Hello everyone! I’m a British citizen who grew up in Malaysia. Once I finished university in UK, I moved back here with my fiance.. and have had a bit of a nightmare of a time. The country is beautiful, but bloody work permit laws make it very difficult for foreigners unless you’re strapped to some big MNC. Couldn’t move back to UK, for reasons I’m sure you’ll all agree with, so we’ve decided to move to Spain! Done some research, and love the look of Granada. We plan to move there at the end of January - very excited!

Is it true that as EU citizens we can sign on the dole there while we are looking for work? Is it easy to find work? Spanish is non-existant right now, but we will learn all the basics before we move. We’re just winging it really, going to turn up and see what happens. I plan to eventually register as an Autonomo, doing writing, Holistic Health and music, with a day job on the side till that all (hopefully) kicks off.. Are there English-speaking publications in the area (ie. magazines, newspapers) that I could write for?

I’d love to hear peoples experiences with living and working in Granada. Anyone living in Orgiva? That little gem particularly caught my eye, looks like a very cool town and seems to be well set up for Holistic Health practice.

Great site, by the way, thanks for all the info!

Hi Lady Luck,

I’m not sure about signing on for the dole here, but believe it’s possible. Have been lucky enough to have work here from day one myself, but some of the other posters here might be able to help and advise.

Here’s some links though for some local English printed publications in the area:-

http://www.theolivepress.es

http://www.where2.es

“The Olive Press” is a bi-weekly newspaper and “Where2” is a bi-monthly magazine of sorts, which is more of a reference point for tourists & residents alike, the sort of publication people keep handy for all the contact information it contains. May be worth contacting them direct with regards to any writing work opportunities.

If your looking at promoting your services, their advertising rates are very reasonable. I don’t advertise in them myself as am always booked up a few months in advance with my work, but a few tradesmen I deal with advertise in one or both and get very good results.

Lovelly area you’re moving to and there’s plenty to see & do around the whole of this area. We live not far from the airport in Castillo de Tajarja. Have been here three years now and have enjoyed it immensely.

Hope the move goes well.

Heath

Thanks for that, Heath! And congrats to you, sounds like you’re doing really well over there! omg I can’t wait!

Will it be busy for B+B’s in January? Do we need to book in advance or can we just turn up and find somewhere? Thanks so much for the help.

Jo

I could’nt say how busy any B&B;accommodation will be for sure, though the ski season will be in full swing by then I imagine, so may be worth booking in advance.

We rented first of all, until we had found and bought the property we wanted to live in. As it happens, we were only in the rental property about 6 weeks, as the house purchase went through pretty quickly.

Lookout for a poster called “MartCross” on the forums here, as he has a property in the Alpujarras and may be able to point you in the right direction.

Hi Lady Luck, my ears were burning there!  My place in Juviles is close to Orgiva as the crow flies, but the slow and winding roads mean that it’s about 45 minutes in the car.  Orgiva is a well-developed (maybe too well-developed) centre for an alternative ex-pat crowd and you may find there’s already enough holistic health stuff going on - lots of competition - although you would probably get some some friendly support too. Generally as you move East from there the villages become more traditional and less international, although the alternative Northern European influence kicks in again when you get to Cadiar and Ugijar. The nearest equivalent to B&B;here is rooms above bars - you’ll pretty near always get a room anywhere except when there’s a fiesta on.  Once you’ve got a room for a few days, I don’t think you’ll have much problem finding a house to rent for a couple of months, just ask around in bars and shops.  A few hundred euros a month should do it for a small place - we discount our house for long stays, but its probably too big and too far east for you.  As for work, we know lots of people who do a bit of this and a bit of that - agricultural work, hotels, building, gardening - there’s plenty to do. You won’t make much money, but you won’t need that much, life is not expensive here.  You won’t get rich from writing in English here unless you’re Chris Stewart (of Driving over Lemons fame) - I can’t imagine the Olive Press pays much. The Alpujarra is a stunningly beautiful part of the world, and the people are kind, honest, funny and welcoming if you try to speak Spanish, and reasonably tolerant if you don’t.  Just two notes of caution; you need a car (you can save on everything else but public transport here is very limited), and you really have to learn Spanish unless you want to be stuck in a two-tribes ex-pat world.

Thanks for all the info! Not looking to get rich, just want to have a nice life. I definitely intend to learn Spanish, I’m looking forward to that.

Have found a couple of Holistic health retreats around there and have got in touch asking for work.. Figured I’d just join them rather than trying to beat them ;o)

I guess we’ll just find somewhere in Granada city to start and check out the surrounding areas. Out of curiostity, how big is your place, and how much? My fiance and I do like to have a lot of space, and we foresee many visitors in our future!

Hi Lady Luck, our place has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a big open-plan top floor with kitchen, dining and living rooms and a roof terrace looking out over the mountains - it’s great for entertaining friends and family.  There’s also a small garden and a big store room.  It’s in the middle of a village so there are bars and stuff nearby.  We let it from ?350 a week for holidays, but if you wanted it for a long stay we could accept say ?500 a month.  (You could easily pay that for a small flat in the city.)  Ours has a lot more space and comfort than a very old village place, but as it’s a restoration it’s in pretty traditional style.  There are quite a few holistic/alternative/eco type businesses within a short drive of Juviles, although the village itself is completely traditional.  There’s a lot of information on our blog site below. 

Much as I’d like to rent our place out, I think your plan to start in the city is a good one.  If you spend a couple of months in Granada you can get to know the city on foot, then rent a car for a few days to explore the countryside.  You can think of the Alpujarra as a big circuit of about thirty villages studded through the hills all the way from Lanjaron into Almeria.  Some, like Capileira, are very touristy (although still beautiful) and others, like our village, are still largely agricultural (and even more beautiful).

Best of luck, whatever you do.

Wow, your house is stunning! I found your blog very informative and God it looks so beautiful there!  Thanks so much for both your help. Nice to know there’s such a friendly Ex-Pat community around. All the best,

Jo