upandatem

Ok ,,here goes would love to move to and live in spain had a look at the housing market seems to be alot of bargains ...
Has anyone moved there and are still there (settled) would you recommend as a family life style ?

GGOD...AND ...BAD ...Please

lynnxa

lots of us have moved here & would totally recommend the family lifestyle

however........... if you'd be looking for work then now wouldn't be the time to come

olivefarmer

Well I'll kick off with the question everyone will ask. If you are moving as a family and thus presumably are not all retired, what will the bread winner do to make a living?

Assuming you have enough money each month to live on, Spain is a good place for families. You will need to learn the language to get the best out of life. One caveat I would add is that teenage lads seem to struggle when it comes to getting a Spanish girlfriend. In fact for older children the future doesn't look too good in terms of employment. You will be well aware of the 50% youth unemployment rate.

Restaurants etc are geared up for families. One near us has a special play area.

cricketman

From my experience, to get a Spanish girlfriend, the girl needs to think that you will fit in with her family.

While to get an English girlfriend, you need to be as undesirable as possible to her family

A generalisation, I know

upandatem

Thank you olive farmer,,, i would be the bread winner truck driver /do alot of spain so i thought why not move there .
my kids are still at school, and when they are old enough they can work in the uk,,,,

lynnxa

if you're still going to be working for the same company then go for it!

upandatem

lhi ynnxa .
Yes it would be for the same firm,,the banks over there are giving 100//% morgages on re_possed propertys some good deals ..

Pocaloca

Yes there are some good repo deals, but it's still a good idea to rent for a while and make sure you like the area and have the right schools for your kids. Otherwise you could get stuck with a house you can't sell - and prices are still falling!

Pocaloca

How old are your kids and do they already speak Spanish? Just thinking that unless they are very small they are going to have a problem fitting into a Spanish state school, and the international schools that teach in English are really, really expensive!

I'm sure you've thought this through, sorry for sticking my nose in.

upandatem

hi Pocaloca..
2 are young enough to learn another lingo ...my view is if you dont make the effort then you wont learn /i am sure the spanish will soon put you right if you say something wrong or have a good laugh ..

upandatem

just as a matter of interest how much are flights these days////and how much rent would you expect to pay for a 4 bedroomed property on average without going into pools.ect

Pocaloca

That's true, but might not be much fun in a maths lesson ...

Pocaloca

Depends on the time of year, where you are going and the airline, you can check on the websites for Easyjet or Ryanair. Anything between 50 and 200 pounds each way when you include the taxes, then you pay extra for your bags.

Rents again depend where you are, how far from the coast etc. There's some here for Valencia province that will give you an idea what's on the market.

http://www.fotocasa.es/viviendas/valencia-provincia/alquiler/

lynnxa

how young though?

if they're around 9/10 years old it would be really difficult to get up to speed well enough to study in Spanish

any older than that, although a few do manage, that are a very small minority

bob_bob

Plus, will the children have qualifications recognised in the UK when they have no choice but to return in the hope of finding work and somewhere to live?