Moving to Almeria, Spain?

Question

We're moving to Almeria, Spain, is there anything specific we should be looking out for as we've heard a few horror stories, thanks.

Answer 1

Nothing Special. If you are going to work here, you'll need a NIE if you are from the EU and a "permiso de trabajo" if you are non-EU.

If you're going to buy something, don't leave your brains at home and make sure that everything is "legit". AKA the property is fully registered and there are no debts outstanding.

"Land Grab" is something that happened in Valencia and is being processed in court.

Just consider Almeria as another town in Europe. Not better, not worse. But sunny!

I live in Mojacar and I love every bit of it.

Any specific questions, send me an email.

[e-mail]

Answer 2

I wouldn;t bother even considering living in Spain. Its not the place painted on the TV or what you see on holidays for two weeks at a time. The place as a whole, is going downhill, I have seen this decline over the last 3.5 years. The bars and restuarantas are not doing very well with many really struggling to survive the summer, let alone the winter. You cannot buy the same level of goods here as you can in the UK, there are so many rip offs and scames going with regard to buying property too, with many estate agents being rip off merchants and over charging horrendously. Many homes are up for sale and not selling, prices are begining to fall and those who have mortgages will soon be in a negative equity position, many not even selling through estate agents because of the fees. Taxes are frequent, while the equivalent of the council tax may not be much, inheritance tax is a big issue, its payable within 6 months of death and kicks in after 15k€ not the several hundred thousand pounds you're all moaning about in the UK! You can't sell the property to pay the taxes either! 50% of new build homes are not selling and 9% of the housing stock is empty, people are being sold the dream of a property in the eastern side of europe from here now as they know the market is done here. prices of food and fuel are much the same as the Uk but wages considerably lower! So in the long term its more expensive to live here. Its all very well coming for two weeks and thinking its great, it not, its dull, and dead, shops dont open 24/7 and they only have sunday opening during the high season, thats if youre on the coast as well! Its hard being here and I can't wait to be able to get out...
You will also be subjected to stacks of red tape and blatant racism as there is a huge resentment of the spanish towards the english as its the english thats built this place up, pricing the spanish out of many things.....you won't get work for a spanish company unless you are completely fluent, dont even consider coming here to be a plasterer or builder, the place is saturated completely and they are all struggling for a bit of work, undercutting each other and almost working for nothing....

Answer 3

I moved here from the Uk 10 years ago and love it here.
Thinking Of Moving To Almeria and looking for work
Are you thinking of Moving to Almeria and looking for work, or are you already living here? well for the last 10 years now I have been living and working here in Almeria and now have a Spanish wife so can give you some great tips to save you time and money. Also I am now working from home and making enough money to travel the world doing just what I love.
About 10 years ago I moved here from my home town of Brighton in the UK where i worked as a carpenter for a large building business on outdoor sites mostly in all weathers mostly rain, then one day I just had enough and decided to move to sunny Spain.
The first week here i found work as a carpenter and builder, all was great for the first few year, then i wanted more so started to build my own business with a few guys working for me as builders working mostly for the expat community here . Work was good then and I had plenty of work and money and I lived very well here for a few years, I bought a small house at first and then a new 4 bed house with a garage and workshop attached.
Thinking Of Moving To Almeria and looking for work When the crisis hit here about 6 years back the work started to dry up fast and I soon found that I had no work and still had a big mortgage to pay.
I had always liked to travel when I lived in the UK but now living here in Spain there was never enough money or time for travel outside of Spain, only a few trips back to see family and friends about 5 days a year.
When I first came here there was plenty of work here for everyone and things were great and as I worked for a small English firm and most of our clients were English there was no real need to learn Spanish .
Thinking Of Moving To Almeria and looking for work So when the crisis hit here and I had to start looking for other types of work I found it almost impossible as my Spanish was so poor. That made me start taking lessons every day for about a month and then every week for another month. soon I started to Speak better Spanish and mix more with the locals not just the English.
There is always a group of English expats in most towns of Spain and although they are mostly retired people or working families, they tend to stay very close together and go to the same bars and hang outs all the time with only a few of them speaking any real Spanish.
At first when you move to Spain you should join in with these groups as they know all the best tips about the area that you are in but after a short time you become fixed in a routine and never really mix with the locals.
Thinking Of Moving To Almeria and looking for work
So what do I do to earn a full time living here now??? Read part 2
Thinking Of Moving To Almeria and looking for work
If you are sure that you want to come and live in Spain then the most important thing of all is learn some Spanish BEFORE you come or at least take lessons when you are here. there is no way that you will be able to compete with the Spanish for a job if you can't speak Spanish.
Do a search of the area before you move there and read as much as possible from what others are saying about the area. Remember that it may be great there in the summer but what is it like in winter as many smaller towns tend to shut down for winter and are very quiet, this will make finding work there even harder.
Thinking Of Moving To Almeria and looking for work One day I saw an ad for a Spanish walking club here in Almeria so I joined and every Saturday about 20 people met up and set off for walks in the hills that lasted about 4 hours and ended with a bit to eat in a local bar. This was really just to practice the basic Spanish that i had learnt. Although there was 1 or 2 people in the walking group that did speak a little English, 99% of them only spoke Spanish and after a few weeks they really make me feel welcome as they could see that I was trying to join in and i made a big effort so they helped me as much as possible and I still have many of them as good friends.
You really have to push yourself to mix with the locals as much as possible and it is so easy to just stay with the expat crowd and go where they go every week but you will never learn spanish with them or really see the real side of Spain as most of them like to stay in small groups doing the same thing and going to the same bars every week, this is ok if you are just here for the sun but for me I really wanted to make this my home long term.
Moving To Almeria and looking for work
One of the girls in the walking group dragged me along to a salsa dancing club one night and after a few beers, i did have a go and to my surprise i loved it.
The weeks went by and my dancing got a little better and one day I met the girl of my dreams, a Spanish girl that spoke no English so at first it was fun as my Spanish was still basic and her English was zero.
At this time I was working as a self employed carpenter but work was very slow so this is when I started to look online for a better way of life by finding a way to work online here in Spain.
Moving To Almeria and looking for work
I started an online course in building websites as i thought this may be they way to go but although after many months i did start making some money online by selling other peoples products on my sites, it was not really giving me enough money to go full time.
Then one day as i was searching on google i found a video of a blogging system that lets people learn a few new skills and write about anything they like and earn commissions for doing it. not just a commission but 100% commissions so the income came in bigger amounts.
After Moving To Almeria and looking for work and trying many ways to earn money online i now only use this system and am now full time working from home online here in Almeria but not only that but this last August we got married and had a 6 week long honey moon in Mexico and 2 trips to the uk pluss i have just got back from a week in Miami too.
If you are thinking of moving to Almeria and looking for work then this is a great way to earn real online income working from home plus it is all in English so Spanish is not a problem.
You should still learn Spanish if you are thinking of coming here and start before you come if possible as it will help you see and enjoy Spain in a way you would never find if you don't speak Spanish.
Have a look at just how I am making money online working from home here in Spain.
see the FREE Video below...
http://workfromhomejobsinspain.com/