# Wanting to try out a move to Spain



## Sara2012 (Aug 15, 2012)

Hi everyone
Currently my fiancé and I are living in Vancouver although are origanilly from Ireland. We are both 30 with our first baby due in November.
We love Vancouver but really miss a feeling of community nd close friends as Vancouver can be so insular no one talks to strangers and it's not terribly welcoming.
We both work from home and my partner has a very successful Internet business.
In Vancouver he pays 55% taxes so is losing a fortune on tax alone.
My questions is where in Spain would you suggest we look into? 

We need:
Somewhere coastal for definite
Good weather
Low taxes 
Child friendly
A community feel - we want to learn Spanish so an ex pat community Is vital
Village life with a town/city nearby 
We have a friendly 7 year old American staffs which we would like to bring too

Any pointers would help so much! 

Sara


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Sara2012 said:


> We need:
> Somewhere coastal for definite
> Good weather
> Low taxes
> ...



You might want to define how far from the coast. On the beach or?

Good weather means? BC rainy is considered good weather by some  

Spain has some fairly high taxes. Don't forget whatever you'll need to pay for health care etc. Things that are usually included in your Cdn taxes


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Sara2012 said:


> Hi everyone
> Currently my fiancé and I are living in Vancouver although are origanilly from Ireland. We are both 30 with our first baby due in November.
> We love Vancouver but really miss a feeling of community nd close friends as Vancouver can be so insular no one talks to strangers and it's not terribly welcoming.
> We both work from home and my partner has a very successful Internet business.
> ...


:welcome:

a good internet connection would be pretty vital too, I should think?

that will limit your options to some extent - village life would probably be out completely

imo pretty much everywhere is child friendly - but what do _you_ mean by it?

where in Spain have you been? what did you like/not like?

it's a big varied country


tax will depend on what you earn - & depending upon how the business is set up (changed to a Spanish business or another way of doing things) there will be NI costs - but it will be the same wherever you live in Spain - it's a national system


have a look at the 'sticky' threads above - especially the 'forms, cars, education etc etc ............' one - lots of info & links there 

then ask away


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Canary Islands?? Extremely coastal, and a climate second to none. On the larger islands there are Ex Pat communities


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2012)

Do you have any Spanish?


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

Sara2012 said:


> Hi everyone
> Currently my fiancé and I are living in Vancouver although are origanilly from Ireland. We are both 30 with our first baby due in November.
> We love Vancouver but really miss a feeling of community nd close friends as Vancouver can be so insular no one talks to strangers and it's not terribly welcoming.
> We both work from home and my partner has a very successful Internet business.
> ...


Andalusia is a nice option, but keep in mind it's the poorest area in Spain.
Alternatively, Costa Blanca with Murcia, or Alicante or Valencia is an option. The last two will probably have more expats than Valencia.

They should all give you good weather. You have a one year old child and can't speak Spanish? Well, mix the two together! Spaniards love kids and they are a fantastic way to start conversations.

Staff shouldn't be too much of a worry bringing over. 

I guess it goes without saying that you'll have to calculate how much income you'll have to support your family and how it all turns out with the exchange into euros. 

Cost of Living Comparison Between Alicante, Spain And Vancouver, Canada

This website should give you a good idea of what to expect. Notice that everything in Alicante will be cheaper than Vancouver, but compare the salaries between both places...aye, there's the rub!


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Gran Canaria or one of the bigger Canary Isles, the weather is 24/7, no damp cold winters like you can have on mainland Spain.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Sara2012 said:


> Hi everyone
> Currently my fiancé and I are living in Vancouver although are origanilly from Ireland. We are both 30 with our first baby due in November.
> We love Vancouver but really miss a feeling of community nd close friends as Vancouver can be so insular no one talks to strangers and it's not terribly welcoming.
> We both work from home and my partner has a very successful Internet business.
> ...


If you want to learn Spanish, an ex-pat community is out - you will always be speaking English and any Spanish you learn will be with some form of English accent - horrible.

Why do you want coastal? A lot of it almost dies out of season 

Someone said for a good internet connection you should avoid a village - rubbish we live in a village and have a good internet connection also our local taxes are low, lower than you'll find on the costas. In a village you will find much more sense of community, the population is more stable and they are used to helping each other whereas on the coast the population is more transient and insular.

We have lived here for 3½ years and I recently had a mild heart attack and ended up in hospital for a few days. My wife was asked (and so was I after I was discharged) how I was, etc. by loads of people I never knew.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

bob_bob said:


> Gran Canaria or one of the bigger Canary Isles, the weather is 24/7, no damp cold winters like you can have on mainland Spain.


I have to agree, Gran Canaria was our original destination, it ticks all the boxes, wonderful climate, plenty of ex-pats, the vibrant city of Las Palmas de G.C., wonderful countryside, fantastic sandy beaches, and a whole lot cheaper than the European part of Spain.


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

Hepa said:


> I have to agree, Gran Canaria was our original destination, it ticks all the boxes, wonderful climate, plenty of ex-pats, the vibrant city of Las Palmas de G.C., wonderful countryside, fantastic sandy beaches, and a whole lot cheaper than the European part of Spain.



So what made you choose the Meridian Island then Hepa, it's a bit orf the beaten track compared to Gran Canaria


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

virgil said:


> So what made you choose the Meridian Island then Hepa, it's a bit orf the beaten track compared to Gran Canaria


We are 75 miles and 75 years away from Tenerife. We are two of the five English residents. 

We do not have here Full English breakfast Yorkshire Pudding, Bisto Gravy establishments.

The local Herreños are incredibly friendly, the young are polite and respect their elders.

People from this island do not seem to commit crime, doors are left unlocked, cars parked and left with engines running.

I probably am the only lager lout on the island.

We are off the beaten track, and that is why the island retains its Canarian Culture and charm. The kind of northern European tourism, that the larger islands and places like Benidorm experience, has passed us by. We do have some tourists, but they are either from here originally, from the Peninsular, or rather P.O.S.H. people from Northern Europe, also a few walkers and scuba divers, mainly from Ireland.


Below is a link to some photographs, see for yourselves, why we live here.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Hepa said:


> a few walkers and scuba divers, mainly from Ireland.


That's an awful long way to scuba, Ireland to the Canaries. I'm curious about the walkers, surely the sea bed is too deep for walking with just a scuba, they must have airtanks, as well.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> That's an awful long way to scuba, Ireland to the Canaries. I'm curious about the walkers, surely the sea bed is too deep for walking with just a scuba, they must have airtanks, as well.


Have you been at the juice again

Apparently, the scuba diving in Mar de Las Calmas , to the south of the island, is world famous.


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## virgil (May 3, 2012)

Hepa said:


> We are 75 miles and 75 years away from Tenerife. We are two of the five English residents.
> 
> We do not have here Full English breakfast Yorkshire Pudding, Bisto Gravy establishments.
> 
> ...


Yep! - it looks gorgeous Hepa, although we lived in Los Cristianos for a few years, I was always orf up in the hills of Guaza and Arona walking, so somewhere like El Hierro would suit me actually.

I mentioned Ocean Properties yesterday, it was a family business (back then) run by Araceli and her daughter of the same name (I forget their surname) 

The husband dealt with the conveyancing etc., anyway, I seem to recall that they purchased a property on El Hierro and I've always wondered if they retired to the Island.

PS ... it's raining again, but then it is August


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

Sara2012 said:


> Hi everyone
> Currently my fiancé and I are living in Vancouver although are origanilly from Ireland. We are both 30 with our first baby due in November.
> We love Vancouver but really miss a feeling of community nd close friends as Vancouver can be so insular no one talks to strangers and it's not terribly welcoming.
> We both work from home and my partner has a very successful Internet business.
> ...


in reverse order: importing the family pet, make sure all the vaccines are up to date and get it an EU Passport as soon as possible.

village life: easy to be in small village and close to a town..city not so easy

Community feel: hard to define but if you make the effort locals will reciprocate. learning Spanish is best done by befriending locals (expat communities are fine, but they will always converse in English and you'll not learn)

Child friendly: YES. But consider the education factor. Good international schools can be costly. 

low taxes: 55%!!! are you paying "super tax"? yes it's lower here, but ...and here's the big but... you get taxed on ALL your global income. You need to consult a tax expert about that


Good weather: the closer to the equator you go the warmer it gets. we live inland(40 minutes drive to the coast) and it can range between 45C in summer to -5C in winter.

Coastal: property prices are higher.

Lastly, your OH's business relies on internet. Spain's infrastructure, in this respect, shocked me (we lived in Hong Kong for 13 years before moving here).

we were unable to get a telephone land line,ergo no internet, resorted to "mobile internet"(a dongle), but the connection was sporadic. Finally we we went to a sattelite connection, with a UK based isp which works well, but has limited coverage i.e. it won't work in some places.

hope this helps


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## lagoona (Jul 5, 2012)

You could try la Costa Brava maybe or, Maresme. I think it's a great are to live in Catalonia, Spain!


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

dunmovin said:


> low taxes: 55%!!! are you paying "super tax"? yes it's lower here, but ...and here's the big but... .


I'm not sure how she manages to hit 55%. When I checked max federal and provincial came out to 44% I guess if she is adding in things like property tax and sales tax then maybe.

It's not just the rates. The brackets are different. So are the deductions.


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