I just want to wish you luck.

Spain is wonderful in many ways and the schools, while different, are pretty good. I moved to NJ by force (job mandate) and I have never liked the place. Everytime I go to SPain I think about a life there a n experience that would have been filled with wonderful weekend trips to town with names that you cannot imagine and a 100 diff. meals and wines. Here, as you know, we go to a different mall every weekend.

Good luck.

Juan/+

Friend,
New Jersey is the world capital of malls

I've visited spain several times and I know that I would love it very dear...like i love n.j. (after all, it's my home, i have to defend it)

saludos.

JA and roch74 --

Don´t kid yourselves...Spain has changed drastically over the years...

The most common family activity nowadays here (in Madrid) is to go to a "centro comercial" or "centro de ocio"(shopping mall be it indoors, or strip mall) and spend the day shopping, going to the movies, eating at McDonalds or BK, etc. Just like in the good old USA!

However, I do think that with a little creativity, one can avoid the masses and enjoy the cultural and nature activities that this country has to offer!

One other thing to keep in mind roch74 -- the typical working day here in Spain is a split-shift...meaning from 8/9am - 2pm and then break for lunch returning to work from 4pm - 6, 7, or 8pm depending on your company´s politics. Many Spaniards I know put in looong working hours. Don´t let the image of siesta & fiesta fool you. There is a difference between vacationing here and living here!

A 2 hour lunch break? Wow!

I only got 30 minutes(which is usual here) and I am happy enough to finish lunch in 10 minutes and spend the rest reading or window shopping down the next street. But give me 2 hours......

New to the board but just reading the posts. I've been thinking of migrating for the last 10 years of my life. It took a few political events to finally shove me in that direction to get really serious about it. I see a post about someone only having $900 in her pocket and how we have to just do it because waiting for a job to be offered from across the ocean will never happen. But then I see another post about treading carefully. It's all so confusing! And then there's the never-ending "marry a spaniard." Oy. If only it were that easy to command love. I've put out about 30 gazillion CV's (none for teaching english yet) and gotten about 3 responses, 2 of which were from generic scheming scandinavian marketing firms that smell fishy (no pun intended).

The way PP is these days, and the way the immigration laws are changing, the last thing I want to do is jump on a plane, be homeless and hungry, and get kicked out of the country and come home to yet again... to NOTHING, and be homeless and hungry.

So I'm treading carefully and doing my research. Once I find that job, get the visa, THEN I'll sell everything, move over, and start again from scratch. Until then, I'm moving at snails pace.
I'm thinking I might have a gender reassignment, change my name to Letizia, and off the real one, but who wants to live in that casa horteza???

One question I want to throw out there... My spanish friends are telling me that to go comfortably from my US salary of $60,0000, to a comfortable life in Spain, I should look for a job that pays at least 20,000€. Does anybody have any experience in this? Apparantly by the time you figure for taxes, health care, costs of living, etc that we pay in the US that you don't have to pay out of your salary in Europe, it makes up for it.

It just makes me a little queezy.

Regardless of what anyone is thinking, Trambusto is NOT MadridMan in disguise although his story, feelings, and fears sound exactly like my own - with the exception of the $60,000/year salary (I WISH!) - he is not me.

Saludos, MadridMan

I have seen programming positions, with 2 years experience, advertised in Madrid and Barcelona for 12k - 18k euros per year. Doesn't sound like much to me either...

A modest proposal:

The site has, what, over 4000 members now. . . and I'll bet just about every one of them has gotten a LOT out of it. . . thanks to our good friend, MadridMan. I for one would be more than happy to donate, say $10 a year, or even more for access to the board. Maybe we regular users could all chip in every six or twelve months and help MM out. Think of all he has done for us! Come on folks, isn't the thought of seeing MM actually living in Madrid worth 10 tiny bucks? That is what, 3 or 4 beers? Wadda ya all tink?

New to the site and recently moved back from Madrid. I thought I would try and shed some light (or maybe just give my two cents) on some of the questions raised in the previous posts.

I'll start with:

Cost of Living
I can only speak to Madrid but here is what I can tell you:

I lived in a 3/1 flat in the center of Madrid (inside the M-30). You do NOT want to consider living outside this area. I had 2 flatmates and we each paid 333 euros/month + an avg. of 100 euros every 6 months in utilities.

A monthly Metro pass will run you about 36 euros.

Grocery shopping is definitely less expensive than in the US. Restaurants are generally less expensive than US equivalents, but sticking to the Menu del Dia is the best way to afford to eat out.

Going out is not too expensive unless you want to go to a club at around 4 a.m. which will cost you 10-15 euros in a covercharge. I would say an average night out without dinner, but including a trip to a club would be about 40-50 euros (I guess I just gave away my weakness for libations!).

Clothing can be cheap, hair cuts are CHEAP, prescription meds are CHEAP . . .

I apologize if this is too much detail.

I would say that %60,000 is closer to 25,000-30,000 euros in terms of living standards.

Obtaining a VISA:

I could go into such annoying detail, as I'm sure many of you could, when it comes to this topic.

One suggestion: Retain an attorney in Spain to assist you in obtaining a VISA. Granted, the company has to offer you a job and submit the paperwork to the government, but if you can say to the company that you have an attorney (abagado) to handle to details and the paperwork (and grease the right palms) they will be much more willing to consider you as an applicant. There are attys. specializing in this and I can give anyone contact info. They have helped many Americans. Note: This process - once the job offer has been made - can take up to 8 months or longer to complete!

Hi ex ex pat! Your message is certainly helpful for those who are considering a move to Spain. I have a curiosity though...

You said:

Why wouldn´t a person want to consider living outside of the M-30 beltway? Some of the most desireable real estate is in the northern outskirts of the city.

I think where a person decides to live would be relative to many things. In your case, living inside the beltway was the best option since your weakness was the libations and the lively nightlife found in the dead center of the city (Huertas/Santa Ana/Plaza Mayor, etc) . Obviously you want to be close to that action...

However, for someone whose company transfers them here, might find themselves enjoying the quiet upscale neighborhood along Arturo Soria or even the northern suburbs.

Could you share with us why you think people shouldn´t consider outside the M-30 beltway?