# best area for teenagers



## Hattie69 (Oct 18, 2017)

we are looking to move to Alemeria area in about a years time, our son will be 14 by the time we get out there so we need to get him into a school, we are learning Spanish but will by no means be fluent and as he suffers with anxiety we want to be in an area that has a mix of expats and spanish kids so he can make friends and have some other children his age to hang out with, we are looking at Albox, Oria area and ive fallen in love with a house in the small town of Cobdar it may have been sold by the time we get out there to look, having never been to the area other than flying visits I need to find where to start looking, any advise would be greatly received.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Hattie69 said:


> we are looking to move to Alemeria area in about a years time, our son will be 14 by the time we get out there so we need to get him into a school, we are learning Spanish but will by no means be fluent and as he suffers with anxiety we want to be in an area that has a mix of expats and spanish kids so he can make friends and have some other children his age to hang out with, we are looking at Albox, Oria area and ive fallen in love with a house in the small town of Cobdar it may have been sold by the time we get out there to look, having never been to the area other than flying visits I need to find where to start looking, any advise would be greatly received.


My advice would be to grit your teeth and wait for your son to complete his education in the UK, your son will thank you in the end.


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## Hattie69 (Oct 18, 2017)

Thanks Trubrit could you elaborate for me why you think we should hold out ? the longer we leave it the less chance we have of him wanting to go.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Hattie69 said:


> we are looking to move to Alemeria area in about a years time, our son will be 14 by the time we get out there so we need to get him into a school, we are learning Spanish but will by no means be fluent and as he suffers with anxiety we want to be in an area that has a mix of expats and spanish kids so he can make friends and have some other children his age to hang out with, we are looking at Albox, Oria area and ive fallen in love with a house in the small town of Cobdar it may have been sold by the time we get out there to look, having never been to the area other than flying visits I need to find where to start looking, any advise would be greatly received.


What kind of school are you hoping to get your son into?

Albox has a large British population, but I don't know if they are mainly retired people or younger people with families.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Hattie69 said:


> Thanks Trubrit could you elaborate for me why you think we should hold out ? the longer we leave it the less chance we have of him wanting to go.


He suffers from anxiety.
He will not be fluent so will not be able to understand, but he will know they are taking the mickey (as kids do)
Changing schools is stressful even when done in the UK.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Language skills, it's stressful enough moving to another country as an adult with limited language skills., to be educated in another language, not understanding nuances for a young lad who is already anxious could be problematic.

One presumes you have jobs and or income and are aware you need private healthcare.


best wishes


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

My own son has had a relatively difficult first year back in Spain because of changing back to Spanish education after three years away. Luckily he is still in primary school so it isn't quite so important, and he was born and lived in Spain and went to a public Spanish school until we left Spain in 2013, so Spanish was his first language.

Seeing how tough it was for him to move country, house, school and change language (even being a change back to what was his first language), I would personally never contemplate moving him again until he has completed his education.

But each child is an individual of course and it is a choice that you as a family need to make and decide on collectively.

As for the area, that depends on the child I suppose, if you are coming from central London, I imagine that a small town is going to be excepcionally dull for him, but similarly, coming from a coastal town, I would not suggest moving to Madrid.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Megsmum said:


> Language skills, it's stressful enough moving to another country as an adult with limited language skills., to be educated in another language, not understanding nuances for a young lad who is already anxious could be problematic.
> 
> One presumes you have jobs and or income and are aware you need private healthcare.
> 
> ...


If they had jobs (legally contracted ones, paying Social Security contributions) they wouldn't need private healthcare, but otherwise yes.

I do share your misgivings (and those of others) though about moving a boy of that age, especially with anxiety problems, to a new country and a new school where he knows nobody and doesn't speak the language. Younger children seem to cope with being put in Spanish state education and pick up the language quite easily, but from everything I have heard, 13 and at that stage in the education process, it would be extremely difficult and put a great deal of pressure on him.

Also the OP has said they want a country property and mentioned a property thy are interestd in a village wiht 179 inhabitants. It's highly unlikely there will be a secondary school in a place so small, so her son would have to travel, possibly a parent would have to drive him there and back every day, and there's unlikely to be much of a social circle for him outside of school or after school activities.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

At first sight it would seem that a move at this age for this boy would be extremely difficult. However, mabe it wouldn't be. What if it's precisely school in the UK that is producing his anxiety? It's certainly the case for many young boys and girls.
Whilst it's true that moving to another country and culture along with a new language is never without problems, staying in an unhappy educational or family environment is also problematic.
I'm not saying that moving to Spain is The Answer, after all we don't have even the most basic information about this family (work, money, adaptability potential, expectations, reasons for moving...) At face value it seems a risky venture, but with the information we have so far we could reserve judgement


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## Hattie69 (Oct 18, 2017)

his anxiety isn't bad so maybe I shouldn't have put that in my post, hes very much wanting to go but I guess ideally a English speaking school rather than a Spanish one would maybe be better for him, im just worried that if we stay in the UK till he finishes he wont want to go.


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## Hattie69 (Oct 18, 2017)

thanks for the advice, we live in hampshire so not from a big town, i think i need to look into the schooling a lot more rather than searching and falling in love with all these houses !


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## Hattie69 (Oct 18, 2017)

we are open to all areas, we just like the one house that happens to be in the small village but obviously our son is our main priority so wont go anywhere unless hes going to be happy, his anxiety isn't bad at all as previously mentioned I maybe shouldn't have put that in my post. right now he wants to go but i will look more into the schooling.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Hattie69 said:


> his anxiety isn't bad so maybe I shouldn't have put that in my post, hes very much wanting to go but I guess ideally a English speaking school rather than a Spanish one would maybe be better for him, im just worried that if we stay in the UK till he finishes he wont want to go.


Then surely that means an international school? Which are private and paid for.


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## Hattie69 (Oct 18, 2017)

I am here everyone and can read all the responses, thanks for the advice but judgement I can do without ! we want to come to Spain as we would be financially better off! mortgage free and only have to work if we want to ! my son is not unhappy in the UK at home or his school, we are a close family and now want to kick back and enjoy whatever life we have left, as they say its far to short ! we were emigrating to Australia 6 years ago but one thing or another and sick parents meant we didn't go so we have regretted that !


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Hattie69 said:


> his anxiety isn't bad so maybe I shouldn't have put that in my post, hes very much wanting to go but I guess ideally a English speaking school rather than a Spanish one would maybe be better for him, im just worried that if we stay in the UK till he finishes he wont want to go.


As Megsmum has said, any school where teaching in entirely in English would be a private, international school and you will only find those in areas where there is a very large international population, and large centres of population rather than country areas.

Some Spanish state schools call themselves "bi-lingual" but all that means in practice is that a couple of subjects are taught in English (but taught by a non.native English speaker). From experience of helping Spanish secondary school children who were attending such a school with homework, this does not mean that they have a very good command of English at all.

You will need to take on board as well that it will be a different curriculum being taught in Spanish state schools, and also that if you as parents don't have a very good command of Spanish yourselves, you won't be able to provide support with homework nor communicate well with your son's teachers.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

As far as I am aware the nearest Private school from Albox is at Vera, here is the link

.::Colegio ValdeSerra::.

However I think that the school is around an hours drive from Albox. I do know of both English and Spanish children who attend the school and, I believe, they do teach to the English National Curriculum


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Hattie69 said:


> I am here everyone and can read all the responses, thanks for the advice but judgement I can do without ! we want to come to Spain as we would be financially better off! mortgage free and only have to work if we want to ! my son is not unhappy in the UK at home or his school, we are a close family and now want to kick back and enjoy whatever life we have left, as they say its far to short ! we were emigrating to Australia 6 years ago but one thing or another and sick parents meant we didn't go so we have regretted that !


You say you will be financially better off and won't need to work unless you want to...that's great. Work is very much over- rated imo.
However...if you aren't working and are under retirement age you'll need private health insurance. You'll also need to show the Spanish authorities that you have sufficient fundsto support a family of three.
If that's not a problem and you can afford international school fees for your son if needed then why not plan a move to Spain..
But you may find that life here may not mean you will be financially better off. We spend about the same as we spent while working in the UK because we keep up the same knd of lifestyle.
A lot depends on where you choose to live. We ended up in a relatively expensive area solely because our son has a house here, it was our first base on arrival and we took a likng to the area, around Estepona in Western Andalusia. If we had settled inland and further north our living costs would be much lower..


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

There's another consideration....within two yesrs or so your son will either be thinking of university or a job.
The unemployment rate for young Spaniards is horrendous, up to 60% in some areas. There won't be many opportunities for him in a village or small town.
I'm not sure how university entrance or funding is dealt with here in Spain.
These things have to be taken into consideration. Much more chance of work/ career in the UK
as things stand.


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## John Seigal (Oct 21, 2017)

I would choose Benidorm. Alot of young english kids there. International schools a plenty. Easy to find work for young people.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

John Seigal said:


> I would choose Benidorm. Alot of young english kids there. International schools a plenty. Easy to find work for young people.



Really? Are you sure? 

I bet any job that they might find is either illegal or with a zero hours contract


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Really? Are you sure?
> 
> I bet any job that they might find is either illegal or with a zero hours contract


I was surprised by that post too. As far as I know Benidorm bases its economy on tourism so there are an abundance of hotel and catering related jobs with the salaries and conditions to match and limited opportunities in other areas


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I was surprised by that post too. As far as I know Benidorm bases its economy on tourism so there are an abundance of hotel and catering related jobs with the salaries and conditions to match and limited opportunities in other areas


Seeing as its one of the poorest towns

https://www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0....rest-cities-include-costa-blanca-tourism-hubs




> THREE of Spain’s most popular cities for tourists are also amongst Spain’s poorest. According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), out of 109 locations assessed for quality of life, Elche, Benidorm and Torrevieja are ranked as some of the poorest cities in the country. Also on the Costa Blanca, nearby Elda is listed as having the highest unemployment rate in Spain, with an appalling 40 per cent average of citizens without work


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Megsmum said:


> Seeing as its one of the poorest towns
> 
> https://www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0....rest-cities-include-costa-blanca-tourism-hubs


That article is a bit old, but Benidorm is still not a place for opportunities in the wider job market I'd say


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Pesky Wesky said:


> That article is a bit old, but Benidorm is still not a place for opportunities in the wider job market I'd say



Ah sorry. Paper dated 2017 article dated 2015


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I was surprised by that post too. As far as I know Benidorm bases its economy on tourism so there are an abundance of hotel and catering related jobs with the salaries and conditions to match and limited opportunities in other areas


There is also an abundance of 'out of work and desperate people' here in Benidorm. 

There are very few catering or handyman type jobs here as it "depends who you know" whether you can get employment. I agree with Snikpoh and his zero hours comment as that is often the norm here. As from next month there will be hundreds of waiters, bar staff and cleaners laid off maybe until next February/March.

There are still young people arriving here with the expectation of 'easily finding work the getting disappointed within days.


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