Opening Liscense for Shop

[Michaelinland]

Hello

Has anyone ever opened a shop in Andalucia? If so could you give me the benefit of your advice. How long does it usually take to get the opening liscense? I presume you can not open without it?

Cheers

Mike

[lucy locket]

It all depends on what kind of shop if it is a cafe or bar that involves a lot of paperwork and expense and can take forever. If its just a normal shop selling things you will need a project which involves an architect who draws up a folder with all measurements etc, totally pointless.
It also depends where you are opening the shop what area all town halls are different some let you
open while waiting for your license and some dont.
Your rental if it is a rental also has retencion which you have to pay every 3 months which is extra.
Have a very good think about it before you open a shop it can turn out to be a real money pit.
what you think would do really well usually dosent especially in the current climate.
rentals on the coast are so overpriced it can actually be cheaper to have a shop in madrid or in london.
Also avoid trespasos. money down the drain normally.
My advice dont do it.
sorry to be negative but I am only being honest.

[Michaelinland]

No thankyou for the info, I appreciate all advice.

It's nothing we have not thought of, that's why if we go ahead it will be only going for a trial period of 3 months, we actually own it already and live above so that makes things a lot easier.it is a non food/drink shop/bar.

thanks Mike

[lucy locket]

best idea is to rent it out to someone else, easy money

[Michaelinland]

If I don't try I will never know, got to take a risk at some point in life and this will be mine..

Mike

[lucy locket]

at least you own it which is a good start. Good luck to your new business let me know when its open and we shall come and buy something

[frog]

think about it,you will most likely lose a lot of cash
as lucy said rent it is a better idea,let them lose the cash

[julian]

go for it , give it a try..opening a shop is not complicated

[lucy locket]

Julian opening a shop can be very difficult depending on where you are some town halls try to make
it very difficult for foreigners.
I have known some to wait up to a year for a license and they have had to pay rent while they wait.

[Jool]

Whereabouts in Andalucia are you then Lucy?

[lucy locket]

I live inland costa del sol.

[julian]

i agree that sitting on the sofa doing nothing, and trying to do nothing, is indeed simpler than opening a shop, but it´s hardly like trying to get man on the moon, go through the right steps and you´ll have no problems, a shop is not difficult. A restuarant, or discoteca etc is indeed more complicated.

[lucy locket]

In this financial climate it is. look how many shops have closed down in marbella and all the other
towns.

[Jool]

You sound like you´ve done this and its not gone well Lucy? Or are you just sharing the experience of others......

How long did you live here before you went back to the UK?

I think a lot varies depending on where you are for instance somewhere like Cartama or other areas of "Costa del Despair" may not be a great place to start up right now.....but areas more behind the times in terms of development may still be......

[hillybilly]

it is a non food/drink shop/bar.

Not sure if that means non bar or bar without food lol!
Are you planning on opening a bar? If so, I'm sure you've read all the previous posts on here on this topic! Expat-run bars are notorious for coming and going (changing hands) with great frequency, but at least you own the premises. As long as you don't have to outlay too much to get it going and look upon it as a bit of fun (tho running a bar ain't fun IMHO!) rather than a money-making venture, then why not have a go? Nothing ventured and all that...
Here in my town we haven't lost any bars (yet) but since Xmas a travel agent, a haberdashers/linen/clothes shop, a perfume/jewellery shop and a small independent supermarket have closed down. One has put a sign up in their window saying "like all the rest, we are closing". Everyone is cutting back on the non-essentials of life and the small shopkeepers are finding themselves up a gumtree. The bars are still busy tho!

[lucy locket]

Jool I have not gone back to the uk I have lived here for nearly 13 years and have seen many friends and aquaintances come and go and thats how I know about shop rentals and in most villages and the coast there are many empty shops now.
Almeria comes across as quite a small area but with many illegal building issues. We have our fair share down here but seems worse up your end.
Inland costa del sol still has many bars and restaurants they dont seem to close down only the foreign run bars dont seem to survive.
Almeria does have its fair share of immigrants dosent it and that i have read causes problems
in your area we dont seem to have that many problems with immigrants. still we do have quite a lot of
large shopping malls now and that dosent help the smaller shops and the designer shops in marbella still probably do quite well. Its hardly the costa despair

[Jool]

Costa del Despair was not my title but that of the Daily Mail on Saturday. I have only been to Benalmadena once and Malaga years ago so no personal experience.........

I thought you had posted that you went back to the UK to rent........then came back here?

Almeria province is pretty large actually and much less developed than CDS.....and while El Ejido may have some immigrant problems we don´t, we just have real traditional spanish life. Build legality issues are really mostly in the Almanzora Valley, its just we are more mobilised to protest than Marbella etc......so it seems like we are all illegal!

[lucy locket]

we were going back but changed our minds.
we have friends that live in mojacar , did like the village up the top that was pretty.newspapers always have to exagerate dont they. the replies to the article online from the uk people was typical of what we met with when trying to go back. Dont think I want to live with people like that I would be having a row every day

[Paula]

Depends on where you are, what the wants and needs are in that area. I was in in Fuengirola today and lots more shops closed since I was last there, but another few that have opened that are about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
I imagine Michael has done the homework on what will sell in his area. Go for it.

[katy]

Off topic but whats happening in Fuengirola? took me a half hour to get out last week seems half the main roads are closed off, like deja vu it happened last year!