here we come spain

Hi everyone!
Thought id say elo my names Katie i have a partner and 2 kids we are seriously loooking to move to Spain Nerja area soon well i say soon next summer or soon after.
Just wanted to say elo and ask a few questions thinking you all might be able to help me seeing yr doing it!

Kids are 9 and 10 what do u think about schooling? are they too old to go in normal spainish school? Should i pay for private, English? If so where would be the nearest?

What jobs are around for childcare i have a nvq 4 in childcare would this be counted over there also is childcare in need? i cant talk spainish well, sorry!!

We are taking savings to cover us for a whole year any other tips? please thanks

hi and goodbye!! Katie x

sarahchirles

Welcome to BE! Can't answer most of your questions. But i am sure lots will be able to help. x x x

XTreme

Yes.....when you do come over here, disregard about 90% of what other Brits say to you.
That was probably the biggest shock I had in Spain.....discovering what a bunch of morons are actually here.

sarahchirles

This is the first time I agree with you. Am I bitter and twisted?

jdr

Come over for a few holidays in the area around Nerja, it a very nice place, but the biggest problem is work, (seasonal area).
While here, put yourself about and ask about jobs, houses, schooling etc before you make a decision to stay in that area.
Always rent before you buy, to see about the area etc before you commit yourself.
I would say you would need Spanish for childcare work as you will need Spanish paperwork, also reverse the situation, would you be ok if the person minding your child in the UK could only speak Spanish ?
Everyone who comes over thinks they can do a bit of this and a bit of that to survive, but if you need to support a family it is very hard.
If you do get work it will be very low paid as so many people are after jobs and accept the low pay.
Kids would soon integrate and will start teaching you Spanish within a couple of weeks

rugbymatt

Hi "here we come Spain", the other think you will find is that some Brits have a bit of a chip on their shoulder!





Welcome to the Forum anyway............

Joe King

A year in primary school would do your kids a world of good if you go down the public school route - primary schools tend to help much more with learning the language.

Kids go to High School a year later than in the UK (although in Spain it is done on year of birth) so hopefully both of yours will get at least a year in a primary school.

A year's savings is a fantastic idea, but even then you will need to find work as money always goes far more quickly than you imagine. There will be a lot of unseen expenses - schoolbooks for one which can cost anything from 100 euros to 500 euros a year per child depending on the age and subjects chosen (some councils pay part or even all of this, but many don't and you may not qualify initially).

Shep43

Hi, I'm 15 mins from Nerja and also work there so ask away, although plenty of good advice already given.

Shep

sunnydee

Hi and welcome,
If your children go to 'state' school in Andalusia then you will receive a grant towards the books etc. I think this is fairly new and covers most of the costs.

jojonew

hi, i'm new to this site too. we are afamily of 5 who are also planning to move to spain in the next 12 months my kids are 15, 11,and 4 at the moment and trying to decide the best time to move for everybody is really difficult.I'm finding out lotsof useful info browsing the site. we are planning to move to south of alicante, villa martin, punta prima areas maybe as we want to be near an international school for my older kids it would be nice to hear how you are getting on in the future . jo

billgates

Can I just ask you people that are thinking of moving to Spain with your young families,

Why do you want to uproot your families and move to Spain?

I ask because I did that very thing a few years ago wearing the rose-tinted glasses and thinking the grass is greener, etc.

However, unless you can speak Spanish and have a decent income then life will be very hard for you and the kids. Jobs are not easy to come by and wages are pretty low. Your savings will run out very quickly, your uk-plated car will likely get stopped by the police, you will run around like headless chickens going from gestor to gestor trying to get a straight and common answer out of them, you will get ripped off by the other brits who are as desperate for a bit of extra cash as you are. You will more than likely end up like many others here that privately are as miserable as hell, but publicly announcing to everyone what a wonderful place Spain is and what a great quality of life it is for the kids, and ho ho ho, it's still raining in England.

Really, it all comes down to money in the end. If you haven't got a decent income then why put the family through it?

Mitzyboy

I understand where you are coming from Bill but there are plenty of people that have moved here with young families and done so sucessfully, so as always you have to take a balanced view.

Use a recommended gestor

If you are driving a UK plated car then you deserve to be stopped by the Police ... you shouldn't be doing it.

Dont use Brits if you are worried about being ripped off .... Spanish workforce represents much better value

How do you know that people are privately as miserable as hell

But as Billgates says, plan everything carefully. Make sure you have a lot of money to back you up, and dont come over here thinking you will be able to fall in to a job.

And finally jojonew, I wouldn't think that 15 (and even maybe 11) are a good age to rip kids out of the UK education system and bring them to a country where they wont be able initially to understand what they are being taught. You'd have to consider an international school maybe, and of course those are private so you'd have to pay.

jojonew

hi, i think most people who move abroad with children are looking for a better lifestyle which is certainly true for our family i do worry every day about how the changes will effect everybody.Had somebody tell me today that the crime rate is very high in the areas we are looking at which is villa martin, playa flamenco, punta prima which is a bit worrying ,does anybody live near here that could give me another opinion. we are planning on international school for the older kids for the least disruption as oldest will be ready to start a levels. thanks jo

billgates

I know there are families that have moved here and are happy but there are so many that aren't. Ok, I only know a few of them but everytime I hear that another Brit family has moved in to the village I have to wonder,
Have they got a job? Usual answer is no, not yet.
Can they speak any Spainsh? Usual answer is no, but we're going to learn.
How are they going to cope with village schools and teachers that don't speak a word of English? Young children will find it difficult starting a new school in England, never mind joining a class where they can't even understand the other kids.
Unfortunately they have to rely on other Brits.
And it's all very well using a Spanish workforce but how the heck do you go out and find someone when you can't speak the language?

What I was actually wondering is what is the real reason for moving the family to Spain?
If it's because they're just fed up with wet weather then maybe they need to go and have a quiet word with themselves.
Maybe they've just woken up the fact that they've got substantial equity in their house? Yeah, we can sell up, move to Spain and live off our savings for a year - we're bound to find work/learn the language by then. Dream on. Chances are they will run out of money and limp off home (which they've sold by the way) and just dump the kids back into uk school.
Or maybe it's for the old favourite "Better quality of life". For the parents or the kids? Alcholol and fags are cheap here, admittedly.
The problem is that wherever you move to you your problems still remain.

Maybe I'm a bit cynical about all this but I know first hand how difficult it can be. My kids are in the local village school and even after a few years it's still tough for them, particularly vocabulary that the Spanish kids automatically know from their home-life but you don't often see in textbooks. I just feel for the young kids. There are a lot of very selfish parents around who just drag their kids with them everytime they screw up their own lives.

SueG

I am sorry to add to your troubles but have just been reading an English language newspaper here in Spain which has said that the areas you mention above are "British ghettos" - their words not mine - all the businesses are either English or Irish and the schools have about 20 Spanish children in the whole school and the rest are of different nationalities. Therefore no-one wins because obviously the teachers are Spanish and teach in Spanish.

I have no axe to grind but you might want to think longer and harder especially as you have children but whatever you decide I wish you well.