Working in Tenerife
Four island residents took a little time off to meet round the table at the
Aparthotel El Duque, Fañabe to discuss the pros and cons of working in Tenerife.
Margaret Pennant Crisp from Cheshire, Managing Director for The Flight Center, Las Américas. Previously was Manager of Servisair Airport Agencies; moved to Tenerife six years ago.
Patrick Marc Ford from Hertfordshire, Freelance Writer. Has spent the past 10 years busking around Europe. Moved to Santa Cruz two years ago ago with his Canarian girlfriend
Dave Crossley from Greater Manchester, Sales Director at The Horizon Property Group. Leaving behind a career as Company Director, Dave relocated to Tenerife six years ago with his wife and their two children, Jack aged 11 and Jordan aged five
Amara Chiyah Torres, Receptionist from La Laguna. A full-time mother in England, she came to Tenerife with her British husband and two children – Taylor aged four and Luca, 2
What was your first job on the island and how did you find it?
Patrick: My first job has been writing. I’ ve been here on and off for 18 months, living with my girlfriend. I’ ve tried getting work in the south but living in the north and not having a car, it’ s quite difficult.
Margaret: I came because I was offered the job I’ m in now.
Amara: I was living in England with my husband. When we decided to come and live in Tenerife a friend of mine lined up a job for me.
David: When I first came to the island I needed to see if the family would settle or if we would go back to the UK. We decided to stay. Initially, I wanted to start up sporting holidays.
Margaret: Golf?
David: No, football actually. I was still working a bit in the UK and attending meetings here but eventually I met the boss at Horizon and he offered me a job. I think that three out of the four of us have found jobs through introductions. It seems to be all about contacts.
All: Oh yes!
Amara: Yeah, if you go to an interview here and you’ re good, that’ s one thing, but then if someone else comes and they happen to know someone who knows the interviewer, they automatically get the job.
How is working here different from your preconceptions of what it would be like living and working abroad?
Patrick: I knew exactly what it was going to be like, from living with my Canarian girlfriend before I got here. She was always late.
All: (Laughter).
Margaret: You know this is being recorded, don’ t you?
Dave: I didn’ t expect things to run too much on time or to be too organised.
Margaret: Well, I came here because I tried to get off the treadmill in England. I really came thinking it would be a little backwater and a totally different job. I thought it would be much quieter and much slower. But then your job is what you make it.
Dave: Is it as busy as it was in the UK?
Margaret: It can be but I do get Sundays off now.
Dave: You had to work on Sundays?
Margaret: I worked 24 hours. I was constantly travelling between airports. I used to do about 30 to 40 thousand miles a year in my car. Then I came here and at first it was quiet and slow. Then it just started building and building. For me, it’ s better now, not financially but in general.
Dave: I think if I was an estate agent in England I’ d be a lot more formal. Sometimes the informalities are frustrating here. In Tenerife it’ s more demanding being an estate agent than in the UK because back there people look in the shop window and want to go and see a specific home. Here they need guidance. They say “I have X amount to spend and I’m not sure whether I want to be near Los Cristianos or Los Gigantes”. You might have a 30-mile stretch of coastline to work with.
Margaret: Do you have more staff here than you would have in the UK?
Dave: We have more because we do a lot more on the legal side. In the UK the estate agent just advertises and sells property, but here we have to do escrituras (title deeds) and all that side of things.
Margaret: So you’ d say your job is more difficult here?
Dave: Yes definitely. Sometimes you’ re a one-stop shop because people rely on you a lot more for advice – schools, medical facilities, life insurance, car insurance…I’ ve had clients come back to me and ask me where they can get a gas bottle.
Are the work opportunities here limited compared to the UK?
Patrick: A one-word answer: Yes. I think Spain has the highest unemployment in Europe. If you look at the facts, you know you’ re in trouble: A. you’ re a foreigner; B. you don’ t have the language; C. English people don’ t have the greatest reputation here. It’ s never going to be easy.
Amara: Unless you have the money to start your own business.
Margaret: Yes…There isn’ t the commercial capacity here in the south like there is in Santa Cruz. I get CVs from girls with the right qualifications but they always end in bar work. The job opportunities are very limited.
Patrick: I think that if you live in the south, it’ s possible to find work but it’ s very difficult.
Margaret: (to Amara) Do you think Canarians think we’ re taking their jobs?
Amara: Well, the north is ours but the south is like English, English, English.
Margaret: But then they have to come here to work because of all the hotels.
Amara: Yes, so many mothers have to get the bus early in the morning to come down to the south to clean hotels.
Margaret: It’ s sad. What are the most useful skills and experience to have if you’ re looking for work here?
Patrick: Barman or builder.
Margaret: I have to agree with both. Also, if you’ ve a good knowledge of Spanish, people appreciate it when you go for jobs.
Dave: Yes, I agree with that too. If you haven’ t got languages then certainly building work or bar work. The other thing is I’ d say there’ s a shortage of people with good computer skills. What would you say Amara?
Amara: To work in the south you need languages. English, Spanish, German. In the north, there are not enough jobs for highly qualified people. For example, trained lawyers might end up working on a supermarket checkout.
What’ s the best piece of advice you can give someone coming over to live here?
Amara: Don’ t buy anything before you rent first because you don’ t know what’ s going to happen. Come here, look around and think about what you can do here. Also, remember that it’ s laid back and that you’ re not in England anymore
Patrick: I say you must prepare before you come here and if you have any contacts in Tenerife, use them.
Dave: Yes but it also depends on who you’ re talking about. Are you talking about people who are retired, or people who want to come and work, they’ re two different things.
Margaret: Personally, I think that before you come to Tenerife you should come and rent for six months and live the life you think you want to live. Don’ t buy anything, just live here.
David: Yes, but some people come and buy holiday homes
Margaret: Well, yes, that’ s different
Are the working hours different here compared to the UK?
Margaret: In the north, they close for the two-hour siesta but in the south a lot of us stay open.
Amara: Do you work English hours?
Margaret: We work nine to seven, which aren’ t English hours but then we don’ t close on Spanish bank holidays.
Amara: I was working for an English company here and the hours were 9.30 to 5.30. I thought it was good. Here, if you work in a shop, you close at 1.00 and then you have a break until 5.00. You have to live close by. I think English hours are better.
David: Well, we normally deal until 6pm.
Patrick: Are a lot of your customers English?
David: They’ re all English speaking. About 92 per cent of them are British. A lot are visitors so once it gets to 6pm they want to go to their hotel or apartment, have a shower, get changed and go out, so we work the hours that they want us to work.
How does the pay compare?
Dave: I’ d say that money goes farther here even though you might earn more in England. On the weekend you don’ t have to pay for a babysitter. You can take the kids to the bar or restaurant and the Spanish waiters embrace them. In England they can be very anti-kids.
Margaret: I agree. I have a better lifestyle here in the sun. Also, the basic bills are cheaper.
What do you wear to work, how different is it from what you would wear to work in the UK?
Dave: Here, when it’ s hot in the summer we don’ t have to wear ties but we do wear suits. You still have to respect the clients.
Margaret: Yes but you don’ t have to wear thick sweaters.
Amara: You do if you live in La Laguna.
Margaret: Well, the people in the north have to but you just don’ t need as many clothes.
Dave: That’ s true. I think when I was in England I had something like 24 suits, here I have two. It’ s just not as formal.
What do you think you’ d be doing if you had stayed in the UK?
Patrick: Well, I haven’ t been in England for the past eight years. I’ ve been pretty much travelling around Europe. If I weren’ t here I’ d be in Belgium or Holland.
Amara: You wouldn’ t go back to England?
Patrick: No, not at all.
Dave: But, what would you do if you had to go back?
Patrick: If I had to I’ d be playing music because that was my job, I was a busker. So, yeah, I’ d be a musician
Amara: I think in England it’ s much easier to be a musician than here. There are more opportunities.
Patrick: Yeah, but there are about 15 bands wanting to play in the same bar. Still, I’ d never go back to England
Margaret: Me neither. I think if I had to leave Tenerife I’ d go to mainland Spain. If I hadn’ t left England, maybe I would have liked to do social work.
Dave: I’ m not sure in what field, but I think I’ d have my own business. There’ s a bigger investment required here in starting your own business. It’ s easier in the UK, both from a bureaucratic and a financial point of view
Amara: When I was in England my youngest child was two years old so I was a full time mum. Here the children start school when they’ re three years old and nursery is very cheap but it’ s different in England. You have to pay a lot of money for a nursery so if your husband works and you have small children it’ s better to stay at home.
How differently do people do business here? Is it better or worse?
Margaret: It can be a nightmare sometimes when it concerns the telephones, the electric, the bank, thousands of pieces of paper.
Amara: And tomorrow, tomorrow…
Margaret: Yes, and ‘mañana, mañana’ is still very strong in Tenerife. It can drive you insane.
Patrick: The Spanish and the English are diametrically opposite. We’ re punctual, while in Spain everyone is late.
Amara: Yes, it’ s because here we’ re very relaxed, but I’ m used to the English way of doing things so I understand.
Dave: These are just cultural differences.
Margaret: Yes, and if you’ re going to live here, these are things you accept
Dave: I was amazed when I first came here and I’ d go to the bank and they’ d be having a chat and there’ s a queue…
Margaret: And they go off for a coffee
Dave: Yes! But, you just have to get the UK out of your mind. This isn’ t the UK.
Round the table was hosted by kind invitation of the Aparthotel El Duque
This article was supplied by kind permission of Living Tenerife Magazine.
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