Originally Posted by Culebronchris

Hi Relampago: Sorry I didn't mean to cause any offence - as a Briton I can't tell the difference between any Spanish accents. I might guess that someone is from Andalucia but, then again, they could be from the Canaries or from Rumania! As far as Murcianos go unless they were to say acho and platico in the same sentence I wouldn't have a clue. Nonetheless, I have been told by Spanish people, who are not Murcianos, that the accent here is a strong one and that was all I meant.

As to the snow though I do know about that. It's a sort of white powder and I can recognise it. I would absolutely stand by what I said in my original post.

Originally Posted by Culebronchris

We have a house in Pinoso which is about 30kms from both Jumilla and Yecla and we live in Cartagena which is also in Murcia.

To be honest both towns are pretty tedious. They're OK, nothing wrong with them but nothing much of note. No noteworthy buildings to speak of - there are a couple but they are lost amidst the streets of concrete boxes. The fiestas are pretty good and Jumilla has quite a busy artistic life one way and another including a pretty good flamenco competition (Murcia has a strong flamenco tradition.) To be honest it's the same answer as it would be for what's Brighouse or Cramlington or Borstal like - the places are what you make of them and both Yecla and Jumilla are perfectly nice. Inland Murcia by the way has a big Ecuadorian population and Jumilla benefits from a couple of bars that serve Ecuadorian food and beer to give you a break from the traditional inland fare of rice with rabbit and snails or gazpacho (rabbit and "pastry" rather than liquidised soup)

The Murciano accent is a bit of a joke all over Spain but at least they only speak Castellano which is an improvement over the Valenciano spoken in Alicante next door which sometimes make information even less available than usual (cultural programmes etc only presented in Valenciano which rather excludes we immigrants.)

The next couple of paragraphs are a bit contentious. Just a view. You will get others.

Don't know much about the schools not having children but there are often debates on the expat forums about schools with views ranging from rubbish to excellent. My wife works in a state school and she has worked in others. As a composite view I would say that Spanish education is quite old fashioned with a lot of emphasis on learning facts rather than understanding principles. Unlike in the UK where the curriculum is wide ranging and the discipline quite hard here the discipline is quite lax but the curriculum is strict. There are lots of stories of older Brit youngsters "retiring" from school because they don't understand enough of what's going on to stay interested.

Young children pick up Spanish easily but older children struggle nearly as much as their parents. My Spanish is rubbish but it's an awful lot better than most 30/40/50 year old Brits I know. I find it very isolating when trying to participate in community meetings etc. and speaking Castillian Spanish or rather my lack of it is probably my only real concern about living in Spain. I try to read the newspapers, watch the telly and keep up with the place I live. It's hard work and most Brits don't bother so they know more about what's happening in the UK than they do about here which, again, is quite isolating. Think of those Pakistani or Vietnamese or Polish areas of the town near you in the UK with their own shops and services and you have the life of most expats here.

Winters aren't exactly cold but they are extremely unpleasant because carpetless, curtainless, non insulated, marble floored, tiled walled houses are built to keep cool not to keep warm. On a typical winters day expect it to be pleasant out, wearing a jacket, but numbingly cold in the house. It does snow from time to time but we are not talking Burgos or Galicia type weather. Snow in the streets always makes for photos in the local papers.

Airport wise it's OK, I'd be amazed if you can make Alicante in 50 minutes but both Alicante and San Javier, Murcia are within striking distance. There has been talk for years of building a new airport near Murcia. Murcia, by the way, is a reasonably interesting city, now the 7th largest in Spain apparently and it's easy to get to from both Jumilla and Yecla.

Wildlife is odd. Spaniards go out and shoot things all the time and there are often little pieces in the local newspapers about a wild pig being involved in a car accident but I saw more rabbits on one roundabout in Huntingdon at dusk than I've seen in five years here. Even in Salamanca, where I lived for a while, where the air is full of falcons and buzzards I never saw a fox or a rabbit or an owl except as roadkill.

No idea about golf courses. There's a forum called spainserve.com that's based in Yecla so why not ask there, you may also get better information about schools.

Unemployment in Spain now stands at 20%. Finding work is hard. If you aren't a fluent Spanish speaker then the chances are pretty low that you'll find anything. Even if you do have Spanish lots of jobs need a specific qualification that you won't have. Setting up a business is the way most Brits go round here (obviously people have jobs too but in a sort of generalised answering a post sort of way the self employed bit is true) but that too is quite difficult because there is a minimum social security payment of around 260€ per month whether you earn anything from your business or not. If you were to go to an area where there are far fewer Brits - almost anywhere except Alicante, Murcia, Malaga and the Islands - the fact that you speak English can make you saleable as an English teacher for private classes if for nothing else. Over in Salamanca my wife and I were the only Brits in the town of Ciudad Rodrigo and the local language school were keen to employ me whereas here in Cartagena there are lots of better qualified native speakers than me so I can't find anything.

Just on house hunting. The Spanish property market is plagued by fraudsters. Other people will disagree but I would tend to trust the Estate Agents who have an API sign outside their business premises. It's a sort of professional organisation that "suggests" a level of professionalism.

I can't be bothered to read back over the essay above so please forgive the typos.

Originally Posted by coletteandmike

thanks for taking the time to reply to all my points.
i am extremly worried about the job situation as we only have enough savings to see us through 6 months without jobs and my inlaws are constantley telling me this is a bad time to try and make it in spain we are bound to fail!! this is a big enough step without the doubts people keep drumming into our heads.
do you know of any local places we can look for jobs before we come out to spain newspapers,recrutment agencies etc
i was so possitive about wanting a different way of life but at this moment in time i feel deflatley
anyhelp from anyone will be grately apprieciated

Originally Posted by coletteandmike

do you know of any local places we can look for jobs before we come out to spain newspapers,recrutment agencies etc

Originally Posted by agoreira

As unpalatable as it is, they could well be right, you've picked the worse possible time.


I'm sure they have your best interest at heart, and are simply trying to save you from failing. People often ask on these forums for advice, and more often than not, don't like what they hear and choose to ignore it anyway. People can only do their best and tell it as they see it, if you still go ahead and try it, then that's up to you. You might make a go of it, but as has been pointed out, many fail. A bit like your in laws really, if I was advising kids of mine I'd be giving them same info as they are giving you! Without a guaranteed job and lots of money, don't even think about it. Best of luck, I'm sure you'll be going for it.

Originally Posted by JLFS

I just wanted to add to painermujers post about schooling.

Having been kid that was "plonked" in a foreign school at 7 I can tell you little bout what it was like.

For me it was not too bad, as I was not in the "big School" so a lot more allowances are made for everything.

As I was 7 my mistakes and lack of understanding of the language were still seen "borderline cute", one or 2 years older and there is a lot less tolerance about, after all you are being prepared for secondary school.

Also it was a lot easier for a foreign child in the UK to learn English, than for an English child to learn Spanish in Spain (although it can vary depending on where you choose to live).

I was surrounded by English, no Spanish TV and no Spanish neigbours. I did get to know a lot of Spanish and Italian families, and the younger children ( or less, from what I can remember had not trouble adapting.

The teenagers really suffered, and teenage kids only want to be cool and, helping out is not seen as cool.

Another thing to remember is that we were taken to a country with more of a future for us, Spain in my opinion offers less of a future for the young adults and school leavers.

If you think that the future for the young is bad in the UK, Spain is worse.

Originally Posted by paintermujer

i know its a bad time but when is a good time?
this is the year my daughter would start secondary school so the big change is happening if i dont do it now i cant do it for another 5 years till she has finished her education but all the bells in the head are ringing saying dont try now. maybe our new life will have to wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by coletteandmike

gosh what a bummer all that sounds
im wondering why anyone with kids would move to or stay in spain at all?
i also have a 21 year old daughter who was the tennager from hell (although she is doing very well now)i thought a move to spain might spare me another horrid teenage hell!!!!!!!!!!!