New life in Spain

[georgina33]

hello please be nice its my first time, i have decided it is about time i moved to Spain and i could do with all The advice i can get about opening a shop renting a house and the best area to be.

anybody help?

[princess peach]

georgina33 wrote:

hello please be nice its my first time,

Poor Georgina33,a newbie has to put ..PLEASE BE NICE.before she asks a question .Thats really bad.!
shame on you lot.....you know who you are!!!!

I cannot answer your post someone else will have to do that-but i will/can be nice to you.
Hello sweetie,I havnt been a member for very long,but big waves and big smiles from friendly peachy.xxxxxx

[georgina33]

thank you peachy it is nice to get a reply, i didnt mean anything by be nice to me but it was a good ice breaker dont you think he he he

do you live in spain?

[Don]

.... i have decided it is about time i moved to Spain and i could do with all The advice i can get about opening a shop renting a house and the best area to be.

anybody help?

A short question but inviting huge answers Georgina. Andalucia is large and varied enough but if your open to anywhere in Spain the possibilities are endless. I would suggest putting down some of your likes and dislikes to focus answers back to you. What would be important to you? Coast, beaches, hills and mountains, proximity to airports, schools, what kind of shop and where would you need to be for customers ..... etc.

Renting a house is probably the least of your worries. Starting any business in Spain is the huge challenge. Not only the legal stuff but getting a business going as yet another foreigner in Spain is unlikely to be easy.

[georgina33]

thank you don, i want to live inland near mijas or nerja and i do need to be near schools as i have 3 kids but i want just spanish state schools and i would like to open a second hand furiture shop but that is somthing that i am not sure people will want i dont want the normal dream of a bar coz they are ten a penny so just thought i would try somthing a little diferant

[princess peach]

georgina33 wrote:

do you live in spain?

Yes,i do live in Spain,and have done for 4 years now.At times it gets very hard,my boy(aged12) is in Spanish school,and hasnt had any problems with ANY of the Spanish children so far..the odd problem with the English one tho.I would have no doubts in recommending you to put the children into the local schools.
My child didnt know any Spanish when he first went,and after day one he came down the school steps with a beaming smile that said everything to me.Homework can be pretty difficult(involves a big dictionary for translation,so i can help),and he does struggle,His Spanish is excellent,everyday he learns different words,building his knowledge...

I find now after 4 years,i dont want to go back to UK-in the beginning i did,but every obsticle you come across,there is always some kind person to advise you or help you out.I have made more close friends here,than i ever had in 7 years of being in England.I love the Spanish way of life,The people are amazing,and so friendly towards me and my family.They are an extremely nice race.
With regards to your business-I cannot give you any advise,only to come here first with a few ideas,check out the areas where you live...would there be a call for a second hand furniture shop????
Peachy.xxx

[frank]

[quote]The people are amazing,and so friendly towards me and my family.They are an extremely nice race. [/quote]

It's nice that you have only ever met "nice"Spanish people, that's pretty much been my experience as well. We have made some excellent Spanish friends over the years. During our last month in Spain we spent a week at one of the lovely rental houses that our friends owns, and he would not accept a penny from us. It rents for over a thousand pounds in high season, and six hundred pounds the week we stayed! Every time we visit, I take all the photos of his properties that he wants, photos of the kids etc, and have never charged him, so according to him, it's fair exchange. We also stayed a month at another of their places earlier this year, and will book another month next April. I also speak to a few regularly on skype, and we have become friends, even meeting up with a few in Valencia some time back. So like you, I personally only seem to have met the "nice" ones!
However, I also read quite a few Spanish forums, and especially a F1 site where there are "lively" discussion about the pro's and con's of Alonso and Hamilton, and I can assure there is not much love for the English there, the majority hate "El Negrito" (Hamilton) and the English in general. Perhaps when they are writing in a forum, and not face to face with someone, some of their true feelings come to the surface.

[Troglodyfae]

Hi georgina33

One thing I would strongly advise and that is to get your children , and yourself, learning Spanish now. It will give your children a very necessary stepping stone before immersing them into a Spanish state school, and will also help you to be in a position to help them and yourself when the need arises.

A second hand furniture shop would be of interest to me, but I am not sure how many others. In my experience Spaniards love a bargain and are pretty keen on second hand furniture, however I would thoroughly investigate this before making any commitment.

[georgina33]

thank you so much for all the comments i have got so far, i am teaching my kids Spanish but i only know the basics but we watch Spanish TV also and also the living in Spain TV channel so that's a good start

i do have to say sorry to princess peach for calling you peachy oops didn't mean to get you name wrong, i would also like to ask what part of Spain are you in and how was it to find work when you first got their?

[pilgrim]

A Spanish lady opened a 2nd hand furniture shop in our local town and she has been going for about 2 yrs now, which seems a good sign as some shops seam to barely make 6 months!! She mainly imports her furniture from Romania, via her German sister-in- law but she has problems with customs and the lorry gets impounded for weeks at a time. The furniture is a of a very good quality. We came here with three children they all went to Spanish Schools took 13 yr old daughter about 18mnths to settle, now she's almost 17 and cannot seeing herself going back - this week anyway 15yr old son went back to UK for College at 16/17as he has always know what he wanted to do, now nearly 19 and is a frequent visitor ( he is fortunate that he lives with his olders brothers in the UK )and the baby of the family started School at 3yrs old and knows no other life.It is hard sometimes, but for me, for now, there is no going back. Good Luck to you and your family
Hope this helps a bit, best of luck, it is

[princess peach]

georgina33 wrote:

i do have to say sorry to princess peach for calling you peachy oops didn't mean to get you name wrong

Georgina33 i have been called a lot worse on here
Peachy seems to be the name everyone is calling me,and peachy is nice and friendly..i dont mind at all if thats what you call me!

I would also advise you to get some lessons for your children when you arrive-i did,and it gave my son a little bit of confidence even knowing how to pronounce letters of the alphabet,the school recomended it anyway.
Love peachyxxx

[keddyboy]

I beleive there is or was a second hand furniture shop for sale in Alhaurin el Grande, just north of Malaga. I beleive the shop is called 2nds R Us or somthing very similar.

[Sadie]

Welcome Georgina33.

We moved to Nerja almost 2 years ago and love it and rented first both close to Nerja and in campo and and now decided inland Nerja is for us so in process of buying now. Renting was great for us to start with and getting feel of area.

Some friends of mine have kids in local schools and they love it and get on great with no problems and are fluent in Spanish puts us adults to shame

There is a large store in Nerja that does hire service and also second hand furniture etc but maybe room for another one if it is good quality and not too high prices, there has recently opened a UK quality sofa place and prices are good.

Good luck and have fun planning the move.

[silver]

georgina33..second hand furniture ..well at least not another bar (there are already 857.143 in Spain)
where? (no good for Malaga.. already has many shops run by x drug addicts who restore any antique furniture) ...also a trip round Malaga any night would fill a shop with second hand furniture)a lot of which could be restored to sell as antiques)
shops are expensive to rent (furniture need space ..expect to pay more than 1000€) and you would need to sell quite a lot of furniture to pay all the monthly bills..so think carefully about your future.
There are 2.000.000 foreigner legally working in Spain ( and a lot more illegal workers)...so it is possible to get a job..but Spain also has about 9% unemployed ...and it is not easy to find work or start a business...I would advise you to try and find work before you move.
Spain is a great place to live if you are retired, or have money to pay the bills but England is much better for work.
Good luck.

[spanish_lad]

i'm shocked, that could of been me posting there hahah

keddyboy the shop was 60k, now reduced to 47k i think, run by two women, mavis and her friend. my parents tried to get a loan to buy it but the bank wouldn't secure on the house we are in now??

[georgina33]

thank you to all for the response i got it has been very helpful in deciding what to do for the best, maybe i should rent and work for a while then save and buy a shop once i decide it is the area for me and my kids,
i want to say a special thanks to peachy because you told me your child was 12 when he went to school in Spain and got on well, i am feeling better about my kids now as they are 8,9 and 10, i was a bit worried.

as for the Spanish lessons i have got lots of Cd's and books and i teach holiday Spanish at my local school i speak with also of Spanish on msm too and they always correct me when i go wrong so we are getting their

again thank you for all the advice much appreciated

[alaninspain]

Georgina - just to satisfy your curiosity, that shop is advertised in the Town Crier for Euros 47500 leasehold, and complete with stock,disabled access & toilets. Phone agency (Jane) 647593244 or Paul 678443815. O have not seen it but to have disabled access and toilets would seem to be OK for other uses as well. If the owners are quitting for ill health reasons they may go for a manager to run it - who knows?

[georgina33]

HELP i have had it with this country tax tax tax it is doing my head in. i want to get to Spain as fast as i can dose anyone know any good rental agencies i don't mind where anywhere will be better than nowhere just to start with please please help my sanity needs saving

[BENIDORM]

Georgina,
Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire , springs to my mind when you state that you want to get away from taxes in the UK.
Unfortunately , Spain is now as 'clued up' with regard to 'taxing you death', as in UK or most countries.
.However I'm sure it is worth 'giving Spain a go', and I would recommend that you rent first, you never really know what an area is like until you have actually lived there...
Anyway ....Good Luck and I hope that your 'Dreams come True'

[georgina33]

thank you benidorm do you know any rental agencies?
i know spain i doing alot more taxes now but better to be taxed and warm than here and frezing cold he he he