gleni

Hello to all!

I'm new on this site so forgive me any naivity ut we need all the help we can get. We just have a few quick questions to those in the know! Any help or advice would be very very much appreciated. In brief:

1. State Schools in the South West -

we are looking at Santa Ponsa, S'Arraco, Andratx and Costa Del Calma. Any recommendations? We would like our kids to not be the only British in the school. Sounds awful to say but them settling in is so important to us. I hear you dont get much of a choice but if I can give the Town Hall a selection of three then at least they'll pick one of the schools we prefer.

We have a son aged 10 years and a daughter aged 6. English speaking, basic Spanish.


2. A community base. Where to settle?

We did a reckie a couple of weeks back in Mallorca. Didn't see any sense of community, kids playing in the streets etc. (probably went to all the wrong places - so little time). Do you have any recommendations for our next visit when we will be seeking a long term private rental (in terms of urbanisation names to look in)? We would love a mix of Expat and Spanish.

3. Work

My husband has his own Limited Co. here in England as a Kitchen, Bathroom and Bedroom fitter and currently sub-contracts from John Lewis Plc and Magnet UK Ltd. Any similar work threads available? Any recommendations for contacts?

I have my own little baby casting business and a website that I can translate to Spanish and German. Working for myself - any trappings/red tape to note?

If anyone is in a similar position we would love to knock ideas and suggestions back and forth with you.

gleni

amideislas

Gleni, I've already said my piece on this, but I will add this:

If you're anything like many of the expats here, I'll give you between 2-4 years in the southwest before you pull stakes and either move out into the campo, to a small town, or move back to the UK.

The southwest is convenient, modern, and offers a lot of resources, but is very expensive, overpopulated, restrictive, and not very friendly, in general. It's where everyone of all nationalities seem to believe they will be best suited (at first). Wait till you meet the neighbours

remember where you heard this

Good luck, and enjoy our little paradise in the med.

steviedeluxe

Hi! Just out of interest - what is a baby casting business?

Domino

can see you may want the good life, but -
it isnt all good news, with 40% + unemployed in Spain, and I would imagine they need another Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom fitter like a hole in the head.
It is likely there are already those out here who will be more than willing to do it.

Perhaps you OH will be able to contract in the UK and fly backwards and forwards ??
Many people live in Spain, travel back to uk and other countries regularly.

rgds

gleni

Hi its sculpturing baby's hands and feet. Check out www.mashanana.com website.

gleni

Thanks Ami

I did take your advice and we travelled the East coast a couple of weeks ago although it seemed apparent that my hubby would need to be near Palma for the work. Work and schools are at the top of the list for now but also affordable housing within a community that works for us is also important. We still have open minds, hence the new thread.
Many thanks Ami

Gleni

sujee

I had wonderful visuals of babies used as fly fishing bait