[English Tiler]

Hello all. Im a very experienced skilled tiler from England with 20 years experience. Im looking to move to the Costa del Sol area soon and hope to pick up tiling work from the expat community. Can anyone tell me what they would expect to pay per sq mtr labour for a good English Tiler? And is there much work about? Many thanks Marc

 

[xabiaxica]

Hello all. Im a very experienced skilled tiler from England with 20 years experience. Im looking to move to the Costa del Sol area soon and hope to pick up tiling work from the expat community. Can anyone tell me what they would expect to pay per sq mtr labour for a good English Tiler? And is there much work about? Many thanks Marc

:welcome:

have a read of the various recent threads about moving to Spain


Spain has the highest unemployment in Europe atm, with the region you're thinking of probably teh highest in Spain

the expat community is dwindling faster than ever - & highly skilled Spanish tilers are working for next to nothing just to eat - some of them fro 5€ an hour or even less

not the best time to be thinking of coming here .................

 

[mrypg9]

I live on the CdS in a fairly affluent area.
There is no work here for your trade, sorry to say.
Many British immigrants have gone home -an estimated one in three. The CdS has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe - one in three without work, many of them formerly in the now dead construction industry. If Spanish tilers can't get work here, realistically, what are your chances?

I have to say this and please don't take offence: do people in the UK really have no idea how bad things are here? Commentators and pundits are now speaking of Spain being in need of a bail-out, like Greece.
UK unemployment is below 9% and there are prospects for growth - none in Spain.
I cannot understand why we have had so many posts in the last few weeks asking about jobs in Spain.....is it the weather in the UK: It rains in Spain too, you know....

 

[VFR]

Hello all. Im a very experienced skilled tiler from England with 20 years experience. Im looking to move to the Costa del Sol area soon and hope to pick up tiling work from the expat community. Can anyone tell me what they would expect to pay per sq mtr labour for a good English Tiler? And is there much work about? Many thanks Marc

Hi Marc.
What you have read in the other replies is of course correct, but.......

I guess you are quite handy at most jobs that need a reasonable standard of DIY around the house (inside & out)
That being the case if you were based in the right area, you would after a spell keep getting asked to do this & that.

This time last year I was working down on the CDS (Benalmadena) and as my job finished around 3pm each day my landlady asked me to do this & that.
The work contract was only for 3 months & by the time it was finished I was getting a steady stream of requests to carry out house maintenance purely through word of mouth.

In my case I could not respond as my workshop is based at home in Valencia so it was a non runner, but had I have been based in the area then the Ex-Pats it would seem were happy to ask me.

BTW I only ever charged a reasonable rate & would not stop for a blow until it was job done (or break time) just as the Spanish lads do, well in Valencia at least.

So who can tell ?, in the right place, with the right work ethic, with a contact or two & at the right price !, and of course knowing just how things are done here & where to get you supplies etc etc.

 

[mrypg9]

Hi Marc.
What you have read in the other replies is of course correct, but.......

I guess you are quite handy at most jobs that need a reasonable standard of DIY around the house (inside & out)
That being the case if you were based in the right area, you would after a spell keep getting asked to do this & that.

This time last year I was working down on the CDS (Benalmadena) and as my job finished around 3pm each day my landlady asked me to do this & that.
The work contract was only for 3 months & by the time it was finished I was getting a steady stream of requests to carry out house maintenance purely through word of mouth.

In my case I could not respond as my workshop is based at home in Valencia so it was a non runner, but had I have been based in the area then the Ex-Pats it would seem were happy to ask me.

BTW I only ever charged a reasonable rate & would not stop for a blow until it was job done (or break time) just as the Spanish lads do, well in Valencia at least.

So who can tell ?, in the right place, with the right work ethic, with a contact or two & at the right price !, and of course knowing just how things are done here & where to get you supplies etc etc.

And of course you will give him a job, a roof over his head and a ticket home if he doesn't find work.....

 

[VFR]

And of course you will give him a job, a roof over his head and a ticket home if he doesn't find work.....

No need to take the lad as a fool.

 

[mrypg9]

No need to take the lad as a fool.

To be frank, I think it quite wrong to encourage anyone to come here looking for work when there are so many Spanish people desperate to find jobs. At least in the UK the unemployed get unemployment pay and other benefits the almost six million jobless in Spain can only dream of. I suspect that some British immigrants think they needn't pay taxes, all jobs will be cash-in-hand...again cheating the Spanish state.
If I were offering a job, I would give it to a Spanish person. If I want work done, I use Spanish tradespeople and businesses. I could understand if the Spanish Government locked the door and put a 'No Vacancies' sign for foreign jobseekers. These are desperate times.
The free market in goods, capital and people has succeeded only in creating unemployment, debt and making the rich even richer. No wonder people vote for extreme parties of right and left.
Almost every day, in this affluent part of the CdS, I come across more evidence of people's poverty and desperation. It can only get worse before it gets better.
I really am amazed that people still think Spain is a land of milk and honey. Time to get real - the so-called 'dream' is over and won't be back.

 

[calahonda]

I live on the CdS in a fairly affluent area.
There is no work here for your trade, sorry to say.

OMG.....haha, "there is no work for your trade here". He's a tiler, not a pimp. You always use Spanish workers in your affluent area ? Thats quite unusual and most expats use expats because they know what they are getting.

If you are a good tiler you'll pick up work as all the expats use expats.

 

[xabiaxica]

OMG.....haha, "there is no work for your trade here". He's a tiler, not a pimp. You always use Spanish workers in your affluent area ? Thats quite unusual and most expats use expats because they know what they are getting.

If you are a good tiler you'll pick up work as all the expats use expats.

I'm sure the pimps are earning more than tilers atm!


no - most expats I know use the best man for the job - that might be an expat - but it's way more likely to be a Spaniard who has built a good reputation over many years

I'm not saying that there aren't some expats who fit into the 'good reputation' category - just that we don't employ expats, just because they are 'fellow expats'

 

[snikpoh]

OMG.....haha, "there is no work for your trade here". He's a tiler, not a pimp. You always use Spanish workers in your affluent area ? Thats quite unusual and most expats use expats because they know what they are getting.

If you are a good tiler you'll pick up work as all the expats use expats.

In my experience, expats use expats because 90% of them can't communicate sufficiently well with Spanish trades people!


I always try and use Spanish trades for just the reasons mrypg9 states - they need the work to survive.

 

[VFR]

To be frank, I think it quite wrong to encourage anyone to come here looking for work (I am not encoroging anyone, a civil question was asked & I gave a civil answer based on what I know)when there are so many Spanish people desperate to find jobs. At least in the UK the unemployed get unemployment pay and other benefits the almost six million jobless in Spain can only dream of. I suspect that some British immigrants think they needn't pay taxes, all jobs will be cash-in-hand...again cheating the Spanish state. (Most Spanish have a degree in Tax Avoidance & you are assuming that the OP wishes to work in the black also)
If I were offering a job, I would give it to a Spanish person. If I want work done, I use Spanish tradespeople and businesses. I could understand if the Spanish Government locked the door and put a 'No Vacancies' sign for foreign jobseekers. These are desperate times. ( I also only employed Spanish company's when I first came here, but now of course do all my own work if needed. The facts are thought that the vast bulk on the CDS prefer to ask a knowledagable Brit to carry out the work needed even in these troubled times )The free market in goods, capital and people has succeeded only in creating unemployment, debt and making the rich even richer. No wonder people vote for extreme parties of right and left. (What has this got to do with the price of tile's)Almost every day, in this affluent part of the CdS, I come across more evidence of people's poverty and desperation. It can only get worse before it gets better.
I really am amazed that people still think Spain is a land of milk and honey. (Again you are assuming that new members are not reading what we have all written & can read on all the web sites on the web) Time to get real - the so-called 'dream' is over and won't be back.

For sure the easy days are over, but people will & do still need jobs doing etc etc as I pointed out in my post From my Experience.

 

[Pesky Wesky]

Hi Marc.
What you have read in the other replies is of course correct, but.......

I guess you are quite handy at most jobs that need a reasonable standard of DIY around the house (inside & out)
That being the case if you were based in the right area, you would after a spell keep getting asked to do this & that.

This time last year I was working down on the CDS (Benalmadena) and as my job finished around 3pm each day my landlady asked me to do this & that.
The work contract was only for 3 months & by the time it was finished I was getting a steady stream of requests to carry out house maintenance purely through word of mouth.

In my case I could not respond as my workshop is based at home in Valencia so it was a non runner, but had I have been based in the area then the Ex-Pats it would seem were happy to ask me.

BTW I only ever charged a reasonable rate & would not stop for a blow until it was job done (or break time) just as the Spanish lads do, well in Valencia at least.

So who can tell ?, in the right place, with the right work ethic, with a contact or two & at the right price !, and of course knowing just how things are done here & where to get you supplies etc etc.

It does sound promising.
Do you think it would be a possiblity for the average poster ie someone with a family, not speaking Spanish and not knowing the area (the suppliers etc)? Is there a strong possibility of putting it all together, would you say, in the Benalmedena area?

If so, could it be perhaps because so many others have returned to the UK for financial reasons?

 

[jojo]

Actually my friends husband was a tiler in Benalmadena. He tiled their rental house as a favour/discounted rent for their landlord. After that he did nothing worth mentioning. That was three years ago. His wife, my friend worked at the international school that my children attended and she supported them. His tiling skills werent needed and he lost the will. He just stayed at home all day and from what I could gather was just drinking himself into oblivion and depression.

Jo xxx

 

[jojo]

OMG.....haha, "there is no work for your trade here". He's a tiler, not a pimp. You always use Spanish workers in your affluent area ? Thats quite unusual and most expats use expats because they know what they are getting.

If you are a good tiler you'll pick up work as all the expats use expats.

WHAT???? Spain is made from tiles!!! There are squillions of good/ecxellent tilers in Spain already. Tilers who know the wholesalers, know where the best tiles can be bought, know how to tile quickly and efficiently in the heat of Spain, who are used to tiling inside and out and cant claim dole money if they havent had contracted work in the last tow years..... Since the construction industry collapsed, those spanish tilers wont be very happy to welcome a british tiler and most expats, wouldnt use someone straight off the plane, even if there were any who only use their fellow countrymen - which is rare, most expats have got the measure of their fellow countrymen!!!

Jo xxx

 

[English Tiler]

thanks for your honest responses guys. not quite what i was expecting. maybe i should just pimp myself out to the ladies of these so called affluent areas. Any Mrs Robinsons out there need anything laid?

 

[mrypg9]

OMG.....haha, "there is no work for your trade here". He's a tiler, not a pimp. You always use Spanish workers in your affluent area ? Thats quite unusual and most expats use expats because they know what they are getting.

If you are a good tiler you'll pick up work as all the expats use expats.

There are few 'expats' in my immediate area. (Why, I wonder, do you not use the term 'immigrant'? That is what we are, all of us. Do you routinely refer to Polish, Somali, Pakistan people in the UK as 'expats', I wonder?)

It is no way unusual for the British immigrants I know to use Spanish tradespeople etc. That's what 99% of the people I know do. You may not like to hear this but British immigrant tradespeople do not have a good reputation.
Why? Because far too many have reinvented themselves when they set foot in Spain.


My personal experience of such people has been negative. I need a new gardener/pool man/woman. I'm looking forward to meeting the Spanish guy I'm considering hiring tomorrow....He's autonomo, pays his taxes, all legitimate.


And if he were a pimp he might have a chance of finding employment...although even puti-clubs are closing down..

 

[mrypg9]

thanks for your honest responses guys. not quite what i was expecting. maybe i should just pimp myself out to the ladies of these so called affluent areas. Any Mrs Robinsons out there need anything laid?

Come to Spain, buy a copy of 'Sur' in English. There are several pages of males, females, transvestites offering sexual services of every imaginable kind.

It's an over-supplied market, I'm afraid. A bit like the construction industry....first the boom, then the bust, so to speak.

Of course you may have special skills and attributes no-one else can offer

It seems most mature ladies seeking gentlemanly companionship prefer the Latin look, though.
Or so I'm told.

 

[English Tiler]

also i have been a successful tiler in the uk for nearly 20 years. i could organise the tiling of a shopping centre not just mrs browns kitchen wall !! And it does have to be said that the quality of the Spanish tiling is poor to say the least

 

[English Tiler]

i am assuming that most ex pats would use ex pats. Spanish tiling isnt known for its quality

 

[English Tiler]

what area of the CdS has the largest number of ex pats?