General Advice please
 

Hi, I am new to this forum so apologies for any mistakes. My partner and I are thinking of moving to the Canaries in the next few years, we have one son (aged 1.5 presently) and are just looking for some general advice.
I am a qualified nursery nurse whilst my partner is a vehicle paint sprayer, we are considering the option of setting up a business in one of our areas or even a total change and perhaps looking at a bar or cafe.
We have been given lots of different opinions on our ideas, what we are looking for is useful info, such as tax info, places not to live, schools info or any one with experiences they think would be beneficial to share with us, anything hat may help us along our way would be very much appreciated!!
As we are still in the planning stages we are still in two minds as to whether this is a good move for us so any advice would be wonderful.
Thank you for reading my ramblings!!:confused::)

Re: General Advice please
 

Hi, and welcome.

Have you read the many postings already on this forum about people in exactly your situation?

If you haven't then I would suggest you should.

If you have, then you can't fail to see that most advice is 'don't do it!'. In the current climate, the only sure thing about running a bar is that you will loose ALL of your money. As unemployment is currently running in excess of 25-30%, your chances of getting a job must be about nil.

As you would have to be self-employed, the costs are at least 260 euros per month each just for your SS contributions (NI in UK).

Can you both speak the language fluently?

Please don't take this as negativity it's just realism at the moment.

Maybe someone from the Canaries can share their views.

Re: General Advice please
 

On the bright side,at the rate the Spanish smash up their motors a vehicle paint sprayer could well be a useful occupation.
It's a while since I was down there but I recall quite a few vehicle repairs centres, both British and Spanish doing a roaring trade along the stretch between the airport and Los Cris.
Even so I imagine there will be a fair degree of competition to get set on and I doubt if pay and conditions will match those in the UK.

As for a bar or cafe,I refer you to previous threads.
I won't say it's a total impossibility having seen one or two succeed in better times, but unless you have loads of previous experience, I would estimate your chances of success as extremely remote.

Anyway, the Best of British whatever you may decide.

Re: General Advice please
 

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.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: General Advice please
 

Nursery Nurse = Little possibility of acquiring work to nearly no possibility.
Spray Painter = A notch above, but lots of luck required and less money assured than in the UK.

Re: General Advice please
 

At the moment there is no work in the Canary Isles.. except cafes and bars and they have you working for €10 start..then €1 every one you bring in.. 6pm to 2am..6 days a week = 60€

Re: General Advice please
 

I agree come and look for yourselves..

Re: General Advice please
 

Thank you all for your comments, as I said previously we are not looking at doing this in the very near future, I suppose the best we can do at the moment is cross our fingers and hope the jobs market picks up or maybe we should be looking elsewhere for something?
Thanks all