Please tell me where to live in Spain!

[crumpette]

Hi, I'm in London, in my 20s have a good degree and a young baby son. DP is very highly qualified but has just been made redundant. I'm on maternity leave but my salary in my office dogsbody job is not good and won't pay our rent here alone when I do go back to work.. DD died last year age 1.5 btw as did another very close famly member and we're more than a bit fed up.

Right, I lived abroad (C. America and Italy) when I was younger and DP lived in Tenerife for a while and we both really want a fresh start. I would prefer to be out of the UK by the time DS starts school. DP still owns a house which is rented to cover mortgage payments and can rent out some more of it to provide some income and we have a web business which we have done nothing with to date but which DP can now focus on, perhaps if he ever leaves the pub.

If we move to Spain for a totally fresh start, where would you advise? Language-wise I speak with a Mexican accent apparently so would find it hard to lisp! We like cosmopolitan places, lots going on, not too far from the coast, good for children..?
Have thought about Valencia, Seville, or places like Nerja but tbh I have no idea what these places are like in reality.

Any thoughts at all would be very much appreciated

Thanks

Seville is NOT cosmopolitan. In fact I would say most of Andalucia is very un cosmopolitan. Nerja would give you the advantage of being in/near of a huge ex pat community. Barcelona is possibly the most cosmopolitan city.
I live in Seville and I love it, but jesus christ it drives me INSANE at times, how bureaucratic and quite backwards it can all be at times.

Hi snails thanks for your advice, I'm totally clueless at the moment. Work in the city when not on maternity leave, so not sure yet if I should go back and finish training or not. It's so tempting to just up and leave now with no major ties in the UK.
Tbh I don't know Spain well at all- I have distant friends in Alicante and Segovia but haven't spent a great deal of time anywhere. Seville looks interesting. As long as it is pretty busy and has lots going on, I'm happy. Nerja I thought may be a little small? Andalucia in general really appealed but not quite sure why!

Hi crumpette . Sound like you had a difficult time over the last year so making a move to somewhere you don't know could be wonderful but also v.stressful. Can you afford to go on a recce/grand tour/adventure-stay in different places in Andalucia, Barcelona etc and see what feels right? Also this would give you more time to see if you want to continue with training etc.

Before we moved to Spain (no regrets but it has been a HUGE learning curve -agree with snails) we spent every holiday exploring different areas and looking at what was right for us and our DD who is at Spanish primary school. We settled on a small town in Andalucia with reasonable facilities but close to bigger places-Cadiz, Seville etc. Seville is great-lots going on arts etc but it is also very traditional-masses of festivals aimed mainly at Spanish families.
We wanted to keep away from the Costas and traditional 'ex pat' communities and that was a really good decision.

There is a website that concentrates on Andalucia that might be helpful with practicalities of moving etc.

Yes campo bit of a grim past year to say the least, DD had two liver transplants but didn't make it in the end. I have an inbuilt flight mechanism I think, not sure it's a good thing! When I moved to Italy I just flicked open a book to a page and went the next day (irresponsible..?) as it turns out Naples probably wasn't the ideal location for me, but there you go!

Great suggestion to explore possibilities first. I definitely want to leave the UK, and definitely before DS is primary school age (he's only 4 months at the moment). I do speak Spanish as was in Mexico and other places for a couple years (but through lack of use it's now extremely rusty!)

I think I'll look into trying to visit a few places to form a better opinion- nothing is urgent at present. If you know what the website is or any other useful sites, a link would be great.

Thanks for taking the time to reply

The website is here

You could also ask on the ex pat threads on this forum

Maybe you could get a camper van and work your way round!

Best of luck

Thanks very much for the link campocaro, looks like a pretty useful site, will have a good read!

Sorry to hear about your recent tragedies.

I live in Northern Spain and it is in a real bad state at the moment, much much worse than the UK. There is high unemployment -

No wishing to be so negative but it's nothing like the programmes on TV.

However, if you do not have to worry about working here, to earn a living, you would be OK.

Perhaps a long holiday in Spain to recharge yourselves would be a better option.

I love and recommend Valencia to live, I lived there for 5 years, have had a year in Sevilla and am moving back this summer, while its true Valencianos have a reputaion for being 'narrow minded' (cerrado), when they're nice, it's because they want to be and not because they have to be! you can get your N.I.E number from the Spanish embassy in Chelsea before you come (if not you will queue for 3 hours!) Do not live here if you have a problem with firecrackers/works as 'las fallas' is not not for the faint hearted!The state schools are fantastic and the night life is fun (many children out until 12.00/01.00 in the summer, and not all the parents are pished!)www.fotocasa.es www.idealista.com are good places to start for flats.

hope this helps

Thank you all, vivasevilla thanks so much for those websites, I would never have found those. Gives a really good idea of rents/house prices etc for different areas too.
I think we may have agreed to move, definitely, but not until 2011 so I will got back to work for a while first. It's either Valencia, Sevilla, somewhere I have not yet found in Andalucia or DP's place of choice Tenerife (Sta Cruz or Puerto de la Cruz)

vivasevilla, your comments about Valencia are interesting- I really want somewhere really vibrant and fun and child friendly. I have a feeling Tenerife is nice but not for me. DP's happy as long as there is a bar nearby (!) but I want good schools and loads going on. Out of interest, what are the nicest parts of the city? I intend to go on some trips this year to explore but would be great to have inside info

Thanks again, if anyone has any further thoughts all advice greatly appreciated

The nicest parts of Valencia for me are Asbastos/Juan llorens, plaza España, Arracapins and Botanico, only because they are 10mins walking to the centre but are quiet, Mestalla is very studenty and close to the football stadium, so a bit too loud for me, it is, however close to the beach.

There are loads of bars in all the above areas, from beer and tapa locals to clubs open till 5ish. Valencia is well known all over Spain for its fantastic nightlife (some clubs don't open till 2am!!)

Sevilla is a very beautiful city but it is very expensive to rent a flat here, and it is very hot (today at 6pm it was 38 degrees)

There are loads of teaching jobs in both Sevilla and Valencia (might be worth doing a TESOL before you come), if you speak Spanish (even with a mexican accent!) you can work pretty much anywhere.

Valencia is very vibrant, there are fantastic museums and the river park is one of the best things for me, loads going on on Sundays, music, dancing, people doing capoeira etc etc.

I think children are loved all over Spain, they are certainly welcome in all the beer and tapa locals (I often wonder if waiters go on special training courses, carrying full trays while dodging masses of children running about!) and people are tolerant of tantrums in supermarkets/bars/on the street!

I am biased towards Valencia, the great thing about moving though is that if you don't like the place you're in, it's easy to change, this is the Valencian council web www.valencia.es and this is a bar guide www.24-7valencia.com good luck in whatever you decide to do