This may well vary from regions but in general it seems to me that the spanish govt spend 0€ investment in the young.
Where I live there is a sort of 6th form college but this is only for students to continue their academic qualifications to enter uni.
There is absolutely no provision for further training as there is the UK. In fact many expats end up with their teenage children returning to UK to study.
A tough choice for parents but an even sadder state of affairs for the young here.
What you reckon.

If someone doesnt want to go to university, they can do a "curso tecnico" in a chosen profession, such as to be an electrician, plumber, mecanic, childcare etc.

Some of these courses you have to pay for, but others you can get a grant from the government or the state pays the entire course fees.

I dont know how this works exactly but I do have a relative who did a 2 year course in IT after finishing school, rather than going to uni. She didnt pay for the course and it led to a good job afterwards.

There is something called FP (Formación Profesional) with many ciclos formativos, which are courses and trainings in different areas. For the past few years it has been a huge increase of people wanting to do things like these and now it's difficult to get into the most popular ones. The Ministerio has a website http://todofp.es/ but for something more specific you have to check on your comunidad as things/availability of courses may change. The website is good though and you have a list of all the areas/courses and schools offering them in Spain either presencial (with classes) or distance/online. Oh and these are free because it's part of the state education (though there might be other schools offering it and charge, I don't know, I mean the regular FP schools).

I think this does depend on where you live. As with many things those in more rural areas don't take priority. Many of the centres are to far away and rural bus services make commuting impossible,then the distance learning courses give less choice.
My daughter has looked into the the FP site but found nothing that grabbed her and the ones that did,as you say, are over subscribed and this seems to be getting worse with more people out of work.
For her I think she has had to resign herself to returning to UK if she hopes to have any future. Sad for her,sad for us.

According to a recent study,

Only Portugal is below Spain in the whole of Europe with regards NEETS (Not in Employment, Education or Training.

Even Romania and Bulgaria do better!!.

I cant see why, unless she actually wants to move back to the UK of course, but that is a whole different matter.

Yes avocados, something like 20% of the Spanish Youth are NEETs, the problem being that Spanish education has a pass rate of around 70% for exams (compared to 99% in the UK), meaning around 30% of kids leave school with no qualifications.

If you are willing and intelligent there is no reason why a child would end up being a NEET or a "Ni Ni" as the Spanish press calls them. If your child struggles in Spanish education, does not like the look of the technical courses offered and you do not personally have a job to give them, then yes send them back to the UK!

This is a problem that lots of parents will be facing soon, children who are out of the nest, before they really want to go for various reasons.

To leave home at a young age because the child really wants to, to be able to travel, work, or just bum around is a totally different ball game to someone who feels that they HAVE to.

Due to various factors, such as the recession and such, I think that there will be quite a few kids in limbo.
What I mean by limbo could be that the parents have been hanging on until the son or daughter leaves school, and then they go back, the child may have bofriend-girlfriend and be settled and not want to go.

Then there is this case where the child does not really want to go but feels that there is no other option.
In both cases, if feel that the child will be living alone away from the family, not because they want to be independant and have an adventure, but rather reluctantly.

It is not the same for an 18 year old to move out and share a house with a few mates in the same town, where they can still come for Sunday lunch, because they feel as though they want to be independant, as to be miles away from the family.

Maybe there is a lot to be said in waiting until the children have made their own lives away from the parents before coming to a country where the people concerned feel there is no future for these children.

I couldnt imagine how I would have felt if I had had to return to Spain in my teens because I felt there was no other option for me, leaving my family behind in the UK. Tough for all concerned.

What about tuition fees at Spanish Universities, siesta? As you may know the fees are increasing dramatically in the UK, with the top two Oxford and Cambridge, planning to charge £9000 a year, with other universities looking at charging 3, 4 or 5,000 a year per student. Are the charges likely to go the same way in Spain?

I don't know much about that but I assume they'll increase at some point. I don't see why fees would cost less with the years, that never happens. However, I don't think there will be a significant increase like what you mention in the UK. University here has nothing to do with that anyway. It depends on the place and also the degree, especially now with the new system...but still, here in Santiago you can study a Grado for 600-800€/year and the master for 1000-1300€/aprox. In my days it was also like that, around 100,000 pesetas (600€). And don't think that in Madrid things are much more expensive, you can check it on the website but the credit is usually around 15-20€. Now with the new Bologna masters and the likes, there are more options and certificates and exams...and they can get pricey in some places, but a regular degree or master doesn't need to be that much anywhere (state-unis, of course).

Sadly, once again, I find your comments ill conceived and insulting.
This is a thread about the clear lack of funding by the government for good accessible training and opportunity for the young.
Clearly you feel that is not the case but the fault of mine and others children for being to thick at school and being unwilling and to unintelligent to find any opportunity to work or even train.
Echoes of Norman Tebbet or what?

That wasnt my intention.

The point is that if you want a good job in Spain you NEED to go to university - and even then you may struggle to get a good job, they are thin on the ground.

You say there is a lack of funding for training, but I dont know how you have come to that conclusion. There are many training schemes for the young. I only have limited experience in that I know one person who did a 2 year IT course at 18, which was free and provided by the government - and immediately got a well paid job afterwards. If anyone has more experiences, then I urge them to share them.

What I meant to say is if you have an 18 year old who isnt going to uni in Spain, doesnt have a job and doesnt like the look of the training courses then you are best to send them back to the UK as they will have no future in Spain.

In Spain you need excellent qualifications, perseverence, good social skills and a large element of luck and "enchufe" in order to get a good job. And most of the time you will need to go to a big city in order to get it!

THAT SEEMS TO ME TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT!

Just look at a company like Santander they are a global company with a presence on many stock exchanges worldwide. They recruit from the brightest and the best in the countries where they have a presence but!

Take the case of UK they first bought Abbey and moved a brilliant banker who they had picked up along the way when they bought Totto in Portugal in as CEO he built up the UK arm with AL the the best bits of BB and other smaller buys from the Government fire sale after the crash. They are one of the strongest banks in UK and the biggest "retail" bank. His reward should have been a main board seat with a path to the very top open. He has left to join Lloyds TSB at the very top and the daughter of the Santander chairman Botan moves in as CEO UK who will obviously succed her father unless a brother has a prior claim.

If this is how quoted companies behave what chance a medium sized company who are not quoted or private?

To be fair, Santander is a family business, it was set-up by Botin's grandfather I believe, so it is natural that he wants to keep it in the family.

But it is true that many Spanish companies are like that, it is a different model of capitalism really. The bad point being that it can be difficult for outsiders to get an important role in the business and innovation can be stunted as a result, the good point is that businesses are often sustainable and take the long-term view, whereas companies run by boards and CEOs on 2-year contracts are are always on a short-term view, making sure they get their next bonus and the shareholders their dividend.

It is a publicly quoted company shares can be bought on many stock exchanges worldwide. Just like SKY it is nepotism!

I think its great that families build up businesses as an inheritance to their children. Why not?

Otherwise why else do you have a business? Purely for the money? That is an even sadder reason to do business.

People can invest in Santander knowing that it is based on a family business, this gives stability and confidence to investors that they are in it for the long term.

This isnt unique to Spain, look at so many other big businesses in the world. Walmart, Samsung, Toyota, News Corporation. All built around a family business.