Hi All,

Thank-you for welcoming me to this forum. We are seriously thinking of moving to Ayamonte by the end of the year & my wife & I are carrying out as much research as we can in the area. Our primary concern is schooling for our children who are 3 & 6 months. We really need some idea as to what schooling is available. The main question on our mind is:

Are there english nursery/primary schools available? If so, where are they? How good are they? What are the costs?
What are the spanish options?

We are curious as to the costs of renting property both private & commercially and are really hoping that there is somebody out there who can point us in the right direction. Also advice on setting up a new business would also be great.

We are due to fly out in March for a few days & intend to spend a lot of time hands on researching the area but would like to be as prepared as possible prior to this time.

We would really appreciate it if anybody out there can offer some advice or possibly point us in the right direction, e.g. telephone numbers or web-links that might provide us with this information.

Many Thank's,

Charlie

There is a lot of property for rent at Costa Esuri and Isla Canela. They are mainly holiday lets but due to the current climate you may be able to do a long term deal. Look on Holidaylettings or Ownersdirect.

I think I am right in saying you need 4 posts to receive emails or PMs which would be the best way to receive phone numbers and links.

Hello Charles, Here´s step 1: (affordable accomodation) http://www.theoraclenews.com/index.p...=189&Itemid=26

Hi Charles,
There are no English nursery schools in the area. There are several Spanish nursery schools and they cost around 140 euros per month, lunch included if you wish.
There are no English primary schools but there is one private school close to Huelva city. Here is the link; http://www.attendis.com
The monthly rental cost for a house or an apartment will be between 450 - 750 euros, depending on area and type of property.
Rental for commercial premises could be anything between 600 - 2000 euros, again depending on size, location and type of business you are planning to open.
Hope this helps.

Great stuff, many thanks. I think the next step would be to check out the schools individually although 140 euros a month seems really cheap? I was expecting to pay 250+? Are they easy to get into or is there a waiting list?

My wife and I are also TESOL accreditated to business english so we are hoping to explore teaching english in the area also.

Hi Charles

We moved to Ayamonte 2 years ago with our children 6 and 7 years old. We found at that age they simply integrated into the local state school and were fluent in the language within a year and of course had local school friends. As far as housing is concerned I would advise spending some time here and deciding where you want to rent. The climate is ideal right now for long term rentals and you should be able to bargain a good deal.

However, a word of caution please spend some time in Ayamonte before making the plunge. And if you decide to move here I am sure you will be warmly welcomed and your children will love it.

Hi Charles,
Spaces are limited in the nursery schools. At the moment there are no places in the Ayamonte public system. Families are coming and going all the time so although there are no places today, there may be some tomorrow. You would have to put your name down and wait for a place. You may be lucky with the new intake after the summer holiday.
In order to teach English it would be useful to have a good grounding in Spanish language. It helps if you can give your pupils an accurate translation. Teaching a class in English to people who don't understand any English is a sure fire way to lose pupils.
There is an official language school in Ayamonte. Here is the link: http://ayamonte.eeooii.org/
You may be able to get work there.
There are also a couple of private language schools teaching English in the Ayamonte area.
There doesn't seem to be much call for business English in the Ayamonte area but there is a demand in Huelva city.
If you wanted to teach in Ayamonte then teaching children would probably be the easiest way to go. Children are taught English in school from 8 years old and there is always a demand from parents to improve their childrens spoken English.

Hola Charles,

If you look at my past posts I have written regarding schooling. My son now aged 13 attends the private catholic boys school in Huelva. To be honest with your children's ages they will be ok in local school. There are British children in these already, but they need to make Spanish friends.

Listen to advice above about renting first to determine the area you want to settle in. There is lots of property available at the moment.

In regard to teaching, I know of some people that have tried this and struggled. The schools do not appear to interested in employing English people to teach English to the children. On the private side yes some Spanish parents are willing to pay for extra lessons, but, lets put it this way, not all the children want to learn. Your Spanish would need to be good to control a group of young children. How is your Spanish by the way?

Life in Ayamonte can be good, but, don't come here if you have to rely on working to be able to live. Some people have had to go back last year due to exchange rate not being good and no work prospects.

I don't want to appear gloomy but you need to do alot of research.

best regards
Sue

Hi All,

Thank's for the replies. Some really honest feedback that I was looking for. It's easy to see things through rosy coloured spectacles when your sitting in London!

In answer to your question I'm fluent in Spanish as my family come from there & it was taught to me as a child although my primary tounge is English. I'm not 100% sure as to where I want to settle yet & I intend to spend the next 6 months fact finding & paying several visits before I decide. (I have family in the region who have agreed to help me out).

The truth is that I'm 35 & have a good well paid, very high pressure job in Central London, but like so many other people I am not releshing the prospect of spending the next 25 years of my life working 12 hour days for weekends that are too short & 4 weeks off per year. Both myself & my wife are an age where we still have the energy to change our lives to live the way we want to live & most importantly of all enjoy our children while they are still young. I don't want to fall into the trap that my predessors did who work hard until their 60 & have children they don't even know & a wife they don't like but are earning 6 figures plus.

I am under no dillusion that it won't be tough but we are very, very entreprenerual & I understand the culture as I have spent a great deal of time in Spain both with Family & working in the past.

Part of my research is to understand what life is like out there in the sense of how much does it cost to live, e.g. bill, taxes etc.. & most of all, is there the opportunity to spend more time with your family (which is paramont for me). I'm hoping by being there, with my feet firmly on the ground, that I will take the opportunties/risks as they come.

It's a risk... but one worth taking I think.

If anybody can give me any more information as to the cost of living it would be great. In terms of schools, I understand that there is miles & miles of red tape involved which I am currently wading through at the moment & the fact that the economy is so very poor at the moment is not helping matters.

The UK is simply dreadful at the moment with 1000's losing their jobs everyday & a very miserable feeling all over with the added burden of the worst weather that I have ever seen. If only for the sunshine, it would be worth the move.

Thank's again for everybody's advice, it's much appreciated & always welcomed.

Cheers

Charles

I have to disagree with that comment. CharlesB has said that he is TESOL trained, meaning that he does not have to rely on like for like translations.....red=rojo, car=coche, that kind of thing. Once you get beyond the basics direct translations are no good anyway as you have to translate concepts and ideas rather than individual words. He will no doubt have experience of teaching multilingual classes where you can easily have 12 students from 12 different countries making translations impossible.

But I have to wonder why someone who is fluent in Spanish would want to settle somewhere as anglicised as Ayamonte? Why not capitalise on the fact that you are bilingual and go somewhere where the Brits are still in demand. There is already a saturation of British in the small town of Ayamonte.

Hi CharlesB,

You can not live on sunshine. If you have a steady job, for heavens sake, stay put until the recession has started to come to a close and normallity reigns. Then have a look and make your decisions. If you think times are hard now, then you have rose tinted glasses. My advice is to wait until the "baby boomers" (born 1947/8) retire, thats when the recession times should change with the release of lump sum allowances.

Davexf

Hi Jerezgirl
I was specifically addressing the Ayamonte situation. There are not enough people who speak English to a level where the language could be taught only in English. I have taught in classes where there were 7 different mother tongues but all my pupils had a basic knowledge of English. The problem arises when they are total beginners.

CharlesB
I would agree with Davexf,
Stay where you are until we are through these difficult times. People are cutting back on lots of things including hairdressers, restaurant meals and language classes. I don't think that it would be the right time to take the plunge.
Spanish people are also losing their jobs and there is lots of doom and gloom here. Doom and gloom in the sunshine is not so different from doom and gloom in the snow.
Living costs vary according to the purse but the basics would be:

Rent: 500
Water: 35
Electricity: 60
Food for
family of 4: 400
Gas: 15

These costs could vary. You could eat for less than 100 euros per week but I include in this household items such as washing powder, nappies etc.
The Gas cost is based on a house in Ayamonte with one gas bottle per month. If you rented on Costa Esuri then you would have mains gas and the cost would be higher.
For a family of four the basic cost would be, give or take, 1000 euros per month. Before anyone shouts me down and tells me their cost of living is much more/much less, I am simply trying to give Charles a ball park figure.

Hi,

Thanks Luz; one thing I would add to your costs is transport. Say 50 euros a month pay out over a year including servicing the car etc.
But a very good response

Davexf

Hello Charles,
If you have family here who are happy to help you find your feet, and also, maybe some savings to boot, then, as those aged Nike ads used to say: "Just do it!". There is never a perfect time...always more this and that needed, but these are just excuses. Once one gets over the fact that one don't need a huge house, two cars and the kids in private school....then one can enjoys Spain for what it is.
Some on this forum might take the view that with the currant "Crisis" in Spain, one should wait it out. But that could/probably will be a very long wait. There is a huge difference between yourself and the average poster asking about finding Eldorado here. You speak the lingo, have family here, and have some basic qualifications.
But....don't assume the weather is anything to write home about!
Good luck!

Hi Charlie

We spent a year in Ayamonte and due to circumstances has to return to the UK. Our daughter was only 6 months old when we moved and we managed to have her placed into the Nursery opposite the Palza Shopping Centre. I think we were very lucky to get this place. The attention and the facilities were excellent but all the staff were Spanish and did not speak English. A full time place was very very reasonable priced.

Our daugher loved it there and everyone was very friendly. I would recommend the Nursery if you are able to get a place.........but remember if you are planning to work full time, the Nursery is closed for the whole month of August and all the public holidays.