moving to spain

[jaide]

i am considering moving my family out of the uk. I have 2 boys 7 and 4 and a girl 1. We live on the outskirts of liverpool and my husband and i are getting really worried about the state of our schools, the cost of living and the violent nature of some young people. Has any other muns net family done this and how did it go? would appreciate all advice good and bad storys.

we looked into moving to spain
schools are meant to be fab but you must do it b4 children turn 10 as they find the language harder to pick up after this age.
the roads in spain are a nightmare and crossing the roads are a danger zone.
health care is good but you pay for it.
i personally couldnt work in that clamate as it is so hot great for hols and sitting by the pool

Hi Jaide

I was talking to a friend yesterday who lived in Spain for 6 years, returning last year. I'll check out the details for you. I think they found quite a lot of violence amongst young people there too, and teachers whose role is limited to the classroom only. They have a two hour lunchbreak in the school, and no supervision at all! Having said that, they thought that it was a pretty brilliant experience, but that 6 years of relentless sunshine was enough!!!!

I should see her this afternoon, so I'll let you know.

I don't have any experience of this but have often wondered about living overseas (in europe somewhere).

I worry about what jobs DH and I could do. What would you do in terms of work? Do you speak Spanish?

whereabouts are you looking to move to?

would you be looking to work out there?

Hi Jaide.

My mum moved to Spain about 3 or 4 years ago now and absolutely loves it. I know it's slightly different as she is retired but she has a close friend who also moved to Spain and brought her daughter with her.

Her friend's family absolutely love it out there too and their DD attended a Spanish school so she was kina thrown in at the deep end but loves it out there now and is fluent in the language (i think she's in her early 20s now).

I would recommend that you spend a few weeks out there at a time tho, i.e. three or four weeks at a time several times a year, so that you get used to the culture and the heat and language.

My Mum has lived out there for the past 8 years and is just in the process of selling her house to come back. My Mum lives in the Costa del Sol and she has found the Spanish community difficult to penetrate and she does not like the ex-pat community (says they are all criminals or tax evaders! (Obviously gross generalisation!)).

Do you speak fluent Spanish? If you don't then employment opportunities will be limited.

Hi WCL

It's a shame your mum moved to Costa del Sol! Personally, i couldn't think of anywhere worse to live in Spain!

My mum lives in a very Spanish place and in fact it's where the Spanish go for their holidays too! It's a lovely little place called San Juan de los Terreros. It's not too far from Alicante and closer still to Almeria airport. It's deffo one of the nicer places i've been too and although you do get a smattering of English people there too, it's predominantly Spanish. My mum hasn't found it difficult at all to get on out there, but i think it is helped enormously by her multi-lingual boyfriend!

Anyway, that's by-the-by really.

Sorry your mum isn't happy out there - it's a lovely place to live if you find the right spot!

That sounds lovely RGP.

We've just recently had our holiday in El Altet near Alicante and it is similiar type of place.

Certainly the area we would look at if we ever got up the bottle to make the move.

Hi, thanks for all your comments. This is going to take a lot of research, maybe the grass isnt always greener.