# too much choice!! help! Where to live with 2 small kids



## infrid (Sep 5, 2016)

British computer programmer. Work at home. Bolivian wife, 2 kids (8 and 6).. lived in Ecuador/Peru/Bolivia for last 10 years.
Homeschooled the kids in a small town in the Ecautorian andes. Came to Spain in a flurry last year, as covid had the upside of granting the wife a visa. 
Moved to a small town (Macastre) 30 minutes out of Valencia, kids adapted well to school. However.. town has a few issues that pan out badly for my kids: not many friends to choose from due to a lot of behavioral issues from parents who love the booz; but not the work, and a rapidy growing religious group who, despite us trying hard to mingle with, don't mix so well. My son's class is the worst in the history of the school.. Long story short, we're going to have to move!

That's kind of okay though as originally we thought our first year heere we'd find somewhere tranquilo while covid blows over, then find our place to settle; so we're still pretty much on plan - we did love the town; but we know we're selling our kids short. Our original thoughts were Granada or down near Marbella.

Wife and me are homely, and love tennis and walks/running; but our focus now is the kids : schools, friends, activities, good quality of life being able to go out etc.

Not into cities, not obsessed with the sun either.

Been thinking about Cantabria, I had an ex from there, and visited a few times, and it's really quite splendid; but I was young with no kids, so I've no idea how suitable it is for kids.

Marbella is gorgeous; but I wonder if , not only too expensive; but if it would be like oil and water in that my wife and me would never really mix well with the wealthy folks down there (that was our experience in Miraflores, Lima, for a couple of years).

My wife loves colder, greyer, rainier climes (she wanted to live in Hamburg; but I insisisted Spain), so I imagine Canatbria wouldn't bum her out.

I also thought of Cheste down the road; but the Valenciano drives my wife crazy.

So.. Does anyone has any suggestions of places? I think we will aim to start getting serious in 6 months or so, so the kids aren't too disrupted; but we can get them somewhere where we can settle (feel awful moving them this much; but it is what it is)

Thinking of driving off to some places during summer to go check them out. Would really really love some advie on some lovely places from a kids perspective. 

Things we love about living here:


Some really nice folks
Nature
Quiet
Chalets, and nice houses are cheap
School is actually really good (just my sons class is a perfect storm of poo, and there's no new kids in his class for 3 more years, so he's going to end up going south)
City is just 30 minutes down the motorway
Weather is pretty nice (a bit hot for us tbh)
Lots of tennis

Things we don't love

lack of beach (my daugher misses the sea tremendously); it's realistically an hour to get there from where we live
kids have to do subjects in school in Valenciano - which drives the wife crazy; she'd rather just they learn french/german or italian
(in our town) - not that many chalets, or houses that are not adosados - I really want a nice place where the kids can be annoying, without annyoing me or neighbours, if you dig..
Sorry this is so long and sprawling. Thanks for your consideration.


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## timwip (Feb 27, 2017)

I would like to start off by saying, I love the whole north coast of Spain (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Pais Vasco). All four provinces check almost ell of your boxes. However, Galicia and Pais Vasco each have a very strong ethnic language even stronger than in Valencia. Because of this, I would focus on Cantabria and Asturias Although the country-side in Cantabria and Asturias is beautiful, there are very few children in the Pueblos. As a result, your children may not develop the friendships they would in a city. Your original idea of Cantabria is excellent. I would live in the capital Santander. I live in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias, it is also very nice.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I can't really comment much on Cantabria/Asturias since it's ages since I went there. Although I think Santander would be a good option. Malaga might be worth considering if you liked Marbella but found it too posh.

Regarding the teaching of Valenciano in schools, I think it's worth bearing in mind that it is almost identical to Catalan, and together those two languages have about 7 million speakers in Spain. If your kids are going to grow up in Spain then being fluent in Valenciano/Catalan might be a bit more useful than having studied French/German/Italian for a few hours per week at school. Especially since your kids will almost certainly become fluent in Valenciano/Catalan whereas they'll probably forget all the French/German/Italian they learnt at school anyway. Furthermore, if your kids ever did find themselves needing to become fluent in French, then being fluent in Valenciano/Catalan will be very useful as it has quite a lot in common with French.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

My son is in secondary school and has exemption for Valenciano.


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## Milk_Oolong (9 mo ago)

Poland maybe? I really like it here. In big cities English is not a problem, neither are schools. I live in Warsaw, my husband is Armenian, I'm Polish, our kid attends a trilingual school. And I've never seen a kid or have never experienced myself this kind of enthusiasm for education she shows (the name is ITSW, they have Spanish as a language of choice, so it may be an asset). Life if still cheap, the country is relatively safe, the PRIVATE schooling system great. Well, anything private is quite OK, actually.


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