Can people talk to me about MADRID. DH might be relocated.

[Kif]

DH's company is relocating to Madrid. We're still waiting for full details. Options are: to go or get another job.

Can people talk to me about living and working in Spain?

I've an idea they've a long lunch/late finish working culture. How is that for families?

Is housing expensive? Is living expensive? What do i need to know about primary schools and baby services?

I'm cautiously up for it as an adventure - though with 3 under 5s it will certainly be going 'out of my comfort zone' with regards to leaving existing friends and schools and clubs etc.

No Idea about your questions - all I can say is you lucky thing!

You need Senorapostrophe's input, she's lived in Spain

Hi

I live just outside the centre of Madrid (20mins)and have one DS who is 13months old, he was born here. I have lived here 18 months

Like anywhere there are good and bad points so I will try and sum them up as best I can

My DH is Spanish and works for a large, well-known International company, he works very long hours with frequent late finishes 8-9pm(longer than he did in the UK)and is lucky to get a lunch at all! This is the same for his colleagues too and as far as I know is fairly general in Spain. Yes some employees have the long lunch but will be expected to work later(well into the evening) There is an expectancy to work late ifyswim

House prices have increased dramatically throughout Spain, probably more so than in the UK and prices in the centre of Madrid are high. Mind you I suppose this would be on a par with London so it may not seem that expensive depending on where you are from in the UK.

I find it very hard living here with a small baby. Mums and Tots groups are not really the norm (although there are a couple in central Madrid run by Ex-Pats) but there certainly aren't the same clubs and activities that I see here in the UK.

Facilities can be hit and miss too. An example of this is that you cannot take for granted a restaurant/cafe will have high chairs and baby changing facilities.

On the flip side there are lots of little infant parks all over the city which are very clean and well-kept. Obviously the better weather means for more outdoor activities.

Can't comment on schooling as I don't really know being that my DS is so young.

HTH and if you have any other questions please feel free to email me [email protected]

Thanks.

I've actually always wanted to live in Madrid, but I'm worried about being horribly isolated if my spanish-speaking dh works crazy hours.

Is there less mum-and-tots because people live near their families? I had a friend who had a miserable year out in Poitiers. Apparently all the French students lived at home or had parents near by, so they didn't really bother to socialise or have a 'student scene' the way she was used to in UK.

My sister lived in Madrid between August 2002 and December 2006. She relocated with her DH's job. She had two small children and gave birth to another while she was there.

They have since moved to Amsterdam.

I have to say that my sister really hated Spain with a vengeance. She learnt Spanish quickly, and well (she already spoke fluent French and Italian, and her husband spoke fluent Spanish) and had already lived in several other countries, but she just couldn't get on with the Spanish culture. They lived in La Moraleja and her children went to the International School (which was only OK).

I live in Mallorca and there are things to love and things to hate. I´ve been here for 5 years and met my dh here and we have a son 9mo. The late hours is true although I´m not sure about the lunch break, my dh now works part time but when he worked full time he did 9am-2pm and 5pm-8pm but those are shop hours, not necessarily office hours.

I think living here can be very isolating, more so if you are both foreign with no built-in social ties (i.e. I met a lot of people through my dh and we see a lot of his family, plus my parents moved out a year after us! And I still feel isolated sometimes). Mum and Baby groups don´t exist as bebespain says but there are expat ones around, just harder to find.

BUT I mostly love living here, I love the weather, the late evenings in summer, the child friendly (though not always child oriented) attitude, just the whole mediterranean thing, really. Your kids will grow up bilingual (potentially), though personally I wouldn´t send mine to an international school as in general they seem to be pretty average and i´d rather mine integrated more.

Try posting on mums in spain there should be loads of people there that can advise.

Hello

We moved to Madrid just over a month ago so it's still really early days (and bebespain gave me good advice on playgroups and stuff!).

We've got two children - 5 and 2. So far, I'm really enjoying it.

On the schools side, DS is finding it very hard to settle in the school but it's early days. Spanish kids are v different to English kids - they just play differently - much more physical and rough. I don't know if you'd go private but the sch fees are loads lower than the UK and there's lots of international schools BUT they are full of Spanish kids. Turns out that everyone wants their child to learn english so my son goes to a British sch yet is the only English child in the class.

I've just started younger DS at a nursery which is fantastic. He adores it. There tonnes of childcare here and it is cheap. It's abt 400 pounds a month for a full time place. Catch is that there only seems to be full-time places. I wanted DS to go 3 days a wk but no can do - Spanish parents seem to be their children in full-time childcare from an early age (regardless of whether both parents work). So we pay the full fees and I pick him up at luchtime.

Not sure abt the cost of living yet. Everything seems expensive at the mo but I think it's because we don't know where to shop etc.

There are quite a few playgrps but they are all in the centre of town so either live somewhere accessible, get to used to going on the metro with a buggy or drive (but the drivers are mental and so is parking).

Weather's just picking up so I'm v excited abt the summer!

People seem friendly much more so than London for example.

x

I think the Mums and Tots must be a very English thing. The Spanish just don´t "do" them. Any groups/activities that I know about in Madrid are run by Brits or Americans.

I think you are right when you say most Spanish mums live near their families and probably rely on them for support and childcare although there are lots of private nurseries where mums send their LOs when they return to work. They are plentiful and much in demand, apparently many have waiting lists! I have also heard about just the full-time places like Mamagoose said.

I think the key to your move would be that you live in central Madrid as it will be much easier to make connections there. I have to get the train into town and that is a hefty trek with a 13 mo that I wouldn´t recommend.

Hi Mamagoose- so glad to hear things are going well for you

My DH worked in Madrid for about a year, Monday to Friday, coming back to me in Germany for the weekends. He found the spanish not as hard-working as he would have liked and had to bring in a team from elsewhere to get the project done. He would say that they came in to work at 9 and went and got a coffee and started work properly at 10 and at 12 went and got breakfast which took some time and then at 3 went and got some lunch which might take 1.5 hours and then were at work until 8 or 9 and went or out to dinner - eating at about 10pm. He jokes that kids need to sleep from 12-4 so they can stay up for dinner and beyond.

I visited twice for about a week at a time. The first time DS1 was 3mths and the second time he was 10mths. The lack of attention to detail re car seats for babies in cabs freaked me out - both times I took my own and insisted on fixing it properly. I found the people very warm and friendly and interested in DS1 (he was blonde/blue eyes/chubby cheeks) - which was in marked contrast to my not so positive view of Germany. I found that no one pretty much spoke english and some spoke german - would be different in more of a tourist town. The town centre with its great posh shops and retiro park and the fantastic museums was fabulous. DH was offered a permanent job there with the Client but I couldn't really consider picking up another language. I look back fondly on my brief experience there though.

Having done the live internationally with a child thing and no friends and family of my own though, I would say you would only go if you felt utterly strong and confident of facing the challenges that you would definitely face. If your DH is not going to be around much and you have 3 under 5 I would say that it will be very tough.

AussieSim - I can totally relate to your post which I think is absolutely spot on

I live in Spain and have 2 DDs under 5. I agree with most of what the other posters say. Tot groups dont exist here becuase people just dont think that way. I have found it very, very isolating being a SAHM with no family here.
The timetable still drives me nuts even after 17 years here. A great chunk of time is wasted in the middle of the day and then everyone works far too late. It's slightly better in the north of Spain and maybe Madrid as people are more 'european'. The timetable makes sense in the summer but none at all when it isnt so hot, it seems to be based on the agricultural day rather than modern city life.
If you don't speak Spanish it will be hard. If you live in the centre you will be able to mitigate this by tracking down expats.

bebespain - where my sister lived, in La Moraleja, families used nurseries for childcare but also had a lot of domestic help in the form of maids from South America who were cheap and plentiful.