# Want to move to mainland Spain but need some advice please!



## terrigirl (Aug 12, 2009)

Hi everyone

My fiancé and I have lived on the Spanish island of Tenerife for over 7 years now and we love it, but we have just had our first child and are planning a couple more over the next bunch of years and the island just isnt suitable for raising a young family (no places to go rambling, no large parks and crime on the rise). Neither of us has any wish to return to the UK and love the Spanish way of life so a move to the mainland seems the best plan.

The only problem is we dont know anything about the south coast of Spain. Any help to point us in the right direction for best areas to look at would be greatly appreciated.

My fella is a chef and I work online as a graphic designer/writer/editor. Somewhere near the sea but also near some green nature (something you cant find in tenerife and is missed by us). I speak spanish fairly well but would still like to be close to a relativly English bit. As for schooling, i would like my children to go to a Spanish school so they will learn both English and Spanish equally.

I think thats all the info I have to give and I hope its useful and that someone can point us in the right direction.

Thanks in advance
Terri


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

terrigirl said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> My fiancé and I have lived on the Spanish island of Tenerife for over 7 years now and we love it, but we have just had our first child and are planning a couple more over the next bunch of years and the island just isnt suitable for raising a young family (no places to go rambling, no large parks and crime on the rise). Neither of us has any wish to return to the UK and love the Spanish way of life so a move to the mainland seems the best plan.
> 
> ...


Hi Terri

Lovely to see you on here - always nice to welcome new members to the forum 

I suppose each one of us will answer differently depending on where we live! I live on the Costa del Sol and for me it offers both Spanish living, access to expats and Spanish alike (if you look for it) and we have the benefit of having a lovely coastline but with the moutains and green open spaces directly behind us!

The coast here is a varied place, some lovely places to live and some not so! depending on what your own likes and dislikes are. I personally live in Estepona which I consider to be one of the more spanish towns here, lovely town centre, beaches, port, restaurants, shops etc but within very easy access to the Countryside. 

I cant answer on the school issue because I do not have school age children (mine are all grown up  ) but I suppose one of the other main considerations is employment, if your husband needs to work then its pretty tough here at the moment which I am sure you are aware of. Unemployment running at around 20% which is not good!

However, if he has 7 years experience of working in Spain, has the language under his belt then perhaps he will be one of the lucky ones. Does your job involve working for a company are from home ? Again, the emloyment issue would be a main consideration if I were considering coming here now.

I was surprised to hear that crime is on the rise (or is noticably on the rise?) I suppose I expected the islands would be seeing less crime than here on the mainland ? petty crime is certainly on the rise here, but I suppose it is everywhere and is indicative of the current economic climate 

Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with, but I am sure you will get plenty more replies soon enough,

Take care
Sue


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## Expat Ben (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello Terri,


Where is best to live is a hard one to answer; but I suppose it much depends on what you want. You say you would like some Greenery, so I suppose that would rule out much of Almeria (but not all).

What temperatures do you feel comfortable in come summer ?
This is quit important as the south of spain is a lot hotter than the Canaries.


Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Ben


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## terrigirl (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks for your responses!

I was surprised to hear that the south of spain is hotter than Tenerife to be honest...didnt think anything could get hotter than Tenerife! grin, but im not bothered about the temp...just not cold is fine with me!  is there an all year round season though? I can work from anywhere so long as i have internet access, i do private work for individuals as well as larger items for companies all of which can be done through the wonder of skype! hehe, but my fella is a head chef and so a restaurant that shuts down for the winter season would be no good for us!

I think the economic climate is largely to blame for the crime increase...actually saying that the crime prolly hasnt increased, its just that with less tourists around its turning its attention to the residents so there are a lot more break ins etc


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

terrigirl said:


> Thanks for your responses!
> 
> I was surprised to hear that the south of spain is hotter than Tenerife to be honest...didnt think anything could get hotter than Tenerife! grin, but im not bothered about the temp...just not cold is fine with me!  is there an all year round season though? I can work from anywhere so long as i have internet access, i do private work for individuals as well as larger items for companies all of which can be done through the wonder of skype! hehe, but my fella is a head chef and so a restaurant that shuts down for the winter season would be no good for us!
> 
> I think the economic climate is largely to blame for the crime increase...actually saying that the crime prolly hasnt increased, its just that with less tourists around its turning its attention to the residents so there are a lot more break ins etc


Hi Terri

The climate on the mainland varies quite a lot! Although the Costa del sol is considered an all year round destination for tourists (sunbathers in summer - golfers in winter) ... believe me it feels bloody cold between October and April time! In fact my fellow Mod, jojo, will enlighted you on her feelings about the cold weather here in Winter! As far as I am aware Tenerife is considered a much better all year round climate than the CDS ....

So even though the weather does change - much of the coast remains "open" throughout the year. We dont have any problems with internet / skype access so that would not pose a problem for you either.

Its probably an idea to try and come over to one or two places to take a good look around .... just to give you a better idea of what the differences are. The one thing on your side is that you already live in a Spanish place to start with so you know what you are looking for ... whereas a lot of people from the UK often have no knowledge of the systems, cultures etc prior to moving over here.

Sue :ranger:


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## angelmouse (Aug 19, 2009)

Yes the winter here on the Costa del Sol will feel much cooler than Tenerife, but stick to the coast and you will find it much better than inland. Also cooler on the coast than inland in the summer. Areas such as Marbella are very International, plenty of Spanish schools and after school activities galore. Great shops, superb infastructure and the place is alive in the winter. I have a blog helpful-ideas com about life in Marbella which you may find helpful but as someone has already suggested, the best thing is to take 2 weeks out and come and travel around on Mainland Spain. There are so many areas, each very different that you need to find the right place for your family. It would be awful to move and then find that you hate the area that you have chosen. Make the next move, the right move!


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## chergirl (Feb 7, 2010)

*Try before you buy!*

Hi Terri 
I lived in Tenerife for 7 years and decided to move with my partner to Mainland Spain Mijas Costa when my boy was 3 for much the same reasons as you I felt it would be a better standard of living for my family. We lived there for just over 3 years but in the end came back to Tenerife as the winters were just too cold and long something we didn't expect and it was affecting my health.
La Cala de Mijas was the first place we lived it but it is choc a block with tourists April - October.We went on holiday twice before moving and it seemed the same as Tenerife but it is actually quite different be prepared for a lot of driving to get to places! In general there are good and bad things about mainland Spain but my best advise is to try to go for about 1 month during the winter season to get a better picture of how life is,also the cost of living is higher and pay can be sometimes less. I prefer Tenerife because of the climate and more laid back pace of life.


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## bakeja (May 26, 2009)

That's got to be a first - someone leaving the Costa del Sol because of the harsh winter climate!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

bakeja said:


> That's got to be a first - someone leaving the Costa del Sol because of the harsh winter climate!



Well its not exactly "cooking" here in the winter is it!

Jo xxx


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