Reality Bites and I feel soooo bad.

There's a couple on another forum I use that were looking to come and live in Tenerife. They are Scottish but we won´t hold that against them Anyway I have just told them the following

Easier to find work in the south of the island if you don´t have Spanish. The north would be a lot harder. But any work will be difficult to come by, the Canary Islands have the highest unemployment rate in Spain at about 30%.

I would be amazed if your OH found any admin work other than selling timeshare/holiday clubs on the phone which only seem to last a few weeks. You will probably find it easier to work but again your position will depend on the footfall in the restaurant/hotel rather than how good a chef you are.

If you do find work you will probably be offered cash in hand, no contract, no social payment and when they ask you to leave at the end of 2 - 3 months no paro (dole). Sorry to paint such a black picture but if you are determined to come and live here you should be aware of what it is really like, and that is nothing like being on holiday. I would not recommend anyone coming to live here at this point in time if they have to rely on working to make a living. For those who can retire here it is ideal but otherwise very very hard.

and now feel a real shit because I have spoilt their dreams. They have just said maybe my wife and I should have a rethink, no harm in dreaming though.

Tell it how it is, you live out there and realise how fortunate you are not having to work so you've done them a favour don't worry.

The more honest appraisals they get of living in Tenerife the better.

Gypsy wrote:There's a couple on another forum I use that were looking to come and live in Tenerife. They are Scottish but we won´t hold that against them Anyway I have just told them the following

Easier to find work in the south of the island if you don´t have Spanish. The north would be a lot harder. But any work will be difficult to come by, the Canary Islands have the highest unemployment rate in Spain at about 30%.

I would be amazed if your OH found any admin work other than selling timeshare/holiday clubs on the phone which only seem to last a few weeks. You will probably find it easier to work but again your position will depend on the footfall in the restaurant/hotel rather than how good a chef you are.

If you do find work you will probably be offered cash in hand, no contract, no social payment and when they ask you to leave at the end of 2 - 3 months no paro (dole). Sorry to paint such a black picture but if you are determined to come and live here you should be aware of what it is really like, and that is nothing like being on holiday. I would not recommend anyone coming to live here at this point in time if they have to rely on working to make a living. For those who can retire here it is ideal but otherwise very very hard.

and now feel a real shit because I have spoilt their dreams. They have just said maybe my wife and I should have a rethink, no harm in dreaming though.

I think what you've told them is correct and I'm glad they are having a re-think. If they still feel afterwards that they want to come over well at least they have been warned of the situation beforehand. Think how you would have felt if you had painted everything as sun,sea and sand and everyone can find a job etc, then 6 months later after their money has run out with no job still and they have to go back "home". No, better they know what's ahead of them.

Fore warned and all that.
Perhaps still go but re think how they will do it.

Flip side, You can always go home and say we tried, Better than gawping out the window thinking If only we had been brave, Fact, You will get nowhere sat on your arse, Try to think of a money earner, Rather than getting a job, I see two chinese women doing massages on the beach, Looking over their shoulder for the police, Eyes all over the place, They squat down when a motorbike comes along, They wont starve, So i would give it a try, Rather than bottle it,

Thanks guys I hate spoiling it for people but there are so many who come here wearing the rose tinted glasses and then when it goes wrong they crawl back to the UK or wherever with no money, a broken relationship and wonder why they even tried in the first place.

Reg I think you are right, if you can think of something that people want and nobody else is offering it, and you know how to market yourself you can live the dream but you will never go far if you have to work for someone else.

Correct gypsy, think small you will be, I need a job, Take that out of the oquation and work for your self, Any sane person being a pr for €5 is going to fail, Mind numbing, Work for yourself and you will up your game, just my 10 cents,
I people watch, I see what people do for a shilling, Guy with long hair down the harbour, Takes photos of people getting on the gallion etc, Bang at it for 30 minutes, I see him shoving notes in his pocket, When they come back in, There he is handing them out, Thats what i'm talking about, Making money from nothing really. Man on the beach with an old box, selling mellon and banana, Not sat watching sky tv giving it woh is me, Rather be in tenerife than the UK

I couldn't agree more Reg. Working for yourself is ten times more rewarding ( and I don't just mean financially). Can't see anyone making ends meet moving to Tenerife unless they have a plan and a business ready to go for themselves. Gauranteed, you wont get a decent job working for s'one else there.

Mcqueen wrote:Correct gypsy, think small you will be, I need a job, Take that out of the oquation and work for your self, Any sane person being a pr for €5 is going to fail, Mind numbing, Work for yourself and you will up your game, just my 10 cents,
I people watch, I see what people do for a shilling, Guy with long hair down the harbour, Takes photos of people getting on the gallion etc, Bang at it for 30 minutes, I see him shoving notes in his pocket, When they come back in, There he is handing them out, Thats what i'm talking about, Making money from nothing really. Man on the beach with an old box, selling mellon and banana, Not sat watching sky tv giving it woh is me, Rather be in tenerife than the UK

He is a strong old kiddie with those melons.
Even grab a market stall and flog a bit as long as you make a couple of bob.
Take photo's of people in general and offer them. Go up Teide and do a bit where they do the filming, always couples taking a pic of each other, get a set up for instant pics and bang, quids in.

I'd rather starve D than work for somebody else, Hunger makes you keen, If everybody was self employed the UK would be booming, But its full of spongers, Mp's being the biggest, Royalty second, Taxman 3rd,

Mcqueen wrote:I'd rather starve D than work for somebody else, Hunger makes you keen, If everybody was self employed the UK would be booming, But its full of spongers, Mp's being the biggest, Royalty second, Taxman 3rd,

BANKERS

Remember people taking photo's with a monkey on your shoulder, Something like that, or one of those paintings where you shove your head through, Kiss me quick jobs, Sticks of rock with Blackpool through the middle ?

My eldest lad loves getting his picture taken with animals. He got one taken with a 13foot albino python when he was 8 in Peurto Rico. Feckin thing was so heavy, he had to sit on the floor and they wrapped the thing around him. Ten euro that photo cost and I reckon the girl sold over 40 of them each evening

Blimey, I'l get my snake out, Not albino, But i have been called Monty ?

Woops, need tourists first though Reg, apart from that, couldnt agree more.

plenty tourists in the right places, like piccadilly down our end, safari centre heaving, Like anywhere, London york peckham, Loads of tourists, Pick them clean i say,

I was just saying that cos over the last few years when I turn up at the airport there are not many planes there. Granted I always go when its cheap rates but even so. Also my pad is under the flight path and it is now generally extremely quiet from what it was years ago. Fridays used to be right busy, not even close now.

Numbers are down Vince, But not everywhere, Good job you jet back and forth, keep things moving,

Proping the place up single handed, thats me.........

In saying that Vince, don't forget Tuesdays and Fridays used to be virtually the only flights. You can get many flights 7 days a week now, not saying its busier but flights are more spread. It is certainly quieter than when I first started going, but I think quality has improved.

Don't feel bad Gypsy,better that they know that it needs very careful planning and is not easy. We all have dreams,just wish sometimes they could come true.

Dream the dreams or live the lives until reality bites !....

You did the right thing for sure as no one wants to see anyone fall on hard times, I know someone that was going to buy the lease on a bar in Magaluf, they sold there house to finance it, me and several others told them not to do it but they wanted the dream, well they did not get the dream, they struggled from day one and even had to sleep in the bar, the guy ended up with a heart attack and they lost all there money so reality and proper advice is always the best way.I advised them to buy a apartment with there money and work in bars and it would have worked out much better as they remained in the resort for a further two years working all year round in bars and having to pay rent on a apartment, if they had bought a property they would have had more cash in there pocket

Rent your house out live on the income and still keep the collateral.

Reading Daryn’s post brought back this memory, suspect there are hundreds if not thousands of tales of the same.



Years ago on holiday in Benidorm we were just wandering aimlessly around the back streets of the old town (trying to see some real Spain!), came across a small bar just stuck in a row of the old terraced houses, and by small I mean small, looked as if it had originally been the garage of adjoining house converted.

It looked Spanish so went in, turned out it was an English couple who owned the place, they were very nice ordinary working class people, had given up work/house etc in England to follow their dream, “disaster”.

They had initially rented living accommodation but the profits from the bar were so low they had to move out, they were living in the bar !

They were sleeping on an air bed on the floor, once the last customers left the couple of tables and chairs the bar held were stacked in a corner and the air bed took their place.

They would open the minute they woke, 6/7 o’clock, shut when last person finished their last drink, they looked ill (not an old couple), during our holiday we would drop in regular and have a drink, there was nothing special about the place, just felt for them.

In conversation with them it came out they had thought it through and planned their move for some time (not a snap decision), but possibly with rose tinted glasses on, just had to follow their dream...