craiggingell

I've been offered a position in Spain and have many little niggles and concerns that need to be overcome before I accept. Two in particular are concerning me.
1. I've been offered 30,000 euros pa. Is this enough to support a wife,daughter,dog on the northern outskirts of Madrid. The company is near Barajas airport but i'd rather live in the outskirts somewhere near the mountains and have no idea of costs as most property websites seem to be for holiday rentals.
2. How dog friendly is Spain? I'd need a dog friendly flat or house. Is this possible on 30k?

missile

1.Many would be very happy on 30K, it depends on what you have become accustomed to. What is your UK salary?
2.Spaniards do not pamper their pets.

craiggingell

Uk salary is 23k so at todays exchanges its not a bad rise but that will all be irrelevant if i cant live on it. Basically i have no idea how much of that 30k i would see? seem to find conflicting advice on tax rates/energy prices/rental costs etc.

lynnxa

exactly

don't know about actually in Madrid - but 30k would be quite a high salary around here

unless you want to put your child into international school - even then you could manage

the spanish do have pets - and many keep their dogs in flats - even big dogs

so, no, they don't pamper them

craiggingell

My main concern is finding rental accomodation that will accept the dog and have enough space (garden or space outside ie mountains) for her to be happy.

valenciatim

Well, €30k is at least double the "reported" national average wage, so it "should" be possible!

missile

Again it would depend on where you are coming from? 23K would not give you a great stadard of living in London or Madrid. Living costs are comparible, so you would be circa 7K better off.

You really ought to do some research, particularly so when your number 2 concern is whether your DOG will be happy

steviedeluxe

If you don't want a 30k job, turn it down and recommend me in your place Apart from accommodation, your money will go twice as far in Madrid than in say London. As to where to live, I'd try and choose somewhere with good transport links to your place of work, preferably public transport. You don't want to be caught up in a traffic jam in the Madrid heat, even with air-con. If driving, there may be good rental opportunities in Alcobendas, which isn't far from Barajas. You may find commuter options close to the mountains in the north of Madrid province over-expensive - if you want this type of lifestyle you could always just stay in a room during the working week, and rent a place in the campo further out, perhaps in Toledo or even further like Soria or Aragon.
As for dogs - loads of dog owners in and around Madrid (can often see the evidence on the pavement, although this has improved) , but I don't know how strict landlords can be. Marisol may be the best poster to ask regarding keeping a dog in Spain.

craiggingell

I'm not sure what to do with this info because of the quotation marks? Are you saying that you dont believe the stats?

I'm getting the idea that most people dont think the salary will be a problem. Does anyone know of a good website for property rentals. As i mentioned before i cant find any good ones as they all seem to concentrate on holidays

Fortaleza

30k is more than enough. If the job is near Barajas, I would be inclined to look at Alcala de Henares, a nice University town not far from Barajas with excellent links to the city. Much cheaper here, and roomier. You should be able to afford to rent a house there. Good sized flats seem to go from €500 upwards, a good 25-30% cheaper than Madrid. Train into centre takes around 25mins if I remember correctly. In car to Barajas (without traffic) it is quite close.

Fortaleza

Try this site. I've already searched Alcala for you (ignore the first ones as they are just shared stuff)

For other areas, just refine your search.

http://www.fotocasa.es/listar/alquil...g=true&tv=true

steviedeluxe

That does sound good. Even at 700 a month, it's still cheaper than London would be, and public transport costs are far lower. However heating and lighting costs (la luz) are not cheap, and make sure you don't get stung with unforeseen service charges (try and make sure the owner pays for this or tells you how much he/she expects you to contribute!).

whitelinen

Suggest you look for Spanish sites i.e. fotocasa and idealista

craiggingell

Much appreciated. I know everyone compares it to London as its a capitol city. i actually live in another capitol city (Cardiff) so my living costs at the moment are much lower than london.

Fortaleza

Excellent choice of capitol city. Just a couple of things to note. Whilst you may not visit the coast at all in Cardiff, it is comforting to know that it is always there. Plus there's the extraordinairy amount of green areas in Cardiff plus the river. Living (not holidaying) in Madrid will be a massive culture shock in that respect. You start to appreciate how lucky you are to have lived on the coast even if you didn't use it.

Also size - there are probably twice as many inhabitants in a Madrid neighbourhood the size of, say, Canton, than there are in the whole of Cardiff!!!! Madrid population is around 5.5m - almost double the population of Wales!!!!!!

That said, Madrid itself with its wide boulevards means that you don't feel too overcrowded. And for a major capitol city, it is surprisingly smaller than you would expect - true, it does sprawl out into suburbs but these are classed as individual towns in their own right.

These satellite, commutor towns are probably a good halfway house if coming from somewhere the size of Cardiff. I always preferred the southern suburbs, as they are generally cheaper, but then they do also tend to attract the cheaper end of the market too, so not to everyone's taste.