I am looking to move to Spain, work 21/21 day rotation in the uk and want to live in Spain in my off time. Anyone else do something similar? Where has a good expat community reasonable rent(250-400 a month) decent enough nightlife and close to a major airport or easy public transport routes. Any suggestions or experiences would be great cheers

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

Have you done ANY research before asking this question or searched this forum for previous threads on 'coming to Spain'?
Spain is a huge country. Do you mean the Costas or the major towns & cities?
What do you mean by 'good expat community'? Do you mean by population?
'Nightlife' - do you mean pubs/bars/clubs? In Winter time most are either very quiet or dead in many areas, especially bearing in mind the economic situation here.
You mention easy transport facilities, so I take it you will not be using a car over here, therefore your enjoyment of nightlife would be reliant upon buses & taxis?
Also, what about medical expenses? The European Health Card is only for emergencies, what would you do if taken ill over here? Have you thought about insurance?
I'm not trying to be negative here - honestly, but you really should research things a little more and be more specific.

How about Los Cristianos,Tenerife.
Not a kick of the backside from the Airport and flights to many UK destinations.
Lots of nightlife there and in L.A.next door.
Easy transport all over the island and to other islands as well
Best of all a far superior climate to anywhere on Mainland Spain.

I used to know some guys living there who were on call to service and repair oil and gas rigs worldwide and they never seemed to have a problem.

Though it must be said at that time it was easy to hop straight on a plane at very short notice to most of the UK and elsewhere, which may not still be the case now.

How's the cost of living compared to uk? Pretty sure my company will pay my travel to the airport so just find somewhere that is doing cheap easy jet/Ryan air flights also I can book them all in advance. You know any good websites for long term rental property? Thanks for the help mate

I have private health which will cover me. Won't be driving but if I stayed in somewhere like nerja you just get bus from Malaga airport and rent somewhere central wont need much travel, just mean that in the off season there are still British people living over there so you can still go out for a drink at the bar rather than only having tourists and when they leave its a ghost town. Was more looking for people that work in the uk for rotation and Spain in off time, a lot of the lads I work with commute between aberdeen Scotland and Thailand so I hardly think Spain is going to be much of a push to sort something out.

I know of two people one commutes the other did, both live close to Gibraltar.

But as per another thread what happens if flights are cancelled like today due to weather both in UK and here and you are late to work?

If that is a problem then your planning will have to take that into consideration when choosing an airport to base yourself near to.

I will be abit more clear I was hoping there might be some people on here that work uk and live Spain oil industry or similar or live in Spain and know people that do something similar and obviously like the lifestyle and area or even people who live all year round family's etc that live in an area with a lot to offer. I have read other posts just wanted something more specific to my situation and as this very helpful biffta says Spain is a large place and i cant exactly visit every destination in Spain if I want to move there before summer kicks off. I am also not looking for a club 18-30 holiday that last for 12 months of the year, all other details you can presume I am capable of sorting out moving country isn't something to be taken lightly and you can presume I have researched and looked into my options getting people to share there first hand experience and knowledge is what I am looking for and was hoping what I would find. Like DD, cheers

It's ok on Scottish side I am from aberdeen so can stay if flights are cancelled obv I would lose the flight and have to pay for a new one and on the way to work spain to uk would be the same but I am contract and maersk are a good company would still be paid full wages just have to make up the days, I am covered for a certain amount of days as well. They fly guys in from all over the world and if there is a problem with flights you don't lose your job although a lot of other oil company's would give you the boot. Worse comes to worse back to uk say dec-feb, I am single 24 only looking to rent so not tied down although I don't think I would look back if I left the uk

Nerja would probably fit most of your criteria, there is a sizeable British year-round population there - but the majority of them are much older than your age group, especially now that work is so hard to come by which means that the younger people are more likely to have left.

One bedroom apartments are available to rent long term in the town centre for €400 per month, you could look on www.kyero.com or www.smnerja.com for starters. As you already know there is a decent bus service from Nerja to Malaga that runs 7 days a week and Malaga airport has as good a choice of flights back to the UK as any in Spain. If you rent, you should only have to pay electricity and water bills (and internet if you want it) as the IBI (equivalent of Council Tax) and community fees would normally be paid by the landlord.

I did know one person who worked as ground staff for BA at Heathrow and lived here in Velez-Malaga for a few years, but her situation was rather different from yours in that her husband and children stayed here whilst she commuted. They are one of the families that had to return to the UK as her husband could not find any work locally. As far as I know she had no problems with the commuting side of things.

Have a look at Barcelona or some of the coastal towns nearby - great club scene, very cosmopolitan, and better transport links than down south (the flight is half an hour shorter too!).

Cheers, I mean if its dead in the winter months that's ok winter is spent in the gym and I study with open uni so I smash as much that as possible so have more time in the summer, is the Internet normally ok to set up and is it reasonably priced. Those websites are good thanks x

You could also try Madrid. There is a local expat population -many are involved in teaching or publishing, but there are it folk and small businesses owners too. Good air links too. Only drawback you may find is it isn't on the coast.

Barca or Madrid would be living the dream. I would have to flatshare though which I do at the moment anyway. Have tickets to art and music festival sonar in Barcelona was going to scope out the city then. If everyone leaves the smaller coastal places winter times because of lack of work prob be better off, yesterday I was only looking at how to finance 2 places in Spain, could be a lot harder than I first thought haha

Little wonder the Madrid residents can't wait to get the hell out of town every half chance they get and hog all the roads and beaches in my neck of the woods.

Brilliant when they all p!ss off back home again and we have miles of beautiful coastline and beaches to ourselves again.