bmwe21.net forums

Hello! I hope that i opened this thread in the right category (off topic). It might be a bit unusual, this topic for this forum, however i want to ask anyone who maybe live or work into Spain to tell me if it is a good choice as a country to move into. I recently came to a crossroad at my life which involves the possibility of permanently moving to Spain for work. I haven't made my mind up yet because like my country (Greece), Spain has also a few problems due to financial crisis. However unlike my country i believe that Spain is in a better situation and that eventually will recover more easily than Greece. Anyway in any case i am not going there alone (i have my feyonce), so i am trying to be as sure as possible before making any huge change in my life because it will also affect others. That's why i really want to hear what other people think on that. So far a have a pro/con list of moving in Spain. Here it is:
Pros:
The people. Spaniards and Greeks have a lot in common and that's why i like Spaniards and i hope that they will also like me. I couldn't live in a country where i might feel unwanted there, and i don't think that this will be an issue in Spain.
The climate. Nothing more to say here.
Cost of living. Except rents which are a little bit more expensive, everything else in Spain is cheaper than in Greece. At least that's what i got out of my research. However the average salary is higher than it is in Greece. Therefore in Spain there is a better quality of life.
My car. I can bring my e21 easily to Spain.* it's a 2 day roadtrip from my home town to Spain and i believe that it will be an epic trip to make.
The language. I speak a bit of Spanish and i like them a lot. And on top of that it's a very easy language for us Greeks to learn, so no problem with that either.
Cons:
Unemployment: Spain has the second largest rate of unemployment within EU (after Greece of course). That could be a potential problem for my feyonce. She is an experienced esthetician and we don't know how easy it will be for her to find a job in Spain. I am going to have a job from day 1 in Spain, but she will have to search for one. If she wont find a job things will get really tight financially and after all there will not be any difference from our lives here.
That's it,i don't have any other con in my list.

*I have one question related to my e21. What will be the cost of maintaining my car in Spain? Does anyone knows? Here in Greece is around 280€ insurance per year, 250€ road tax and 50€ mot.

Interesting discussion, and a nice change! Hope you will get some help here and I'm curious myself as well haha!

In the mean time, if I were you I'd do some more digging on the job possibilities for your lady. Does she speak Spanish? I believe a crash course Spanish will be mandatory, but even then there might be a language barrier, in everyday life people do prefer to speak their own language so when in Spain (no not Rome haha) you better make sure to speak Spanish. Alternatively she can of course try to get a job with an international company, or a Greek company that has an office in Spain perhaps?

Like the company I work for. In their European headquarters here in Holland they have native speakers for every country in the greater Europe area. If a customer calls, they always speak to a native speaker in their own language. No language barrier, no chance of miscommunications and a all over satisfied customer. I'm sure there are more businesses that do this, but then you'd have to be lucky enough to find one close to your job.

Good luck, nice plans!

Thanks Jeroen! No she doesn't speak Spanish, only English. However we have started lessons together. We thought that even if we don't move to Spain eventually, at least we are going to know one more language.