Moving to Spain & I sell console accessories on markets in the UK. How hard is it to get on the Spainish markets

Hi there

I am moving over to Spain early next year and in the UK I run a console repair and accessory business. We repair all the consoles like the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS etc. I want to do the same thing over in Spain and I have bought an apartment on the Costa Blanca. Whilst I was over there I tried to find someone doing what I do but I could not find anyone so I thought I would give it a go. I would want to do the local markets at first so to build up customer base but I have been told that if your English they are a nightmare to get on. If anyone has any information on this or past experiences I would love to hear them.

Thanks

I live on the Costa del Sol, and it is very, very difficult to get on to the markets here, almost impossible. The place to go is your local town hall for information.

Jayce is right. You would need to look at other options to market your product. It is a closed shop as the markets here do so well.

What about trying an internet service?

I have a web site in the UK that is just being updated at the moment but in Spain the repiar of consoles would be quite a specialist thing and I would like to offer this service to not only English but also Spainish and the obvious place to let people know what we do would be the local markets. I will obviously advertise in the local press and market the business in other ways but I also sell alot of accessories for the handheld gaming market especailly the R4 cards for the Nintendo DS and seeing as most children take one of these with them now on holiday then the markets would be a great place to sell the bits.

Hi Stevea - there is a market at Campoamor on a Thursday and you can get application forms for a stall at the Town Hall in Playa Flamenca. 

This is a relatively new market and there are some British stall holders, but they did find it very difficult to get a pitch.  I think they got assistance from some of the local political parties to get their stalls, but you could perhaps go and have a chat with them and they can give you better advice than I can.

The other markets are the Saturday one at Playa Flamenca and I think that one is very difficult to get onto, and the Friday one at Torrevieja.  That is a different council and is huge so you could try the Torrevieja Town Hall and see how you get on there (in the main square in the town).

Good luck

There is a British Market in Formentera in Costa Blanca which I am fairly sure you would easily get a pitch on (I know some regulars on here live there).  The other markets mentioned are hard to get on but there are a few opportunities in Car Boot (Rastros en espanol ??) Sales at places like Emerald Isle and Celtic Isle (Playa Flamenca) etc but the spanish have clamped down on these as well !!  Word of mouth is very important in Spain.

I would be mindful of the fact that the majority of Ex Pats here are retired so will not own Consoles etc (apologies if I offended anyone !) and unfortunately quite a few families with kids are going back to UK cos of the job situation in Spain so it will be a niche market.  Don't exepct to make a million !!

Hope this helps.