# Where to start? Barcelona, Sevilla or Madrid



## cliffs (Jul 20, 2012)

I am a British citizen living in New York. I have a family with two young children under 3 years old. Both my wife and I speak Spanish and I am a dentist with a licence to practice in Spain.

I am assuming with the current economy it will be difficult to find work or start a practice in Spain but now is our time to try with the children before school age.

We still can't decide where to live. We want a quieter life but it seems that most of the sunny seasonal towns will not have much economic opportunity for us so I was trying to decide between the three main areas I know a little bit, about Barcelona, Madrid or Sevilla. My wife is very concerned about Catalan nationalism because we don't feel we could ever be conversant in Catalan and we know Barcelona is expensive. We also didnt want to go to another big city such as Madrid which is also far from all of the coasts, and neither of us knows much about Sevilla.

Perhaps someone has some advise about which area to look in if we are looking for a quieter place not too far from the economic potential a city gives and not too expensive. Barcelona, Sevilla or Madrid??


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

cliffs said:


> I am a British citizen living in New York. I have a family with two young children under 3 years old. Both my wife and I speak Spanish and I am a dentist with a licence to practice in Spain.
> 
> I am assuming with the current economy it will be difficult to find work or start a practice in Spain but now is our time to try with the children before school age.
> 
> ...


We live in Sevilla province and we used to have a British dentist in a nearby village. He has had to return to the UK for personal reasons. There are a large number of Brits around here who miss him maybe you should look around here, as you speak Spanish even better as you can treat both Brits and the locals.


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## skip o (Aug 1, 2011)

> Barcelona, Sevilla or Madrid??


Have you checked out Valencia? It is less expensive than Barcelona, but still a decent sized city.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Hi,
I don't know if you already have done, but the first thing you need to check out is the visa! It's a little complicated for US citizens to come to Spain to work.
Barcelona is quite cosmopolitan, but nationalism and Catalan do play a big part in everyday life so I think you're right to weigh up the pros and cons before deciding to live there or not...
You seem to have ruled out Madrid already, although for an American 4 hours from the coast is nothing, is it?
So that leaves Seville - you just have to be prepared for really, really hot weather...
How about Marbella, Malaga??


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hi,
> I don't know if you already have done, but the first thing you need to check out is the visa! It's a little complicated for US citizens to come to Spain to work.
> Barcelona is quite cosmopolitan, but nationalism and Catalan do play a big part in everyday life so I think you're right to weigh up the pros and cons before deciding to live there or not...
> You seem to have ruled out Madrid already, although for an American 4 hours from the coast is nothing, is it?
> ...


he says he's a British citizen, so that won't be an issue

the flags are a bit misleading.......


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## cliffs (Jul 20, 2012)

skip o said:


> Have you checked out Valencia? It is less expensive than Barcelona, but still a decent sized city.


I had thought about valencia I assumed a lot of the population was seasonal tourists and retirees. Is this true. Also I really liked the idea of being close to mountains and the ocean. I don't reacall if Valencia has this.

Where would you suggest a family would live in the Valencia area, small town perhaps??


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

cliffs said:


> I had thought about valencia I assumed a lot of the population was seasonal tourists and retirees. Is this true. Also I really liked the idea of being close to mountains and the ocean. I don't reacall if Valencia has this.
> 
> Where would you suggest a family would live in the Valencia area, small town perhaps??


I live in smallish town an hour south of Valencia

I live at the bottom of a mountain 5 minutes walk from the beach


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## cliffs (Jul 20, 2012)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hi,
> I don't know if you already have done, but the first thing you need to check out is the visa! It's a little complicated for US citizens to come to Spain to work.
> Barcelona is quite cosmopolitan, but nationalism and Catalan do play a big part in everyday life so I think you're right to weigh up the pros and cons before deciding to live there or not...
> You seem to have ruled out Madrid already, although for an American 4 hours from the coast is nothing, is it?
> ...


I have a British passport so it will be a little easier. I went through Malaga really quickly, it seemed that it would be difficult to find enough work it looked like an expensive resort village, am I wrong??

I worked for Vital Dent before in New York. I saw loads of them in Barcelona as well as many clinics thats why I thought of looking in Barcelona. Do they have these dental clinics in smaller cities like Malaga and Marballa?

Madrid is our second option, but it is far from mountains and the coast 4 hours is a bit far and after New York we aren't looking forward to another big crowded city. What do you think of Valencia??


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

cliffs said:


> I have a British passport so it will be a little easier. I went through Malaga really quickly, it seemed that it would be difficult to find enough work it looked like an expensive resort village, am I wrong??
> 
> I worked for Vital Dent before in New York. I saw loads of them in Barcelona as well as many clinics thats why I thought of looking in Barcelona. Do they have these dental clinics in smaller cities like Malaga and Marballa?
> 
> Madrid is our second option, but it is far from mountains and the coast 4 hours is a bit far and after New York we aren't looking forward to another big crowded city. What do you think of Valencia??


I get VitalDent leaflets in my buzón regularly so there must be one not far from here


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

cliffs said:


> I have a British passport so it will be a little easier. I went through Malaga really quickly, it seemed that it would be difficult to find enough work it looked like an expensive resort village, am I wrong??
> 
> I worked for Vital Dent before in New York. I saw loads of them in Barcelona as well as many clinics thats why I thought of looking in Barcelona. Do they have these dental clinics in smaller cities like Malaga and Marballa?
> 
> Madrid is our second option, but it is far from mountains and the coast 4 hours is a bit far and after New York we aren't looking forward to another big crowded city. What do you think of Valencia??


Sorry, I didn't read your post properly and ended up giving you a load of crap information.
I mentioned Marbella because, while you're right it's an expensive resort town, there are a lot of wealthy immigrants living there - the kind that may want an English speaking dentist, but you'd obviously have to check that out more! However, I don't know whether you'd want to live around there...
Try Googling Vital Dent, but I'm pretty sure we've got a couple around here, and the towns I'm thinking of are medium sized, so you may be on to a good idea there.
And sorry, yes 4 hours is a long way from the beach to people like us who are from the UK, but there are some lovely mountainous areas here in the Comunidad de Madrid.
For me, Valencia is nice to visit, but too hot an humid to live. You'd get used to it, but I've been a couple of times in summer and I just wilt - can't do anything, can't eat, can only sleep with air conditioning... Perhaps inland it wouldn't be so humid, or perhaps it wouldn't be an issue for you! It certainly seems like a lively town and has a big beach area and mountains close by.
The north of Spain is also fantastic and the weather may not be as hot as in the south (but do you really want HOT??!), but it's better than the UK usually. I'm not sure if you'd get a large English speaking community though, if that's what you want.

OK, now don't get feisty, just trying to help, but you did mention the economic climate. You'll need as much info as you can about this and there is a sticky at the top of the main page with info. Some posters don't like to be made aware of the crisis we're going through here, but we kind of feel duty bound to give some indication of this.
Another thing to think about is will you be able to practise here as a dentist?


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## cliffs (Jul 20, 2012)

*perhaps valencia?*



Pesky Wesky said:


> Sorry, I didn't read your post properly and ended up giving you a load of crap information.
> I mentioned Marbella because, while you're right it's an expensive resort town, there are a lot of wealthy immigrants living there - the kind that may want an English speaking dentist, but you'd obviously have to check that out more! However, I don't know whether you'd want to live around there...
> Try Googling Vital Dent, but I'm pretty sure we've got a couple around here, and the towns I'm thinking of are medium sized, so you may be on to a good idea there.
> And sorry, yes 4 hours is a long way from the beach to people like us who are from the UK, but there are some lovely mountainous areas here in the Comunidad de Madrid.
> ...


Thanks for your reply, yes, it took me 3 years of applications but the department of education has recognized my qualification so once I join the local dental society I can practice. 
I know about the economic situation there and that is why I have waited even longer prior to comming. My specialization is in orthodontics I was hoping to combine this with cosmetic procedures and attract some patients.

I am also nervous because I know that the spanish don't focus as much attention on their teeth as Americans (that is why I have been in America for the past 15 years)

Perhaps valencia is best of all because the competition for high quality dental services won't be as aggressive as in barcelona or Madrid??

does anyone know any real estate people in valencia, I have heard it may be better to use a british agency rather than a spanish one? what do you think


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

cliffs said:


> Thanks for your reply, yes, it took me 3 years of applications but the department of education has recognized my qualification so once I join the local dental society I can practice.
> I know about the economic situation there and that is why I have waited even longer prior to comming. My specialization is in orthodontics I was hoping to combine this with cosmetic procedures and attract some patients.
> 
> I am also nervous because I know that the spanish don't focus as much attention on their teeth as Americans (that is why I have been in America for the past 15 years)
> ...


I don't know about Valencia city, but in my area I'd use Spanish over English, & if possible not use one at all!!

I do know some British agents in my town on a personal level, but haven't dealt with them professionally - those I _have_ dealt with I wouldn't reccommend


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

cliffs said:


> Thanks for your reply, yes, it took me 3 years of applications but the department of education has recognized my qualification so once I join the local dental society I can practice.
> I know about the economic situation there and that is why I have waited even longer prior to comming. My specialization is in orthodontics I was hoping to combine this with cosmetic procedures and attract some patients.
> 
> I am also nervous because I know that the spanish don't focus as much attention on their teeth as Americans (that is why I have been in America for the past 15 years)
> ...


Well done on getting getting your qualifications recognised; I know it can be difficult. 
I don't know, but as there are no dentists posting on here to give us more guidance, you might be better just getting in touch with the dental society directly and asking them about job prospects. They have already been talking about employment themselves ...
CGCOE | Consejo General de Colegios de Odontlogos y Estomatlogos de Espaa

Also what are you selling yourself as, A British dentist with experience in America? An English/ Spanish speaking orthodontist? A Spanish speaking orthodontists with an American background? Which market are you aiming yourself at?


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