# Barcelona with children!



## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Hey everyone! Ive been looking into returning to Spain to live for a while, ive looked into the south and now I would love and appreciate any advice on places to live with children in Barcelona.. I was going to apply to be an english language assistant through the ministry or meddeas but ive heard teaching privately would pay more etc etc so if anyone has advice on that? Thanks in advance! Ps ive lived in Alicante for a year so I understand the current economic climate, cost of living etc


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Leanne7011 said:


> Hey everyone! Ive been looking into returning to Spain to live for a while, ive looked into the south and now I would love and appreciate any advice on places to live with children in Barcelona.. I was going to apply to be an english language assistant through the ministry or meddeas but ive heard teaching privately would pay more etc etc so if anyone has advice on that? Thanks in advance! Ps ive lived in Alicante for a year so I understand the current economic climate, cost of living etc


Hi there again Leanne,
I think there are quite a few threads discussing pros and cons of living and working in Barca.
I hadn't heard of the Meddeas programme. It looks interesting, but what about the rate of pay? 
How old is your little boy now? Will you need to pay for any care for him or will he be in school?
I'm not sure you would get more teaching privately - it depends on what people mean by privately ie do they mean getting paid cash in hand and not paying taxes ?(which plenty of English teachers do, but of course it's not legal). Maybe they just mean giving classes in your/ students houses which is certainly a possiblity, but it would be difficult to build a 9:00 - 4:00 job around that as most people want classes at lunch time or after school/ work. Also it's much more precarious. A student can get ill or take a trip at any time and may just cancel those classes.
A teaching assistants job sounds more feasible to me, but you need to check up on the pay. You might also want to look here
https://www.britishcouncil.org/language-assistants
You have to apply now for 2016/17


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

There are a lot of English teachers living in the city centre working for academies and looking for extra private classes to fill in the gaps in their schedules. So, although there are lots of potential students, there is also a lot of competition. I think for somebody with little or no responsibilities and who are happy to flat share it's okay. Your other alternative or Pesky Wesky's sound more stable to me.

Or maybe it's best to think about places out of the centre where there is still a demand but fewer teachers, Cubelles for example on the coast or Vilafranca del Penedès inland. Rent and general cost of living will be cheaper too. Maybe not as cool to live there but much easier on the wallet and still close enough to get to the city if you like to let your hair down.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

hey! Im looking to consider anywhere in barcelona, so if you could recommend any other areas too it would be great? maybe cheap places to live as you said, and also child friendly, thank you! I will be there on my own with my children with probably a very small social life so I'm looking for cool places for the kids really..


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hi there again Leanne,
> I think there are quite a few threads discussing pros and cons of living and working in Barca.
> I hadn't heard of the Meddeas programme. It looks interesting, but what about the rate of pay?
> How old is your little boy now? Will you need to pay for any care for him or will he be in school?
> ...


ok I will search the other threads, thanks.

Meddeas pay about 850euro a month but the catch with these programmes is that I could be placed anywhere really, and it says 20hours of work for example with meddeas a week but that doesnt include travelling or gaps in between classes etc etc... I could however get lucky and be placed with an accomodating school but who knows..
The same goes for the ministry job but 12 hours of work for about 750euro a month. But some people have yet to be paid and started work in september!

My son is 4 now and will attend school and I now have a daughter who is 4 months old but will be over 1 when we head back. 

I have to finish my masters by october so I'm a bit hesitant to apply for the english language assistant programmes at the moment as I wont get to spain on time to start. I was thinking of heading back in January 2017 being realistic. 

I have a good bit of savings to fall back on if i needed to. Im just hoping there might be better options, I would ideally like to choose where I want to live myself but the programmes kind of place you anywhere. 

Oh by privately I meant maybe working with a private academy and maybe classes on the side but I understand the classes on the side would wouldnt be feasible.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Helenameva said:


> There are a lot of English teachers living in the city centre working for academies and looking for extra private classes to fill in the gaps in their schedules. So, although there are lots of potential students, there is also a lot of competition. I think for somebody with little or no responsibilities and who are happy to flat share it's okay. Your other alternative or Pesky Wesky's sound more stable to me.
> 
> Or maybe it's best to think about places out of the centre where there is still a demand but fewer teachers, Cubelles for example on the coast or Vilafranca del Penedès inland. Rent and general cost of living will be cheaper too. Maybe not as cool to live there but much easier on the wallet and still close enough to get to the city if you like to let your hair down.


Hey! 

Thanks for your reply. I didn't actually mean the city, I would consider anywhere in Barcelona, within about an hour of the airport anyway. I would mainly be interested in places that are child friendly, cheaper rent, etc.. Im going to look into Cubelles now thanks


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Leanne7011 said:


> ok I will search the other threads, thanks.
> 
> Meddeas pay about 850euro a month but the catch with these programmes is that I could be placed anywhere really, and it says 20hours of work for example with meddeas a week but that doesnt include travelling or gaps in between classes etc etc... I could however get lucky and be placed with an accomodating school but who knows..
> The same goes for the ministry job but 12 hours of work for about 750euro a month. But some people have yet to be paid and started work in september!
> ...


Wow, the fact that you've got another, very young child changes everything for me. I think it would be very difficult to make it work moneywise because of your timetable commitment to them.
Private academies cater for the same people that you'd have "on the side" so that would be when you presumably wouldn't be available. Also, I don't remember, are you TEFL trained? You really ought to be if you're going to give classes for money as an English teacher
However, I also know you to be a determined young woman, so good luck with this venture!


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

All the coastal towns near Sitges are child friendly. You would get cheaper rent and child friendly away from the coast. Academies would probably hire you no problem, native English speakers attracted to living away from the bright lights of the city are hard to come by, BUT no holiday pay, working evenings, unpaid gaps between classes, etc is the norm for this kind of work.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Leanne7011 said:


> Hey everyone! Ive been looking into returning to Spain to live for a while, ive looked into the south and now I would love and appreciate any advice on places to live with children in Barcelona.. I was going to apply to be an english language assistant through the ministry or meddeas but ive heard teaching privately would pay more etc etc so if anyone has advice on that? Thanks in advance! Ps ive lived in Alicante for a year so I understand the current economic climate, cost of living etc


Leanne, I've just read this article and I think it helps to answer your original question more How to work freelance in Barcelona - (barcelona-metropolitan.com)

Although it says Barcelona I think it has good advice for anywhere in Spain.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Very interesting and helpful! Thank you. First time autonomos under 30 only pay ?50 a month for the first 30 months, that is a great incentive to do things the right way! 

I would love to get work along the lines of my degree, BA sociology and MA criminology but I understand Spain can't offer me that kind of work at the moment. Freelance english teaching is quite appealing now given the cheaper autonomo rate.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

You will still have the problem of finding enough students to suit your available working hours but it can be done. A friend of mine has filled her morning and afternoons with Skype classes and lunchtime classes in companies. The in-house company classes though have only come about because she's been established here a long time. But I would think you could start the Skype classes anytime without having much providence.


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