From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciated

Do you have a query about moving to Andalucia and buying property in Andalucia. Find out by posting questions and reading about other peoples experiences.
User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby peteroldracer » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:39 am

"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die"? Possibly of asphyxiation due to have the corporate Spanish head in the sand for so long! :roll:
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

frank
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3784
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:18 am

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby frank » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:58 am

[quote="laswalkirias"]I have just returned from Seville, and bars and restaurants jammed with young spanish visitors every night
What recession?>certainly not among sevilles younger population!!!![/quote]
Here in UK I said the very same thing to my wife yesterday. Shops, car parks full, I said "it's hard to believe we are supposed to be in a deep recession"
Places like Sevilla always do fairly well, most major city centers looks busy, but you don't have to look far to see signs of the crisis. Plus if you have just come back, you'd have been in the middle of the "festivos de Pilar" which is always a big draw in Sevilla. Reading the local press, last weekend of the festival, Sevilla hotels had 95% occupancy. But overall, it's been on a downward trend, despite lowering prices, it's been below 40% occupation.
Sevilla sigue bajando…
El nivel de ocupación de los hoteles de capital andaluza muestra un comportamiento muy
positivo con respecto al año anterior con un incremento de 8,5 puntos, sin embargo ello no le
permite llegar al 40% de ocupación, y muestra además una disminución en el precio medio
superior al 11%.
Regards, Frank

No soy residente, simplemente un turista, ¿qué sé yo?

alpujarran
Resident
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:11 pm
Location: Alpujarras

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby alpujarran » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:23 pm

I'm now in my tenth year of living in a Cortijo in the Alpujarras - so I feel obliged to add some comments here. It's a brilliant place to live - but I can't imagine how you can hope to survive here because you obviously need to earn money. In the Alpujarras that is just not going to happen. I can't think of anyone local making enough to live on - so you would probably be the exception! Myself and my wife are are both in receipt of pensions which is how we can manage living here.

When we first arrived here it was awash with brits hoping to make a living out of buying up and renovating old cheap Spanish property to sell on or to rent out. They're all back in the UK now - probably flipping burgers to make ends meet.

One long shot might be to get a place with enough land to help with the bills - free food, drink and winter-fuel can make a big difference. But I can assure you that the land here in the Alpujarras is very tough to deal with.

I could help answer some of your other questions but - to be honest - unless you can resolve the financial side of moving here then what it is like here is maybe not that important.

Sorry to be so negative - but you did ask :wink:

alpujarran
Resident
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:11 pm
Location: Alpujarras

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby alpujarran » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:39 pm


Mike.M
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 178
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: Asturias & Essex

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby Mike.M » Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:04 pm

Hi Isleños,

Alas for your good selves, Olive is spot on.

Looking at both of your declared skills, if I were to take a guess, then you have a better chance than hubby to pick up work ..... call centre / support centre but these are hard work, low pay and not generally based in the Andalucia area.

All hubby's skills are at an all time low of demand unless he can think of a really niche market to hit upon.

If paddle board is the thing, then you're not even on the right side of Spain .... you need to be in the North West (ideally).

Sorry to paint a 'negative' but best to know what to expect; that way you can devise a 'positive'.

Regards,

Mike

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby peteroldracer » Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:51 pm

In my opinion you have supplied the answer in your first paragraph - wanting to be nearer relatives. I would say that the only place that will give you a chance at a good life, and answer your problem, is to return to the UK. Things might be less than perfect there, but sure are a lot better than here.
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

Isleños
Tourist
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:02 pm

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby Isleños » Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:35 pm

Thank you for all your replies.

All info duly noted.

So I guess all those English people living in Spain are either retired, teaching english, running their own businesses or on the wrong side of the law?

Maybe alpujarras is too much of a long shot. :( so beautiful there!

We are in uk and Spain for a few weeks from may next year and are still considering the move despite all the tales of gloom and doom.
With the sale of our property here, we can afford some time to research all the options, including starting a new venture. yes uk is an option for us, but after 12 years in the sunshine. Ooof! I'd rather not if we don't HAVE to.
We have a small guaranteed independent monthly income which would go some of the way to helping us live in Spain if we have no mortgage or rent, solar power and low overheads.
So we wouldn't starve or anything, but one of us would still need to bring in an income.
We aren't rushing into anything, not sinking any money in without at the very least a full 6 months in the country sussing out possibilities.
We aren't completely green we have done this before.

So onto more practical positive matters.
First
What is your biggest monthly expense?
(For us here it is our astronomical electricity bill and private school for kids.)
And secondly, If we were wanting to base ourselves in a good location in southern Spain for 6 months, exploring our options and the area, where would you recommend?
I figure worst case scenario is after 6 months of research and networking, if it looks glum, at least we had 6 months exploring Spain, spending quality time with our kids, before hitting UK. Will be a form of decompression chamber after Mexico!
And we would go knowing we had explored all our options.
Right?
Plus you all get to say, duh! We told you so!

frank
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3784
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:18 am

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby frank » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:05 pm

[quote="Isleños"]
Plus you all get to say, duh! We told you so![/quote]
I don't think anyone wants, or is interested in saying "we told you so". It happens all too often on this and similar forums that people come and ask for advice, and when it's not what they want to hear, they take umbrage. As I said, I think you have more chance than most of maybe making it work, and personally I would rather you came back and told us "you were all wrong, we made it work!"
Regards, Frank

No soy residente, simplemente un turista, ¿qué sé yo?

User avatar
IreneD
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:35 pm
Location: Canillas de Aceituno

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby IreneD » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:11 pm

I think I may have been the lone voice encouraging you :)

Isleños
Tourist
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:02 pm

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby Isleños » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:48 pm

Ah frank! No umbrage here!
I forget I need to keep putting smiley faces next to things so people I am not being a grump when replying.

:D :D :D :D

And Irene. Thank goodness for you! :clap:

Crazy i may be but I still have hope.

Probably due to the fact that every single new venture I have ever embarked upon everyone has told me was lunacy, but even though it's all been hard graft, big challenges, some heart stopping moments, there have been lots of adventures too, new friends, new horizons, big rewards.
He who dares wins,Rodney!,,. Lol!
Obviously with 2 kids, the risks need to be more calculated. I always go to the worst case scenario first, figure if we could cope with that and have an escape route just in case. :wink:

I lived the safe life in uk, home counties, office work, commute. I think I would wilt and slowly lose the will to live if I had to do that again. :shock:

And whilst yes, we could play safe and stay here. I miss Europe! I miss the food! I miss our family! Most of whom seem to have spent great chunks of the summer in yes, you guessed it, Spain! Mama and Dad are there as we speak! Retired and exploring.

just checked the classifieds at the Sur, there are some jobs that I am qualified for, most around Marbella, but yes you are right, not much building work about at the moment. maybe hubby can look after kids and do up the house and look after the chickens :wink: and I'll go to work full time.

I even just looked at TEFL courses in Granada, as a back up plan.
Hubby also has HGV license, has re built all the docks and jettys at a marina after hurricane, can roof tile, mosaic, do decking, build stone fireplaces, bbq's, sail, wreck dive, he even worked on a fun fair for 3 months in the USA putting up rollercoasters and lived in the jungle in Belize building a treetop wooden house for some crazy yank! He is pretty resourceful and affable!
We'll see what transpires.

Any more links for useful info appreciated. CostaWoman looks a good place to network and meet people. So thank you for that!

More smiley faces :D :D :D

morlandg
Resident
Posts: 584
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:15 am
Location: Leadgate Consett

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby morlandg » Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:37 am

"maybe hubby can look after kids and do up the house and look after the chickens :wink: and I'll go to work full time."
1. Yes I think you should come here and rent while you assess the area.
2. You should find full time employment ASAP.
3. Meanwhile hubby can 'do up the house' and network. Build up his reputation and workload.
4. Reassess 'who does what' between you once hubby's workload is viable.
5. Enjoy!
Hope this helps.
Graham
BTW - on which island did you live?

olive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 4499
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:13 pm
Location: Poniente, Granada

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby olive » Sat Oct 20, 2012 10:46 am

:wave: :wave: :wave: Hi Me again.

I admire your persistence! Today I have my optimists hat on. ( may not look too different from the pessimists hat though to the casual observer). :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I think you are right about most expats here seem to either be retired (65+) or living on an early retirement pension or proceeds of selling up in Northern Europe. There are a proportion who make a living out here.

On to monthly costs. The first is paying autonomo. By the time you get here it will be 300 euros a month. Paid by the wage earner regardless of income level and that covers the family for health care. Without that you need private health care cover. I don't know if Mexico has some for of recipricol arrangement with Spain presumably you have been contributing to the equivalent of the Mexican health service but for your six month visit you will need to have some form of cover. Within the EU there is a period of "free" cover when you move from one country to another. This sort of thing is well covered by the FAQs on this and many other Expat or Britishexpat forums.

Our electric bill is about 80 euros a month. Bottled gas (water heating and cooking) maybe 8 a month.

Internet (3G- 5 Gig a month) about 45 euros a month and it works with Skype.

Our biggest (and least controllable expense) is vehicle. Maybe 400 euros a year insurance, circulation tax(road tax) 180, annual test 35 euros plus maintenance and repairs ( nearly a thousand this year). Fuel is currently about 1.45 euro a litre.

Heating. Even if you live on the coast it gets cold in winter. Inland (e.g. the Alpujarras) it gets even colder. Since we lived here we got the first snow for fifty years. then in subsequent years more first snow for fifty years. One year it was minus 14 degrees C. We are lucky as due to our work we pay nothing for our logs and consequently use them extravagently on our log burners.

If you do a search on "living costs" on fora, you will see that there is a wide range of what people say is the minimum you can live on - I would say two people 1000 euros a month . I have no idea what two children would cost but if you live in a rural situation you might be driving them to one or two schools each day plus I understand that books and other equipment needs to be bought by the parents. VAT tax on school books etc has just increased from the low rate(8%?) to 21% as part of the governments desperate efforts to balance the books and appease their masters in Brussels. I don't think it unreasonable to expect more serious increases in tax on everyone ,including the poor, in the coming months and years. Blast, I have slipped back into pessimistic mode...... :thumbdown: You only have to do some research on Greece + Portugal and see that that is what might well be heading our way.

On the subject of children. We have seen expat families here with children grow up to become adults. The future isn't good for girls. Traditionally they would find a boy with good prospects and get married and have children and keep the house and street nice and tidy. As to boys. They have little prospect of getting a job as they are at the bottom of the pecking order for any jobs being guiris, so what chance of securing a Spanish girls' parental blessing?

On the plus side and it is a big plus, you seem to have boundless enthusiasm (like my mother) and you may see an opportunity when you are out here that you can make work. I always fancied running a wild boar farm here but you would have to be prepared to tackle the endless red tape , maybe Mexico has similar red tape? :) :) :) :)

I lived the safe life in uk, office work, commute. I think I would wilt and slowly lose the will to live if I had to do that again Work to live, live to work.

alpujarran
Resident
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:11 pm
Location: Alpujarras

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby alpujarran » Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:04 am

Well, you seem to have one of the basic qualifications required to become an Alpujarreña: you're not easily put off :thumbup:

There are some links to local blogs/forums.message boards at: http://vickiandjohn.net/?p=2535

We have no direct experience of the school system as our only son had left home before we arrived here. It seems to work ok though as there are buses to take the kids to the various schools in Las Alpujarras.

Electricity is about €0.15c per kWh. Gas bottles are about €16/12.5 kg bottle (approx €0.10c per kWh).

User avatar
IreneD
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:35 pm
Location: Canillas de Aceituno

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby IreneD » Sat Oct 20, 2012 12:05 pm

I read something on my facebook page today "If you don't try, how will you know?" and I get the feeling this is your philosophy, too. It took us 4 years to make the move and I'm so glad we did it eventually. Not that I'm 100% sure we will still be here in a couple of years, we're still at the adjustment stage but I feel as if I'm having an adventure, and being old, even more reason to take a chance, before we pop our clogs :)

My OH and I are retired, so we do (just)manage to live on the state pension(I think olive's 1,000 euros a month is a pretty good guestimate of what you will spend, probably more as you have children)

I love our area - we also fancied the Alpujarras but on exploring the area, beautiful though it is, it just felt rather remote, to us. Canillas de Aceituno is great, very Spanish and (in my opinion) a little bit different to a lot of the other white towns in the area, some of them are gorgeous but get more touristy in the Summer months. Check out Axarquia, lots of info on t'internet, see what you think and if I can be any help at all, please feel free to PM me.

Edit: Another thought - we are only just over an hour to Malaga, lots of flights to the U.K. from Malaga :thumbup:

alpujarran
Resident
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:11 pm
Location: Alpujarras

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby alpujarran » Sat Oct 20, 2012 3:32 pm

You should also take into account the new residency rules for Spain if you are intending to spend six months here next year:
http://www.andalucia.com/forums/viewtop ... 22&t=29761

pilgrim2
Resident
Posts: 330
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:42 am
Location: Nr Seville

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby pilgrim2 » Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:11 pm

You could do what we do, Hubby works in UK for about 6 months of the year, self employed working 2 - 3 weeks at time home for long weekends, I work, (teaching) so paying into the system here for myself and school aged son, to live (not exist) with a family, a car to run, look for around €2000 a month, not taking into consideration extra unexpected costs.

Here in Sevilla, a collegue, newly arrived with her young family and (not working at the moment) Spanish husband, needed her contract for residencia and health care.....which suprised me a little having a Spanish husband? But it was definatly required. I would advise that Teaching English is the best way to go for employment at the moment.

Good Luck

Isleños
Tourist
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:02 pm

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby Isleños » Sat Oct 20, 2012 5:12 pm

Thanks for all the info, especially the weblinks and details on living expenses, helps having an approximate idea of how much dinero we would need each month, helps me get a handle on what we are aiming for.

For those asking we live on Isla Mujeres an island that at some parts you could probably hurl a tennis ball from one side to the other without much effort! So you see, we are used to village living!

Have a good weekend!

anyroads
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2252
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:53 pm
Location: Hampshire, UK, Lebrija

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby anyroads » Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:03 am

"I have just returned from Seville, and bars and restaurants jammed with young spanish visitors every night
What recession?>certainly not among sevilles younger population!!!!"

These were most likely leaving parties........

anyroads

crazyred
Resident
Posts: 826
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:30 pm
Location: Sabinillas

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby crazyred » Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:44 am

I like the sound of where you're coming from!!!
What island is it and is there any demand for a witchy type herbal/homeopathic woman who can also do accounts :lol: :lol:

User avatar
Julie
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3534
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 4:47 pm
Location: Andalucia & Greater Manchester

Re: From Mexican island to alpujarras, any advice appreciate

Postby Julie » Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:55 pm

If you listen and read the press you will realise that the crisis is very real for a lot of people in Spain :(

http://politica.elpais.com/politica/201 ... 51845.html
No soporto ver la casa sucia, ahora mismo me levanto y apago la luz.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest