Hello everybody First of all excuse me my mistakes bcs a don´t speak welle english My question is the following to wlad blad who live in England
Iam living in spain,and I have spanish citizenship , but the last years, the situation here is more difficult, I road that many people go to england to live there because is better
Could you help me with your advices How is the work there? How is ths Salary? How is people? Can I try it?or is better to forget it and to live here in Spain? Thank You alot And Ramadan Mobarak
Yes a lots of Moroccans from Italy,France & Spain are making it over here but no details on how well they doing ...only that the guys from Italy & Spain are involved in illegal activities ....
Could you help me with your advices thers on the forum will also help & we have a good bunch of Guys & Girls here ! How is the work there? its ok available but it depends on what jobs you are looking for How is ths Salary? Salary is ok i think better than spain but the cost of living here is very high & quality of live is not as good as in Spain How is people? Generally ok Can I try it?or is better to forget it and to live here in Spain? This is your decision but if things are very bad there why not try it & you could always go back if you do not like it here (this obviously will depend on your situation /family/....)
Thamk you Very much Atlasmagic C tres Sympa de ta part I will take your advices in consideration and I will Think about tha subject more time, waiting from more answers of the othrs brothers. Ramadan Mobarak
There isn't more to add to what Atals have already advised you mate; just remember. You need to have a desire to achieve something, set the flame of the torch burning, feel the heat of the fire inside you, that is your drive, motivation and rest assure there will be nothing that will stop you from getting to where you want to be (Allah said my slaves work!!! and I will help you). The secret is hard work, planning, hard work and more planning etc.
May Allah light up the correct path in your mind and those of the rest of Muslims.
Hammouda, I know both countries to a certain extent and like any other place, there are things that you will grow to like and others you will find hard to get used too.
England has a disastrous weather to start with. You will be lucky if you are blessed with a month worth of sunshine. The further you go to the North the scarier the weather gets. Food is the worst in Europe. What you eat outside or whatever you buy to prepare in your home is a far cry compared to what you would eat in Spain. In Spain food is all over the place and a lot cheaper and of good quality as well. Spanish people as you know live to live and live to eat unlike the British and food plays an important part. In addition to this you get ripped off in England. A small tiny sandwich and a drink would cost you around 6 pounds, never mind a decent meal. I ate in many places in Spain and almost every restaurant you go to has a “Menu del dia” and it will cost up to 10 Euros for Entrante, Segundo and some Postre to go along with it. In Spain you eat until you get bloated. A good cup of Coffee in Spain cost you up to 1 Euro and it goes straight to your head when you drink it. In England it tastes like crude oil, and if you want an ok coffee you have to go to those yappy Cafés called Costa and Starbucks and they will charge you 2.50 pounds for milk with a dash of some unknown coffee brand.
Everything is expensive in England. A monthly travel card in London and depending how many zones you cover, would cost you over a hundred pounds compared that to 40 Euros “Abono” which covers nearly the whole of Madrid for example. In addition to this, transport in Spain is among the best. The PP and the later PSOE invested hugely in the infrastructure in the last 10 years. They now run those “Train a grande vitesse” all over Spain. The Metro is almost all brand new. Trains are on time most of the time and you hardly experience any delays. The Tube in London dates back to the start of the century and is plagued with break downs and delays. The same applies to British Rail with train delays literally every day in winter time due to “snow and leaves on the track”. One stop journey by bus in London cost 1 pound. If you drive you get screwed right left and centre. You drive to the centre of London you get charged 5 pounds (may be increased in recent years). Road tax cost 160 pounds a year. MOT cost 50 pounds in addition to repairs which would cost few hundreds if you are lucky. Insurance is a scandal. Poll tax (community charge) which everyone who live anywhere (apart from the street) has to pay few hundreds. I am told people in the UK will also end up paying for the 2012 Olympic Games through taxes as well.
If you are planning to study then the situation is bleak. I remember the time when those from EU countries study in Universities for free, and on the top of this they get a handsome 3000 pounds a year towards living costs and expenses. Those years are history. Studies are now paid for and grants no longer exist or at least for some disciplines. Students now live on loans from loan companies and banks and by the time the finish their degrees, they run 10 to 20 thousand pounds debts............................
Hammouda, when you immigrate to any place, the most vital thing you have to do is secure yourself a job to survive. I can not tell what the chances are, but the UK has more opportunities than in Spain (2 Millions unemployed at the moment) but that depends on what you know and what you can do as one of the brothers asked. I can not tell if the migration of all eastern Europeans from Poland, Check Republic, Hungry, Slovakia Slovenia and the rest of eastern Europe reduces the chances for us to get jobs or not. You walk in any area in South London and you hardly hear any English. I guess the same applied in Spain where immigration is far higher than in the UK. There at least some 2 millions between Moroccans and Ecuadorians alone in Spain. Let alone the rest of Latin America and Africa. The work force in Spain was reliant on Building construction and in the last 10 years the sector employed over a million, however with the housing bubble “Burbuja” or credit crunch or whatever they call it, this million will join the 2 million unemployed and soon you will have a revolution with the poor eating the rich.
But these things I guess should not put you off. As someone mentioned you just have to take the plunge if you want to get there. So may be if you tell us what is it that you do, what do you want to achieve from moving to England, may be some of us who have done the same can share their knowledge and experience.
One thing which is equally important and you already mentioned it is to sit down and think hard. You do not want to change something bad with something worst. Make sure that you have something to go back to in Spain if you get into trouble and you get unlucky or come unstuck. A good advise if you don’t know anyone (and you don’t need too) is to ask around and do some research before hand. The internet is a very good place to start from and it has the answer to almost everything. Another idea is that you don’t need to immigrate for good and at once. How about you taking a little trip, say a couple of weeks or a month and roam the place and meet people and get a feel of things. I am sure after a month you will have an idea whether the UK is for you or not.
Spain is a stunning place. When I am in Spain I feel more at home than any other place in Europe. Every time I go travelling around Spain, I ask my self how the hell did the Muslims and the Arabs lost all this.
I couldn’t read it all too long mate, I get bored easily Most of the info is not correct. I personally know well Spain, France, and Holland Belgium and the way our brothers and sisters are suffering from racism there (have several relatives with good qualifications and can’t find jobs) If the food tastes good in Spain; then Spain is the place to spend a couple of weeks smacking the Spanish restaurant tables with Twenty pounds notes with her majesty’s smiley face on them.
Then again I wouldn’t take the blame for your decision making; follow your mind not your stomach. It is better to stay in Spain as they say better the devil you know …or is it evil you know?
I didn't mean to offend you. We do have some nice weather but not too often, nowadays it is as expensive as most other European countries the earnings are high. The unemployment is creeping up. The economy recently is suffering under the present Turkey leader but most of the world is suffering Allah yahader assalama.... we are about to witness the third world war soon and we all go back home to help or hide where ever we are.
Brother Add, do not worry I am not offended at all, I don’t mind some criticism.
It’s good to give a near accurate picture rather than tell people what they like to hear.
I know England quite well, I lived in London and know it or at least I used to know it inside out. I lived and worked in almost every part of London in the past, so I guess I probably qualify to give an opinion about life in the UK.
Did you say you have some nice weather; not sure that is the case. If you look at this summer for example, I bet you did not have more than 2 or 3 weeks interrupted sunshine. I am told it has rained the whole of August. So the weather can’t be that nice.
I don’t agree with you when you say that it’s like all other countries in Europe. May be I could be wrong, but London we are told, is the third most expensive city in the world after Tokyo and Moscow. Yes you are right, salaries are higher than other places, but high costs and inflation wipes out all your earnings and savings. If you want to lead a decent life you must be earning at least 30K as a single man without the burden of a family to feed and look after and sending money back home now and then.
Somehow from your writings I feel I know you (from another forum perhaps) but that is not the important, I had two weeks in Jan/Feb and July/Aug in Morocco, then followed with another week cruise in Egypt I probably be going back home again for al3eed. That is just say I like the sunshine and its easy and relatively cheap to have up to 5 weeks a year elsewhere the rest one has to put up with it besides its very nice for the garden and Ramadan is much easier here. Now i think I am too young to move outside UK; may be in 30 years or 40. I would definitely go back home to Warzazate or Marrakech or Tantan no place is like our country.
You seem to be doing plenty of travelling, so enjoy it while the cheap flights last. Next year things will not be the same with charter air lines going bust and more will follow.
Did you say you plan to stay for 30 or 40 years in the UK before you plan to go back are you insane? Any way don’t leave it for too long, the bad whether will kill you. And above all don’t leave it until you get married and have children, it will be hard to move out by then and that could affect not only you but the whole family.
Salam Thank you my Brothers FCuRRITO and ADDS I road your Messages and As i Said My english is bad, I understood all + or - Thank you a lot and i will try to express in english So it seems that Fcurrito knows very well Spain, I know that live here in spain is very nice and food too and near of Morocco,but there are some economics problems and thse first affected in this situation is inmigrant I am working here as Racptionist in a small hotel very calm,my salary permits me to live normally I don t know if i go to england it s easy to find same job or similar other problem i have is language, here I haven t qany problem but as you see my language is bad and I have to simprove it more Another think our fame here as moroccan is bad, I never had any problem, but you listen to peaple speak about us and you feel that we are not welcome here.
i will be very gratful to read more advice Thank you Baraka lah fikom I don t know how is situation there in England being moroccan
Quote hamouda2000 Another question What do you think about Ireland? is better ?
Good morning
Are you planning to live in Ireland?
I lived in Ireland for almost a year, but I didn't really enjoy it. I got booooored!! The weather is bloody awful (honestly, England is better!).The cost of living is really high and properties are really really expensive. You can't really make a living here unless you have a good salary that will help you to cover your expenses.. Salaries are quite high but I don't think it's enough compared to the high cost of living.
I lived both in England and Ireland and I don't really see a difference between those two countries in terms of standard of living. However, the only difference is that England is more cosmopolitan than Ireland (in Ireland, the Moroccan community is not as strong as in the UK) and people are more open-minded.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, I'll be happy to help Good luck mate!
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2008 08:29 by pounkette.
Not to worry Hammouda, your English is better than my Spanish.
If you are a receptionist, no matter how many other languages you speak, you will be using English on a daily basis. You could get away with little English in some basic hotel or bed and breakfast, but if you want to earn some serious money, English is vital.
First, write your CV in an English format. This link will help you write a CV and a resume which goes with it. Example CV 6 is a word document and a simple template to use for your CV. The link also gives you hints on how to conduct an interview and how to search for work.
There are plenty of job sites online, these are a couple which I found on Google in one single page. If the search does not show any jobs for receptionist you will have to use the word FRONT OFFICE or FRONT DESK, since a receptionist is part or a function of these.
As to Ireland, all I can say is, if the situation is bad in Spain and you want to get out at all cost, then why not consider Ireland. No one thought much about Dublin a decade ago, now it’s is a major tourist hub and as you know where ever there are tourists, the hotel and catering business seem to do very well. Having said that Ireland along with Spain and England will be affected more by the credit crunch than any other EU countries. So things in the very near future may not be that promising. I have been to Ireland few times and personally would not live there. No matter how friendly and welcoming the Irish are compared to the British, the whether is gloomy, rains at all time and gets bloody dark at 2pm in winter.
Where about do you live hammouda if you don’t mind me asking?
Thank u Ponkette and Fcurrito for your help abd time you dedicate to person who needs help Fcurito I thank u for Web sites and your answer Of course brother , with pleasure i willa answer to your question I am living in the north of Spain, in Santander, fotr that , I think that I will not have any problem with weither because here too it is raining all time, It s a nice city , many people from England come every week to buy Tabacco and alchol,.There is Boat who comes from England at Santander 2 times a week what else, I am very worried because I want to change my life, to look for a new oportunities and to know another culture I agree with u ;I have to go some days to know how is life there and to contact people and to take advantage of there experience Let it to time, I am here reading things about life in England, to look for a job from here, even if I know that it s impossible, but I have to do it waiting from time to decide. Thank u twice and much fcurrito Good night
Have you considered South Africa? The south Africans look healthy they must have good cheap food there (loads of c kaleem) besides one doesn't need to speak good English (or at least pretend) to live there. They have very good Moroccan community and an organisation to help them too. The only thing they don't like over there is time waisters. Good luck to you with whaqt ever you do in your life. May Allah help you to find peace, food and happiness.
So you live in Santander. It’s not too bad as a city but prefer San Sebastian. A beautiful city with amazing buildings, especially the city centre and along the Cornish. The weather is dismal but in summer the north of Spain can be perfect for travelling. I toured Pais Vasco, Asturias, Cantabria and part of Galicia some years ago. I stayed in La Verga near Potes in an amazing Casa Rural on some stunning hills not far from Fuente De, where the “Picos de Europa” or the European Peaks start. But nothing can beat Galicia, with its green country side and amazing mountains and hill tops. I came across some very small and remote villages like Navia de Suarna, you can’t find words to describe them. Just magic real magic! If you have time and some dosh to spend I would recommend touring Galicia if you have done so yet.
As to changing your life, there is nothing to worry about. Thinking about it too much is what makes you worried, so don’t spend too much time thinking, just act on it. Hesitation can sometimes bring disappointment. So all I can say is good luck.
Adds, South Africa has been on my mind for few years now, and just need the right time for it, may be that would be in the next few months. Did you live there or have friends and family living there? I am mainly interested in national, animal and natural reservation parks. So if you have visited any of these, please let me know.
Have a nice Iftar
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2008 01:27 by fcurrito.
No I haven't and it doesn't interest me as a country too southen for my liking. All the people I know or new from there are living abroad now but they say its lovely over there.
Yes you are right, the place is very remote and you need to take a month of work to make your holidays worth while, else it will be a waist of money. I was even considered working in a nature reserves for a month or so, and spoke to someone about it, but was told they won’t take me in for a short period only and I need some experience.