Working or earning a living in Spain

There is an abundance of TV shows, books and web sites all praising the quality of life in Spain and how easy it is to relocate here and get a job or start a business. If you are dreaming of getting away from the cold and grey and joining the thousands of English speakers here already please take a moment to do some serious self analysis before quitting your job, selling up and heading for the Costas. Here is a typical scenario.

That's it. I've had it with this bloody country. It's not just the weather. It is practically every department of my life is dissatisfactory. I'm like a machine. I work all waking hours doing a boring job. The stress is killing (has killed) my relationship. I have no time or money for myself, I have no patience with the kids. All I have got the energy for at weekends is to get smashed on Friday night with the boys/girls, who have all got the same problems, then sleep as much as possible in order to regenerate as much energy as possible do it all over again next week. In between time I have to spend a fortune going shopping.

I sit on a crowded, dirty expensive train most mornings and nights, breathing in lots of dirty air and the latest virus from Hong Kong. My income goes out faster than it comes in. I keep the tax man happyand probably not the bank manager if I knew who he/she or it was. I support the kids in university plus keep the supermarkets, electric company, mortgage company, insurance, rates, water, sewage and the gas suppliers in business. The fuel and depreciation for the fleet is crippling me (of course I must have the latest models) and when I try to drive anywhere all the roads are blocked. I just have to put up with this awful boss (or staff or employees) just to be able to keep on paying for all this agony. Now to top it all my pension is worth nix and I have to work till I'm 83 just to be able to exist on the breadline and even worse my endowment is no longer big enough to pay off the mortgage, with my luck house prices will crash, and that will be it. The only potential good news is that with all these cheaper immigrants arriving in droves I will soon be fired for being old and expensive giving me the justification to force a lifestyle change on the dear beloveds.

When will it all end? Very simple, when it kills you or your relationship (Just pause for a minute and try and find an answer as to why the divorce rate is so high, its not just because you are under stress, so is your partner who also has exactly the same problems, either because she is working just as hard with the same problems or she is putting up with you). Or it stops when you are fired because you are too old and expensive an overhead at 50 odd to be of any use in a young dynamic company only interested in building share holder values and sod the staff and customers. No wonder sales of alcohol are the fastest growing industry in the UK everyone wants to escape the pain of the daily grind.

But at least you are going on holiday to Spain next week. Time to relax, recharge the old batteries and brace yourself for going back to the same old routine for yet another year.

One week later sitting on beach. Fallen in love with partner again, actually playing with kids, even had a conversation with them, didn´t realise they were doing GCSE´s. One of them even called me Dad, things must be looking up. "Just think darling if this is what we are like after only a week in Spain just think how much happier we would be living and working here".

Get away from the treadmill, come to Paradise. Come to Spain. Start living. Viva!

Is this your life? Got equity in your property? Sell up and come to Spain. But before doing anything use our guide to help you learn how to generate a modest income. Learn how to purchase a property safely. When you have a question or want to bounce an idea email our Help line.

But surely living in Spain when you are working is just the same as in the UK, but with weather. Wrong let us tell how it can be, we know, we do it every day.

A typical working day in Spain if you are a Builder, electrician, car mechanic, hairdresser... someone skilled or semi skilled. (This covers most people in Spain) It doesn´t matter if you speak any Spanish as most of your customers will be English speaking including the many Germans, Dutch, Scandinavian and Belgians who live in Spain. Why? Because they can´t speak any Spanish either. Spanish tradesmen start work at 8am. They work probably only 15 minutes ride from where they live, as commuting for longer than that in Spain is only for idiots. They all take a break at 10.00 am for breakfast for half an hour. (Which they will normally have in one of the thousands of street cafes all year round, Coffee and Churros or a roll with olive oil tomato, salt and perhaps some Jamon Serrano- known as Pan Catalan. Then for lunch at 2 for an hour and again at 4ish for a drink. They finish at 6. Very rarely do they work overtime. Workers rights in Spain are very strong in Spain with the unions playing a far stronger role even for hotel, restaurant and bar workers, shop assistants and anybody that has a work contract.

The beauty of working in Spain is that most businesses are family owned. They are not so driven by badly managed Pension Funds to be totally money orientated. Their needs for a very high quality of life are very few. And quality of life is what you have here. And quality of life is what everybody Spanish puts first. Time with the family, including grandparents who are all heavily involved in the family activities. Children really relate to their Grandparents here. They all grow up respecting elderly people.

The camaraderie amongst work colleagues is very friendly. Chat at work is not how drunk you were last night, or how big your car, house, mortgage is or the amount of debt on your credit card or what is happening in the 7 different soaps you watch every night. Most Spanish people do not have debt or mortgages or overdrafts and drink very little. When the telly is on everyone is talking too much to actually watch it, unless of course it´s Barcelona against Real Madrid. The winners fans drive round the streets all night all over Spain celebrating by tooting their car horns and generally having a great time into the early hours without duffing up any of the other supporters. The pub doesn´t throw you out at 11pm, stay as late as you like, even all night as many Spanish do.

During daytime, there are always people on the street you are always bumping into someone you know. The high street still thrives here. It is such an outdoor social lifestyle you slowly leave all your reserved Britishness behind you and get a life.

The beach is there all year round to sit and have your lunch. Because the weather is guaranteed you can plan your winter beach party or Barbie well in advance and not have it ruined by inclement activities.

The views in Spain are fascinating, not flat and boring. Your sense of well being is enhanced by the visible treats of natural landscape and clear blue skies and warmth. The constantly changing seasonal colours with flowers all winter en mass everywhere is a sight to behold.

After your holiday here you know that the costs of every thing is so much cheaper than back home. Your money goes a lot further and you don´t need to be entertaining or minding kids all the time. After their first 6 months, during which they will need a lot of your help they soon find their own way to school, very safely. They amuse themselves outside for most of the time and actually get on with their home work without being nagged because everybody else does. You save a fortune on not being dragged off to McDonalds (There are very few) or amusement parks, they can go to the beach with a bottle of water and a sandwich on their own and be happy.

For adult matters, to sit and relax on your terrace and have a chat with your partner becomes a daily routine, not something jammed in between M&S and Boots on a Sunday. Gradually you adapt to the Spanish way of life, suddenly you understand what they mean by mañana (tomorrow) you slow down and start to join in at the Feria (yes you dancing) and after 5 years have flashed by, which they do in Spain you suddenly wonder why you didn´t come here years ago. We haven´t even mentioned Siestas. But try one every day, just catnap for 10 minutes and see how much more energy you have and how much better you can think.

There are 2 types of worker here. You work for an employer under a work contract (Contrato) where you will be paid a guaranteed 14 months salary every year (An extra month in August and Christmas) and be entitled to up to 4 weeks holiday. Plus 17 Bank/Religious Holidays. (Everyone takes them, often rolling them into long weekends by Bridging "puente" a Bank Holiday on a Thursday. Very sensible idea designed by people for people not by accountants for company profits).

The employer will be paying all your National Insurance (Often up to 47% of your salary) and Pension Contribution (Yes you can get a Spanish Pension calculated as a percentage of how many years you pay in) Every worker is represented by a Gestor Laboral (Workers Administrator) who specialises in Spanish workers administration. His job is to make you sure you have all the things you are entitled to.

Spanish employers will not normally speak English, although this is slowly improving, they will expect you to learn Spanish. Bilingual workers can get very good work contracts as most Spanish firms want English speaking capability to compete against the English firms who are getting a lot of the foreigners work requirements. Look through the SPOG situations vacant to find the range of jobs available for just English speakers.

If you have worked in major corporations, you may be able to transfer to their Spanish sister company. But this type of opportunity will only be available in the major cities as there are very few large corporations in the resorts of Spain.

The majority of foreigners who are coming to live and work here prefer to become self employed (Autonomo) offering services or products to the English speaking community. It is so much easier to get round the language problems. Every self employed worker and company must be licensed by the Spanish Government to carry out their trade. A tax or license fee is charged for taking out this license. There are other local taxes to be paid plus every business must make an IVA at 16% on most things (VAT return) on all sales starting from €1. Returns are done monthly. You should get your Gestor to do this. Every business needs to retain a Gestor from about €60 a month to deal with all administrative matters. All Spanish businesses have them mainly because if you did it yourself you wouldn´t have any time to generate income. Only a few types of profession need to demonstrate the appropriate qualifications as part of their license application. Your Gestor will help you with this, don´t try and do it yourself it is too complicated. Your Gestor will charge you about €500 to get you properly and legally established, plus the cost of your license which depending on the category can be from €200 as a gardener to €5000 as a doctor.

There are some types of profession which don´t have a license available in Spain such as Osteopathy. So no matter if you are the best in the world don´t waste your time pursuing the authorities to be officially licensed as one it will take years. Try masseuse instead and use your professional indemnity insurance from back home to cover you. Your professional body should be able to advise you on the relevance of your qualifications for practicing in Spain. There are thousands of foreigners here acting as "ologists". It´s a good market as there are lots of elderly people with good disposable income and time to try and cure their aches and pains and slipping skin, home care for the elderly is also a good business.

Add to this health shops, gyms, sports clubs and teaching these. Plus language learning (teaching English to the Spanish) can all generate enough to live on. But you will not get rich unless you win the lottery, however, you will live well and happily and healthily.

The arts and crafts are also a good possibility for fun and earning money. The light in Spain particularly in winter is fantastic for painting and photography. There are many different types of natural materials available for sculpting and craftwork. Take digital photos of your work or build picture libraries of Spain which you can sell over the web and collect your money at the same time through the SPOG cash collection system. By using the SPOG online shop to market your creations over the Internet you can make more money from your sale directly to the customer, than by going through the traditional publishing route. By publishing your work on a SPOG web site for only €75 a year you market your wares internationally and galleries can see your work without leaving their office. The future is here and its not orange it´s Spanish. Live and work where it´s warm and sell to those in the cold and grey.

If your work is global and heavy corporation stuff, why not base yourself in Spain. With the Internet and modern gismos, communication is so easy, with low cost and space age features you can sit on your terrace and do far more effective thinking and communication than sitting on a crowded train or in a traffic jam. Then when you must go off to a meeting you can jump on a plane to wherever. Spain has just as many global flight connections as Heathrow. The family will cost you far less and be much happier during your absences.

If you are interested in starting your own business here in Spain there are three matters to consider first, location, location and location. If you see yourself as a bar or restaurant owner think very carefully about where. Remember what is packed in August is empty in November. We have seen very busy streets with 10 bars in where only 3 of them actually get enough customers. You can be busy while your neighbour is empty. Can you make enough through the summer months to survive the winter.

If premises are a bit off the main foot traffic areas, it is very difficult to change customers habits and get them to come down your street. There are probably more bars and restaurants in Spain than Germany and the UK put together. Full bars are normally well established and full with locals most of the time, empty bars normally stay empty no matter how tempting the offering or how gregarious el patron. It is extremely competitive and very hard work as you have to be open 18 hours a day if you want to earn enough to make your investment worthwhile. Finding reliable and trustworthy staff is impossible, you have to do it yourself and in any case most catering establishments cannot afford staff as well as owners. There are very few chains of shops, restaurants or franchises here in Spain. Most businesses are family run.

You can buy a shop/office (local) in which to base your business, but it ties up a lot of capital in the early days when you need to be flexible financially. Renting premises is the norm in Spain and will cost from €6 a square metre up to €60 for high street retail. There are already too many newsagents, gift shops, bars and restaurants, hairdressers, scuba diving schools, dog groomers, charity shops, English supermarkets, TV/SAT installers, estate agents, men with vans, international removals, insurance brokers, financial advisers, magazines, sports bars, fashion shops, therapists and health shops.

There are not enough reliable skilled tradesmen of all categories. Particularly in computers, both in hardware and installation engineers, teachers of software applications and web designers who can do consulting as well as the actual design. Not enough home help especially for care for the aged. Not enough multilingual bankers, writers, photographers for real estate, investors, golf pros, project managers, housing for the elderly, medical care for the elderly, professional sales and marketing people, car mechanics, car dealers, butchers, flower shops, music shops, English books, videos, DVD, CD hire, English theatre, picture framers, baby sitting, odd job men, builders, electricians. carpenters, double glazing, pool maintainers, building materials of all sorts.

Providing accommodating that can be booked directly over the Internet to the 10 million Brit's that come to Spain every year, is another good way of earning enough to have a nice life but it is hard work. Whether by offering a rental management service using other peoples properties or by using your own property. Every week, every property needs cleaning, laundry changes, garden maintenance, gas bottle supplies and repairs and pandering to the many er charming renters. They of course tend not to have any other requirements other than to give you their rental money punctually, without complaining and always behaving like angels!

A growing trend is in the building of small but modern Hostals, small hotels offering rooms only. Inland country properties are also becoming very popular as Bed and Breakfast or countryside hotels with activity holidays varying from bird watching to mountain biking, or camping.

Activity holidays are also becoming more popular as the youngsters demand more and more action for their consumer pounds. But you will need the proper licenses, insurances and safety equipment which today must meet European standards.

Live musicians can get good work in peak season in tourist towns as each bar competes for larger audiences it has to offer more action.

Anything that Foreign property owners need can be a successful business. From air conditioning installation and maintenance to pool maintenance. From elderly people caring to domestic services, from building to project management and from advertising sales to man and van hire. From removals to computer technicians and IT teachers to painters and decorators and especially car mechanics. TV/SAT sales, installation and help service. Dentists can make an excellent living here, as can lifters and separators, especially around Marbella.

For bilingual people real estate sales, to graphic designers and international marketing men, translators, Gestors, Abogados, furniture stores and funeral companies, all need people that speak other languages.

Where to begin

First, treat this controlled life change as a major project. Be totally hard nosed about it. Do not go round announcing to everyone (including the kids at this stage) that you are off to Spain. It is not like escaping to Bournemouth with sunshine. There is much more to consider prior to telling the boss (or the staff if you are self employed) It needs a careful control of maximising your cash position. Extract yourself from your business or job as profitably as possible. Sell your property or business at the right time and for as much as possible. Don´t trail around property shows looking for a house, they just want to sell houses not teach you about Spain. They will all tell you that their area has the best climate, the cheapest houses, the best activities, the only way to find out is through your own eyes at different times of the year. The only place other than on this site to learn about Spain is being in Spain. Don´t go asking Embassies in the UK or Department of Social Security about the proper procedures, they might be proper in Newcastle but they won´t be the same here.

Take a 3 month or more sabbatical here in Spain, to look at where you could live, see the schools if necessary. Analyse your skills and try and get some work experience. Go work in a bar or restaurant, start learning Spanish, traipse round this web site and learn as much about your adopted new home as possible before you decide what you can do there from the options shown above to earn money.

Think about the type of person that you are. Don´t expect to get a sales job if you are shy and retiring. Don´t think about being a secretary there are few here and then they speak two or three languages. Build up your armoury of skills. Know how to work a computer. Have a car and a mobile telephone. Make it easy for people to use you at a low cost while you start acquiring more Spanish, do several activities to earn money don´t put all your eggs in one basket etc.

If you want to buy a business do not expect to see accurate accounts, no business has the actual picture of their sales and costs in an official set of accounts. Only the position for tax purposes. The value of a business here is its location and the quality of its people, not its history. Any premises that are available are available normally because they are in a brand new development with no trade history, just future dreams, or the location hasn´t had any successful businesses in it. Assuming that the people are not included in the purchase price then their qualities won´t be of any interest to you.

Buying a business is a pure gamble. If it includes assets its value is the net asset value less 50%. Only because the assets in the accounts would not have been written down to their proper value. Also any property included in the price will have been overstated in its value for mortgage purposes. Have a surveyor value it before making an offer. Banks can survey things for these purposes but will give only a vague reference as to the financial position and reputation of the history of the business.

An existing local shop (local) already fitted out may offer a traspaso or transfer of rental contract. But check out with the landlord that if you enter into a traspaso with the existing tenant that he will be happy to accept you (a foreigner) as a new tenant so that you can also sell the traspaso if you want at a later time. Only your Gestor should be able to give you the right advice here. Don´t trust the sales pitch.

Sending an advance party is often a good way to proceed. Where one partner rents here for 6 months and tries lots of things until you discover what you want. But for the good of the relationship see each other every couple of weeks.

Once permanently out of the UK financially you will quickly fall behind in terms of asset values. Rent it out until you are sure, and rent here until you are sure, because once sold, you will never catch up and with each year in Spain your purchasing power on the property ladder in the UK gets smaller. Make that 20 years here and all you can afford when you go back, (see Spanish property taxes and sale costs) is a mobile home, maybe. But what a life you'll have.