Hi all.

My name is Leigh and I'm from Cambridgeshire in the UK.
I have just signed up, so I hope you are all well.

I've come here, to talk to expats in Spain and for some real good advice really.

I am 28yrs old I have an Italian wife and a 7 month old boy.
We have been thinking of moving to Spain for a year now and I think finally we are going to start making a plan and sorting a relocation out and work.
My wife can obviously speak most Spanish as Italian very similar, and I am willing to learn the lingo very fast.
My profession is maintenance and facilities.
I am qualified in Pest control, Swimming pool operations and carpentry.
My experience is maintenance Management and facilities management.

We own a house with mortgage and will rent our house out in UK so we have some income to begin with.

We want to move to Spain because we love Mediterranean culture.
We enjoy the way of life and their community's.
The same as Italy really, but because my wife is from Italy she would prefer to live in Spain.
My wife is an experienced Hotel Reception Manager with some accounts and admin experience.

We are unsure of an area to live, but we prefer coastal parts or not far from coast.
We are looking to rent, and we have no problem living amongst a Spanish community.

We are extremely hard workers and we haven't decided to move for a quiet easy life.
Just a culture and weather improvement.

Obviously we plan to have more children and my son will attend school when old enough, but this is not a problem as he will be fluent in Spanish/Italian and English by the age of 5 at least.

Thank you for your time in reading, and I look forward to all your advice etc.

Many thanks

Leigh Geoghegan

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

Please consider the move very carefully, you will be looking for jobs in areas where there are an abundance of people with your skills, the unemployment
situation in Spain is one of the worse in the EU, and there is no free healthcare or benefit system in place that you would be able to access. To get into the Spanish healthcare system would mean getting a contracted job, or becoming self employed, autonomo, this would mean a payment to the government of around €260 a month, every month. Schooling would be free, except that all course books, after school activities etc have to be paid for. Where you would be looking to live are the areas where there are already many thousands of ex pats doing the work you are looking at.

Good luck with the move Leigh

Yes your wife speaking Italian will help pick up Spanish very quickly , my mum was Italian and she could understand Spanish quite well !

We brought our kids out when they were young and they have adapted well in fact they are now more Spanish than English

In my opinion a great place to bring kids up !

Cheers Tony

It certainly is! Spain is a child-focused society. Almost everyone loves children and they are welcome and made a fuss off just about everywhere. There also feels like there is no rush to grow up and act like an adult

Spain is a great place to live, with or without children, as long as you can bring your own job and money!

If you need to come to Spain to make money then it's not such a great place. Neither will the government help pay for your children like in the UK

Thanks for all the replies.
It's a difficult decision, the trouble I have is with work.
I want to work hard I always have since I was 14.
It's the work side that is going to cause a lot of trouble.
I could probably get a job in the hotel industry doing maintenance.
But like someone said To me before it's a common trade in the Spanish tourism area.
I would consider starting a pest control company, but yet again that is quite a common trade even if your not qualified.

Have you got any advice for work , or areas that are best suited to our requirements please ?

For work, I have no suggestions

You won't be able to get a job maintaining anything if you don't speak Spanish. And it would take you years to learn. Well, your only hope would be if you could find an expat business, but there are few big enough to be able to take you on

And then even if you did learn Spanish, there are 4 million people unemployed. What do you have that they don't? And even then, would you be prepared to work for half what you earn in the UK?

Being in Spain with very little money and prospects is as miserable as it is anywhere else