calm down i never said you was a bad person , i just agreed with the fact the nhs shouldn’t pay for illnesses related to smoking when they don’t fund medecines for some other diseases that people can’t help getting. My brother smokes but i still think if he ends up with diseases related to smoking he should pay for at least some of it himself……

Who WOULDN’T want to live in Spain?
I’ve always wanted to live in Spain, and everyone tells me to forget it, but I WANT IT, dammit, and I figure I have nothing to lose by trying. Things are harder for us Americans, and I wish I’d been something else, but I’d rather play with the cards I was dealt than not play at all.

I’d be leery of people I met online. If you want to go to Spain, go for it, just exercise caution with people online.

Look at the book “Taking a Gap Year,” by Susan Griffith. It has some good ideas that may interest you.

If you wanna teach EFL then you really should do a TEFL course…
You have to be picky when you get training because there are fewer jobs and more competition.

oh and that other poster is right! Definitely learn some Spanish if you don’t know Spanish. If you go to Barcelona, you ought to learn at least a few pleasantries in Catalán, the language of the Catalunya region. The language that we call Spanish (castellano) is more essential and versatile.

1. If the global recession has not lifted by next summer, tourist numbers will continue to fall = less jobs available in the hospitality/hostelry industry. That IS a very probable situation.

2. I don’t understand why the first guy is looking to meet up with people (strangers) to go there, IF he knows someone there, and can get a job with accommodation.

3. I would be VERY reluctant to go there with people you don’t know. Maybe they are both very nice etc….but use your head. They have both already said they want to party and drink…if you are sharing accommodation and they come in plastered/hammered every night…doesn’t make for very comfortable living arrangements!

4. So you are worried that if you go to Alcudia with this other girl there is no guarantee of a job. Well neither is there any guarantee of a job in Magaluf! With the way things have been going, there is no guarantee that ‘this guy who owns two bars and can offer accommodation’ will even be in business next year!

5. I have never been to either resort, but from reading some of the questions and answers that have been posted here, I am POSITIVE that I wouldn’t accept a paid holiday there. In the Spain section > Islas Baleares > resolved questions…you will get an idea from what has been posted.

6. For teaching English, it would be very helpful if not essential, to do a TEFL course. Also start learning Spanish! There are probably videos on Youtube where you can listen to spoken Spanish.

7. Don’t be so confident that you will fall into a job in Barcelona in September! There will be thousands more people, most of them with more qualifications and experience than you, looking for jobs also.
And those jobs are usually very lowly paid, no contract, can be terminated in an instant and offer no security.

Although it may appear otherwise, I am not trying to put you off.
I think it’s wonderful for young people to travel to other places and live there. It gives you an education which no university could offer.
That said, these are very difficult times, and will be for the next few years. I know things are crap in Ireland, believe me, they are even worse here.

On a last note, I would urge you to excersise EXTREME caution with people online offering exactly what you want…

Slán agus beannacht..(you may have guessed I’m Irish!)

magaluf is basically hotels, bars, clubs and restarants. most people who go are there for the party atmosphere. theres something like 120 pubs/bars and clubs up magaluf strip. its every english tho there are some spanish things there its purely built for the holiday makers and nothing else!
palmanova is next door to magaluf (u can walk from magaluf-palmanova in 10 minutes) and its quiter and more of a family resort… you would probably be better there if your not into clubbing and drinking everynight.

alcudia is also in mallorca and is a big family resort.
your best choosing just 1 resort and sticking there all summer.
personally i wouldnt stay with those lads. they probably wont last all summer anyways.