Good afternoon,

we are a young family (in 30s with 3 young children) and looking at moving to Costa del sol region and looking for advice on various things.

where is best to move to where is popular with British expats and isn’t too expensive? My wife has friends that moved 10+ years ago and live near miraflores area so would be nice to live around that area, Mijas, Fuengirola, miraflores etc?

how have people got on with flats/apartments with kids? We’d love a house/villa with private pool as we are obviously used to a big 3 bedroom house in the U.K. but don’t think we could afford something like that? Unless mortgages can be obtained at decent rates? Have others who had kids have no problem in apartments and shared pools etc?

jobs - what kind of jobs are obtainable in these areas for a British expat? Potential salaries etc? Ideally I’d like to be able to live off just my wage to start with so my wife can look after our 1 year old then in a couple of years she can get a part time job or full time once the little one is in school.

Ive read kids pick up Spanish rapidly in Spanish state schools? How have others kids got on in different schools and what would your recommendations be?

making friends and social circles? Are areas easier to make British/Spanish friends of our age? Obviously my wife has her friend and their family living there but we wouldn’t want to have to burden them with us 7 days a week forever.

any others tips or help anyone can think of I’d hugely appreciate it as we start our research? This is something we would love to do and ideally if we can get everything planned to the point of making the leap of faith it would ideally need to be sometime in next year as would like to do it before my 10 year old starts high school.

Do a search of the forum and you will find quite a few threads on the subject. Here is one for you to read,

Moving to Spain - Where to Start? - British Expats

Rosemary

A good link Rosemary, I've just read through it and there is as much information there as the OP may require unless they have specific questions.

Steve

I’m sorry but the thread link doesn’t really answer any of my questions. Majority of it is arguing about starmer’s potential decisions, specific visa type and the fact the OP wasn’t clearer with their questions which id like to think I’ve asked many more specific questions to which aren’t answered in most threads I’ve looked at on the first 5/6 pages including the thread linked.

many thanks

You are putting the cart before the horse, really, as until you know you would be able to get a visa (you don't say if you have an EU passport, if you do then it is a different story). If a UK passport holder, then it isn't just a case of what jobs are available and what selary levels might be expected - you would need to secure a job offer from an employer, and the employer first has to secure a work permit to be able to employ you (which comes at quite a cost) and only then could you apply for a visa to enable you to live and work in Spain. Unless you have a skill set which is high enough demand to justify the cost and timescale involved to an employer, or they have found it difficult to recruit a suitable candidate who doesn't need a visa, they're unlikely to want to go down that route.

Ok, let's put it bluntly then.

If you need to work, and it clearly sounds like you do, then you will need to first find a Spanish employer to offer you a contract and then sponsor your work visas. Unless you have some unique or high demand skills which cannot be sourced either in Spain, or the rest of the EU, no employer is going to offer you a job.

If you do not possess such skills then your plan is dead in the water.

Now if you or your wife were to possess an EU passport that would be something else entirely!

Sorry but that's it in a nutshell.

I’m sorry to both the last two replies but how do you know what my situation is in regards to skills I posses etc.

I had 4 other questions that have nothing to do with work or visas.

it seems to me looking at majority of the threads on this website is most people just look to shoot down anyone who has the audacity of showing interest in moving to Spain.

I have asked questions on an expat Spain forum/thread looking for answers from hopefully nice helpful people which usually you find on forums but instead just people telling me to forget it without knowing my personal circumstances. Most people usually don’t post if they don’t have anything constructive to say to a specific question.

Thanks for all your non help. Happy for you all to leave it there 👍🏻

if anyone has any actual answers to my other specific questions then please feel free to answer.

many thanks

It would be very helpful if you could provide as much info about yourself as possible, ie what type of job/qualifications do you have, salary range are you looking for. If you do not provide the relevant info to your questions, how can our members help you?

hi jerseygirl,

how does knowing my skills have anything to do with questions about areas with British expats but not expensive, about people’s experience with kids living in apartments not homes/villas, question about kids getting on in Spanish state schools, question about social aspect for new British movers?

I feel I gave enough info for those questions to be answered. Instead they weren’t even acknowledged, not even asking for more info. Just a straight don’t bother you probably won’t get a job?

If it was up to me, you and your family would still be able to move to Spain and start a new life and you may or may not make a go of it like thousands of others before you. I'm definitely not a ladder kicker.

Nobody on here is being a killjoy and what you are proposing would have been perfectly reasonable before Brexit but now it is extremely difficult, if not virtually impossible post Brexit particularly if you are seeking employment in Spain. Non lucrative visas are extremely challenging too and a lot of people are being turned down apparently.

Sorry, but it begins and ends there unless one of you is fortunate enough to have an EU passport which would change everything. You would be well advised to consult an immigration lawyer and conduct a feasibility study because if you can't secure a visa and/or have limited employment prospects, your other questions are academic.

In your position, I would consider Portugal because it's much easier.

To be honest to get information regarding possibility achieving what you want to do is not firstly to do with what skills you have. The first hurdle is going to be what passport you and your wife hold. That is the first and key question for both getting advice and route to achieve what you want to do.



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The thing is though - same as on the forums for Australia/USA/Canada/etc - do you qualify for a visa?

many of us have spent thousands of hours on these forums answering questions about schools/transport/accommodation/etc only to find that the OP has no chance of ever getting a visa.
Put the horse before the cart, see if you qualify for a visa, and then come back with that info - and shedloads of help will come your way 😊

Don't forget that all available work in Spain must be offered to an EU citizen first and if nobody from the EU is capable of doing the advertised position only then it will be offered to a non EU citizen.

Steve

In theory thats true for local/national companies but there are many large global companies with presence in Spain who will move employees round internally and that doesn't apply (or certainly they find ways around it)

"who will move employees round"

Yes but they are already employees who are not looking for work as a non EU citizen.

Steve