Majorca
Apr 18th 2012, 10:24 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 51
Majorca
After spending the last six months researching other countries to live (primarily those that speak English) we have decided that staying in Europe is going to be our best and easiest choice and have narrowed it down to Marjoca because we love the place so much. We have only ever visited Palma Nova (3 times), Santa Ponsa and the areas in between.
We are planning on buying a business, a cafe type business and are currently researching the businesses currently for sale. We have previously discussed our plans with a kind ex-pat who already runs a restaurant and he has explained in basics the different licences for food businesses etc so we know what we are letting ourselves in for!
We have a son who is 8 and has mild special educational needs. i have emailed a few of the schools in the Palma Nova area asking questions and a couple have emailed me back. We know what we have to do to register our son at a school so that is not a problem. (We are looking at state schools)
We plan to visit different areas of the Island and look at schools and businesses in October.
What i want to know from those already living in Majorca is more general to help me decide if the area we have chosen is the right one and also we want to spend the whole time we are in Majorca driving around the island so want to narrow our search down to four of five towns or two districts/areas of the island. In order to do that I am looking for suggestions and would be grateful if you could answer my following questions.
1. where do you live?
2. Why do you like living there?
3. What is the downside to living there?
4. do you send your child(ren) to state schools and what do you like/dislike about it?
5. if you could give only one piece of advice/one tip what would it be.
thank you
We are planning on buying a business, a cafe type business and are currently researching the businesses currently for sale. We have previously discussed our plans with a kind ex-pat who already runs a restaurant and he has explained in basics the different licences for food businesses etc so we know what we are letting ourselves in for!
We have a son who is 8 and has mild special educational needs. i have emailed a few of the schools in the Palma Nova area asking questions and a couple have emailed me back. We know what we have to do to register our son at a school so that is not a problem. (We are looking at state schools)
We plan to visit different areas of the Island and look at schools and businesses in October.
What i want to know from those already living in Majorca is more general to help me decide if the area we have chosen is the right one and also we want to spend the whole time we are in Majorca driving around the island so want to narrow our search down to four of five towns or two districts/areas of the island. In order to do that I am looking for suggestions and would be grateful if you could answer my following questions.
1. where do you live?
2. Why do you like living there?
3. What is the downside to living there?
4. do you send your child(ren) to state schools and what do you like/dislike about it?
5. if you could give only one piece of advice/one tip what would it be.
thank you
Apr 18th 2012, 3:04 pm
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2012
Location: Alicante, Spain
Posts: 175
Re: Majorca
I cant help you out in regards to Majorca as im in Alicante, but i can advise about schools. If your son has some special educational needs, it might be very hard for him to integrate in a state school and pick up the language. My daughter was 5 when she started school here, and luckily picked up the language very fast so i sent her to the local state school (which is very impressive!!) But had she been 8 or older i probably would have considered a private school...or gotten her some intensive spanish lessons before we moved.
The thing i like most about having my daughter in a state school is that she has adjusted to life in Spain much quicker than other children. She speaks the language fluently, has spanish friends, reads in spanish, watches tv in spanish...so she is no different to any other spanish kids! She will (hopefully) go on to university here and not return to Ireland (where we are from).
Good luck!
The thing i like most about having my daughter in a state school is that she has adjusted to life in Spain much quicker than other children. She speaks the language fluently, has spanish friends, reads in spanish, watches tv in spanish...so she is no different to any other spanish kids! She will (hopefully) go on to university here and not return to Ireland (where we are from).
Good luck!
Apr 18th 2012, 3:19 pm
#3
Concierge
Joined: May 2006
Location: ex ex-pat, in Taunton
Posts: 27,203
Re: Majorca
We are planning on buying a business, a cafe type business and are currently researching the businesses currently for sale. We have previously discussed our plans with a kind ex-pat who already runs a restaurant and he has explained in basics the different licences for food businesses etc so we know what we are letting ourselves in for!
Apr 19th 2012, 9:51 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 144
Re: Majorca
1. where do you live?
2. Why do you like living there?
3. What is the downside to living there?
4. do you send your child(ren) to state schools and what do you like/dislike about it?
5. if you could give only one piece of advice/one tip what would it be.
1, North east coast
2, To mention a few..
2-1, Because the locals are more genuine than the locals where I came from (NW London)
2-2, Because I am very comfortable with the way of life in Mallorca.
2-3, Because, although some are strange and difficult to get around, most of the regulations / laws make sense.
3, To mention a few..
3-1, The season (something you must, or should, already know). Everything closes "out of season" in the tourist rich areas. This makes some things a little harder and it can get a little too quiet. We have found ourselves waiting for the tourist season to start and then wishing it would end (that's another story).
3-2, Be careful..... SOME of the very people that you would expect to be loyal to you, can be the very people who are not. To sum this up, beware of the jealous, back stabbing expats.
3-3, National insurance payments, whether you are making any money or not.
4, Sorry, can't help on this one. My children are in the UK and putting their own children through school.
5, Do everything legally, get at least 3 opinions of the law or regulations and then check these with an official person. Get everything in writing and don't imagine that you can open a bar and make a fortune, those days have gone.
To give you some idea of the situation here, a friend of mine (English) was working for an English bar/cafe owner. He eventually took over the bar about 4 years ago. Now the bar is for sale and he wants to go back to the UK. His reasons are (what he told me), that he is not working enough in the winter and working too much in the summer. He would not miss the weather because from now until the end of October, he will be confined to the kitchen (he is a chef) and will not see any of the good weather. Both he and his wife would be happier somewhere like Torque.
Sorry if some of this is doom and gloom but it's best that you know as much as possible before you make the leap. Wishing you all the best.
2. Why do you like living there?
3. What is the downside to living there?
4. do you send your child(ren) to state schools and what do you like/dislike about it?
5. if you could give only one piece of advice/one tip what would it be.
1, North east coast
2, To mention a few..
2-1, Because the locals are more genuine than the locals where I came from (NW London)
2-2, Because I am very comfortable with the way of life in Mallorca.
2-3, Because, although some are strange and difficult to get around, most of the regulations / laws make sense.
3, To mention a few..
3-1, The season (something you must, or should, already know). Everything closes "out of season" in the tourist rich areas. This makes some things a little harder and it can get a little too quiet. We have found ourselves waiting for the tourist season to start and then wishing it would end (that's another story).
3-2, Be careful..... SOME of the very people that you would expect to be loyal to you, can be the very people who are not. To sum this up, beware of the jealous, back stabbing expats.
3-3, National insurance payments, whether you are making any money or not.
4, Sorry, can't help on this one. My children are in the UK and putting their own children through school.
5, Do everything legally, get at least 3 opinions of the law or regulations and then check these with an official person. Get everything in writing and don't imagine that you can open a bar and make a fortune, those days have gone.
To give you some idea of the situation here, a friend of mine (English) was working for an English bar/cafe owner. He eventually took over the bar about 4 years ago. Now the bar is for sale and he wants to go back to the UK. His reasons are (what he told me), that he is not working enough in the winter and working too much in the summer. He would not miss the weather because from now until the end of October, he will be confined to the kitchen (he is a chef) and will not see any of the good weather. Both he and his wife would be happier somewhere like Torque.
Sorry if some of this is doom and gloom but it's best that you know as much as possible before you make the leap. Wishing you all the best.
Apr 19th 2012, 10:02 am
#5
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 51
Re: Majorca
thank you for your replies.
abyss - thank you for sharing the doom and gloom lol, its the truth i am after not just the rosy picture people like to portray. We know we will have to work long hours every day of the week during the season and are looking for more of a licenced cafe/restaurant rather than a bar. We are not setting out to make a fortune as we know that is very very unlikely to happen and as long as we are making enough to live and put a bit a side for a rainy day that's all we want.
abyss - thank you for sharing the doom and gloom lol, its the truth i am after not just the rosy picture people like to portray. We know we will have to work long hours every day of the week during the season and are looking for more of a licenced cafe/restaurant rather than a bar. We are not setting out to make a fortune as we know that is very very unlikely to happen and as long as we are making enough to live and put a bit a side for a rainy day that's all we want.
Apr 19th 2012, 3:53 pm
#6
Concierge
Joined: May 2006
Location: ex ex-pat, in Taunton
Posts: 27,203
Re: Majorca
thank you for your replies.
abyss - thank you for sharing the doom and gloom lol, its the truth i am after not just the rosy picture people like to portray. We know we will have to work long hours every day of the week during the season and are looking for more of a licenced cafe/restaurant rather than a bar. We are not setting out to make a fortune as we know that is very very unlikely to happen and as long as we are making enough to live and put a bit a side for a rainy day that's all we want.
abyss - thank you for sharing the doom and gloom lol, its the truth i am after not just the rosy picture people like to portray. We know we will have to work long hours every day of the week during the season and are looking for more of a licenced cafe/restaurant rather than a bar. We are not setting out to make a fortune as we know that is very very unlikely to happen and as long as we are making enough to live and put a bit a side for a rainy day that's all we want.
May 3rd 2012, 8:33 am
#7
Just Joined
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 17
Re: Majorca
Hi, we too are in the early stages of relocating to Mallorca and I thought we could probably bat our research to and from each other if you are interested.
Our children are six and ten and our six year old has just been diagnosed with a mild form of epilepsy which doesnt affect her schooling at the moment but could mildly in the future. Our ten year old son doesn't have it.
I am making a short visit to Mallorca in early July this year and then going back later July with the whole family to do a proper recki.
We are thinking of having intensive Catalan lang teaching for the whole family starting soonish until we go (pro next July when my son gets to the end of his primary school year 6). The advice so far that I have found is that State Schooling is the way to go if the child is up to 10/12yrs old. This way they learn the lang quicker and fit in a little better. Whether this is true for all is always going to be a debate I am sure.
If anyone else with children around the age of 10 has experience and knowledge they would like to impart it will be v welcomed. It is a difficult one as they are making that transition from primary to secondary.
Anyway, I just wanted to join in the thread.
gleni
Our children are six and ten and our six year old has just been diagnosed with a mild form of epilepsy which doesnt affect her schooling at the moment but could mildly in the future. Our ten year old son doesn't have it.
I am making a short visit to Mallorca in early July this year and then going back later July with the whole family to do a proper recki.
We are thinking of having intensive Catalan lang teaching for the whole family starting soonish until we go (pro next July when my son gets to the end of his primary school year 6). The advice so far that I have found is that State Schooling is the way to go if the child is up to 10/12yrs old. This way they learn the lang quicker and fit in a little better. Whether this is true for all is always going to be a debate I am sure.
If anyone else with children around the age of 10 has experience and knowledge they would like to impart it will be v welcomed. It is a difficult one as they are making that transition from primary to secondary.
Anyway, I just wanted to join in the thread.
gleni
May 3rd 2012, 4:08 pm
#8
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 51
Re: Majorca
Gleni, hi
what area are you looking at? what are you planning to do once you move there for work?
we have decided to put our son in a state school and have emailed a couple in the area to where we want to be to see if we can have a look when we are next there (in October). i emailed about seven or eight schools and only had two replies (i did have my emails translated into catalan to help them). the two replies i had were very similar in that they were happy for us to look around just needed to make an appt and gave us details on class sizes, extra support in class etc. they said that when the catalan speaking children are having english lessons my son would have catalan/spanish lessons so that he could pick up the language. we intend to have lessons before we go and i am currently looking into a private tutor.
we pretty much have all the research we can do at the moment, all that is left is to sell our house (we have reduced the price in order for, hopefully, a sale soon), view a few businesses we have in mind and find a property to rent. Sounds quite a lot but we cannot do any firm planning until our house is sold. We have everything else pretty much researched. we do however need to find a good second hand car place that wont rip us off. we are not intending to take our car as its quite new, well kept and large - which if we took it, it wouldnt stay as shiny! We are aiming for the end of next year at the very latest but the sooner the better i say lol
what area are you looking at? what are you planning to do once you move there for work?
we have decided to put our son in a state school and have emailed a couple in the area to where we want to be to see if we can have a look when we are next there (in October). i emailed about seven or eight schools and only had two replies (i did have my emails translated into catalan to help them). the two replies i had were very similar in that they were happy for us to look around just needed to make an appt and gave us details on class sizes, extra support in class etc. they said that when the catalan speaking children are having english lessons my son would have catalan/spanish lessons so that he could pick up the language. we intend to have lessons before we go and i am currently looking into a private tutor.
we pretty much have all the research we can do at the moment, all that is left is to sell our house (we have reduced the price in order for, hopefully, a sale soon), view a few businesses we have in mind and find a property to rent. Sounds quite a lot but we cannot do any firm planning until our house is sold. We have everything else pretty much researched. we do however need to find a good second hand car place that wont rip us off. we are not intending to take our car as its quite new, well kept and large - which if we took it, it wouldnt stay as shiny! We are aiming for the end of next year at the very latest but the sooner the better i say lol
May 3rd 2012, 4:25 pm
#9
Just Joined
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 17
Re: Majorca
Hiya
Good luck with selling your house. We are thinking about renting ours out and renting there in Mallorca (long term rental). Our mortgage has gone down recently so we are hoping to charge a little more rent and cream that off to top up our rental costs there (gives us a little income and means we can get out there quicker and not have to wait to sell - dont know if thats an option for you or not?). We are lucky in that my husbands brother lives nearby and can do any maintenance needed on the house while its renting (for a small fee of course). We are aiming on getting out there July next year.
Could I ask the names of the two schools that got back to you? I cant believe only 2 out of 8 did so!!? How many pupils do they have in a class? Did they mention ratios of expats to native Mallorcans? I'm just keen for our son to have a few English speaking kids in his class.
We were going to look East, North East as the property is more spacious and cheaper out there.
With regards to work its a tuffie because my husband does carpentry work (fits interiors - kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms) tough because I hear that mostly locals are employed for this kind of work so it'll really be a case of not what but who you know but we are considering e-based business also. I do baby casting (hands and feet in box frames) and was considering continuing doing that and the silver print jewellery online via my website (both not completely secure jobs which is our worry). We are both self employed here and would be over there.
Thanks for your reply to my thread, would be interesting to see how you get on. g
Good luck with selling your house. We are thinking about renting ours out and renting there in Mallorca (long term rental). Our mortgage has gone down recently so we are hoping to charge a little more rent and cream that off to top up our rental costs there (gives us a little income and means we can get out there quicker and not have to wait to sell - dont know if thats an option for you or not?). We are lucky in that my husbands brother lives nearby and can do any maintenance needed on the house while its renting (for a small fee of course). We are aiming on getting out there July next year.
Could I ask the names of the two schools that got back to you? I cant believe only 2 out of 8 did so!!? How many pupils do they have in a class? Did they mention ratios of expats to native Mallorcans? I'm just keen for our son to have a few English speaking kids in his class.
We were going to look East, North East as the property is more spacious and cheaper out there.
With regards to work its a tuffie because my husband does carpentry work (fits interiors - kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms) tough because I hear that mostly locals are employed for this kind of work so it'll really be a case of not what but who you know but we are considering e-based business also. I do baby casting (hands and feet in box frames) and was considering continuing doing that and the silver print jewellery online via my website (both not completely secure jobs which is our worry). We are both self employed here and would be over there.
Thanks for your reply to my thread, would be interesting to see how you get on. g
