Your advice would be really, really 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.
neilduddy
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:55 pm

Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby neilduddy » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:44 pm

:?

Hello All,

My partner and i have decided enough is enough and we are going to be fleeing England in about a year and a half for hopefully a better standard of living in Spain!? We will be renting out our house in England until, hopefully at some point....., the market recovers..

We are looking to rent a property in Spain and i have sooooo many questions any advice would really be appreciated!

We will both be looking for full time work and i wanted to try and get an idea of rough monthly outgoings for a two bed apartment if we are renting. Also my partner is a hairdresser and we are wondering if anyone has any idea how much he could expect to earn? We will both have a general knowledge of Spanish (enrolling next year) and i will be looking for some kind of general employment, again any hints on how much i could expect to earn would be great.

Thanks all so much (very exciting but quite scary when you first start looking into it)!
Claire

Jool
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 4915
Joined: Fri May 18, 2007 5:56 am
Location: Coastal Almeria

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby Jool » Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:34 pm

Hi Claire,

A lot depends on which part of Andalucia you are locating to so some more information would help us to help you! For instance a rental can vary from 300 per month to over 1000 euros depending on which part of Andalucia you are in.

Now is not a good time to look for work in Spain as it is hard to find and regular reliable employment for two non fluent spanish speakers and the spanish government is paying non EU nationals to go back to their countries of origin as building and related work has dried up. My advice would be to try and get work over here before you leave the UK, or if you are experienced in banking try and get a job with Santander as they offer work to english nationals and will help towards the cost of learning spanish over here...but you need experience in banking.

Sorry if this crushes you a little but its hard over here if you have to work to survive rather than have unearned or pension income to live on and there is no safety net as there is in the UK. If you are self employed here there is no unemployment benefit if you have to stop working for any reason.

User avatar
ian.wilson
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 238
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:15 am
Location: Marbella Town since 1979

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby ian.wilson » Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:21 pm

If you are lucky enough to find employment you are looking at about €1.200 per month take home! That will normally include working a half day Saturday as well. it equates to slave labour but is the norm here.

Good luck in your quest!

Regards
Ian
Oh Yes! another day in paradise!

User avatar
Rookiekookie
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 159
Joined: Fri May 04, 2007 8:00 pm
Location: Vistalmar, Manilva

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby Rookiekookie » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:18 pm

Or you could always try living in Spain and working in Gibraltar - jobs are a bit slim over there as well at the moment, but at least you don't have to worry about the language :) :)
Life is always better with a glass of wine in your hand - and a few bottles in the wine rack !!!

Miro
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3584
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: Merseyside, formally Torremolinos

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby Miro » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:51 pm

€1200 a month is too optomistic. A recent survey in Sur found the average wage in Andalucia to be around €1000, and many earn less.

Good luck!
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

Paula
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2333
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 2:02 pm

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby Paula » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:28 pm

I would agree. The few people I know that are employed (Brits) are not earning 1200 per month. I also have a Spanish friend that is an IT Consultant in Marbella and she is only on 1000 per month and considers herself to be in the higher earning bracket! She has to rely on family help for unexpected bills etc.

User avatar
frog
Resident
Posts: 1142
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:04 am
Location: fuengirola

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby frog » Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:30 am

7 euros an hour is considered a good wage here and if you are lucky you may get a contract for 10 hours a week!!!
gives you a few benefits
jayne countys most famous song,google it

User avatar
anis
Resident
Posts: 1161
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:17 am
Location: la alqueria, alhaurin de la torre

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby anis » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:53 am

That is so true, Frog, and the wages don't seem to have altered much in the time I have been here.

User avatar
pigs-might-fly
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2088
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:20 pm

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby pigs-might-fly » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:03 am

Don't even think about it at present. :roll:
Jobs are scarcer than hen's teeth. Advice about being totally and fluently capable in idiomatic Spanish is absolutely correct if you need to find employment in Spain.
The country is overloaded with jobless immigrants, many from South America, willing to work for a pittance.
The grass is not always greener elsewhere.
Location: The Dukeries.

User avatar
ian.wilson
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 238
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:15 am
Location: Marbella Town since 1979

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby ian.wilson » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:03 am

There are also the Commission only jobs, they seem to be the only ones advertised in the Sur in English at the moment. Normally means you can work here for nothing!

Hope we haven't put you off......

Regards
Ian
Oh Yes! another day in paradise!

User avatar
princess peach
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3961
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:17 am
Location: Chester,UK

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby princess peach » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:17 am

Also my partner is a hairdresser and we are wondering if anyone has any idea how much he could expect to earn
Its pretty much a pitance,i would advise him to work as a freelance hairdresser for the expats,there are plenty of wholesalers dotted around where you can purchase salon stock.

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Your advice would be really, really appreciated!

Postby Wicksey » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:46 pm

Surely that wouldn't give a full-time wage would it Peachey? My original hairdresser said she wasn't making enough money (she worked at home) and was going to return to the UK but then changed her mind at the last moment, by which time myself and friends who used her had found another one that is not only cheaper but comes to our homes as well. She does a load of people I know and I expect most ex-pats already have a regular hairdresser. I used a Spanish hairdresser for a number of years when I first came here and she used to charge only 9€ for a very good cut and blow-dry, when the English hairdressers were charging 2 or 3 times that. I now pay 15€ (and she drives up miles of dirt track to get to me!)

As Jool said, it is hard to survive here if you need two earned, as opposed to unearned, incomes to live.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests