Hi there, I'm a newbie here. Coming to Bellreguard Spain with my hubby and 4 year old daughter on holiday in August. We thinking of making a permanent move there next year and would love to meet up with other expats / parents in the area. Get an idea on what its like to live permanently in Spain nowadays. Things to do in that area, schools etc
Anyone out there? Thanks..

I am not an Expat or a member but this site may help.

http://www.gandiaareasocialclub.com/pages/aboutus.php

Thanks a lot @johnnyone!

Think very carefully, particularly if you will need jobs to survive, unemployment is horrific in Spain, wothout fluent Spanish then I would suspect non existent, unless you are looking for bar work, and jobs in ex pat areas, BUT even those are drying up as a lot of expats try to sell up and move back. The drawback living in Spain and not being a pensioner is that health care is only free to people in contracted jobs or who pay the €250 a month as self-employed, there is not safety net of benefits if you lose a job, if you were contracted then you get a few months unemployment, and that's it. There is no child benefit as in the UK, no housing benefits etc. So if you have to have work in Spain to live, then please think very carefully about a permanent move.

Those that I know have been there say that it is cliqey and often unfriendly to new members, which is a little weird for a social club

Cliquey? Oh no! Well i've sent them an email. I'll see if there's anything happening during my visit.

€250, Really? Is that for a pvt health care scheme? We would b self employed so no need to job hunt but €250 seems like a .What if you have a valid healthcare card from an EU country aren't you entitled to the same healthcare as a local?

if you're self employed you have to pay what is known as autónomo - essentially National Insurance

that is from around 250€ a month - there are various variables - mine is rather more than that.....& you pay tax on top of that

if you're from the UK & have form S1 you can use that to access state healthcare for up to 2 years in Spain - but if you're working that's immaterial, because the autónomo payment plugs you in to the health system anyway

if the 'healthcard' you are thinking of is the EHIC - no, that doesn't entitle you to the same healthcare as a local - that entitles you to emergency healthcare whilst on holiday - you can't use it if you are resident

Please check out the requirements for health care very carefully, it is expensive, even if you are working, as has been explained the €250 is like an NI payment, and gives you access to the Spanish system. The only other answer is to pay for private health care, but legally, if you are self employed you have to pay the €250 in any case. The only people who do get FREE health cover in Spain are pensioners as the EHIC card is for TOURISTS only, people do use it BUT if you are found to be using it and a resident, then you may well get a big bill.

Coming over to Spain to work and live is not cheap any more, IBI, the equivalent of council tax has gone up by huge amounts recently, although you would only pay that if you owned the house. 5 or 6 years ago it was about 10% of the UK rates, now, in some areas it is about 60%. I do suspect that car tax will go the same way with the problems with the ecconomy.

Thank you for all your invaluable advice! The EUR 250 ( NI payment) you speak of is per person or per family?

for each self employed person

if only one of you is working though, the rest of the family is covered for healthcare as dependants

I wouldnt class private health as expensive in Spain Mike. Certainly nothing like the cost for individuals in the UK.

As I have often said, Sanitas PH cover for the wife and I was €1150 ish per year when we came here, and I dont class that as outrageous

Also Mike, our council tax here is €400, whereas it was £800 in the last place we were in the UK, and £1500 the one before that. Its gone up very little over the years, although they have just started to charge for rubbish collection €40.

Around here, even with the original exchange rate collapse of a few years back, it is still cheaper to live in Spain than the UK

Car Tax? Who knows, but I pay €105 here for a 4 x 4. You know how expensive a 4 x 4 is in the UK. For a UK car I pay iirc £180 for a 2 ltr, so still quite some way to catch up

Going back a few years to when meetings were held at La Garrotta in Miramar I would certainly agree with you and it was so for quite some time after. However there is now a new 'hierarchy' and things seem to have changed for the better.

My wife and I left the club sometime back because of precisely what you said but have since rejoined and found things much better

I'd say private healthcare is comparatively cheap here , too............. but not if you were expecting it to be free...

Sad to say 'hierarchy' is the problem.I only had one contact with the club some years ago doing what should have been a simple thing.hiring a space in a car boot.........what should be just a group of like minded individuals meeting to enjoy themselves gets a bit complex when 'hierarchy' is involved.