Posted by Can British people make it in Spain?
And Why Do People Fail There
There are 3 main reasons why British people fail in Spain and below are my personal views from what i have seen here over the last 16 years of living and working in Spain.
Sorry but these may seem cold and hard but i tell it as it is here..
Hell Yes, absolutely, many of my British clients and friends have a lifestyle they could never have dreamt of back in the UK. Some earn good money , Many others give up and either flee back to the UK or mess around with airport runs, villa cleaning etc etc trying to scratch out a living until they just loose all their money.
Its not just about how much money you come with either as i have seen families come here with a lot of money and still end up returning to the UK with next to nothing or a broken marriage. As well as see other families come with nothing and do well here.
I guess it really boils down to the efforts you are willing to put in.
But the beach life can be amazing here…
A few years ago i needed a few guys to work for me on a building project i had and i was looking for labourers to mix cement and do basic building jobs, no Spanish needed.
I put the word out in my local bars and the expat comunity here and started to get some interest so arranged to meet with 6 guys at a bar for an interview.
At the time i was paying the going rate for labourers here of 50 euros a day with the chance to earn more in time.
3 of the British guys said that they could not work for less than 80 a day without even trying to find out the fact that i may take them on with a contract here full time .
2 more did not want to start at 7am as they were really still on holiday here. so the last one who was Romanian but spoke perfect English started with me and was a very hard worker and after a few years with me he now is self employed and doing well on his own and we are still good friends.
Can British people make it in Spain?
You have to adapt to your environment and be prepared to do what it takes to get a good start here if you really what to succeed here.
So Why Do Brits Fail In Spain?
I would have to say they make very little effort to learn any Spanish. NOWHERE in Spain is English universally spoken. Even in places like Malaga Benidorm, Torremolinos, Marbella or Torrevieja, Spanish is still the official language. NOT speaking Spanish will massively harm your chances of getting work. Cold Hard FACT ..so start learning now..
Another thing is that many were losers or failed in the UK and somehow they think if they come to Spain and do all the things they did in the UK they will succeed here It’s pure folly to think if you do the same things you failed with before that you will get a different result if you continue to do them over here.
ie…a family from Manchester came here to set up a bar on the beach and i did the refurbishment of the bar for them about 6 years ago. Their bar in Manchester was not doing that well they said it was mostly the bad weather.There was a husband and wife and son with his girlfriend. All were going to run the bar and live in an apartment they had rented above the bar they had just bought here.
By the way none of them could speak Spanish, so they had to hire a Spanish girl who spoke English to do all the ordering and help with the bills and general running of the bar.
So there was 4 owner managers and 1 girl all taking a wage from this new bar.
Yes you guessed it, it failed after 12 months and they just vanished, i guess they returned to the uk but i heard that the bank repossessed the bar.
If you understand that here in Spain people work long hard hours for low wages and its not all sitting on the beach then you are on the right road.
Look there is a flip side to this…
I worked long hours when i first started here and even then the days here are long and sunny so you can still go down the beach for a few hours after work with a cold cheap beer if you like, thats something you cant do back in the uk and you can do that most of the year round.
If you do your research first on the area you want to go and get as much info from everywhere on just what it will be like and start learning Spanish you can do very well here and have a great life in Spain.
Bottom line guys is that Spain is an amazing place to live and the people are lovely, there is so much to see do and enjoy here not just the warm sunny days and cheap beer but please if you are really serious about a move to Spain then get all the facts first.
Look its like this…
Say you were moving house in the UK. you would want to know where the local shops were and schools and doctors and buss routes, all things like that right. well its like that for a move to Spain only with the language and prices to factor in too.
Find out what it will really costs there
Hope this has helped Personally i love England but would never go back as the way of life here in Spain is way better in every way.
Living and Working In Spain 