sarajade

Hi People,

I am contemplating a move to Gib, I currently live in the UK and am a UK citizen. I have lived in Spain before (Benelmadena) but work there was pants!! I am a PA with a background in law and ended up working in a bar for 5 euros an hour and also my daughter didn't settle in a Spanish school (work wise but she can speak Spanish) but she loved Spanish life. We are both thinking Gib maybe the way to go as the schools there are English and I feel this would be better for her and according to Wemploy there are normal jobs available (not just bar and waiting).

I have read a lot of posts both from 2008/09 and also 2005/06, the older ones being very derogatory about Gib and saying no way live there it's horrible (I once went there in 2000 when I lived in Spain but really cannot remember what it was like) whereas others say it's wonderful.

Can someone (or a few of you) give me your honest opinons. I am 35 and a single mum, my daughter is 12. We both hate Britain (I have been temping since being made redundant in October and have no family to keep me here) and want to come back abroad but need somewhere with English schooling (any suggestions gratefully received, can't get into Oz or US)

Thanks all

Chiclanagir

Don´t believe what the recruitment agencies tell you. There is very little work in Gib. They tell you there is work but apparently from a more honest recruiter the companies are not willing to pay the agencies thousands of pounds to recruit anymore. Also you cannot get work from the Job Centre unless you live in Gibraltar, and it costs more to rent in Gibraltar than in Spain.

jdr

Most people live in Spain and commute to Gib as it is so expensive to rent there.
Onlineomiga will tell you what Gib is like, he works there.
Health cover for you and your daughter will be one of your main priorities.
Why an English school ?

Mitzyboy

I was just talking to some neighbours who got married in Gib earlier in the year

They told me the streets were strewn with rubbish which vehicles were driving over ........... they had actually asked if there was a refuge drivers strike. They were told "no, its always like this".

I dont know what area this was, but its not very encouraging

sarajade

Hi, at 12 it's a bit difficult for my daughter to start a foreign school what with GCSE's/Baccalureate etc and she attended spanish school in benelmadena for a year and couldn't really settle at the school, I've just noticed you are in the pueblo, that's where I was and my daughter went to the school there. How long have you lived there? say hello to the place for me

ballin

Hi,

I live in Spain and work in Gib. Gibraltar is truly horrible, and I would NEVER live there, not to mention it is extortinate for the privilege of living in a dump too!

Work is soooo thin on the ground here, there are literally NO jobs at the moment anywhere. My fiancee has been looking and applying to absolutely everywhere for 5 months, and despite a few interviews, she is getting no where despite being fully qualified. Even retail shops have nothing, the last interview she had was at Monsoon or something, and they had over 50 CV's handed in and the job wasnt even advertised.
As a result its an employers market, minimum wage is expected in most jobs, and any other more technical role goes internal before ever getting out to the public.

Schools are very pikey here from what I've seen, all the Gibbo kids where gold chains, have a circle of hair on their head and the rest shaved, and spit everywhere and generally lower the tone of the rock even more if thats possible!!!!

I would advise you come here and take a look before making any decisions, you may like it, but me and everyone else I work with hate it here. Despite that though, i have a good job, make good money and am fully aware that if i were to move, i would be in exactly the position i am talking about here as jobs in Europe at the moment are non-existant.

trentino

Ballin, thats a very honest post and I thank you for that. Whats wrong with an international school here in spain. My son has settled in very well nd thats at 16 right in the middle of the gcse. He has had a few extra lessons to catch up on the curriculum here, but honestly I would not put down the international schools. Wish you all the best of luck, obviously johbs are very thin on the ground at the moment

onlineamiga

Hey all,

I really cant help but LOL at some of the responses about Gibraltar on here. I'm no major fan of the place either, but its really not as bad as some people have been making out.

Like everywhere, Gibraltar will be more thin on the ground as far as jobs go, but it isnt as bad as Spain. Infact, i'm lucky, the company I work for is actually expanding and we'll be looking to take more on. I feel like our department is at bursting point and we need another techy. (But thats up to the bosses not me!) Me and my friends were lucky, just over a year ago we all found decent work in Gibraltar after our job in Marbella went tits up.

The biggest gripe I have about working in Gibraltar is the fact that I used to work in Marbella... Its a world a way. Gone are the days of sitting in charingitos for lunch with blue skies, and a lush ocean to look at for lunch. Now im surrounded by high rises and get Morrisons.. great.

First of all, if you want to move out of the UK for sunshine.. DONT GO TO GIBRALTAR! Yes on the surface it may look all nice and warm with a meditteranean climate, but you're on the crap end of the stick as far as the weather is concerned. First you got ocean currents the meet up causing instability, then you got the levanter cloud that sits ontop of the rock like the plague for weeks at a time. And when you dont have that, you get cold westerlys blowing in from the atlantic. Basically Gibraltar is windy! And that 25c day will feel a damn site colder in the wind. Its like you have to scavange for sun spots so you can feel warm.. whereas the rest of the Costa Del Sol are sunbathing on beaches. I hate having to drive under the cloud everyday. If i could find work in Estepona (where i live) then that'd be great!

OK next up... Ive never really found Gibraltar particularly dirty. But then again I dont see a great deal of it. I go from the border towards morrisons ever day. I've also never really found the kids pikey. Infact i held a gate open for one of them he other day and got "thank you ever so much!" Infact if i see a group of kids hanging around, Im not worried about being approached or getting any verbal abuse, that sort of thing. Wouldnt get that in the UK these days!

Had a night out in Gibraltar not so long ago. Was a private do, and some girl got her phone and purse stolen from her bag that she had left out. They phoned the police and within 10 minutes, 2 of them came up and they reviewed CCTV footage in the bar, and then went after the culprit. The guy was from Manchester. I actually find it an incredibly friendly and safe place.

Gibraltarians are a proud bunch, they love their little country and believe there is no where better place on earth to be. They love British people, so you would be welcomed.

Yes, property is expensive in Gibraltar and in Estepona i can get a far bigger nicer apartment for half the price of what you could get in Gibraltar. But then I have the drive and the border to deal with every day. A lot of people settle for the Spanish side of La Linea.. but that place IS a dump and the kids there are pikey!! (you still get the crap weather too!)

I simply recommend you go to Gibraltar, spend some time there and see how you feel about it yourself. I think in some ways, you either love it or you hate it. I certinately dont think its such a bad place, but I find the weather annoying, and the fact its not Spain is annoying - because I love Spain!

But right now for me, its the best chance I have of staying in Spain. I have a good job there which is going really well, im not worried that i could loose it either. The exchange rate has made me poorer.. but ah well. Its all good. beats being in the UK anyway.

Rotor

Gib is no more scruffy than Marbella /Mijas etc ,and I`d say there are more pikey types living in spain amongst the Brit ex pat community than the Gib/Spanish lot ,
Slightly off subject Gib seems like a good place for a buy to rent apartment? very high rents and lower end apartments seem to be in short supply?

Rgds

Rotor

jdr

Come on, Gib is like the UK holiday resort of Jaywick in comparison to Marbella or Mijas.

sarajade

Thank you all for your input!!

Can i just say that I have lived in Spain before (benelmadena) and found that there were no 'real' jobs around, I ended up doing bar work for 5 euros an hour!! I though of Gib because the school is english and free as being a single parent I cannot afford one of the private english schools and as my daughter didn't seem to get anywhere in a spanish school (she was there a year) i thought an english one may be better.

I guess its the UK for me then (how crap!!)

Thanks again guys

Casa Santo Estevo

Winchester is not a crap place to live if you have to live in the UK.

onlineamiga

You should go check it out, see what you can get. You can get proper decent work in Gibraltar, and they follow the same employment laws as the UK. The company i worked for in Marbella were such a bunch of cowboys, now im working in a proper job, for a proper company in Gibraltar, and have just been promoted to Senior Technical Support. So all is good!

Fredbargate

The property market in Gib is about to go through a long awaited adjustment.

There are a lot of rentals being advertised.

A fair proportion of the sale properties have been advertised for over a year.

Very shortly some of the new developments will be finished with many people having put down off plan deposits in the hope of making a quick kill. Prices on these properties will fall significantly in todays conditions.
I have already heard of horror stories in this area where people have invested their gratuities as deposits and now cannot sell or raise mortgages.

The Waterport Terrace development ( low cost housing ) may significantly move people out of the lower priced rental market leaving a large hole in this rental area.

sarajade

I know what you mean, decent jobs are hard to come by, I may go and have a look and see what happens from there