Living and Working in Spain

The review of Living and Working in Spain on Amazon's web page for it was evidently written by the author himself or his blurb writer, as it is the same text as found on Survival Books' page for it. Nevertheless, when it says that the book is "packed with over 450 pages of important and useful data, designed to help you avoid costly mistakes and save both time and money," it is a claim I must endorse. Living and Working in Spain is excellent, informative but amusing, fact-filled but easy to read, and comprehensive without being overwhelming.

Mr. Hampshire would seem to have a background in law or real estate or both, as he teases apart the Byzantine intricacies of Spanish bureaucracy with consumate skill and admirable clarity, and it is on this kind of ground that the book is at its most convincing. Elsewhere, the information given is precise and practical, with so few inaccuracies that it would be niggardly of me to point them out. The style is extremely relaxed and relaxing, and the book reads in many places as though the author were speaking aloud rather than wrestling with a word processor. Fine writing is not one of the book's strong points, and at times the repetitiveness and resolute simplicity of its vocabulary can be a little wearing, but this is more than compensated for by its in-depth practical information. It is an indication of the book's merits that you put it down feeling that the author has actually been through the situations he describes, though at no point does he say as much. Nor does he use many anecdotes or examples by way of illustration — Living and Working is primarily an instruction book, eminently down to earth, with recommendations and how-to's for almost all the tricky situations an emigrant to Spain is likely to be confronted with: househunting, buying or renting a home, language, hostpitals, driving, buying a car, finding a school, even jobhunting, without forgetting your all-important leisure time (after all, if you don't like the Spanish way of life, why on earth are you going to live there?).

The illustrations or cartoons, by Jim Watson, are droll rather than funny, and occasionally slightly offensive to Spaniards, which will not matter as they are unlikely to read the book. Its finish is a little DIY, its advertisements and typesetting indicating a self-publishing approach by Survival Books, but it is robust and should last through a good deal of thumbing.

Unfortunately, there is one major criticism to be made of Living and Working in Spain, related with another claim made for it, that it is "the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of practical information available about everyday life in Spain." Comprehensive it may well be, but up to date it is not. The third edition currently on sale was published in 2000, and much has changed since then, not least the introduction of the euro. Residence requirements for many EU citizens, including the British, have been made less demanding, and have even been dropped altogether for salaried workers (not the self-employed or pensioners) from many European countries. In other words, a new edition is overdue.

Even failing an updated version of Living and Working in Spain, anyone who is contemplating the move would be well advised to buy this book: it is quite enjoyable enough for bedtime reading, and keeping it on the bedside table for a week or two will give you much of the background information to help you decide whether you really want to make the move, or to allow you to do so with the minimum of disappointment and frustration.

If you decide to buy this book, you can do so through the website of Survival Books.