Ibiza ex-pats

Beckiboo

Beckiboo

Active Member
Ok you've all made me jealous with your stories of 30 degree sunshine :spank: :evil: :lol:

What I want to know is.... how did you end up in Ibiza? When did you move there and what did you do work-wise?

I may be a nosey mare but it's something I'd love to do at some point, but have no idea how to make the move. Obviously learning Spanish / Catalan is a big deal. I'm hoping to be semi-fluent in Spanish after a trip to South America.

My bf and I are both qualified accountants, would there be any kind of scope for that kind of work in Ibiza? Or is the best way to get over there to set up your own business and hope it's successful?

Just seems like a dream that is sooooo unreachable at the moment :?:
 
I had been here before many years ago to work the summer and loved it. I was planning on staying and finding some work with a Brit builder. By mid October most places had closed. I was into clubbing so felt very restless here with nowhere to go. There were a lot less people living here back then too so it was quite lonely. It got too quiet for me so I went back to England with the intention of returning the following summer. Anyway I had various changes of plans and didn't come back here until 18 years later! We came over for a ten day holiday in August of 2007 and loved it. We decided we would buy a holiday home in need of repair and we would come down a few times per year to do it up. The more I looked into it, the more I just wanted to move down here instead of just having holidays. I got talking to a Brit builder here that said he could give me a little work if I moved down, so I asked Missus D if she wanted to move to Ibiza. She said yes and so we were down here by mid December of that same year.
I'm a builder. Most of the work I do is on Brit owned holiday homes or on the homes of people that work in the tourist industry.
The vast majority of ex-pat work is connected to the tourist industry one way or another.
Learning Spanish is obviously very useful. The more you know, the easier your life will be. I doubt you would need Catalan at all unless you plan on working for a town council. My Spanish is not very good. I get by though. I was talking to another ex-pat a few weeks ago that told me she can quite easily chat with Spanish people socially but when she went with her boyfriend to the builders merchants they didn't have a clue what anything was called and so they really struggled. I told her that I am totally the opposite. I can walk into a builders merchants and order what materials I need in Spanish but I can't really chat to the Spanish beyond describing the weather. :oops:

Sorry, I don't know anything about accountancy.
 
Do you do plumbing or just building? I was wondering what Ibizan boilers are like to Regulate, Warren D?
 
Can you move your lame jokes to another thread please! This is my future we're talking about 'ere!
 
Is there much need for electricians in Ibiza? I'm re-training this year and 'should' be qualified in 2 years. I'll obviously need experience, but me and the g/f are gonna start learning Spanish soon. I drive HGV now but realise that I may struggle for such work in such a small place. I can't believe she loved it that much she's willing to move in a few years(she may just be leading me on) but we don't want to struggle doing bar work. I used to manage a pub for wetherspoons so I can work bars but from what I've seen the money isn't good enough to support a family.
Suppose we all needs pipe dreams to keep us going, I just hate this country so much!
Sorry for hijacking thread :p
 
OlskiNotts said:
Is there much need for electricians in Ibiza? I'm re-training this year and 'should' be qualified in 2 years. I'll obviously need experience, but me and the g/f are gonna start learning Spanish soon. I drive HGV now but realise that I may struggle for such work in such a small place. I can't believe she loved it that much she's willing to move in a few years(she may just be leading me on) but we don't want to struggle doing bar work. I used to manage a pub for wetherspoons so I can work bars but from what I've seen the money isn't good enough to support a family.
Suppose we all needs pipe dreams to keep us going, I just hate this country so much!
Sorry for hijacking thread :p
Click to expand...

My parents have just moved back from Cyprus and they had a couple of groups of friends over there who werent lucky enough to be leisure loving retiree's who had 2 and 3 jobs to keep the wolf from the door.

The jobs that seemed to bring in the most revenue for them were as follows:-
  • English £ shop - they shipped in shed loads of english stuff for the ex pats - decent make toiletries/make up/cleansers and toners, soaps, toothpaste, that sort of thing.... got small premises and did that - massive interest from the ex pat community
  • Man with a Van and put leaflets out everywhere they thought people might read them for people who needed removals etc etc
  • Ironing Service - contact restaurants, small hotels, villa's etc and did major bulk ironing... they hated that job - too hot and sweaty ironing masses of tablecloths, serviettes, sheets etc etc but it brought in a lot of work....
it may be worth looking into these options
 
puppylover said:
My parents have just moved back from Cyprus and they had a couple of groups of friends over there who werent lucky enough to be leisure loving retiree's who had 2 and 3 jobs to keep the wolf from the door.

The jobs that seemed to bring in the most revenue for them were as follows:-
  • English £ shop - they shipped in shed loads of english stuff for the ex pats - decent make toiletries/make up/cleansers and toners, soaps, toothpaste, that sort of thing.... got small premises and did that - massive interest from the ex pat community
  • Man with a Van and put leaflets out everywhere they thought people might read them for people who needed removals etc etc
  • Ironing Service - contact restaurants, small hotels, villa's etc and did major bulk ironing... they hated that job - too hot and sweaty ironing masses of tablecloths, serviettes, sheets etc etc but it brought in a lot of work....
it may be worth looking into these options
Click to expand...
Thank, apart from a shop I doubt I could do the others :lol: Maybe setting up on my own as a sparky would be worth a shot? Suppose that elusive lotto win will be the only way to actually have a decent lifestyle out there then :(:D
 
There are already several reliable Brit sparkies down here but I'm not saying there isn't room for another one.
Anything to do with the construction industry has slowed down a little though. Not much planning permission being granted at the moment.
 
in other words, you're still asking the same questions, still have the same doubts, still have the ambitions.

in (more) other words, things don't look like they're changing or gonna change, unless you have a specific plan set.

in further words, change it yourself. and before you say "what about this/that/other?"......if i can do it with 2 mortgages, 2 kids, nowhere to live arranged, no job arranged, etc, etc......then it's there for the taking.

:)
 
OlskiNotts said:
Thank, apart from a shop I doubt I could do the others :lol: Maybe setting up on my own as a sparky would be worth a shot? Suppose that elusive lotto win will be the only way to actually have a decent lifestyle out there then :(:D
Click to expand...

you make your own destiny. i was in your shoes a few months ago... I was living in nottingham (sherwood high street to be exact) and I got to the point where I hated it so much.

I moved here to Marbella in June. No job, no nothing.

The difference is my family are here, but I am not living with them, and Im not spanish (but I do speak it).

Learn the language, some basics at least then just pack it up and go. Its cost me 400 quid to move my fave possessions and the rest I sold.

Just do it... I know where you are, and I really know how you feel... you only live once!!!!

You wont regret it, and if in a couple of years you do... you can always move home. Its just a couple of hours on a plane. ;)
 
This is what I need to hear !! I am learning Spanish at the end of the year in hope of leaving this country in a couple of years .... I need sunshine in my life :)
 
I'd love to Sophie but I have 3 kids to think about it's not fair on them going without planning properly and my g/f would never allow it :lol:
I'm gonna get a foot on the ladder sparking as it's a trade that will be used throughout my life time at least, I can run a pub and I can drive an artic lorry so I'll be multi skilled.....just not in greatly under manned jobs. When I win the lottery this all becomes irrelevant anyway I'll buy me a nice techno and a villa and won't need these worries 8)
 
grego said:
miss boo, isn't like an annual question/thread of yours.....??
Click to expand...

Annual is less frequent than customary. Becki's job/car/haircut choices used to be a weekly discussion!:lol:
 
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