ScottishLass31

Hola/hello everyone, very new to this so please bear with me .....

So me and my husband are in talks and would love to experience a different culture/life for 6 month trial! I am 31 and a relief care worker 10 years experience SVQ2 Health and Social Care and many other care qualifications and my husband is 28 and a fully qualified Chef with SVQ's/diploma in professional cookery and 10 years + experience he started when he was about 15/16.

We're only looking at renting a place (unsure of the area at the moment) open to suggestions and unsure if we will come over and work or just have a 6 month holiday as such! We have a little boy soon to be 5 years old also. We have holidayed in Spain twice but adore the place. We have some basic Spanish in our vocabulary but just wondering work wise with our professions is there any demand for such Care/Chef jobs out there.

Also how would one go about seeking a rental property and where would one start job hunting if we decide to take up some form of employment when there?

Thank you in advance for any advice given to a clueless couple

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

ScottishLass31

Is there no one that can give me any rental or employment information and where to start looking??

EMR

Given that the NHS is busy recruiting qualified health workers from Spain who cannot get work perhaps that might be part of the reason. Lack of employment opportunities.

angiescarr

Hi If you have enough money to give you the 6 months without income, go for it and keep your fingers crossed for a 'top up'. As far as rentals it depends where you're looking. Different people on here will give you entirely different advice from their own experiences. Rentals where I live (inland in the Sierra) are really very low indeed these days. You can get something quite reasonable for 3-350 euros but you'll have to use your Spanish...or a Spanish friend to negotiate. That extra 100 can make all the difference! As you probably already know there is massive unemployment especially among the young, and Spain is very qualifications conscious. That said, if you are really very good at selling yourself you can still find work. But if you aren't confident...forget it. If you want to live on the costas your 6 months will really just be an extended holiday. Can you afford that?. It costs quite a bit more to live in tourist areas.It will help to get answers if you target a lifestyle or an area. Living out in the sticks can be quite a different proposition to living on the coast. I'd say better, others would say worse.

ScottishLass31

Thank you for the responses. I'm am a very confident person and feel I could sell myself not even in the profession I have been in but even a small bar job several hours a day possibly! Yes we would make sure to save both are on very good salaries here in the UK my husband works for the Flotta Oil Industry in the kitchens. Unsure about work as done research and do understand the lack of employment out there (it can however be done as I know of many that have done so) the work prospect is secondary however as we may be looking at this as an extended holiday so would want areas close to bigger areas maybe a half hour drive away, have been in torremelonos and Malaga and benidorm when away benidorm is not where we would be looking but somewhere certainly near Malaga would be better. Also is there any employment recruiting agencies out there or in the UK that work out in Spain at all?

cricketman

Are you both fluent in Spanish and looking to do some Spanish qualifications?

If not, then opportunities will be extremely limited I'm afraid

Unemployment is over 30% in the areas you are looking. Even if you found a job, care and cooking work tends to be somewhere near the mnimum wage - 650 euros per month full time. That's why a lot of the care and cooking in Spain is done by Romanian and Latin American immigrants

Your only bet would be to somehow to find an expat company who wanted English speakers to work on a very low wage

If as you say, you are on great salaries in the UK, and do not have hundreds of thousands of euros saved, then in my opinion, with a small child, you would be crazy to come to Spain. Sorry

ScottishLass31

That's ok don't be sorry, I'm here asking advice from people that know better than I do! No we don't speak fluent in Spanish but have some of the lingo and plan to continue learning until next year. We plan to save like I say if the job market is out as far as working there goes then we're happy to just rent somewhere and have an extended holiday. Doesn't have to be six month period but even a three month period. Just to take a break from the UK and experience a different way and culture of life for a small time. Not looking at anything permanent out there just to experience it for a longer period than the two week holidays we take. Save like mad and rent our UK home out whilst away so we have the mortgage covered and some extra besides so we have a small monthly income from that to top up our savings. It's all in talks at the moment and no decision would be made until we have all the facts and figures also

mikelincs

I suspect that isn't really true in many cases as lots of people doing those jobs will be working 'on the black' and getting a lot less than that, also many of the openings will go to family and friends.

If you can afford to take a 6 month holiday, then go for it, but just don't rely on any sort of income.

ScottishLass31

As I said we would have income from our home we own in the uk to top up the funds we take with us! Is there any web pages anyone can recommend for rental property's in and around Spain or where's best to look?

mikelincs

Kyero would seem to be the best, a little like Rightmove, and also allows you, once you have found an agent, to see any other properties the agents may have.

ScottishLass31

Thank you for the advice will look into this

Moses2013

As CM mentioned, you'd be crazy to give up well paid jobs to spend 6 months in Spain. If you can both return to your old jobs and it's guaranteed that you'll get the same wages as before, then maybe it might be an option. The question is what will you have gained in 6 months that you couldn't have had in the UK. If it's the weather, just keep your good jobs and go to Spain for holidays. You won't experience more in 6 months and with a child it's just stress. With good jobs you can save a lot more in the UK, maybe pay off the mortgage earlier and then consider Spain later on in life.

cricketman

Sounds like you just want a long holiday really. 6 months on the Costas isnt really going to go beyond a holiday anyway

ScottishLass31

I don't remember ever saying we were giving up our uk jobs lol or saying we are wanting to move long term? I only states we were looking at a 6 month extended holiday/break away from the uk and work was only an option when out for the experience of working in another country not that it was necessary as also stated anyway can anyone guide me in the right direction of rental property's or agents I can contact?

Thank you