# move to barcelona



## fionadenen (May 3, 2009)

Hi all 
Well we have just got back from Barcelona it was brill got allot of info, we asked about places to rent away from the city and got good feedback so when we returned we got looking on the net and found a nice place called igualada
we plan to go there soon to see for ourselves but just wanted to know if any one has been there and if its OK as a starting out point i know we said Valencia would where we probably go but now we know that we can afford Barcelona then that's the place we prefer.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

fionadenen said:


> Hi all
> Well we have just got back from Barcelona it was brill got allot of info, we asked about places to rent away from the city and got good feedback so when we returned we got looking on the net and found a nice place called igualada
> we plan to go there soon to see for ourselves but just wanted to know if any one has been there and if its OK as a starting out point i know we said Valencia would where we probably go but now we know that we can afford Barcelona then that's the place we prefer.


Glad you found something you like so quickly! As I've said before I dont know barcelona other than its beautiful and expensive! I'm sure someone will be along who knows more
Jo xx


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

Igualada is inland I beleive and more or less Catalan, why have you selected this place above others, may I ask ?

Would you not feel a little more at home in an area with more expats ?
e.g. Sitges, Villanova y la Geltru

Dave


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## jimm1909 (May 19, 2009)

Just got back from holiday in barcelona and it was amazing! The Gaudi cathedral and buildings were awesome and very beautiful. Had a great burger at the Hard Rock too. Cant wait to get back there soon.

-jim


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## fionadenen (May 3, 2009)

SunnySpain said:


> Igualada is inland I beleive and more or less Catalan, why have you selected this place above others, may I ask ?
> 
> Would you not feel a little more at home in an area with more expats ?
> e.g. Sitges, Villanova y la Geltru
> ...



Hello,

Well to be honest we r not that bothered how many Brits will be there as we both have lots of friends from different countries, my husband is from Zimbabwe and works with lots or nationalities so we won't have any concerns. and our kids will be going to Spanish schools so they don't need to have loads of English speaking friends I'm sure we will come across Brits anyway, the reason we chose that particular area was because of the affordability it seems reasonable but have looked at villanova also we haven't ruled out any of those areas yet as my husband will be visiting those areas soon to find out more info.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

fionadenen said:


> Hello,
> 
> Well to be honest we r not that bothered how many Brits will be there as we both have lots of friends from different countries, my husband is from Zimbabwe and works with lots or nationalities so we won't have any concerns. and our kids will be going to Spanish schools so they don't need to have loads of English speaking friends I'm sure we will come across Brits anyway, the reason we chose that particular area was because of the affordability it seems reasonable but have looked at villanova also we haven't ruled out any of those areas yet as my husband will be visiting those areas soon to find out more info.



It's worth bearing in mind that "cheap" is not always the best option, although having said that it obviously depends on your budget. La Garriga is considered a nice area by most that know the area and a 2-bed property rental would cost around 600-700 euros a month - whereas the same property would be around 450-550 in Rubi, but that area is not considered to be particularly wow...

The coastal areas will have more expats than inland, but nothing like expatshire in the South of Spain. Thats why I recommended either Sitges or Villanova y la Geltru as although Brits do exist in these areas, its far from expatshire.

We think Sitges is one of the most special places in Spain, but its obviously down to personal opinion. But if we wanted to live in Catalunya and had the money then sunny old Sitges would do us just fine


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

the good thing about renting is that you can easily move if you're not happy!!

Jo xxx


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## ivorra (Sep 24, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> It's worth bearing in mind that "cheap" is not always the best option, although having said that it obviously depends on your budget. La Garriga is considered a nice area by most that know the area and a 2-bed property rental would cost around 600-700 euros a month - whereas the same property would be around 450-550 in Rubi, but that area is not considered to be particularly wow...
> 
> The coastal areas will have more expats than inland, but nothing like expatshire in the South of Spain. Thats why I recommended either Sitges or Villanova y la Geltru as although Brits do exist in these areas, its far from expatshire.
> 
> We think Sitges is one of the most special places in Spain, but its obviously down to personal opinion. But if we wanted to live in Catalunya and had the money then sunny old Sitges would do us just fine


But it is primarily a holiday town - and if you live in Sitges and have to commute to work in Barcelona, you will make that journey on grossly overcrowded roads or in overcrowded and unreliable RENFE trains. There are pleasant and less fashionable towns close to Barcelona with good transport connections and very diverse communities - pats 'ex' of many, many countries! For example: up-market San Cugat, lots of British residents, not by the sea but on the edge of the Colserolla National Park ; Badalona - more down market but with a lovely sea-front and linked in to Barcelona city metro and buses; or Mataro and its surrounds, a little further up the coast but within easy reach of the city. and with a nice seaside and town centre.


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## fionadenen (May 3, 2009)

Thanks for the advise will take it on board, what about vilafranca? is that a nice town? we do like the look of vilanova but are concerned about the price it would be lovely if we could find something affordable in and around those areas, what about schooling we want to send our kids to good spanish schools how will we know if the one we choose is going to be good compared to others?we have 3 kids 2 girls and a boy 11,5,2 yrs so we need a bit of room!!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

fionadenen said:


> what about schooling we want to send our kids to good spanish schools how will we know if the one we choose is going to be good compared to others?we have 3 kids 2 girls and a boy 11,5,2 yrs so we need a bit of room!!



Good question! How do you know?? I guess you have to make friends with the locals and ask for their opinions?? Sit outside of the schools and see what the kids and indeed the parents are like?? (altho the schools close for 3 months during the summer). School isnt compulsory til 6 years old, so initially its only your 11 yo who will be the main focus

Having said all that, I think the education authority equivelant may decide which school that your child will go in a lot of areas! Also your 11 yo will probably be put down a year cos of the language difficulty

Jo xxx


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## fionadenen (May 3, 2009)

Thanks jo that's very helpful i will definitely do that, will my daughter have to take a test to enter the school or is it just a case of spaces available do you know?


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## Tallulah (Feb 16, 2009)

Once you've selected an area, get in touch with the school very quickly. I can only speak from my personal experience with our three kids. The director of the school wanted their school reports to see how they were doing, their academic assessments/levels etc. Depending on the area you go to, there may only be one school! Our children
weren't held back at all, but then we came here when they were 6 and 7. They were assigned a special one on one teacher for a couple of months to get them up to speed. Unfortunately there's no Ofsted type reports here - you'll have to go by word of mouth. The teachers are in for some of the holidays though, so you'll usually be able to get an interview and a tour in time for starting in the autumn term.

Regards,
Tallulah.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

fionadenen said:


> Thanks jo that's very helpful i will definitely do that, will my daughter have to take a test to enter the school or is it just a case of spaces available do you know?



Your daughter being the 11 yo I assume!?! Well mine didnt take a test when she went to state school, they just got the fact that she wasnt fluent in Spanish (to say the least) fairly quickly when they met her and said that she'd have to go into the year below, which we were fine with. There were other british kids in the class they put her in, so she wasnt lost without trace. Extra Spanish lessons were provided for the english kids after school twice a week

As for academic abilities, well thats not an easy one to assess with the different language, curriculum etc. The one big difference we found between english and spanish education was the maths!! Now, my husband is very clever with maths and my daughters homework floored him!! Different symbols, different workings out, different ways of wrting it down, different everything...!

Jo xxx


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## mike kelly (Aug 12, 2009)

jojo said:


> Good question! How do you know?? I guess you have to make friends with the locals and ask for their opinions?? Sit outside of the schools and see what the kids and indeed the parents are like?? (altho the schools close for 3 months during the summer). School isnt compulsory til 6 years old, so initially its only your 11 yo who will be the main focus
> 
> Having said all that, I think the education authority equivelant may decide which school that your child will go in a lot of areas! Also your 11 yo will probably be put down a year cos of the language difficulty
> 
> Jo xxx


The best schools in Spain are the fully private or Catholic "concertada" ones. All public schools are full of immigrants from third world countries, your kids won't find it easy in one of these schools.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mike kelly said:


> The best schools in Spain are the fully private or Catholic "concertada" ones. All public schools are full of immigrants from third world countries, your kids won't find it easy in one of these schools.


I'm not sure thats strictly true of all schools in Spain. My daughter went to a state school, no "third world" immigrants at all, in fact in our area, there are very few third world people ?? I'm not sure I know what you mean by third world really??

My daughter is now at an international school and there are several nationalities there, polish, russian, french, african, spanish, dutch and British. Spanish probably make up 50% the rest the other 50%.altho British make up the majority of the last 50% Its an excellent school with excellent results. following the UK curriculum IGCEs and IBacalaureat

My friends son goes to a fully private spanish school altho it took her a couple of years to get him in cos his spanish wasnt good enough to pass the entrance exam, eventho he'd been attending a state school for over a year when they started trying. There are several nationalities there too, altho they are taught in Spanish and following the spanish curriculum

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mike kelly said:


> The best schools in Spain are the fully private or Catholic "concertada" ones. All public schools are full of immigrants from third world countries, your kids won't find it easy in one of these schools.


what!!!???


absolutely not true!!!

you really can't make sweeping generalisations like that

both my girls go to state school & there is a mix of nationalities which reflects the International population of the town

the Catholic 'concertada' schools do indeed have a good reputation though - if you are catholic


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## mike kelly (Aug 12, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> what!!!???
> 
> 
> absolutely not true!!!
> ...


I am referring to the situation in Barcelona. All public primary schools outside of the better off areas have a majority of immigrant pupils.


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## mike kelly (Aug 12, 2009)

jojo said:


> I'm not sure thats strictly true of all schools in Spain. My daughter went to a state school, no "third world" immigrants at all, in fact in our area, there are very few third world people ?? I'm not sure I know what you mean by third world really??
> 
> My daughter is now at an international school and there are several nationalities there, polish, russian, french, african, spanish, dutch and British. Spanish probably make up 50% the rest the other 50%.altho British make up the majority of the last 50% Its an excellent school with excellent results. following the UK curriculum IGCEs and IBacalaureat
> 
> ...


well, I pass a couple of schools on my way to work each morning, plus there are a few near where I live and very many of the pupils I see are from Morocco or Latin America.


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

mike kelly said:


> well, I pass a couple of schools on my way to work each morning, plus there are a few near where I live and very many of the pupils I see are from Morocco or Latin America.


Do you have children in school there Mike ? If you dont, then I cant see how you can pass judgement as to the quality of education / teaching, and certainly not based on the nationality of the pupils !

Sue :ranger:


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mike kelly said:


> well, I pass a couple of schools on my way to work each morning, plus there are a few near where I live and very many of the pupils I see are from Morocco or Latin America.


What does that matter??? Good grief, there are a couple of South American kids at our international school, brighter than half the Brit kids. At the state school my daughter went to there were no Morrocans, but there were several British kids (most in fact) who's parents couldnt actually get them to school in the mornings very often, cos they were still drunk from the night before. Thats why we took our daughter out of there cos it was full of third world Brits who could barely speak british, let alone Spanish!!

In my opinion, its not Morrocan or south Americans that actually drag state schools down, cos most of them are polite, well mannered and well brought up, also South Americans already speak the language (so they can actually get into the private spanish schools, unlike British) I've found its the British in a lot of cases. They kinda club together, bully other british kids and disrupt, cos that what they used to do in the UK. And as I say, alot of them seem to come from families who only send their kids to school cos it gets em out of the way! The language thing also holds em back

I know that sounds harsh and of course it isnt the case with everywhere, you cant generalise, but its certainly how I found it when my daughter was at her state school

Jo xxx


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## mike kelly (Aug 12, 2009)

Schools in Barcelona teach in catalan, which makes it much harder for immigrant kids to integrate if they are in the majority. And why do catalans who can afford it prefer to send their kids to private or concertada schools?
I don't have kids so it doesn't really concern me (not that that makes my opinion any less relevant) but I am surprised that you think that a state school with an immigrant majority will offer the same quality of education as one with a local population.


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

mike kelly said:


> Schools in Barcelona teach in catalan, which makes it much harder for immigrant kids to integrate if they are in the majority. And why do catalans who can afford it prefer to send their kids to private or concertada schools?
> I don't have kids so it doesn't really concern me (not that that makes my opinion any less relevant) but I am surprised that you think that a state school with an immigrant majority will offer the same quality of education as one with a local population.


I suppose its like any non Spanish / Catalan speaking child who enters a school ... they are going to struggle until they get the language ... so kids here on the coast also struggle (British) until they learn Spanish. So in Barcelona its the same ... they have to learn Catalan before they will get the most out of the education.

Most people, if they could afford it, would choose private schools for their kids ... usually based on considering it a better opportunity for the child. This applies in the UK too, not just here in Spain.
Both my children went to state Schools in the UK (Sheffield and then Nottinghamshire) who both have a large "immigrant" population - but both my kids went onto higher Ed. My daughter sat her 11 plus and went to a Girls Grammar School (the only one still available in Lincolnshire) and is now at Uni with straight As ... my son is higher educated and has a great job ... so coming up through the state system in a multi cultural / immigrant society didnt affect them too much,

I suppose its down to the individual school and the ability and attitudes of its teaching staff and the parents ..... all kids will thrive in the right environment. But I wouldnt discount a school based on the make up of the kids there.

Sue


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mike kelly said:


> Schools in Barcelona teach in catalan, which makes it much harder for immigrant kids to integrate if they are in the majority. And why do catalans who can afford it prefer to send their kids to private or concertada schools?
> I don't have kids so it doesn't really concern me (not that that makes my opinion any less relevant) but I am surprised that you think that a state school with an immigrant majority will offer the same quality of education as one with a local population.



I dont think that schools with an immigrant majority offer the same quality, I dont think the "third world" children are the problem, I think the British immigrants are the problem and thats my point!! And I fully respect the Catalans for sending their children to private or Concertadas, those schools are good cos they only allow fluent speaking children in and therefore they dont have the distractions!! BTW, I can only base this on what I've seen in my area, so it probably doesnt apply to everywhere. I'm sure there are schools who deal with the problem extemely well

Apparently a lot of state schools actually put all the British immigrant children together in one class to do colouring in all day so as not to distract or spoil the classes education!! Not fair on the Briti kids, but what else can they do?? These schools do have to offer British children extra spanish lessons as an after school activity, so they try, but from what I have seen, its a lose lose situation if there are too many non spanish speakers in the class


I think the best way to educate your child in Spain is to either start them off very young (under say, 8yo) and in a school with minimum ammounts of british kids or send them to International, altho they tend not to pick the language up quite as fast... that said, they DO pick it up. My son is very, very good at speaking, reading and writing Spanish after 18 months, not fluent, but certainly able to understand and hold a conversation at a good level!

Anyway, my point is that you cannot blame "third world" kids for the problems in the state schools! 

Jo xxx


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