Living in Spain

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<hr>hot all year round<hr></blockquote>
Nowhere on mainland Spain fits that description, I'm afraid, not even Andalucia.

Actually, you are asking a bit much. I do not know a beach location in Spain that would be reasonably cheap and hot all year round. The only part of Spain which is "hot all year round" are the Canaries and I wouldn't describe them as not touristy or inexpensive. Unless you consider 10 - 12 degrees as hot, Andalucia will be no good to you on many winter days. Could yo specify what "hot" or "reasonably cheap" means to you ?

As far as lots of job opportunities on top of all that would make it quite a utopia, wouldn't it? There are job opportunities in Spain, some places more than others, whether they'll be available to you, really depends on what you can do - indicating your qualifications and whether you speak any Spanish would be a good start. I fully expect you might call me anal retentive after this post, however I suggest you reverse your own question in your mind and imagine someone asked you to pinpoint a location to live and work in in the UK, without giving any details about themselves - what would you say?

Tony - your post showed up while I was typing - touche.

There have been several recent threads here regarding working and/or living in Spain. Look them up and you will see what we have already written about this subject. These threads contain some good links too.

And the short answer is, yes, you are asking a bit too much.

Ha ha! That's the funniest thing I've heard all week :-)

You and several thousand others I am afraid...

If you cannot speak Spanish, there are work opportunities in places with lots of British tourists or an ex-pat community. However, unless you have enough Spanish to work in a Spanish speaking environment, the places offering work are going to be where the tourists are. These jobs are usually very low paid and for long hours - not exactly the relaxed leisurely lifestlye your after. And, places with loads of tourists often have high prices (unless there are so many businesses catering for them in one area that competition drives the prices down) for rental accommodation etc. In these places, the market will be flooded with people like yourselves looking for a better lifestyle and winter sun. While the winter weather is milder than here, it isn't going to be hot enough every day for swimming and sunbathing. Working and living in Spain is not going to be like a summer holiday. Also bear in mind that job opportunities in tourism in winter are there, there are less of them. If you don't want to work in tourism or hotel/catering/bar and have some other available skills, you might can find work for ex-pats, it depends on what you can offer. If you both speak Spanish, your chances of finding work and living in a small place with lots of lcoals are higher, but not certain. You will be competing with locals. Even then, you won't get the year round sunshine your after.

I agree with the other posters. It would help if you said whether either of speaks Spanish, the qualifications and work experience you can offer (or if your mainly looking for jobs easy to get without experience like bar and kitchen work), if your planning on renting accommodation or if you have income from the UK (like from property, savings or investments) to help set you up over there (without going into personal details). All of these things are going to make a BIG difference to where you live and the kind of lifestyle available to you.

Simon, can you tell us where you've already considered and discounted? That will help people to guide you.

Is this forum turning to into a moving forum, rather than a vacationing one?

UK is flooded with information on living and working in Spain, so start your research at home. There are a number of TV series devoted to Spain (and other European destinations), 'Living in the Sun' BBC series has been shot in Majorca (Series 3 was shown from Feb this year, but often repeated on BBC and on Sky) but a lot of points they cover apply equally to the mainland, and there is now a 24-hour English-language TV station called 'Living in Spain' available on Sky channel 293. There are magazines on newsstand and many books on the subject - just pop down to WH Smith and Waterstones, or look up Amazon.
Remember, for every success story of someone who has made their new home in Spain, there are many times more of heartache, disaster and early return home - usually those who set off ill-prepared and with an unrealistic expectation of what living in (as opposed to just visiting) Spain is all about.
Best of luck!