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‘A lad wanted F**k Off tattooed across forehead’

In this week's My Spanish Career The Local chats to Steve Hezzell, an award-winning British tattoo artist and owner of Beyond Reality tattoo studio in Benidorm.

'A lad wanted F**k Off tattooed across forehead'
Tattoo artist Steve Hezzell with his wife, Henry. Photo courtesy of Steve Hezzell.

What brought you to Spain?

The main thing that brought us to Spain was the change in weather and climate; we were sick of the weather in the UK. We also thought it was time to make a change in our lives as our children had grown up.

How did you get into tattooing?

I first started the art of tattooing at the age of 9 with my uncle.  When I turned 18 I opened my own professional and fully licensed tattoo studio and haven’t looked back since.  Tattooing is in my blood and heart. I had successful tattoo studios in Mablethorpe and Loughborough in the UK before making the decision to move to Benidorm in 2006.

What are the good and bad points about living and working in Benidorm?

Benidorm can be pretty seasonal and there are tattoo studios popping up all over in the back of hairdressers etc, often they are not licensed and get away with producing dreadful permanent ink! The good points about working in Benidorm are our regular clients who make our job worthwhile. Another good point is the shorter hours in winter, which mean we have more time to enjoy ourselves and be holidaymakers.

Is working as a tattoo artist different in Spain to in the UK? 

Working in Spain is not much different to tattooing in UK although we do get a lot more different nationalities. We get a lot of British a lot of Norwegians as it’s so much cheaper here for tattoos than Norway. We also get quite a few French customers and also a few Spanish, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of local Spaniards coming to us now.

Do Brits and Spaniards have different tastes when it comes to tattoos?

Generally Spaniards like a lot of the same designs as the English but religious tattoos are definitely more popular with Spaniards.

Tribal tattoos are among the most popular with customers. Photo courtesy of Steve Hezzell. 

Do you get many drunk customers getting tattoos they might regret in the morning? What is the craziest tattoo request you've ever had?

We do not tattoo drunks they can book in for another day when they are sober, ink is for life.  A young lad once wanted Fuck Off tattooed across his forehead obviously this was refused in our studio.  Another more unusual request was a man who wanted a wheelbarrow on one arm and a spade on the other arm as he was a labourer.

What are your most popular designs?

Our Scottish designs are very popular as I draw my own so they are exclusive to this studio. Names and quotes are very popular, as are musical notes and tribal tattoos, but that can be very boring work to do.  Polynesian and Japanese sleeving is also popular.

Beyond Reality Tattoo Studio is fully licensed and also offers private and confidential tarot card reading by Steve's wife Helen. Email: [email protected] Tel: 0034 663703824

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JOBS

The best websites to look for jobs in Spain

If you’re looking for your next career challenge in Spain or indeed are new to the country and are looking for employment, here are some of the best websites to look for jobs.

The best websites to look for jobs in Spain

Unless you’re retired or moving to Spain to retire, one of the most important things you’ll need to do when you first arrive, or even before you arrive, is to look for a job. It can be a little daunting knowing where to look when you’re in a new country, but we’ve got you covered with some of the best job websites in Spain.

Or perhaps you’ve lived here for several years and are looking to take on new career responsibilities and improve your prospects. If you always get stuck looking at the same job sites, you may want to take look below and broaden your options. 

READ ALSO: Not just English teaching: The jobs you can do in Spain without speaking Spanish

The Local Jobs

Did you know that at The Local we also have our own job site? You can find it under the jobs tab under the logo on the homepage and choose from careers in Spain including education & teaching, software engineering, sales and customer service. Most of the job descriptions are written in English too, so it’s one of the best places to look if your Spanish is not quite up to scratch yet.  

InfoJobs

InfoJobs continues to be the leading job search portal in Spain, ever since it was launched in 1988. It’s the best place to start when searching for a job here, with listings of thousands of vacancies across the country and across various industries too. Large corporations such as Telefónica, Clece and Sacyr publish hundreds of job offers daily. It also allows you to set various filters when searching, including work-from-home and hybrid positions.

Infoempleo

Infoempleo enables users to register for free and upload their CVs to the site. If you can understand Spanish, the blog section is particularly helpful with several articles with tips and news related to employment in Spain. They also have a section on courses and study centres throughout the country, in case you need to brush up on your skills first.

LinkedIn

One of the most comprehensive jobs sites out there, LinkedIn is of course one of the best places to search for jobs worldwide, not just in Spain. You can select the search terms for the jobs you want, as well as preferred locations. As many of you are probably already aware, LinkedIn is not only great for searching for jobs, but of course for making professional connections online and putting your CV online, so that potential recruiters can search you out too.

Laboris

One of the most important online employment agencies in Spain, the site allows companies to sign up and publish their first two job offers for free. It also has a geolocation service that allows candidates to know which jobs are closest to their homes.

Indeed

Indeed, allows you to search through thousands of jobs online to find your next career move and has several tools to help you such as improving your CV.  One of the best aspects of it is it has thousands of opinions from users and candidates who have already had the experience of working for the same company or have already been through the interview process.

Trabajamos

Trabajamos is a social employment site that is ideal for those who are self-employed, with more than 60,000 users and 13,000 job ads published. Under the section ‘Demands and services’ professionals from all fields have the opportunity to upload a professional description about themselves, a photo and details on what they charge per hour for certain services.

El País / Monster

The joint initiative of the newspaper El País and the American employment portal, Monster is another great option. As well as searching, the page allows you to save the jobs you’re most interested in so you can look at them any time and don’t have to search again. It also enables you to upload your CV and see which companies are interested or have been looking at it.

Adecco

The Adecco website covers both employment and career guidance and is specialised in Human Resources. As well as being a job site, it also has 280 offices throughout Spain. The company focuses on certain sectors in particular and is best for jobs in hospitality, audio-visual, logistics, motoring and transport.  

Milanuncios

Milanuncios is not solely a job website, it’s also a place to look for second-hand items for sale, search for professional services or even find apartments for rent. It does have a section on employment, however, which allows candidates and companies to get in contact with each other directly. Be aware though, that there can be some job scams posted on the site, so look out for any positions that sound too good to be true or ask you to pay any money in order to apply.  

Noticiastrabajo

Noticiastrabajo specialises in employment, labour rights, economy, benefits and admin. Job boards are published daily with offers from large multinationals such as Mercadona, Leroy Merlin, Bricomart, Decathlon and Primark, among many other leading companies looking to recruit. One of the best parts about it is that it clearly states accurate salaries, the number of hours and how to send your CV. It even gives you tips on how to pass the job interview.

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