# Malaga or Gibraltar, with kids?



## Dominique (Nov 9, 2009)

We are belgian citizens currently living in Cape town, South Africa. We would like to move, in 3 yrs, with our little ones (currently 0 and 3) to "Spain". We would just like to find out if it would be more optimal to move to Gibraltar or if the children would cope living in Malaga (which seems to be the more affordable and childfriendly option) atttending an English private school. We are concerned if the language factor should be our main concern in making this decision. we both do not speak spanish.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Dominique said:


> We are belgian citizens currently living in Cape town, South Africa. We would like to move, in 3 yrs, with our little ones (currently 0 and 3) to "Spain". We would just like to find out if it would be more optimal to move to Gibraltar or if the children would cope living in Malaga (which seems to be the more affordable and childfriendly option) atttending an English private school. We are concerned if the language factor should be our main concern in making this decision. we both do not speak spanish.


Hi

well you have 3 years to learn some!!!

the children would be absolutely fine & pick up Spanish in no time at all


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## Dominique (Nov 9, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> Hi
> 
> well you have 3 years to learn some!!!
> 
> the children would be absolutely fine & pick up Spanish in no time at all


Wouldn't it be in the children's interest to continue their education in English as that is the worldly language of busuniess?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Dominique said:


> Wouldn't it be in the children's interest to continue their education in English as that is the worldly language of busuniess?


they would learn English at school - & you could always do what a lot of us Brits do - have extra lessons for them if you feel it's needed

if you live in Gib the state schools do follow the British curriculum & are free - I beleive under some circumstances you can pay to send your children to a state school there if you don't live there - but you have to pay


there are of course International/British schools in Spain, but they are fee paying & you really would need to be sure - IMO - that you would be able to afford the fees until your children are at least 16

I have seen so many families have to pull their kids out of private school (for financial reasons) at an age where it really is ridiculous to expect them to learn the language well enough to study in - and completely ruin the child's education

of course if you are looking at a short term move then International school might well be the most sensible option


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## Dominique (Nov 9, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> they would learn English at school - & you could always do what a lot of us Brits do - have extra lessons for them if you feel it's needed
> 
> if you live in Gib the state schools do follow the British curriculum & are free - I beleive under some circumstances you can pay to send your children to a state school there if you don't live there - but you have to pay
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for the advise! We are currently paying 270 Euro pm for our 3 yr old here in Cape Town, so if the fees in Spain are the same then we shold cope.
I just hope that my childrens social lives won't be limited due to the language factor...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Dominique said:


> Thank you so much for the advise! We are currently paying 270 Euro pm for our 3 yr old here in Cape Town, so if the fees in Spain are the same then we shold cope.
> I just hope that my childrens social lives won't be limited due to the language factor...


personally I believe that it opens more options if they speak more languages - both now & in the future

& yes, if they don't go to spanish school in Spain it will somewhat limit their social lives - but not entirely, because many Spanish families send their kids to 'British' schools

as for fees though, a school local to me charges 350 euros a month for a 3 year old

this gradually increases to nearer 1000 euros a month for a 16 year old


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

It also depends on whether you're planning to stay in "Spain"!! International schools follow the British curriculum which will matter once they get into secondary education. Apart from that, most of the Spanish schools near me are trying to now have, what they call "bilingual teaching"!!?? I'm not sure how successful this is (depends on the school and teachers I guess), but they're giving it a go. The main social problem with international schools is the wide area they tend to cover. My sons last school had children from miles away attending, which meant seeing his friends out of school nearly always involved a pre arranged sleep over!

From what I can see, young children learn languages very quickly and if you send yours to a Spanish school, you'll need to help keep up their english (written and spoken) at home!!

As for Gibraltar, well alot of people dont like it, they say its scruffy and very cramped! I know that rental prices there are expensive due to space being a premium. People mostly live in appartment blocks and the language there is most strange "Gibberish" I'd call it, a bit of spanish and english!!

Jo xxxx


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Jo Jo,

I think the gibberish is called LLanito,

Hepa


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

If you've never been to Gibraltar I would strongly advise a visit before you commit yourselves. It is fun as a tourist destination day-trip but that's about it. Claustrophobic, expensive and dominated by the British military, the gaming industry and smuggling. And if you want to drive into Spain, you have to queue up for an hour or more to get in and out! 

Far better to live in Spain and send the kids to an international school or live in an area with plenty of other English-speaking families for them to socialise with.


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