terry ev

Hi everybody!
I am a moving to Spain (costa del sol) hopefully somewhere near estepona in october. I am a builder specialising in roofing and property maintenance. I have heard that work is not to good at the moment but what the hell i am giving it a go any way!! has any one got any ideas on advertising i.e local english papers etc? any response/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Terry

steviedeluxe

Hi - Are you currently working Terry? If so, it may be better to keep working for a while in the UK, at least until the construction sector recovers in Spain (which may be a while yet), and save up your war-chest. There are openings in Spain (eg a recent thread here showed there was demand for English teachers in the Cadiz/Jerez area), but all reports indicate the construction sector is deep in recession with 100,000s of unemployed construction workers. It's your choice ultimately, so good luck.

paintermujer

Good english builders in our area are doing ok.Not so much competition I guess.

Good luck anyway.

EllisG

as painter rightly says GOOD English builders are always in demand. If you're looking for a job forget it, if you plan to work for yourself then there are a number of places to advertise. Sur in English and Costa Del Sol - Euro Weekly are the best papers in the area although there are quite a number of other free papers (you won't find it hard to discover them when you are here). Personal recommendations are always the best way forward but another good way to market yourself is putting business cards on urbanizacion noticeboards.

Fortunately a lot of the property on the costa is poorly constructed and corners are constantly cut which should provide decent builders with work for years to come. Times are definitely tough as is evident by the increase of builders around here knocking door to door to try and pick up business but as I said before a good builder should be able to make a living, although be prepared for a slow start until the recommendations spread.

If you want to blend in to a group of Spanish builders, don't forget to keep your spirit level hidden or be prepared for questions as to it's purpose (if they should grasp it, you will be able to buy time by sending them to Leroy Merlin to buy a spare bubble)

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

jdr

Have you ever seen a Spanish roof being built, very different from the UK version ?

Dxf

Hi

Just following up there are many types of Spanish roof, even variations on flat roofs. The traditional tiles take ages and a gang of 12 will do a roof in a day - but it is HARD work in the 40C plus sun.

Bring lots of cash you can throw away at the chance and if repeat if it goes have enough to return head held high saying "At least I tried it"

Davexf

Domino

you may wish to have a look at
http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/busin...n/index_en.htm
and
http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/busin...p/index_en.htm

work isnt good, the Spanish rarely use anyone non-Spanish so you may find your work restricted to expats.
expat newspapers have seen a reduction in the number of people advertising, those that are generally appear to be outside the building trades.
such advertising always falls in hard times, which doesnt seem right as people would be wanting more business - but its either eat or advertise.

hth

cricketman

I dont agree with that

Spanish are the same at the Brits, they will use anyone who is half the usual price. While is why they employ Eastern Europeans or Latin Americans.

But they wont emply a British builder who doesnt speak Spanish and isnt cheaper than the local tradesman. And why should they?

EllisG

gotta disagree with that one too. A lot of the owners around here from Madrid only have one set of people they won't let work on their Andalucian holiday homes...and that is Andalucians

teuchterpete

Dont be put off, just realistic. Building work appears to be almost at a standstill. Just heard a report on BBC ( Radio 4) that there enough empty properties, in Spain counting in the half built ones ,to house the population of Norway! ( about 4.5million) So plenty of homes available to buy. In our village ( inland Andalucia) the only British builder is leaving through lack of work. However with others moving out there may be enough work for someone moving in. In any case it seems that the best bet is to be flexible and prepared to travel to get work. In any case good luck!

big wheels

[QUOTE=teuchterpete; In our village ( inland Andalucia) the only British builder is leaving through lack of work.[/QUOTE]


Serious question.
Would that be the "self taught" husband and wife team who try and rip everybody off?

I sincerely hope so.

teuchterpete

Well I never asked them to do any work for me, perhaps just as well.

terry ev

Hi everybody and thanks for all your advice. I am coming over in october so fingers crossed! Has any one got any advice on how long or how to build up a good credit rating over there? I will be getting an income from the uk if i transfer that to my spanish bank account will that help?

tex_ritter

To be honest you really need enough cash for you to live on for a year, rent, food, transport, utility bills etc so realistically you need to land with about £20k in your pocket at least, more if you need to buy a car. I'm retired and a 'long stay' tourist, i.e. stay a month or two then come home for a month or two then go again. But this last year the only really happy brits I've talked to are the ones with a good pension or UK income of some sort, and many of them are feeling the pinch as the exchange rate is so poor.

The days of Spain being a cheap country to live in are now gone, its certainly on a par with UK prices for many things and food is now more expensive across the board there than the UK. Think long and hard, you don't speak the language (?), have no contacts/network of friends, don't know the rules and regulations out there and don't know the culture. Sorry to pee on your hopes but I'm just being realistic. At the very least come out for a month to get a feel of things before you decide what to do and please don't sell your UK home or 'burn your bridges' until you have done your homework in depth and detail. Hunger feels bad even if the sun is shining.

Good luck.