I wrote a post on here last week called “The Battle For Spanish Society” it was a slow burner but got a good initial reaction. Then after a few days it sort of went viral. Not in a big way you understand, just that everyone started sharing it and commenting on it on various social networks. The debate thus started I am able to stand back and see how the opinions start coming in and changing the format of the debate over time.
Spain is at a crossroads, a place where the next moves forward could determine a lot of future outcomes for better or worse. Spain is in a fully blown crisis both of the economy and also of confidence. Spain needs change and that change cannot come too soon.
However Spain also has good raw materials. When you have good raw materials you just have to to put them together well into something that is worth it. Spain has those raw materials in my opinion but can it mix them together well, I am not too sure of that.
Walking around Valencia yesterday I thought I would take a few photos of offline businesses that have set up in Valencia recently.
So Tell Me Again, Why Do I Need A To Be on The Internet and Do Social Networking?
Here is a conversation that I have had time and time again with Spanish businesses with very slight variations each time but it generally follows the same path. Remember the conversation is in Spanish and also remember if you don’t believe me “Spain is Different”.
I thought I would start this little article on work in Spain by telling you a few salient facts about Spain;
1) Unemployment currently stands at 22.9%
2) To set up your own business costs an initial monthly cost of at least 450 Euros with an on-going monthly cost of 350 Euros, even if you do not require office space or a place of work.
3) If you are self-employed, you do not qualify for any unemployment benefit if things don’t work out.
Living in Spain is rather strange at times. I have said before in these pages that Spanish life is rather conformist, what one person does successfully everybody else follows in general. Successful estate agents beget copycat models, and the same can be said of academies, theme bars, delicatessens and a huge etcetera. Google is the absolute killer in this area though because people started to use it and everybody else followed. Loads copied but none got traction. In fact just like in English there is a phrase which says “Look for it in Google”, ie Google it.
A report has just been leaked to the press that the black economy in Spain now makes up 23.3% of all transactions. This means that a quarter of the economy in Spain doesn’t show up on the official figures for the size of the GDP for example. The figure is 5% higher than a decade ago and it is getting higher due to the famous “Crisis”.
I decided from a very young age that I didn’t want to live in the UK and Spain seemed a rather natural place to come and live as it was close enough to what I used to call home to not feel too isolated yet exotic enough to be different.
I don’t know whether it is a birthday or a milestone but the next post I put up on Houses For Sale In Spain will be the 500th post on the site. To celebrate I am going to eat a cake! However for my clients it will mean a huge difference because there is going to be an announcement that will surprise and delight in equal measure.
I was reading a post on Lifestyle Design for You from my online mate Gordie Rogers the other day and it got me thinking. His question was whether Lifestyle Design was dead. If you are not sure what lifestyle design is by now then read on. The comments and debate were interesting because Lifestyle Design has been described, erroneously in my opinion, as a hedonistic pursuit of self gratification for young single people. Read his post and comments for more as you can find the link below in the related reading section.
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