# Another young family where should we live post!?!



## ericaangela (Aug 19, 2013)

This is a where should we live? post. I have scoured the internet for people moving/moved to Spain in a similar situation, but I think we are unicorns. 

I have seen so many negative comments about moving to Spain, and about the mass exodus back to the UK. I am a 29 yo American, Puerto Rican by ethnicity, so I can speak Spanish. My husband is 41 and British, and a polyglot who learns fast. No worries about the language then. We have lived abroad for the past 12 years (4 together), have remote work, and have the luxury of choosing to live any where we want. So jobs and not fitting in not an issue at all. Our daughter is 2 and is learning 3 languages currently, Spanish being one of them, so we have a little while before thinking about her schooling. So no worries there. 

We have narrowed it down to the eastern coast of Spain but that's as far as we have got. I would like to speak Spanish, but am willing to learn the other dialects. My husband is a little bit of a hippy so we were thinking near the Sierra Nevada. Does anyone have any suggestions for a family in our situation? We would ideally like to rent an inexpensive villa. We can do apartments as well, but prefer a house, but not too isolated (picky, picky). Our budget is from 700 to 1150 euro a month. I like to go into town to shop and the husband likes to socialize at the pub. We both like good food and going to restaurants and cafes. We don't mind living where other expats live as well. Is there any techies/online business community like there is in Chiang Mai, Thailand? 

Bit rambling sorry, but thanks for any suggestions!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

ericaangela said:


> This is a where should we live? post. I have scoured the internet for people moving/moved to Spain in a similar situation, but I think we are unicorns.
> 
> I have seen so many negative comments about moving to Spain, and about the mass exodus back to the UK. I am a 29 yo American, Puerto Rican by ethnicity, so I can speak Spanish. My husband is 41 and British, and a polyglot who learns fast. No worries about the language then. We have lived abroad for the past 12 years (4 together), have remote work, and have the luxury of choosing to live any where we want. So jobs and not fitting in not an issue at all. Our daughter is 2 and is learning 3 languages currently, Spanish being one of them, so we have a little while before thinking about her schooling. So no worries there.
> 
> ...


If your work is done online, your biggest problem is going to be identifying an area with a fast enough and reliable enough connection. In rural areas such as near the Sierra Nevada, that's just not going to be there. Certainly fibre optic is only available in the major towns and cities as yet, and often only in certain areas of those.


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## ericaangela (Aug 19, 2013)

Lynn R said:


> If your work is done online, your biggest problem is going to be identifying an area with a fast enough and reliable enough connection. In rural areas such as near the Sierra Nevada, that's just not going to be there. Certainly fibre optic is only available in the major towns and cities as yet, and often only in certain areas of those.


That's a good point. We make due with 3 or 4 Mbps (tops) here in Cambodia, which is pretty sloooow. Do you know what the average Mbps is in rural Spain? Is satellite available?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

ericaangela said:


> That's a good point. We make due with 3 or 4 Mbps (tops) here in Cambodia, which is pretty sloooow. Do you know what the average Mbps is in rural Spain? Is satellite available?


Yes, satellite is available, I believe quite a few people use this system:-


Tooway Internet por satélite: Internet a alta velocidad en toda España

In most areas there are also companies offering wimax internet (which can come with download limits, so be careful about the terms and conditions) but being able to get that depends on having line of sight to one of their masts. We used to have that on a contract which offered "up to" 10mbs but we never got more than 6. We now have a 20mbps connection via a local cable tv company (we don't have the tv, just broadband) but we live in a large town. Ours costs €18 per month.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

ericaangela said:


> That's a good point. We make due with 3 or 4 Mbps (tops) here in Cambodia, which is pretty sloooow. Do you know what the average Mbps is in rural Spain? Is satellite available?


In rural Spain it all depends on whether you have or can get a telephone line. If you can, then you may be lucky and get 1Mb service.

If you can't, then you will have to go the satellite route - which can be very hit or miss.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Tooway has mixed reviews; some love it others hate it but the speed you get from it depends on how many people are using it in your location. Our supplier gives us around 10mbps down which is fine for all of our uses and from February they are offering 25mbps (more money but still cheaper than most of their competitors). We live in the campo so feel quite happy with what we have.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

ericaangela said:


> ... Our daughter is 2 and is learning 3 languages currently, Spanish being one of them, so we have a little while before thinking about her schooling. So no worries there.
> ...


For most public schools in Spain the main intake is for children with their 3rd Birthday during that calendar year. So in fact quite a lot of children start school at the age of 2 if their Birthday is after September. Education in Spain isn't obligatory until children are 6, but in some areas the public schools with the most demand will already be full by then.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I probably live in the remotest area of the Spanish Territories, the forgotten meridian island of El Hierro over 1000 Km. south west of Gibraltar way out in the Atlantic Ocean. Our internet Ping is 64m.s., download 7.66 mbps, upload, 0.4 mbps. 

Best of luck with your move.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

We have used Tooway satellite internet for three years and are completely satisfied with speed and reliability. We also have our telephone through the satellite system and regularly have video calls to the UK using Apple Facetime. Tooway do warn, however, that the system cannot cope well with interactive online games due to slow ping, but we are not interested in this, so it is not a problem. Download speed is advertised at 20 mps but, in practice, it´s normally around 10 mps, but we find this perfectly adequate.


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