john 73

Hi i am looking at moving to Ibiza next year with my wife and 3 children, i am just looking for general information about school, work, property.

My children will be 17-10-9 when we move and me and my wife will be early 40's
What is property sales like inland or any land for sale to build.
I am a docker / stevedore in Ireland with crane,forklift,heavy lift, foreman experience plus container planning, i am also very handy around the house.

We will be in ibiza for 4 weeks this June/July

If anyone can help with information this would be great.

cheers John

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

john 73

Many thanks

amideislas

Spain is a great place to have money - not to make money.

Ibiza is a difficult place to get a job, unless you are fluent in German and Spanish (in addition to English) and have a background in the tourist industry, and even then, it will be very challenging.

There is little in terms of industry in Ibiza, although maybe you could find some sort of work in transport - at the docks, etc.. iffy, especially if you aren't fluent in Spanish.

You may be able to get some occasional work on private homes owned by the wealthy, but it would normally be helpful to speak German in that case.

Ibiza is a great place to live -and even cheap in some ways - if you can afford it - but that's the key - being able to afford it without a secure income. Explains why you'll find so many wealthy people living there. The good news is that some of that wealth tends to trickle into the local economy (you).

Good luck with it. You'll love it if you can manage to get by.

john 73

cheers many thanks for the info,but i would need some sort of work for me.

john

cricketman

If neither of you have work lined up, dont speak Spanish and dont have tens of thousands of euros in the bank, then I would say your chances are very slim, sorry

Take a look at the unemployment stats, now they are for people who have contacts and speak Spanish

Rosemary

We tend to be labelled up as doom and gloom merchants or viewing the place through rose tinted glasses.

The truth of the matter is that Spanish people are finding it extremely difficult to find work and keep their heads above water. So any foreigner looking for work needs to have a high level of language skills and/or be able to do work that is either much in demand or highly specialised.

Living in Spain or any of the islands can be very rewarding if you have the standard of living that you want. However, if you are not able to support yourself there is little or no state assistance. Many have had to return to the UK due to lack of funds and not because they did not try hard to find work or because they did not like the life.

I want to wish you luck with your research and hope that you will make sure that your research is very, very thorough.

Rosemary

amideislas

The Balearics do feature a bit better unemployment number than much of the rest of Spain, but it's still very, very challenging - as Rosemary clearly points out - for anyone, especially those lacking the required language skills.

There is a German website in Mallorca (www.inselradio.com) which weekly (usually on Tuesdays) lists quite a few rather good job openings in the Balearics. Most are in German (naturally) but some of them are in English, in search of English-speaking applicants.

Most listings are opening in some area of real estate, tourism, internet marketing or website management, restaurant or pub workers, property maintenance, or yacht sales and services. But you might want to have a peek to see if there's anything that suits you.

Domino

I have just posted the following on another thread.....
"my local village/market town has shops all over the place that have closed. There are started shops and flats above that are not finished, houses and flats not finished.
When going into some shops there is a look of desperation, frantic hope you will spend money, just something to make their day.
Bars are closing their shutters and not re-opening.
Even the gestor at the end of the street has got a Se Vende up in his window.

the only ones working are those who can get time on the olive trees and the local maintenance shops that are keeping the olive machinery and trailers working.
last night there was a news item on Spaniards working in London.

not a very happy time at all."

jdr

Top post Rosemary,

adeibiza

to be frank i'd look at mallorca first, learn spanish to a good degree and then maybe do ibiza after a couple of years

spanish is a *must* if you want to ply a trade here - you'll be very lucky to find something decent without it

i love it here and been here 13 years and its not easy by any means but i wouldnt live anywhere else

the common saying is that its easy to make a small fortune here - you just have to come with a large one... good luck

JLFS

You make it sound so easy, but this is a man with 3 kids in tow, and things like schooling and such have to be taken into consideration, draging them from pilar to post, is not that easy.

Id be more inclined to advise him to stay where he is, that there is no chance even if he learns Spanish that he will have the income to support 3kids without suffering hardship.

SanDiegogirl

Have you done any research into whether there are industries/companies in your line of work in Ibiza?

Do you speak Spanish, French or German?

Have you got money to last a few months in case you don't get work?

Why move now when the unemployment rate is so high in Spain?

amideislas

It's hardly easy. Not remotely.

But in all fairness, in this tourist and yachting mecca, foreigners with marine, real estate, or tourism skills do have a better chance of getting a job than in other parts of Spain. Still, you really need to have good command of Spanish, German is a close 2nd, and you need to have a good understanding of "how it works" around here in order to compete with the 1000's of other dreamy-eyed German and English souls struggling to make a living.

Mallorca is much larger than Ibiza, so she's right. If you are hell-bent on living here, you have a better shot on Mallorca than Ibiza, although not at all a good one, and especially not for a "newbie" with no knowledge of the insane way things work around here, and few language skills.

In truth, your chances are slim to none, the only exception being that if you speak German, it's easier to get a low-paying bartender or cook job for 3 months of the year. Are you an experienced captain or certified marine technician? or are you a Michelin-rated chef? Then it might make sense.

Otherwise, stay home. Have a job, come for holiday.

agoreira

Ditto, I'd say it should be a non starter. Maybe it seems a great idea after holidaying there, but like you, I don't think they have really thought this through. Nine and eleven is an awkward age for kids, even if they spoke Spanish, and I'm guessing the seventeen year old has no Spanish, "What an earth is he going to?" The OP's qualifications might mean something in UK, they'll count for nothing there without any Spanish. Unless they have a huge pot of money, I'd knock the idea firmly on the head, at least for 5 years or more.