Help Please...
 

Is it easy to find a job in spain? Or better to buy a business? Where would be the best place to live for someone who doesnt speak much spanish at the moment? Im looking at moving to france but my partner wants us to also give spain a chance so any help would be appreciated.

Re: Help Please...
 

Basically no, it isn't easy. The Spanish are finding it difficult to find work and if you do not speak Spanish then it might be well nigh impossible. It also depends of course on what you do/want to do. If your are a builder's labourer then forget it. If you are a neuro-surgeon then you might be in with a chance. Even buying a business might be risky as the downturn in the economy for us all, and the fall of the pound against the Euro for the expats, means that spending power is diminished. Sorry to be so negative but that is the reality at the present moment. I can't speak for the costas, only for the Province in which I live. I am sure that those member who live in various other regions will be happy to give you their perspective. Good luck.

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Thanks for your honesty and reply.

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It would help to know a little of your circumstances. For example, if you are on the young side, it is easier to live by the seat of your pants as it were ie job hopping, flat hopping etc..... By the time you hit your thirties, this kind of life is tougher and you look for stability.

A good place to start, even in this climate, is teaching English, but do it through the main cities, especially Madrid. (Barcelona is great but opportunities are harder to come by as there are more people there looking for it). If you've never done this before, invest in a quick Tefl course. On arrival in Madrid, to get yourself experience, go work for a school. They will pay you little for the hours they exploit you but you do get the experience. When you feel comfortable, start freelancing yourself out and work on giving classes to businesses around the city - there are plenty of teaching firms who will give you some hours, and from their you build up your working week. This is something that both of you can do. It gives you a chance to ride out the worst of this crisis in a sector that is relatively unscathed. Big firms never get rid of their education budget as it is used as a perk or additional salary for its execs and it is also a very handy tax write off.

If you don't speak Spanish, then finding a job in any other sector is Spain is going to be tough.

And if you are starting a business, what would it be? If it is in any way related to property or the servicing of property or the various related businesses that come because of property (such as furniture store, or air-con installers etc) is pretty much a dead area now as the market has collapsed, and with it all the other businesses built around it.

Re: Help Please...
 

Im 24 my partner is 23, but we have pets and dont really fancy hopping about every month or so, whats the bar climate like? Is that slowing down or still going strong? Thanks for the advice.

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Bars have closed down all over the place, so it would be a good time to buy one. But unfortunately they have closed down because the trade is dropping; because of the economic situation.

I don't think anyone on this forum would recommend that now is the time to start a new business unless you have good Spanish and lots of money to throw away.

Have you any experience of running a bar, or running your own business? The Spanish seem to make it very hard to start a business, with lots of paperwork and licences, and it seems the only people making any money are the landlords who own the premises and the town hall who rake in the money for the opening licences etc. Then the taxman takes his share, as you have to pay social security payments of just over 240€ a month to be self employed. This will cover you for "health" but then you also have to submit accounts every three months and this means you have to employ the services of a gestor. etc. etc.

However, if you can get a "bar job" working for someone else, you will probably find you are working all the hours of the day for very little pay.

But I wish you good luck if you take the plunge and hope that you find something to suit.

Don't rely on the " Brits" as your customers, you will need to provide something for the Spanish as well to keep going all year.

My personal experience is of the Costa del Sol area, but you don't have to look further than the British press to read stories of people who are on their way back to the UK after losing all their money in Spain.

Re: Help Please...
 

I heard yesterday about a bar here - the brit owners spent a fortune & a couple of months converting an empty shell 'local' into a smart bar

it was open just 3 weeks & they apparently closed down, packed up & went back to the UK





the old adage has never rung truer than now - how do you make a small fortune in Spain? - come over with a big one!

Re: Help Please...
 

thanks for the replies guys they are helping alot!

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problem is that there is a turn down economically in all EU countries, so it will be the same anywhere, France is not in any different situation.

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It depends on what you do I'm a Builder and do a lot of work in France ,I think you have more chance of earning money there ,they still seem to be spending .
Some of the local Spanish builders near us are traveling up to 3hrs a day to work and a lot of the eastern block and south American workers have gone home .

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Well to be honest i was looking for something new and fresh to do, but if need be im a bedroom/kitchen fitter, but i dont know if there is much call for that in either Spain or France.

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did you watch Spain, Paradise lost' last nightm shows the problems that people who are inexperienced at the business they want to run, and move to a country where they don't know the language will find, cost the people some 50,000 buying a bar that has very few customers, and they now can't sell it to get anything back.

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yeah i watched both episodes.

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so are you coming then?

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After that show some would say no, but im still unsure