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This site is a mine of information on moving to Spain and gives the pluses and minuses of doing so.

Have a look through things like Moving to Spain, What's the area Like, Working in Spain, Living in Spain, Healthcare in Spain etc.  There are many good pointers there.

  First you need to decide where to go, Spain is a very big and very mixed country.  You might want to decide if you prefer the coast or inland for starters.

Then look at the finances.  Housing is no longer cheap in Spain with inferior property selling at UK prices.  The cost of living is still cheaper than UK but rising rapidly, especially with the shrinking pound.  Healthcare can be expensive, and so is social security.  Jobs are difficult to come by and pay a lot less than UK.  If you can't speak Spanish you will find it very difficult to get any work worth having.  Waitressing and bar work are very seasonal and you would rely on tips as the pay for this type of work is only about 3 pound an hour.    The first year will be the hardest and you need to ensure you have enough behind you to cover yourself for that year, living expenses, food, entertainment, rent/mortgage etc

Whatever you decide, check out the place and opportunities available thoroughly.  Read the posts on this site (and others like it) and then come back and ask as many questions as you like.  We are quite a friendly bunch and there are plenty of people willing to help you out but they won't (generally) steer you in the wrong direction by making out it's an easy decision.

Best of Luck with whatever you decide.

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Hi,

  The simple and rather unhelpful answer is that (rather like those "sisters") you'll need to be doing it for yourselves. Rather like catching a lift to work for a number of months, and then the driver no can do....and you don't know the route. Because you never actually did it! All the experiences here are between the experience and that person, so your particular take on the same experience will be pretty different.

I respectfully suggest that you save as much money as possible, study the language and then just head out to where you think you might want to be. And then just be there. Bask in the new culture, drink with your mouth, eyes, skin and ears. Enjoy. You'll make friends, get to know the lie of the land and what the possibilities are. By the time the money is gone, you'll either have found your niche...or not. Bingo for the former, with the latter meaning that you really just dragged your old life/attitude with you. I sometimes suspect that many contemplating moving to further shores imagine that the "new life" will somehow change their luck. (Unless you play El Gordo!).

And if it doesn't work out, who cares, as it's the trying that's the thing. So....as Nike use to say: "Just Do It!"

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Hi,

The best advice I can give is to research every aspect as much as you possibly can, prepare in much much detail as you can and then be prepared for everything to be diferent to how you imagined.  Don't get carried away by the romantic ideas of living in the sun and don't expect to get work easily or at all if your Spanish isn't fluent. We've been here for two years and work far harder than we ever did in the UK for a lot less money and while there are many benefits of living here the grass isn't always greener and many people come unprepared. Your best bet of making a living is being self employed but if you've not worked for yourself before this can be a shock - get ready for the 7 day week!

If you're young then time's on your side, but money probably isn't - there are oppotunities here if you're prepared to work very hard but the economic situation is getting more difficult all the time.  As far as property goes I would say don't buy until you're absolutely sure you can stay - the market is in freefall at the moment and no one knows where the bottom is.  Renting is not a waste of money at the moment.

I don't want to come across as negative but too many people (including us) pack up and leave without knowing how hard it can be.  Good luck.

Greg

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