jolovessun

Hi All

As someone wo has lived well/comfortably in Spain (I the nice part) San Pedro beach and Gibraltar Queens way quay. I thought it would be good to give an alternative view for both places VS each other and VS UK as mots post seem to be doom and gloom.

Firstly, if you have no specific skill sets that Spain or Gibraltar require then you will suffer either way- it’s not like England where anyone can get a decent job without skills!

Spain is mainly performance related or sales and there are good opportunities in both and also for skilled worker mainly finance (IFAs accountants ) and property.

Gibraltar has loads of work if you have worked in the gaming industry marketing or finance in which case you are almost guaranteed work and can apply before relocating and many companies will provide fantastic relocation package to get you going.

If you move to Spain especially thinking you can just get on like UK, think again you will struggle and the weather won’t be enough to alleviate the stresses you will experience and you are most probably better off staying in England!!!

However if you have a skill set or can sell then you will be okay and will live a much better quality of life then in the UK in either jurisdiction.

Gibraltar is however far, far better place to live than Spain in every aspect.

Firstly, the things that Spain is good for ie. holidays, days out to beautiful, places weekends drinking wine or eating tapas can all be done on the weekend by simply crossing the gib border and using Spain as your holiday playground without having to experience any of the bad points that are found by living in Spain itself i.e. the people (both English and Spanish) and the system (corrupt, outdated slow and at time ridiculous) and the lack of strong opportunities for career progression and earing good money

I am half Spain and half english and speak both native fluently so am a good person to talk about the attitude of people in Spain- the English in the touristy parts Fuengirola/benemadena are often there to drink all day and eat English breakfast so not a place to go if you don’t like that which I hate!!!

The Spanish in these area and in most areas I lived/visited often give dirty looks and even with me being and talking Spanish I didn’t fully integrate like I could in Gibraltar where the people are much much friendlier and also the Spanish idea of customer service is frankly appalling!

There are of course exceptions but I am generalising and speaking from personal and numerous experience!!

Gibraltar- if you have skillsets you can earn good money live well and for family you get something that no other pa on earth can offer- 100% safety for your kids- neither Spain with its’ drugs stabbing and open and flagrant prostitution crime rates or England with its’ very high crime rates in all sectors can offer this assurance of safety and retain the innocence of your kids!

Unlike Spain and UK, Gib ins one of the only places in the world with a surplus budget of over £60M per year yes I said surplus unlike the trillions of debt that UK and Spain have

The town is overdevelop but has loads to do; restaurants tapas places often much better and cleaner than those found in Spain that are complacent due to all year tourism and serve food that is 90% of the time in 90-% of the places is terrible!!! There is bowling/cinema ice skating and numerous beaches for kids as well as FREE swimming pools and free bus travel due to the surplus budget ice skating is £1 all year due to the government having so much money that they can subsidise activities for residents – amazing some example are common wealth park, free bus travel, subsidised bowling and ice skating the sandy bay revamp project and many man y other benefits!

Gibraltar is the best place to live for families providing you fit in to the above category otherwise it will be hard for you- if you do fit there is no place on earth like it and I would recommend it to anyone

Finally, dubai is not a place I would recommend- too hot unbearably hot all year part a few months so pointless living in the sun when you can even be out in it, very very Muslim with very very Muslim ideals not heard of in European countries very controlling and very different exotic is one word I won’t use- strange and different is the correct explanation and they still use developing country workers as slaves in their houses which if you have any morals you wouldn’t condone like most of the acts if these gulf states I have several friends who moved over there as single guys and now with families all want to come back to Europe for these reason if you have a family I would strongly recommend you don’t go and live in a Muslim country Dubai or anywhere like that !!!

That’s my advice from experience and from a different perspective to the norm you find on here

old.sparkles

Hi there and welcome to BE

I've moved your post over to our Spanish section as you had posted in the Welcome Inn which is meant for introductions.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Fredbargate

jolovessun

where is the Spain section??

christmasoompa

You're in it!

You can find all forum sections by just going to the main page, where there is a list. If in doubt, have a read of the FAQ.

HTH and welcome to BE.

jolovessun

ha ha thanks!

marcbernard

What a load of old tosh. Whoever wrote this rubbish knows nowt of the real Spain. His comments are clearly based on the CDS. Also his writing style needs great improvement!

Rosemary

Please share your experience of living in Spain.

Personally I love living with Spanish people, maybe I should change that to Valencian people because apart from visiting some other areas I do not really know what Spanish people are like in other places.

We chose to live in an ordinary small working town so do not know what it is like to live in an ex-pat area or a place frequented by Brits on holiday or a busy city so I cannot discuss this aspect at all. However I do know what it is like to live within a warm and friendly community of people and greatly value that. Working skills were not required because of taking early retirement so the only skills I have needed is to be open and friendly with the people.

Rosemary

MikeJ

That's a bit strong and not very welcoming to a newbie. Considering the OP is half Spanish I think he probably has a valid point of view. As to writing style, if you start criticising members for that then you'll probably never stop.

Fredbargate

Please define the real Spain

Bo S

Interesting contribution. There are many worldwide offshore jurisdictions such as Gibraltar that have very high standards of living. Their economies tend to be built around high value jobs such as finance, technology, gaming and to a degree, top end tourism. This typically contributes to relaxed environments, low crime rates and high standards of living and education.

Its quite common in economies like those that corruption and crime is lower than in jurisdictions were high debt and high unemployment are consuming issues.

Natrually, humans who can, move to those economies for the better of themselves and their children. A rose tinted and insulated view can then develop.