Successful Relocations - A Spanish influence on the Swedish Sausage

The desire for more space, peace and quiet and a more secure future, attracted Luis and Wim to move far away from their home towns. Luis and Wim have both moved to the Municipality of Jokkmokk in northern Sweden, or Swedish Lapland as it is more commonly known.

Luis, who is 47 years old and a Spaniard, has worked with vegetable gardens and Spanish cured meat products for many years. His family has been in the same business since 1914. Luis has now teamed up with Jokkmokks Korv and will continue to work with Spanish cured meats at the company’s factory in Jokkmokk. Luis laughs and says that he plans to introduce a Spanish flavor to the Swedish sausages of the future. Photo of Luis and Wim right - Maria Moustakakis.

Luis moved to Jokkmokk with his wife and 3 year old daughter and feels very pleased with his new life. “Everything is so safe here. In Spain, there is a lot of unemployment and drugs. Here in Jokkmokk, people know each other and this creates a safe atmosphere. My wife wants to work as a hairdresser and is now in training. This was organized by the local employment office, so we hope she will be working soon after the course has finished," says Luis.

Luis comes from a small village in northern Spain and has always had a weakness for beautiful scenery. “It is wonderful with the mountains just a few kilometers away and I have always liked small towns. We are much better off here, even if it is a bit cold and a quite a lot of snow in the winter, "says Luis.

Wim, a single father, moved from Holland to Porjus which is a few kilometres outside of Jokkmokk. His grown up daughter chose to stay in Holland and his son recently moved to Australia. He has extensive experience in web design and journalism and dreams of starting a ‘writer’s cabin’ for poetry writers and novelists.

“In Sweden, there is only one other place where writers can go to relax, find inspiration and write. While I am working on getting this idea going, I am keeping myself busy working on website designs and tourist management for local companies," he says.

Both Wim and Luis believe that the main reason they feel so at home in Jokkmokk, is that everyone has the same attitude. People come here for the same reason, a simpler, safer life – and people take it for what it is. “It does not matter where you come from, as Jokkmokk is a tolerant Municipality. There are 300-400 people living in Porjus and they come from 16 to 17 different countries," says Wim.

Besides the beautiful scenery and tranquility, both Luis and Wim were attracted to the area by the opportunity to develop their own business. Both heard of Sweden and Jokkmokk via the Internet and the project Emigrate2jokkmokk. Through Emigrate2Jokkmokk, both Luis and Wim were introduced to Strukturum and Vattenfall Inlandskraft AB, who have both supported their business plans and provided many contacts.

Bengt Eriksson, one of the four business advisers at Vattenfall Inlandskraft AB, has worked on the project Emigrate2Jokkmokk. “It is important for newly landed immigrants to get aid quickly to enable them to merge into the local community and find work".

Wim says, “At first, the people I met were a little shy. They walked across the road to avoid having to speak English, but now it is much better as I know a little more Swedish", Luis nods and agrees with a smile.

Original text (in Swedish) written by Maria Moustakakis.

Remaining photos by David Carpenter.