# Moving to Javea



## Vcgj527 (Nov 3, 2012)

Hi there hoping to get some advice my husband and I are planning on moving to javea with our baby boy (currently 9 months) in January. He works at sea as a marine engineer and I am a stay at home mom so we don't need advice on jobs etc. I was hoping for some guidance about a good gestoria? Also any advice on immunisations the baby will be due for his mmr shortly after we get there (I know they do it at 14 months instead of 12 in Spain) also any good mommy and me apart from those mentioned on mums abroad? Any practical advice on living there would also be helpful. Additionally I am gluten intolerant so any leads on a health food store or what gluten and dairy free foods are available at the grocery store would be greatly appreciated! We have lived abroad before in Greece (I'm Greek) and I speak pretty good Spanish... We would welcome any handy tips or advice cheers!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Vcgj527 said:


> Hi there hoping to get some advice my husband and I are planning on moving to javea with our baby boy (currently 9 months) in January. He works at sea as a marine engineer and I am a stay at home mom so we don't need advice on jobs etc. I was hoping for some guidance about a good gestoria? Also any advice on immunisations the baby will be due for his mmr shortly after we get there (I know they do it at 14 months instead of 12 in Spain) also any good mommy and me apart from those mentioned on mums abroad? Any practical advice on living there would also be helpful. Additionally I am gluten intolerant so any leads on a health food store or what gluten and dairy free foods are available at the grocery store would be greatly appreciated! We have lived abroad before in Greece (I'm Greek) and I speak pretty good Spanish... We would welcome any handy tips or advice cheers!


:welcome:

We've lived in Jávea 9 years & it's great to see another young family coming to live here :clap2: - my girls have grown up here & are both teenagers now  (available for babysitting )

I can recommend my gestor Asesoria Jávea Vera Cruanyes | Laboral, fiscal, mercantil, contable

some of the people working there speak English, including Moisés, my gestor, if you need that sometimes, & I've always found them to be friendly, helpful & honest & the fees aren't extortionate!

as far as 'mommy & me' groups, not knowing which you know about already (although at a guess the info on that site is out of date), I know there are one or two in Jávea - I could find out exactly where if you want - they are run by English though - it's not a very 'Spanish' thing - Spanish mums tend to just meet in a coffee bar or in the park with their little ones 

the MMR jabs - if your husband is paying tax & NI in the UK (or has been until you leave) you should be able to register onto the state healthcare service (get your S1s before leaving the UK) so the paediatrician will advise as to when the jabs are due - if he isn't then you'll need private healthcare - they'll do the same

there is a highly recommended (by various friends of mine) health food shop in the port - & in fact Mercadona the main supermarket carries lots of gluten free lines too

if you want to know any more, ask away!!


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## Vcgj527 (Nov 3, 2012)

thank you so much for your helpful reply!
how did you find raising children in javea? did they attend private or public school?
i would appreciate some contact info for people in mommy and me groups as i too assume that the website is out of date...
how is it living there??
after countless hours pouring over sites and forums we decided on javea 
our original plan was to go for a holiday and then decide to rent but circumstances changed and now i am leaving right from visiting my family in the states and going directly there- we are in the process of putting a (fully refundable) deposit down on a flat using an agent recommended by an acquaintance. if we dont like the flat when we get there we'll get our deposit back and stay at a hotel while we look at more i guess but the agent came highly recommended and the pictures look pretty spot on...
anyyyyyway- my point is some feedback about what it is like to live there now would be great- a lot of the blogs and stuff i read are slightly dated...
when we were in greece where we were was fine but my husband had to go in and out of athens to fly to the north sea for work and got caught in a riot! that kind of spooked us plus with the baby coming and hospitals running out of supplies we decided to leave. i know that spain is having a rough time economically but has it affected your day to day life?

also wondering about prescriptions-
the baby has reflux, eczema and asthma
the medicines we use are:
renitidine (liquid form) gaviscon (liquid form) and he has a brown and a blue inhaler... any idea if these medicines are available there (i know thats a tough one to answer but i thought it was worth a shot) and how do i go about getting his medicine? is it like the UK and i register with a local gp? if we do have to go private what are the costs involved with that? i had read something about a european insurance card? do you know anything about that?

sorry for the super long reply-
once again any info is greatly appreciated!
thank you for taking time out of your day to help us!

cheers
Victoria


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Vcgj527 said:


> thank you so much for your helpful reply!
> how did you find raising children in javea? did they attend private or public school?
> i would appreciate some contact info for people in mommy and me groups as i too assume that the website is out of date...
> how is it living there??
> ...


hi again!!

what's it like living here & bringing up kids here? Well, it's home.... I know my girls have had more freedom than kids we know the same age in the UK - & are certainly more mature & 'street-smart' - they are of course bilingual (actually tri - we have the local language Valenciano too) & have friends of various nationalities

they were in International private school the first year, but when we decided to stay we moved them to Spanish state school - they have both thrived

I've been asking around & there are a couple of 'mums & tots' type groups as we used to call them - and a couple of bars which have play areas for little ones

when you get here I can put you in touch with any number of mums with children that age - & lots whose OHs work away, too

I hope if you don't like the flat you can get your deposit back - good luck with that one  you'd be better off taking a holiday let for say a month, to give you time to look around - come to think of it, that's what we did 9 years ago next week 

meds - I'm sure you can get everything you need here - although it might be a different brand name - & most doctors here seem to want to review any regular meds & sometimes do tests to be sure in their own minds

you can register with a state GP if you qualify - where is your OH paid from? If the UK then contact the DWP & ask for S1 forms - that will get you into state healthcare

the EHIC card is only for holiday use - you'd be able to use that for emergency care initially though, until you register as resident, which you have to do after/at 90 days


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## Vcgj527 (Nov 3, 2012)

sounds great looking forward to getting in contact with other women in the same situation as me! thanks for all your helpful tips! we fly in january 14th i think but i'll throw a post up closer to the time or feel free to email /SNIP/(it wouldnt let me put up the email bc i dont have enough posts?) with any more info

cheers
Victoria


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Vcgj527 said:


> sounds great looking forward to getting in contact with other women in the same situation as me! thanks for all your helpful tips! we fly in january 14th i think but i'll throw a post up closer to the time or feel free to email /SNIP/(it wouldnt let me put up the email bc i dont have enough posts?) with any more info
> 
> cheers
> Victoria


you can't put your e-mail at all!! 

when you have made a few more posts you'll be able to use the Private Message facility - much safer


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Apparently, Mercadona is very good with gluten free products as the owner´s wife and children are celiacs and he found difficult to find those products that he decided to sell them himself in all the Mercadonas.


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## Vcgj527 (Nov 3, 2012)

thank you really encouraging to hear that! any info about dairy free options- availability of dairy free margarine, goats milk, soy milk, goat or soy milk yogurts?


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

Vcgj527 said:


> thank you really encouraging to hear that! any info about dairy free options- availability of dairy free margarine, goats milk, soy milk, goat or soy milk yogurts?


Most supermarkets here in Javea stock dairy free products, soya products. I am lactose intolerant I get lactose free milk-which tastes just like ordinary milk at Mercadona, much nicer than soya milk, they have many other soya products as well. In Iceland today I saw a lactose free cheese spread- I haven't tried that one yet! You'll be very happy with all the supermarkets and varieties of foods you can buy.


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