sunshine1976

Hello, myself and my partner are moving to valencia in october.We are studying spanish for 4 weeks whilst looking for work.I just want an idea roughly of what we could be earning so we can work out how much we can afford accommodation wise. We are willing to do any work to start with eg working in a bar/restraunt.Any idea what those kind of jobs pay? Once im up to scratch with language i want to use my qualifications which is mainly as a massage therapist and also cosmetics/skin care in department stores.Any information about wages and cost of renting accommodation would be greatly appreciated. We want to rent 1/2 bedroom flat around the city centre preferably jesus. Thank you to anyone who can help.We are really worried we will be skint!!

valenciatim

Without meaning to sound rude, those sorts of jobs pay peanuts, and to work in the city, you will need fluent Spanish and or Valenciano, as the city is not full of tourist bars.
The average wage in Spain is quoted as between €12 to €15k.
A half decent apartment in the City will probably cost a minimum of €500 per month.
I am not trying to pour doom and gloom on your plans, but unemployment is running at over 10 % and rising, so there are plenty of native speakers available to work.
It is often suggested on here, that if you plan to move here, make sure that you have enough money to last a year, in case things don't work.
Personally, I think you need more than that.

lynnxa

I think you're just being realistic Tim - this is not a good time to be coming over to start from scratch - and you're right - why would any store employ a non-native speaker when there are so many native-speakers unemployed?

this is why so many Brits (and other extranjeros) start up for themselves & work for their own ex-pat community

I don't know about in the city Tim, but even here with the HUGE ex-pat communities, established businesses are struggling, simply because there are so many of them, and they ONLY cater to ex-pats

jdr

There is a Spanish guy I talk to at the carboot , he sells secondhand builders tools.
Usually his stall is buzzing with people buying stuff, but for the last month he is really struggling to sell anything, and has not bought any stock for weeks.
I think this shows the real slowdown that is happening around here.
Lots of news in the Sur about immigrants returning back to where they came from.

sunshine1976

Thank you all for your honest advice. We are thinking it's a bit risky at the moment as we don't have enough savings and we don't have enough spanish yet. Do you think it would be wise to save as much money as we can first and learn as much spanish before moving. We are desperate to get out of scotland and not spend another winter here but we have to be realistic. Im feeling really downhearted at the moment but again any advice would be appretiated.

digdug

tim's totally correct when it comes to valencia - its really hard to find work around the city and to be honest, you'd be really lucky unless you speak near enough fluent spanish at least, even then you'll find it hard.
i'd advise you to be flexible on where you want to go, at least to start, and start hunting for a job fonline. wherever that job takes you is a start, then you can plan further ahead as to where you really want to live.
at worst, come over for a holiday and go job hunting with your cv for a week and see if you have any joy.
and learn as much spanish as you possibly can before moving.

valenciatim

Yes, save as much as you can, and learn as much as you can.
It's worth noting that people who work in the City, do not like to commute very far. But the cost of renting in the city is going up.
Property in my area is now holding its' value, supposedly because of the expansion of the infrastructure, road and rail improvements etc. The amount of building in progress along the CV-35 corridor, going north-west from Valencia is unbelievable. And probably 95% is flats which are definately not being built for ex-pats. But because the Valencian government has ploughed money into the roads and now the metro, it's now commutable and much cheaper to rent or buy than in the City itself.
On another note, the winters in Valencia are not always good!

Tim

sunshine1976

Thank you Tim for your reply.I appreciate it. Has anyone got any ideas of anywhere we could move to in Spain where your spanish doesnt need to be fluent to get a job and work is more available to british. We would pretty much move anywhere just to get started until fluent.Thanks again

Same Difference

In my opinion its the worst of two evils........

You need to be fluent to move to somewhere like Valencia to find work etc or if you move to a more British part of Spain you will struggle to pick up the lingo cos hardly anyone speaks Spanish!

steviedeluxe

Hi everyone. While we're talking about Valencia, does anyone remember the Nottingham bar near the centre? It was run by a guy from Mansfield and his Spanish wife. The bar seemed to be quite busy most of the time - but in fact the landlord kept complaining as there was too much work; there seemed to be stress created as a result on the marriage. Unfortunately the bar was taken over 3 or 4 years ago. I don't know if this is because the landlord got fed up with all the work, or because of other reasons. Anyway, the point is, it is possible to run a business that caters to Spanish clients (most of the clientele in the bar were local businessmen and professionals). You have to appreciate though that it will be hard work. Don't be taken in by that "lounging in the sun " image.

steviedeluxe

Also, as for working in a bar as a temporary measure - there are Irish pubs dotted around Valencia. So long as you were competent in Spanish (and knew enough of Valenciano to know when to ask them to speak en castellano) you should be able to get work there. Like all bar work though, don't expect big money!