Thinking of moving to Torrevieja or costa Blanca area.

Posted: Tue May 1, 2018 2:39pm

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Posts: 8

Joined: 1 May 2018

Hi, been thinking of moving to Torrevieja or Costa blanca area, at the the moment I am in UK, no children to bring with me so was wondering if it was viable.

I am a qualified (City and Guilds) Plumber/tiler and wanted to know a good location to live where it is easy access to road networks. Quiet in evenings but also 10 to 15 mins to sea front/ beach tapas/bars and restaurants.

Would really appreciate it if anyone could help me answer the following,

1. Is there more work for Plumbers or Tilers ?

2. What happens to your National Insurance Contributions once you leave UK and become resident in Spain ? do you keep on with them or does the Spanish system take over as I still have quite a few years of contributions left.

3.Does anyone know if there is any employment for the above in this area and if so what is the average income ?

4. How much is the average house price in this area for 2 bed house/ bungalow and what are the average monthly bills,

Water, electric, telephone, television,sewage etc ?

5. I have looked into being Autonomo and realise that there is a monthly payment to the Spanish tax system, has this law changed and how much would this be? If I decided to go down this route would there be part time work, bars, restaurants cleaning etc while I built up work ?

6. What is the average price of a decent 2nd hand LHD van over there Peugot partner, Transit van size and what is the road tax price (I have read somewhere that it is better to get the log book filled in by a professional as there can be problems)?

7.Would it be better to buy a Left Hand Drive Van over in UK then drive over and use that or would there be issues with registration in Spain after a period of time ?

8. What would be the Spanish equivalent of an M.O.T test, when do they have to be done and provided there was nothing wrong with the vehicle what would be the cost ?

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Posted: Tue May 1, 2018 5:55pm

jimtaylor

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Posts: 5612

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Location: Mudamiento

Joined: 2 Feb 2017

Posted: Tue May 1, 2018 5:55pm

I can only answer your question about autonomo. It's €50 a month for the first twelve months, and €270 a month after that. On top of that, you've got accountant's fees.

There are so many unemployed people ex the building trade, scraping what living they can make on the black economy, that your only chance would be to target the UK ex-pat community, for both plumbing and tiling.

As a qualified plumber, I'm sure you'll be disgusted at the quality of Spanish plumbing fittings. Every fitting is such poor tolerance that they rely on a load of silicone tape to seal a threaded joint, and they've never heard of Yorkshire fittings and rely on end-feed for un-threaded joints. If you do start plumbing here, I'm sure you'll be placing orders with Screwfix.

Spanish tiles are almost invariably thick, and must be fired at a high temperature as they're like fire bricks to cut. I invariably use an angle grinder. Having said that, there is a good choice of both tile adhesive and grout. If you want any pointers, just ask.

Posted: Wed May 2, 2018 9:41pm

Adey52

Original Poster

Posts: 8

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 1 May 2018

Posted: Wed May 2, 2018 9:41pm

Hi Jim thankyou for the information on the autonomo fees, 50 euros per month sounds reasonable and the accountant fees should probably max be about 800 euros p.a for a small business so about 1400 euros all in for small business, aprox 25 to 30 euros a week , but I will try to find out what they charge for a 1 man self employed person, this would give me a fair crack of the whip for the first year at least.

Regarding the Spanish fittings, is there a lot of difficulty in matching them to the metric/imperial fittings or are there reducers/ or other fitting available to solve this issue ?

Is there a Screwfix in the area as they are under the Kingfisher umberella Like B&Q over here and are expanding under Brico Depot in Spain, there is one in crevillente a bit further up from Torrevieja but I cant get their site up, has anyone used this store and if so what are their Plumbing products like, are they UK fittings or do I have to order from Screwfix in UK with the free delivery over £100 ( I will also put this question on the forum) ?

When Tiling can you use an electric tile cutter, manual slide cutter or is it always an angle grinder for floors and walls ?

Regards

Adey