19C midday temps in Benidorm.

Is there any update on the job situation out there ? Are expats still retreating ?

And can anyone offer me some advice - that has not been given yet - what villages are possible to live in that are reasonable travelling distance to benidorm or - suitable for work too - as in Mechanics or - my wife - Chef / Bar work.

Hope you all have had a good Christmas - and an enjoyable New Year beginning !

Mecanico 1974

poolboy

hello again, well I am still here & today was a scorcher. 22 degrees hot & sunny & I have a red face after going out biking.

in fact tomorrow I am in Benidorm for a change.

can't comment on jobs situ as I keep my head down & look after myself, even the spanish are still moaning times are tough but they are still trading.

good luck in the plans btw

jojojojojo

Hi again, What I would suggest you do is book yourselves a weeks trip over (not a holiday), hire a car and visit all the places that you like. Then go into the various bars, speak to some of the customers and barstaff and ask what work maybe available, get chatting and see what the economic "feel" is like. Then venture round some of the garages and auto-repair shops, dealerships and see if they have any proper vacancies (not just casual work)!

See what happens, you may find something and if you do then you can see if you will be able to earn enough to live on. But things arent any better in Spain than they were!

Jo xxx

Mechanic1974

I have booked a week over there in October. 7 days self catering. cant stand the hotel food ! however - it will be half and half - holiday and a bit more - exploration of the area. never done before - but we were discussing tonight about - hiring a car and having a look around. what i am kicking myself about is - last time i was over - i saw a OS style map of Benidorm and surrounding area in a Newsagents in Poniente old town - right on the corner - i should have bought it but didnt last minute. So if anyone can get me one - i will be willing to pay you. - you could list it on ebay - i will buy it ! genuine - really want a OS map of Benidorm an surrounding area. Google Map - is a bit tedious to use for that sort of research and the same goes for Google Earth. Its handy but still not as good as a map i could really study here at home.

as for asking for work in garages - im reluctant to ask - because will annoy them as i dont want work right now.
i want to try and visit every year and build a picture and knowledge of it - with regards to rental, work and the map area of the place.

i have to confess - not progressed much with the spanish lessons. - unable to get a course over here because not enough want to enroll to justify running a course. - i have self taught myself a little basics - but its very hard with out daily interaction with spanish people.

what would be ideal - buts is plain fantasy for us working class - is 6 months in spain and 6 months here in wales. so we have best of both worlds. but who wants to employ people for 6 mths here in uk or in spain eh ?

nice to hear from u poolboy and jojojojo

bealerDSB

Seems to me your best leverage here is your credentials.

Talk to your Foreman / Supervisor / Manager, formally that is.
Express your interest to work overseas, Spain to be precise, and can they; As your Employer, look into searching on the intra-employee listings for job placements...

Your Manager may well be able to fast track the situation, if not, at least make Company approved enquiries; As oppose to you simply walking around the Spanish streets with no "advance warnings".

Let your official Business groups work "for you". They would much rather keep it in the Family.

DSB.

Rotor

I replied to your original employment enquirey and now realise you are looking for work in a garage as oppossed to going self employed?

I dont think you have much chance of getting work with Spanish garages or main agents ,even if you were fluent Spanish ,your best chance (only chance in my view) is self employed.

This way I`d say you stand a good chance of getting work from expats , from what Ive seen over the last couple of years as things have got tighter and the only busy expats are mechanics , bring all your tools/diagnostic kit in a secure van and work mobile initialy ,advertise in the ex pat magazines/bars/shops and dont give credit, if you are good at your trade and dont try to charge UK labour rates you will make a living.

As I said before if you get stuck on Spanish names for car parts send me a pm, also if you need help with parts suppliers ,

Remember , most men will get rid of the wife before the car!!

Alternativley you could contact http://www.englishmobilemechanics.com/ in Marbella,they are usually looking out for mechanics but you need to watch the tv series on them to decide if you could cope with working for the boss

missile

I admire your forward planning but I see little point in canvassing the employment situation now as it may be a lot different in 7 - 8 years time.

I would suggest you concentrate on those things you can do to improve your prospects.
1. Learn spannish, most (if not all?) UK colleges run courses.
2. Approach the local Toyota / a.n.other dealer in spain and ask what they would require.

There are opportunities out there. I have a friend who does something similar. He works as a draughtsman in UK for the summer and a skii guide in Val d Isere in the winter and plays in a band.

agoreira

Certainly not all, not in the more rural areas. As the OP says, the criteria have changed for a lot of these courses lately, although he should be able to find a course for beginners, they are normally well attended. In my area, I used to attend an Advanced Spanish course run by the nearest university, and minimum number of students needed was four, since the cutbacks that has increased to eight. We struggled to get four at our level, eight is out of the question, so the course has been cancelled. A Spanish friend that does these courses was doing around eight courses this time last year, now she is doing two, and those are a mixture of several different levels just to enable the classes to run. You're right though, first and second year Spanish normally don't have such a problem, it's just that the students tend to give up after a couple of years. A friend teaches these classes, and even there he is down to two classes a week. I agree with you, if he's serious about going, learning the lingo should be the first thing on his list.

missile

I would suggest OP does not need an advanced course. A beginner (conversational) course and then an improvers course should be sufficient for him. AFIK these are readily available in technical colleges throughout the UK. OP can check the syllabus for his nearest college. At my local college these are always oversubscribed, but as you say students loose interest after a few weeks.

In Wales, he may have to travel a few miles, but surely it will be worth the effort?

The BBC language course could be a good place to start. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

agoreira

Agree, that's why I said he should be OK, beginners classes are usually available. Living in a fairly rural part of Wales myself, I can appreciate where he's coming from! Even those that are available, can mean a fair bit of travelling. I've attended a summer school in the past at Cardiff University, and they e-mail regularly with details of their classes, and they have some great classes, I'd love to go, but that's a 200 mile round trip for me.
Yes, the BBC course if fine, in fact there's no excuse really, there is loads of free learners stuff on the net. This is one that looks ok, starts very basic and gets up to quite a good level. Plenty of free stuff, but you can buy a whole course for $5. ¡Una ganga!
http://www.thespanishblog.com/