Hi All,

I attended university in England and then went on to work for several years as a car body modeller, when I was made redundant there I worked as Petrochemical Piping Designer and finally I did 5 years as a teacher of CDT in Brentwood in Essex. I hated the weather. I hated the road Traffic Police and I hated Margaret Thatcher, so when my Mum passed away in 1985 I decided to sell everything I owned and try and make my living in Estepona in Spain.

I bought a an English style pub, but quickly realized, whilst selling alcohol brings in a living, food was where the real profit lay, so I sold the pub after two years and bought a Bar-Pizzeria-TA, which I have run together with my partner for the last 19 years. From our apartment, which is near the sea, we have fantastic views of : the Pillars of Hercules, the Sierra Bermeja mountain range and of course a wonderful view of the Mediterranean Sea.

My son studied for free in the sate system, but at the age of 13 we thought he would reach a better standard and have more chance of getting onto a “good” university course if we moved him to an Eng. International college, he was bilingual by that time. He’s now doing the second year of his A level course and looks set for Spanish university, leading to a professional career.

My partner and me own several properties both here and in South America. Probably if I’d stayed in the UK I would have made more money, but here I have a wonderful quality of life.

Neither myself or my partner have “business brains” and we have achieved everything by buying a bar-restaurant in West-Marbella (Which is an upmarket area.) and running it to the best of our abilities.

I would love to hear from other members who have started successful businesses in Spain.

If any members have questions about setting up bars or restaurants, I’ll try my best to answer them.

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