# Moving to Spain with Family , Need some Advice.



## SimonAH (Feb 12, 2014)

Hello all.

So looking at some of the posts here, I guess we're in an enviable position that we have no need to work in Spain.

The move is purely for a better outdoor lifestyle for the kids and us.

I work from home and need nothing but an excellent internet connection.

My wife will be looking after the kids etc.

I want to be close enough to a city that I can take the kids to water parks, and ballet classes and gynastics etc.

That I have a Crossfit box closeby and that with a short drive we can go enjoy horse riding and watersports.

It's possible we many spend 3 months a year back in England, not 100% sure on that bit yet but throwing it in.

I'm going to need an area with Brits around because my wife isn't overly enthusiastic about "losing" all her friends and wants life to be reasonably easy to get to grips with.

I suspect we will send the kids to an International school, so that's a priority as well.

I was thinking perhaps of living say 15-30 minutes or so from a major city like Alicante perhaps which seems to have a lot of facilities.

I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere but at the same time, I don't want to live City centre either.

I'm not sure if I'm providing the right amount/kind of information but would welcome any help in general on areas , schools, integrating with locals and expats etc.

Thank you.


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

SimonAH said:


> Hello all.
> 
> So looking at some of the posts here, I guess we're in an enviable position that we have no need to work in Spain.
> 
> ...


we're about an hour from Alicante - but we have absolutely everything else you want!!

about half an hour from Benidorm which has theme parks & water parks - & ballet/gym/football/karate/yoga - everything else you could want actually IN Jávea

We've been here 10 years now & wouldn't dream of living anywhere else 

a choice of International schools - but good state schools too should you choose to give that a try

around 1/4 of the population is Brit - & there are lots of clubs/groups & so on for non-spanish speakers - we even have a help desk for non-Spanish speakers at the council offices!!

our mayor is VERY keen to encourage integration & participation by all the nationalities, too

take a look at these links

José Chulvi | Latest News from the Mayor of Jávea

Home - Xàbia Tourism Portal - Town Council of Xàbia

maybe I'll be saying _bienvenidos a mi paraiso.....?_ (welcome to my paradise)


----------



## Shannapp (May 3, 2013)

Hi all I'm a complete novice on this site so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place.😉

I'm looking for information on moving to the Spain area(not sure where exactly as yet)with my husband and our 2 children. It's something we've been wanting to do for a long time and we have decided its time to start researching.

I would really appreciate any advice/pointers u may have on things such as :

1.what places would be suitable for a family with 2 young children 4 and 8 with regards to schooling, activities etc. We would like our kids to go to a school with both Spanish and British children.

2.we would like a place where there are some fellow Brits so's not to isolate ourselves and the children completely as we've yet to learn Spanish but intend to.

3. We would like to live in a place that is bustling with lots going on. Bars, resteraunts, shops, water sports and activities for the children etc.

4.being close to an airport is fairly important. 

5. My husband is self employed and I intend to find a job when I get there? I have read that this is a touchy subject on here with lots of conflicting opinions as to wether this is the right way to go about it but as a stay at home mum I currently work evenings to top up our income and save on child care but as my youngest will be of school age when we make the move I would hope to find some daytime work? 

We love the idea of being near to beaches and having a more relaxed way of life, I really hope the replies I receive are positive and constructive as this is not something we have decided to do on a whim this is a 10+ year dream of ours and we do hope that it can become a reality in the not too distant future.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I look forward to hearing from u 😊


----------



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Simple, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, might just tick all your boxes.


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

SimonAH said:


> Hello all.
> 
> So looking at some of the posts here, I guess we're in an enviable position that we have no need to work in Spain.
> 
> ...


There are many places that would seem to fit your requirements so I recommend several visits to various areas. The children are still young enough to be able to go to state schools so that's a big bonus (in my mind anyway).


One point though, you say you don't need to work in Spain but that you work from home. Does this mean that you are working but either on-line or through a UK company? Either way, you are working in Spain. This is still working in Spain and needs all the corresponding paperwork etc.

Or do you mean that you don't need to but choose to keep busy by working at home? Again, this is still working in Spain and needs all the corresponding paperwork etc.


----------



## Shannapp (May 3, 2013)

Thanks for your replies . I have actually been to playa de ingles in gran canaria before on a family holiday and did really like it there. Not sure it's somewhere to settle tho. I have been told that alicante, benidorm and javea are also worth a look. 

I do work currently but in the evening as a waitress and intend to get a daytime job when I'm there as my baby will be school age. So yes I will hopefully be employed.


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Shannapp said:


> Thanks for your replies . I have actually been to playa de ingles in gran canaria before on a family holiday and did really like it there. Not sure it's somewhere to settle tho. I have been told that alicante, benidorm and javea are also worth a look.
> 
> I do work currently but in the evening as a waitress and intend to get a daytime job when I'm there as my baby will be school age. So yes I will hopefully be employed.


Now I'm confused - I was replying to SimonAH - are you his 'better' half?

Please remember that jobs are almost impossible to come by at the moment - even if you do speak perfect Spanish.


----------



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Shannapp said:


> Thanks for your replies . I have actually been to playa de ingles in gran canaria before on a family holiday and did really like it there. Not sure it's somewhere to settle tho. I have been told that alicante, benidorm and javea are also worth a look.
> 
> I do work currently but in the evening as a waitress and intend to get a daytime job when I'm there as my baby will be school age. So yes I will hopefully be employed.


Las Palmas is far different from Playa del Ingles, but if you are looking for work, forget the idea, unemployment is over 30%.


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

To the OP (Original Poster) you don't say how old your children are. At the moment there are a number of International schools who are failing the pupils with poor educational standards - not all of them by any means but you do have to be careful. They are run as a business and so need to make money which often means they don't always employ the best teachers. Quite often the opposite. Depending on the age of your children you should at least consider Spanish state schools, many of which are excellent - but there are also some pretty poor ones too. If your children are 9 or over then International school is probably the best option since they would struggle with the Spanish language to the detriment of their education. As for where to live, have a peek at Malaga City and the surrounding areas. I tend to advise people to look to the east of Malaga rather than the very touristy west but that is always an individual's choice. 

Shannonapp - you seriously need to forget about finding a job at the moment. It really is a dire situation here for employment. But if you choose the correct area, you should find the cost of living considerably cheaper than UK (some people on here will argue that it is the same, but that just isn't our experience) so you might not need a job immediately and you can spend more time with your children helping them to settle in to a new country. 

There will be many people on here who will give you advice. Sometimes it might seem negative but it is rarely intended that way, just people telling you how it is here in Spain.


----------



## Shannapp (May 3, 2013)

Thank you thrax all very useful info and will take it on board. I do understand that I need to do lots of research and my children are my first priority!! They are 2 and 5 at the moment but will likely be 4 and 7 at the time we come to go. Dont want to leave it too late as would like to make it as easy as possible for my eldest to settle in,make friends and pick up the language.Schooling is obviously very important so will need to be sure it's right for them. 

I know not all opinions are meant to be negative but some I have read on here can be quite rude and seem to assume you've taken no time whatsoever to consider the options for your own life?? When obviously the whole point of joining the forum is to gather information and advice. Hence why I said constructive criticism welcome.

I would like to work when we're there as not sure we will be able manage financially on one wage but then if cost of living is considerably cheaper we may be able to? My husband is a plasterer by trade and has is own company over here but is not sure what options he will have in Spain. 

Does anybody know whether he would struggle to get this type of work? And if he would need to learn new skills with regards to materials they use or techniques? 

We are just normal everyday people who do not have amazing careers or highly paid jobs. We work hard for our money and would like to be able to do the same in another country whilst giving our children a richer life in terms of culture, way of life and opertunity. Is this really out of our reach 😢


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Shannapp said:


> Thank you thrax all very useful info and will take it on board. I do understand that I need to do lots of research and my children are my first priority!! They are 2 and 5 at the moment but will likely be 4 and 7 at the time we come to go. Dont want to leave it too late as would like to make it as easy as possible for my eldest to settle in,make friends and pick up the language.Schooling is obviously very important so will need to be sure it's right for them.
> 
> I know not all opinions are meant to be negative but some I have read on here can be quite rude and seem to assume you've taken no time whatsoever to consider the options for your own life?? When obviously the whole point of joining the forum is to gather information and advice. Hence why I said constructive criticism welcome.
> 
> ...


plastering is different here, so yes, he'd need to re-skill

even then though, with the building industry all but disappeared he'll struggle to find work - & you say you'll be wanting to work as well......

if you NEED to work this really isn't the right time to consider moving here, & probably won't be for some time to come, with unemployment at 3 times that of the UK & no safety net


as for a better future for our children..............I've been here 10 years & my teenagers are now tri-lingual ( & then some) bright & motivated - my older dd will go to uni (in Spain) & will do a degree in linguistics

I have sleepless nights about their future here in Spain, & have had to pretty much accept that they more than likely won't have one - they'll leave Spain to work abroad as so many are having to 

& they have the advantage over a lot of Spanish youths in that they have perfect Spanish AND English


----------



## Shannapp (May 3, 2013)

That's a bit deflating to say the least  well it seems unless we win the euro millions any time soon our dream of living in Spain is going to be exactly that.......a dream!! Thanks for u reply.


----------



## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Shannapp said:


> That's a bit deflating to say the least  well it seems unless we win the euro millions any time soon our dream of living in Spain is going to be exactly that.......a dream!! Thanks for u reply.


Have you researched 
The requirements for residency- proving sufficient income, sufficient in bank? 6000 euros
Health cover
Tax and all it's implications 
Finance - having at least a years money in reserve
? Child benefit payable in Spain
So many things to consider!
By the way it 's NOT considerably cheaper to live here!


----------



## ExpatWannabee (Jul 6, 2011)

To the OP: Valencia has all the things you're looking for and much more - it's Spain's third-largest city. We live in a small town (La Canyada) about 20-minutes by Metro from the centre of Valencia, and are surrounded by forest with hiking and horse-riding trails five minutes away. We also have a very highly regarded international school.


----------



## Paramedic999 (Mar 7, 2014)

Ive just read your message. We are by the sounds of it in a similar position!! Good luck with your transition and wish you all the luck in the world.
Take care,
Matt Debbie n Lottie


----------



## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

extranjero said:


> Have you researched
> The requirements for residency- proving sufficient income, sufficient in bank? 6000 euros
> Health cover
> Tax and all it's implications
> ...


I would disagree about the cost to live here. I can have a great life on my pensions here in Spain, but I would struggle in the UK. Our house in Spain is detached and the size compares with our house we had in the UK. We could not afford to live the same kind of existence there as we can in Spain. Our shopping bill is cheaper, though many say it is not. When we go to visit the family in the UK, we find it staggering when we see things on sale in the supermarket compared to the prices we pay here. In our village, our butcher, his prices are much cheaper than a comparable butcher in the UK.


----------



## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

Aron said:


> I would disagree about the cost to live here. I can have a great life on my pensions here in Spain, but I would struggle in the UK. Our house in Spain is detached and the size compares with our house we had in the UK. We could not afford to live the same kind of existence there as we can in Spain. Our shopping bill is cheaper, though many say it is not. When we go to visit the family in the UK, we find it staggering when we see things on sale in the supermarket compared to the prices we pay here. In our village, our butcher, his prices are much cheaper than a comparable butcher in the UK.


Well, when we go to visit the family in the UK we find it staggering when we see things on sale in the supermarket compared to the prices we pay here because they are cheaper, especially with the special offers! Few are lucky enough to have a village butcher nearby here. You must live in your own cut price bubble, because only a few things in supermarkets here are cheaper.


----------



## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

extranjero said:


> Well, when we go to visit the family in the UK we find it staggering when we see things on sale in the supermarket compared to the prices we pay here because they are cheaper, especially with the special offers! Few are lucky enough to have a village butcher nearby here. You must live in your own cut price bubble, because only a few things in supermarkets here are cheaper.


Life is good here in Spain, we find it much more affordable if others don't. I never touched on the cost of rates, the cost of fuel, the cost of taxing your car, the cost of getting work done by Spanish workmen. We have just had a major job done by a plumber. He charged €75. In the UK it would have cost more than that for the call out charge. Last year, we needed urgent assistance in the evening. I called out an electrician who I had never used before. He drove the 15 kilometres, was with us for an hour, completed the work and charged us €20. No, Spain is definitely more affordable to us anyway. 
The wine I buy in Spain, Campo Viejo, that is double the price in all UK supermarkets. The wine they sell in UK is very young wine too, it is much more mature in Spain. It is interesting how they transport the wine to UK supermarkets, it all goes by container, probably via Felixstowe.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

extranjero said:


> Well, when we go to visit the family in the UK we find it staggering when we see things on sale in the supermarket compared to the prices we pay here because they are cheaper, especially with the special offers! Few are lucky enough to have a village butcher nearby here. You must live in your own cut price bubble, because only a few things in supermarkets here are cheaper.


People only tell things as they see/ live it. They've got nothing to gain by making it up!
I live @ 45 mins away from Madrid. You'd think it was an expensive area being so close to the capital. In the UK my family live in Weston super Mare. Well, I haven't done a throrough product by product comparison, but in general I'd say it was more expensive to buy similar products in the UK than in Spain. We rarely buy BOGOF stuff just because there not usually products that we buy. The only things we bulk buy is toilet paper, oil and milk. Of course you have to factor in transport, house prices, energy etc...
Anyway, I don't live in a cut price bubble, but a commuter town in Spain


----------



## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I think prices can vary greatly according to where you live and where you shop, in Spain as well as the UK or elsewhere. People who live here permanently and especially those who speak the language, soon find out the best places to shop for their needs.

On the whole, I think the majority of people who live in Spain will still affirm that it is cheaper to live here.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Madliz said:


> I think prices can vary greatly according to where you live and where you shop, in Spain as well as the UK or elsewhere. People who live here permanently and especially those who speak the language, soon find out the best places to shop for their needs.
> 
> On the whole, I think the majority of people who live in Spain will still affirm that it is cheaper to live here.


In my experience its 'swings and roundabouts' but also in Spain lifestyle is different, so it's difficult to compare, but on the whole I found it cheaper in Spain ! 

Jo xxx


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Aron said:


> Life is good here in Spain, we find it much more affordable if others don't. I never touched on the cost of rates, the cost of fuel, the cost of taxing your car, the cost of getting work done by Spanish workmen. We have just had a major job done by a plumber. He charged €75. In the UK it would have cost more than that for the call out charge. Last year, we needed urgent assistance in the evening. I called out an electrician who I had never used before. He drove the 15 kilometres, was with us for an hour, completed the work and charged us €20. No, Spain is definitely more affordable to us anyway.
> The wine I buy in Spain, Campo Viejo, that is double the price in all UK supermarkets. The wine they sell in UK is very young wine too, it is much more mature in Spain. It is interesting how they transport the wine to UK supermarkets, it all goes by container, probably via Felixstowe.


I agree. Having had unfortunate experiences in the early days of being charged extortionate prices by British self-employed so-called "tradesmen" our policy now is always to use local Spanish workers. If we don't already know someone we ask a friend or neighbour for a recommendation. The person recommended may well turn out to be a relative of whoever recommended them, but they've always done excellent work and been very anxious that we should be happy with whatever has been done and that we shouldn't hesitate to contact them if any problems should arise. We had a similar experience to yours with an electrician, who came out to us on a Sunday evening and charged €15.

My OH fortunately is able to do a lot of DIY jobs around the house and after more than 10 years of buying materials in Spain is still amazed by how cheap a lot of things are here - and the ferreterias/building supply shops are happy to sell you some tiny item costing less than €1 that will fix a problem rather than shake their heads and tell you you need to buy a brand new expensive item as it needs a total replacement. The exception to this is anything made of wood, which is expensive here.

Some items are undoubtedly cheaper in the UK but overall we still find our living costs significantly cheaper here in Spain and certainly could not live as comfortably there as we do here for the same annual outlay. Our IBI here is a quarter of what we would now be paying for the UK house we lived in (which was smaller than the one we have here). We spend no more than €200 per year on gas for heating, because we don't need heating for more than 4 months of the year.

I think pensioners might find they could make savings in the UK because of things like free bus passes, free prescriptions and free TV licenses, and Pension Credit for people on low incomes, but none of that applies to me, and those things may not be available for much longer anyway.


----------



## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

We have, overall, found the cost of living cheaper here. We rent a three bedroomed, 2 bathroom house, right beside the sea.

We couldn't afford a similar rental in the UK - plus the Council tax !

I am over 65 and qualify for a Spanish bus pass. I pay less than half fare - which is a negligible amount.

Free healthcare, due to my pensioner status & sadly, a much better service than the UK, as it is not over- subscribed !


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

We had a problem with a couple of our persianas. Our gardener, who does small repairs for us, investigated and found that each of the shutters had a broken blade, piece, slat, whatever you call it, right at the top. He said we would need a professional repair.
I feared we would need to have both replaced, both are full- length so I guessed it wouldn't be a cheap repair.
A shop in Estepona that sells persianas and toldos recommended a guy called Miguel. I rang Thursday, he came Friday, spent a couple of hours fixing the two broken persianas then went round the house examining and checking the others- there are about twenty in all, half of them full- length.
He charged fifty euros. No new parts needed, just a skilled repair.
Like Lynn, on the in our case one occasion we used a British tradesperson, we were ripped off. 
Now we too always use local people with reputations they want to keep.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> We had a problem with a couple of our persianas. Our gardener, who does small repairs for us, investigated and found that each of the shutters had a broken blade, piece, slat, whatever you call it, right at the top. He said we would need a professional repair.
> I feared we would need to have both replaced, both are full- length so I guessed it wouldn't be a cheap repair.
> A shop in Estepona that sells persianas and toldos recommended a guy called Miguel. I rang Thursday, he came Friday, spent a couple of hours fixing the two broken persianas then went round the house examining and checking the others- there are about twenty in all, half of them full- length.
> He charged fifty euros. No new parts needed, just a skilled repair.
> ...


I really like the fact that tradesmen are happy to repair things, at what often seem to be almost embarrassingly low prices, rather than telling you you'll need to buy new. Mind you, even if you had needed to get new persianas, they might not have been all that expensive. Once we'd finished the renovation work on our house we decided to replace ours (8, but not full length, all slightly different sizes) and were agreeably surprised that they cost €160 inc IVA.

Once the automatic watering system for our terrace plants developed a leak and when we took the faulty component into the nearest garden centre, the lady at the cash desk said she didn't think they had anything suitable to replace it. We were just resigning ourselves to buying a new one when the owner came out, took the component into the stockroom and came back with two plastic widgets he'd fitted together which were ideal for the job - total cost €0.70!


----------

