Want to Open A Business in Spain? WATCH THIS FIRST!

[@aleaiactaest8354]

Excellent interview. Very interesting. Could easily be a regular guest.

[@steveinstamford]

Great interview stu, would love to see more like these!

[@gedtierney374]

More, more, more. Excellent interview. Looking forward to seeing the next one soon. Can’t beat a “been there, done that” interview.

[@Sean-h4l]

Agreed!

[@drguylenegigitree1044]

Wow. This was a great interview. So many people have the dream of opening up a bar, a restaurant, an Albergue, in Spain but this brings the reality home. Thanks for the very informative and interesting video.

[@Sean-h4l]

Definitely worth watching!

[@JeffsTravels]

Excellent video. As someone who is in the process of starting a business in Spain I found this valuable.

[@patrickstarnes2355]

Enjoyable and interesting podcast today 🙏 .I would enjoy a part 2.

[@davidhudson4653]

Hi Stuart, I have owned a home on the Costa Blanca for over 22 years and just over 12 years ago I decided to up sticks and move to Spain. The first two years were purgatory and really at times I thought about quitting, but just kept my head down and said tomorrow will be better, and little by little it improved, today I am retired but still do odd bits for long term clients and help friends out with a day or two’s labour when they are under the cosh!!! It was hard, harder than most would ever understand or would tolerate!! But I love Spain, love my clients, all nationalities and a lot of locals, I’ve learned the language, ( I’m not perfect) but my Spanish friends say I’m good, but I don’t think so! Spanish bureaucracy drives me crazy and I’ve lost count of the number of times I could pull my hair out!! But all in all I love Spain and love the people!! Via España 🇪🇸 ❤

[@stevenhombrados1530]

🎉cheers!❤🇬🇧🇨🇦🇪🇸❤️

[@MONICAANICA]

Thank you. Interesting reality checks from different experiences in Spain 😍

[@stjut]

Very interesting Stu obviously opening a business in Spain is not for the faint hearted, if at all. We moved to Spain in 2005 retired from the UK, the tax is double what we would have paid in the UK but the cost of living lower, weather and quality of life far superior to the UK. Soon after arriving here my wife had a potentially terminal diagnosis identified which wasn't found in the UK although she'd be suffering for some years, it wasn't diagnosed correctly. Our move here saved her life for which we will be eternally grateful. Stu

[@ferfernando950]

Well, having free public university education and a universal health system in Spain is something that is not precisely cheap for the country. I will tell you a secret: we manage to have those commodities by paying lots of taxes, but dont tell anyone. By the way im glad your wife was correctly diagnosed eventually, and I it was probably just bad luck that she didnt get the correct one in UK, here doctors also make mistakes. My wife almost lost her life due to a human mistake during an intervention in a private clinic here in Spain but a team of specialists doctors from the public hospital of our town saved her. We would never had been able to pay for her surgery and treatment needed to save her if we had to. We keep paying a private health insurance on top of paying our taxes beacuse this way we contribute to relieve the already stressed out health system due to the greed of some politicians. But if spanish people is good at something, is about being empathic and wish others good health at least. Thats why we keep a universal public and free health system. Thats just human.

[@andrewmeasures2312]

Excellent and very interesting video Stuart. I can relate to everything Mark said. I had a big bar/restaurant on the seafront in Fuengirola. We started off aiming it towards the British holiday maker but soon realized our mistake and focused on the locals, both ex-pats and Spanish. We used to serve an english style menu del día, and tradicional tapas. For example on a Tuesday we served liver, bacon, onions and mash. Strangely, over time more than 50% of our clientel for the menu were Spanish locals. In my case, catering for the local market which remains constant all year round was the way to go.😀👍

[@kenwarburton2578]

Very interesting and enjoyable interview Stu. More please.

[@Sean-h4l]

Deffo!

[@stevenhombrados1530]

Very good interview! I’d like to hear more of people that made it or failed in Spain. As I also want to leave where I live to go back where my roots came from.

[@junuc10]

Regardless of the labor laws in Spain workers are overworked and highly underpaid in a country where cost of living is rapidly increasing faster that wages.

[@julianmittelmann5639]

great!!! that info was awesome😃

[@christinecleavest9099]

I so agree, the Spaniards do drink; however, I find the UK and North Americans do more binge drinking

[@anthonyferris8912]

@christinecleavest9099 I guess that's why he targeted them in his business model. Not going to make money selling booze to a person cradling one of glass of plonk for hours.

[@anthonyferris8912]

He'd never make money selling to them. He needed the holiday boozers to keep him in business.

[@stevenhombrados1530]

Never understood doing binge drinking, what is the purpose of getting so sick to the point of vomiting…. I had lost friends because of binge drinking, died on their sleep because they were so passed out that they choked on their vomit! 😢

[@christinecleavest9099]

@@stevenhombrados1530 binge drinking isn't necessarily drinking to you get sick as much as it is drinking in excess in short burst of time. Yes some people do it to the point of getting sick but not all. Im so sorry to hear about your friend.

[@charliethechaste]

Fabulous. Muchas gracias. Moar plz. I enjoy the tidbits on working in Espain.

[@queva3062]

esPAIN more like it😂😂😂😂😂

[@joeterra.t]

Interesting interview. Owning a business in Spain can be a huge pain, especially the first couple of years. I read somewhere that the term "red tape" originated during the reign of King Charles V of Spain, as it became a symbol of official government business. Important documents were distinguished by their red bindings, setting them apart from more mundane paperwork. Anyway, if you stick to it and you actually enjoy your job, it's worth it. Except for paying taxes, that bill will always sting. 😆

[@edl7454]

Spain would be at the bottom of a list in where to start a business. Risk/Reward is not very good unless you are plugged in.

[@anthonyferris8912]

If you buy a bar next to an all inclusive budget Spanish hotel, you’ve made a point of targeting the less than discerning clientele.

[@JoanUnterwegs]

Great content

[@cilldublin07]

its not just in spain, this is the story of a running a small business anywhere in Europe. Red tape, beauracracy and everything done to frustrate the small business owner/employer. We employ a good few spanish here in Ireland in our business and the 9:3 working style seems like a spanish thing as most of them want to disappear back to spain for the summer and come back to ireland in september

[@a1re2]

Great interview - really interesting.

[@kennielsen3896]

The interviews are the most interesting thing you do on the channel. I really miss Nick as his personality is so quirky, I would laugh the whole time. It seems like the best way to do a bar or restaurant would be if you hired family and had a big enough one!

[@nicholaswinter4680]

I'm still around.🙂 Maybe Stuart and I can do another chat soon. Much has happened.

[@baztess8281]

Nice interview, love the Salvador Dali he has behind him.

[@debbiegarza1287]

Oh my goodness!! What an informative & interesting interview! I get where the Laws are Worker friendly, but NOT Business friendly. Seems like there needs to be a better balance or it will self-destruct. And you wander why folks tumble into the Black Economy. It’s survival. So sad & doesn’t need to be that way.

[@anthonyferris8912]

The difficulties of doing legit business in Spain, might in part help explain the fact that in 2021, foreign direct inward investment (FDI) in the UK, from Spain was £41.3 billion, making the UK the number one European destination for Spanish investment and bigger than any of its EU partners. Given by then the UK had already left the EU, that is quite something. While British lotus-eaters and retirees were heading for Spanish sun, it seems Spanish capital was heading for UK business.

[@anthonyferris8912]

When traveling in Greece a few years ago, the black economy and corrupt business practises were also very apparent there. Once ingrained, they must be hard to shake off.

[@peterwilsonclarke8141]

Sorry Stuart but I gave up on this after 5 mins. I'm sure that guy Mark is a really fine, intelligent guy but he's extremely difficult to listen to. I was struggling and my poor Spanish wife could hardly understand a word.

[@k.9228]

odd comment, my English is medium level and I understood everything 🤨

[@randomcitizenname]

Stu really just interviewed himself.

[@TheDirkdams]

There was a big problem in Belgium whit the black economy. But they got now a smart cash register. Si everything you buy in and sell is registered same in whit the supplier so buying in and selling it in the black economy isn't so easy!

[@TheDirkdams]

I see this allot here in Villajoyosa and Benidorm belgian or dutch ( i am belgain ) open up a bar thinking they can make it and got the food and drinks from there home country whit the prices from there ! And really those things don't work if you also whant the locals . And living only from holidaymakers and ex pats forget it ! Just my observation

[@travelbugse2829]

In fairness as a Brit I would like to support your fellow countrymen - Belgian beers are in my opinion the best in Europe (or at least they used to be before Big Business took them over). I may be out of date - I lived in Zaventem over 50 years ago!

[@TheDirkdams]

@@travelbugse2829 Belgian still got good beers and about 350 breweries big and small and i also live in the Dominican Republic and even there you find beers from Belgium but funny enough I don't drink beer but Belgian chocolate frikandellen and the mayo yes my guilty pleasure