Hello!

Hi, I would suggest, if you are not working now to rent for a while. Have a look around and find out what permanent work is available. 

Do you speak Spanish? That will make job seeking easier as I believe there are residential homes in the area. Working for yourself can be difficult as you need to pays taxes etc. Dario, a member here, has a lot of great info on self-employment. Maybe if you search back you will find it.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Thank you for the reply, I am considering all       options.  I speak some Spanish but by no means fluent! I’ll keep learning!

Many thanks

Thanks Jack for the intro :-D not sure if I have lots of information but can certainly share what we’ve learnt starting our own business from scratch.

As Jack says, with good Spanish you may find work at a residential care home.  I’m not certain if there are any that cater exclusively to English speakers, but I’d hazard a guess not, so an ability to converse in Spanish will certainly benefit you.  Coming over now, you are at the end of the summer season, so will not pick up any seasonal work in the hotels and bars around Mojácar, many of which will close soon for the winter.  That’s not to say you won’t get a job in a bar, just that it is now significantly harder.  Again, whilst I cannot say for certain, I would suggest it most unlikely that you’d come here and pick up a job at the level you’ve suggested straight away - or indeed at all.  It’s not impossible, of course, but the Spanish job market is quite ..... closed ..... around these parts.  Often enough jobs will tend to go to cousins, nephews, nieces of the person looking to employ - or relatives of close friends.  Patronage here is quite important.

This is why we started our own business and marketed to a Spanish audience (the Lord Mayor of Vera opened our studio, and the Priest from the church in the square blessed it)

There are many things to consider when opening your business - first .... what are you offering? and who to?  Once you have  established that, then it is wise to retain an Asesor/a to guide you through the minefield of paperwork required - obtaining Número de Seguridad Social, becoming “Alta en España” (recognized in chosen profession) by Seguridad Social, registering to pay Autónomo, registering a new business (oh god ... the paperwork for that ....!), obtaining your opening Licence .... a good Asesor/a will guide you through this process step by step and help you complete the paperwork. You’ll pay for this service of course, but it will be VERY much worth it!!

I specified a Spanish audience for us because we are based in Vera, and positioning ourselves to cater for expats would have been pointless; so learning Spanish became somewhat important.  99.9% of our clients are Spanish and I’d say easily 90% speak no English at all.  This has worked well because they supported us right through summer, and are continuing through the winter months.  It’s our first year, we are not making a fortune, but we are solvent and financially stable - the business is viable and that is what counts.

There’s probably lots more you need to know, but I really can’t think right now!! Please don’t hesitate to ask if there is something you feel I can help you with.

Un saludo, Darío