salmonking

hi guys,
been having a look on here for a couple of weeks and you all seem nice and friendly so here it goes!. now,we live in the uk(my wife and I and my 2 daughters 5yr and 1yr) and basically we want to get out of here!!.we have done it once before when we migrated to Australia 6 years ago but after a year realised it wasn't for us,too expensive,too far from home,trouble with a certain redback spider,couldnt settle.but having lived back in the uk,for a number of years we are getting itchy feet again.also would like a safer life for my daughters.we have been to menorca a couple of times and love the place,we are under no illusions that it is going to be easy,and we are not afraid of hard work.i am a painter and decorator by trade.having to retire from being a rugby player at 22 due to knee injury I did my apprentership with my fathers decorating company.my wife is a technical case worker.hobbies include sport mostly rugby,fishing and family,not in that order! .I know the current climate isn't great in Europe and was just wondering if anyone has any advice on work,schooling and living,thanks

Lynn R

Good luck to you, but I don't think it's possible to overstate just how much of a problem finding work in Spain is at present. I don't know the particular figures for Menorca, but for Spain as a whole unemployment is running at over 26% and over 50% for the under 25s.

On the subject of painting and decorating, I had 2 Spanish guys paint the outside of my house last year and they asked for 40€ per day each - for an 8 hour day. You may have trouble competing with people who are willing to work for so little. They did a really good job, too.

Rosemary

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

salmonking

thanks for the reply, it is early days in our search,so we are still weighing things up.40 a day,didnt think it would be that low,how do they manage to live on that? theres a good job and then theres what other decorators call a good job .only joking,if they can make that pay good luck to them.!

Rosemary

It is not necessarily that they can make that amount of money pay it is possibly that they are so desparate for work that this is the amount that they have had to come down to.

Most tradespeople have had to lower and lower their prices in order to have some work coming in because obviously with so much unemployment there is very little money being spent on anything apart from the absolutely necessary things. These are extremely hard times for the Spanish people, there is no benefit system for them to rely on so they have to do what they can to survive.

Rosemary

SpanishAngel

If you have work/jobs at the moment stick it out in the UK. If you move and things don't work out you'll have to start over again in the UK or elsewhere. The grass is not always greener.

Domino

as others are saying - stay in the UK, just come out here as much as you can for holidays.

you must know about the problems in the UK with Eastern Europeans doing painting & decorating, plumbing, electrical, building etc etc at rock bottom prices you wouldn't consider getting out of bed for.
here in Spain we have architects with good degrees reduced to pumping petrol, even my local fishmonger has put up the shutters and the owner of my local "off licence" is getting really worried about the lack of customers.
My local butcher is now selling chickens at €1.84/kilo because he can't shift them.

Spain is going through a very difficult time, especially in the agricultural regions, but things aren't much better on the coast or in the large cities.

Yes, those of us BE's already here seem fine, but most are retired and have £ : € exchange problems, whilst those who are working are getting worried.

You have a job, you have a family who you must do the best for, so stay where you are with other family close by. Start the dream and be ready to leap when things get better but p l e a s e NOT NOW.

hth

Pocaloca

Even if you are the best painter and decorator in the world, how are you going to build up a business in this climate? Did you realise you will have to pay the equivalent of €270 a month national insurance even if you don't earn a cent? Is your Spanish good enough to deal with all the bureaucracy? Is your 5-year-old going to be OK in a school where she will be taught in Catalan or Spanish? Or can you afford to pay for private education in an International school?

Sorry, nice idea but as others have said, now is not the right time!

amideislas

Menorca is lovely, but I can't imagine a job would be remotely easy to get. It's a rather sleepy place, and frankly, here in Mallorca we have much more business activity than Menorca, yet decorators and other workers are very abundant, and very cheap. The real estate business is dominated by a few major players, and there isn't that much business anyway.

Cost of living will be pretty low, but International or English schools will be limited. There are several on Mallorca, though. But not cheap.

Climate here is hot in summer, mild in winter, except for February (now). It's cold and rainy, but should warm up in a couple of weeks.

If you're set on Menorca, I think the best you could probably do is in the tourist business in one way or another - or buy a hotel... or maybe something in marine technology - electronics, vessel maintenance, etc. And you'll work hard (when you work) but you'll never get rich at it..

These islands are good places to have money, not good places to make money.

Good luck...

agoreira

As usual, it's probably not what the OP wants to hear, but it's certainly true. It's hard enough on the mainland to make a living, especially if you don't have Spanish, I'd think the chances on Menorca must be about zero. Agree with other poster, great place to come if you have money, but in this economic climate, unless you are well blessed in financial terms, forget it. Whilst you might want out of UK, if you have a job that pays reasonable money, hang onto it, it's something you'd struggle to get in Spain.

amideislas

The joke here is that it's easy to be a millionaire here; just bring 2 million with you.

me me

A slightly off topic comment from me following on from your comment Rosemary, is that I know a young well educated women who lives nearby, who has just landed a "job" living in.

She will do the housework, child care, work 6 days a week, she will get board and lodgings and 50 euros a week for pocket money.

It was either that or the streets.

Lynn R

A man in my town has put a notice in the window of our public library, advertising his services to collect household rubbish every night and take it to the basura bins - for 50 centimos PER MONTH per household. After the notice appeared there was an interview with him in our local paper, apparently he is receiving the 426€ per month benefit for those whose entitlement to paro has expired, which covers his mortgage payments but no more than that. I hope his advert does not affect his entitlement to that, but how desperate must people be? Even if 100 households signed up, he would only be earning €50 a month.

salmonking

I knew it was bad out there but not that bad,yes I speak Spanish so that wouldn't be a problem,and my daughter is learning it too.as for work in this country I know I can go and if it doesn't work out Ive got work to come back to.i have worked on a self employed basis for 4 years for one of the richest men in the uk who owns lots of properties out there and also has lots of friends who also own properties there,so work to start with wouldn't be a problem,i was just wondering what it was like to build up a business.thanks for your replies anyway