# Gran alacant



## Rubyrose1 (Apr 16, 2013)

Hi

My partner and I are looking into moving to alicante and think gran alacant looks ok. We hav 6month twins too. Can anyone give me any Info on this place? Is there much to do for families? Also good long term rentals with pool? My partner works offshore so it wil be me and th twins for 2 weeks, is there much for us to do? We might take a car or rent. What is the weather like? Is there much brits there? I wil be on my own with th twins for 2 weeks and don't want to go all the way over there and end up bored and lonely. Cost of living? Night life or entertainment? Day trips? Lots of questions, thanks for reading, look forward to replies.

Nicola


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

When are you moving? I am moving in late august for ten months to study in the university. My son(15months) will be coming too and maybe his dad, depends on his job status.


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

Hi Nicola and Leanne, hope you get this! I am also planning to move to Gran Alacant by November this year. My husband also works offshore and we have a 21 month old daughter who will be 2 by the time we move over there. Although I'm Spanish (my husband is Scottish) we've been living in Scotland for 12 years and would like to continue having british friends. I have similar questions to yours... Are you already over there? 
It would be nice to keep in touch and share any informations that we have about the area. My family are not from that area so Im new to all of it....
Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Rocio


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Hi! 


Luckily I came on and seen your comment as I don't check this often. 

We are moving to gran alicant in 4 weeks  I'm due to start college in 5 weeks so at the moment I am sorting out a crèche etc. We hope we like the city, otherwise we will have to look in the suburbs. 

I would love to keep in contact as I'm really looking to improve my Spanish and have my son around Spanish speakers also. And maybe our English would benefit your child also. 

So you are moving back in November? Where will you be living?


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Sorry not gran alacant, centro alicante is where we will be moving.


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

Hi Leanne, so glad that I got a reply! What a shame as we are looking into moving at Gran Alacant but it is only 10mins away on the bus for what I've been told so it would be nice to meet up once we move overthere. 
We went last April on holidays to Alicante and visited Gran Alacant. We liked it and seemed for us a safe choice to start living in as we didnt really have time to explore Alicante area that well. 
Still lots of things to organise... How are you getting on? Have you already got a place rented?

Rocio


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Seems I've had gran alacant stuck in my head for a while now when really it's the centre I'm talking about lol. But we won't be far from each other so it would be nice for us to meet up and it would be nice for our children also. 

I need to be a bus ride away from the UNI so I'm hoping centro will suit us if not we will look outside in San Juan or El Campello. 

We don't have a place sorted yet as it is too risky to organize from here incase anything goes wrong or the appartment isn't what it seemed. So we are staying in a hotel for 5 nights and will hopefully have a place sorted by then. 

Do you have somewhere to live already?


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

We've seen a few houses in the websites but as you said it is too risky to get a contract without seeing it just in case. So we might have to do the same as you or ask somebody from my family to travel there to see a few of them before deciding.
We are also looking into the health care and if we are entitled to anything or if we are going to have to get private health care...
You must be so nervous and excited as you are moving in 4 weeks!!! 
We'll definetly keep in touch as you said it would be good for our kids too and as you will be there first you can give me plenty of advice!!
/SNIP/


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Yes it's too risky but I'm hoping to find a place and have the keys within 5 days. I hope I'm being realistic. I can let you know anyway so you know what to expect and atleast then you might have a few days to look yourself instead of taking other people's word. 

As for healthcare, we have EHIC cards, which means we have use of the Spanish public healthcare system. You should look into that. 

I'm excited but more nervous at the moment. Did you say your daughter is two? Callum my son is 18 months. What's your daughters name? Does she understand Spanish and English?  I would love for Callum to be able to understand both after the ten months.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

I think you can also apply for EHIC cards, I looked it up.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Leanne7011 said:


> I think you can also apply for EHIC cards, I looked it up.


I know it's different for students - but for anyone else moving to Spain they can't use their EHIC cards once they become residents


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> I know it's different for students - but for anyone else moving to Spain they can't use their EHIC cards once they become residents


So does that mean my partner can't use his EHIC after 3 months? What about my son would you know?


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

I've been told that you can use the EHIC card just for emergencies, like hospital treatment but not for a routine appointment with a doctor. I'm going to call the DWP to get information at the overseas section about these issue as we are only planning to live in Spain for a year. 
It might be different for you going there as a student. I'll let you know what they tell us once we speak to them. 
My daughter, Alba, is 21 months old. She doesn't speak much at the moment but she can understand very well both languages. I'm sure Callum will pick up Spanish very quickly once you are living there. At this stage their brains are like sponges! 
What are you studying at uni?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Mrs R said:


> I've been told that you can use the EHIC card just for emergencies, like hospital treatment but not for a routine appointment with a doctor. I'm going to call the DWP to get information at the overseas section about these issue as we are only planning to live in Spain for a year.
> It might be different for you going there as a student. I'll let you know what they tell us once we speak to them.
> My daughter, Alba, is 21 months old. She doesn't speak much at the moment but she can understand very well both languages. I'm sure Callum will pick up Spanish very quickly once you are living there. At this stage their brains are like sponges!
> What are you studying at uni?


you can't use the EHIC at all once you are resident - it's only for holidaymakers (& students, apparently)


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

Thanks a lot. Do you know when do you become a resident? And can you be a resident if only staying for a year? Also, do you know anything about tax in Spain? My husband works offshore and we are not sure if he would need to pay tax in Spain
Thanks


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Mrs R said:


> Thanks a lot. Do you know when do you become a resident? And can you be a resident if only staying for a year? Also, do you know anything about tax in Spain? My husband works offshore and we are not sure if he would need to pay tax in Spain
> Thanks


you are expected to register as resident at/before 90 consecutive days here - it has noting to do with tax - even if you don't actually register as resident , you are still considered to be resident, so need alternative arrangements for healthcare 

I'm guessing that if your husband works offshore he essentially works tax free?

the bad news for you, is if he is financially supporting you & your children in Spain, Spain will almost certainly consider him to be tax resident & he'll have to pay tax here - even if he's hardly ever here himself


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

Thanks again xabiachica. Yes, he is tax free in the uk so it's not good news that he'll have to pay tax...do you know around much money will he have to pay? If he pays tax and we register as residents does it mean that we will get free health care? 
What a hassle for just a year!!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Mrs R said:


> Thanks again xabiachica. Yes, he is tax free in the uk so it's not good news that he'll have to pay tax...do you know around much money will he have to pay? If he pays tax and we register as residents does it mean that we will get free health care?
> What a hassle for just a year!!!


I have no idea how much tax he'd pay I'm afraid

just registering as resident doesn't give you access to healthcare either I'm afraid 

paying National Insurance gives you access to healthcare - but paying tax doesn't - it's a completely different system to the UK

I'm pretty certain that you'll need private healthcare - you also need to set up a bank account in Spain in YOUR name & get transfers coming in - not your husband's - he won't need to 'register as resident'


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## Mrs R (Jul 25, 2013)

thanks again for all the info, very helpful. 
As I have been working in Scotland and paying NI, I'm going to check if I qualify for S1s, as private health care can be expensive...
We will try to find out about tax in Spain and how much are we expected to pay. As I said before very helpful, thanks. Any other advice that you can think of is appreciated!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Mrs R said:


> thanks again for all the info, very helpful.
> As I have been working in Scotland and paying NI, I'm going to check if I qualify for S1s, as private health care can be expensive...
> We will try to find out about tax in Spain and how much are we expected to pay. As I said before very helpful, thanks. Any other advice that you can think of is appreciated!


private healthcare here is a lot cheaper than in the UK - but do check out the S1s


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Mrs R said:


> I've been told that you can use the EHIC card just for emergencies, like hospital treatment but not for a routine appointment with a doctor. I'm going to call the DWP to get information at the overseas section about these issue as we are only planning to live in Spain for a year.
> It might be different for you going there as a student. I'll let you know what they tell us once we speak to them.
> My daughter, Alba, is 21 months old. She doesn't speak much at the moment but she can understand very well both languages. I'm sure Callum will pick up Spanish very quickly once you are living there. At this stage their brains are like sponges!
> What are you studying at uni?


Yes let me know, thank you. We will only be there 10 months so I'm hoping my son can be covered by me some way or anoyher


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Leanne7011 said:


> Yes let me know, thank you. We will only be there 10 months so I'm hoping my son can be covered by me some way or another.
> 
> That is great, I would love if Callum could understand both eventually.
> 
> I'm studying Spanish and sociology here in Ireland but I picked a few different subjects for alicante as a lot of the times don't suit me with the crèche so I'm very limited!


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