Lospacoshombre

Hi Everybody,
I have read this forum over some period and really enjoy and respect the replies given. Therefore I now have my own queries that just maybe you can help me with.

I am considering moving to my house in Spain (nr Fuengirola). My wife is an accountant and feels that there are reasonable quality financial jobs in Gibraltar.

Does anyone have experiences good or bad of working generally in Gib (ie passport control/ tax rates etc)

Or does anyone work in the financial field in Gib who has direct experience of this type of work?

I await your comments and thanx in advance

El Al

jdr

Fuengirola is a long way from Gib, plus the queue at the border, plus the traffic in Gib, probably at least 3 hours a day traveling to start off with. ;-(

pwblackbelt

I worked in Gib for 2 years while living in Spain. I can remember I had to go to an office to register for employment and tax etc, but it was a long time ago.I worked on building sites so I just went around them all until I got a job it took 2 whole days.....LOL. at the time I had spent 1 year on the dole in the UK looking for work.
I have no idea about the financial market but there are a lot of UK companies out there and the work ethic is very similar to the UK. I loved it there and if I could get a business going there I would return but it is too small for what I need.
The tax rates (at the time) were higher than the UK but marginally so. No idea now though. Passport control is a bit of a nightmare. The Spanish border police make you wait for hours to get out after work. They purposely make it slow as they are unhappy about the Gib situation. Getting in is usually easy though. The first time I went to Gib the border was closed but that was a very long time ago.
I had a friend sell their house and buy a yacht to sail around the world. When they got to Gib they got jobs immediately, 1 was an accountant. It is definitely worth visiting to check things out. There is also a Gibraltar forum similar to this on virtualtourist.com good info on there also.
However I live in La Linea De La Concepcion which is right on the border, Fuengirola is a long way off from Gib
Hope this helps

moleman

I'm currently living in Spain and working in Gib, have been here for 6 months. My employer did most paperwork for me, the only thing I had to do was go along to the tax office with my contract and get a tax code. Other than that I've had no problems. The tax rates are high, but the exchange rate means that I normally still come out with more money than I would with a similar job in Spain - I work in I.T. so not sure what the relative wages would be in your sector.

As the others have said, Fuengirola is indeed a long way to travel - at least 60-90 drive mins to the border. If I drive, I normally park in La Linea and walk across the border. This is usually very quick (I can recall exactly 3 occasions in 6 months where I've had to stop walking to show my passport - usually waving it vaguely towards the control officer is enough - let alone have anything checked properly!), though you can expect a long wait if you drive into Gib itself.

I hope that helps

onlineamiga

moleman i also work in IT and looking at moving to spain. It seems there are quite a few I.T jobs going in Gib and was thinking exactly the same thing, park in spain and just walk over the border as it smuch easier then bringing a vehicle over.

Any I.T jobs going where you work mate?

pwblackbelt

try going to www.thinkspain.com and click on jobs then look for gib there are loads of jobs in Gib

onlineamiga

Thanks, im going to do that once im out there. Think i definately might look for properties to rent nearer gib as that'll increase my chances Anyone got any recommendations? I do wanna live in spain not gib.

Brisbane bound

Look at Estepona. Only about a 20 minute drive. We loved it there.

Big_john

I had a great time living and working in Gib in 1989, work was easiily available and Gib enabled me to start another business and I continued it into Spain

I can only endorse what everyone else has previously said,if there are any downsides to it it is that Levante which hangs over Gib mainly in winter which makes it somewhat damp, but you get used to it.

Bets of luck

TheArmChairDetective

Wow, three clicks and I found a job for the wife in Gib.
Does anyone have any ideas on wage levels in the legal areas please?

Lospacoshombre

Thanks Guys for all your answers to my queries, it is great having all this info!

As I said in my original questions we are thinking of moving to my home in Fuengirola, we have access to the TOLL road within 100 yards of our door and my dad says "it only takes an hour to drive to Gib on the toll road and costs 11 E there and back", my wife commutes over an hour in the uk and is prepared to do this if all the other factors such as parking and border problems do not impede her day.

I have only travelled by coach to Gib and this takes forever, with all the stops etc.

So the question is is 1hr to Gib from Fuengirola feasible.

Thanks

El al

Big_john

From the Mijas connection to Gib, yes it's feasable your only problems are in the spring/summer times when there are a lot more vehicles on the road.
And also when you get to La Linea are you going to park in the underground carpark just across from the border and walk in or try and drive in and park in Gib ?

That is where you can take some time up.
When I lived down there towards the end I bought a scooter and then each day parked the car in La Linea in the underground and then rode the scooter into Gib which made it a lot easier, then just returned at night and left the scooter in the garage, as did many others

It's something that you need to look at when you get down I think, but the very best of luck

jdr

Also in Summer the tolls nearly double in price

Big_john

And at Easter ......what about at Xmas ?

jdr

As far as I can remember it was low tariff.