Milana_Rosemont

Hi all,

I'm currently in New Zealand and moving back to the UK in December or January. As I'm only in my twenties I would like to spend a few years in a country close to home where I can learn a foreign language. A place that is also sunny, carefree and full of history for me to explore. Spain fits this criteria perfectly.

I am just wondering if anyone has tips on moving to Spain and the sort of things I'll need to consider (I want to move to Marbella).

Also, I don't speak Spanish but will be learning it in the next year or so. Is it a worthwhile investment to sit for a DELE diploma at the Cervantes Institute, which is awarded by the Spanish government, or any British foreign language class? Does anyone know which would give greater employability and recognition for me in moving to Spain and getting a job?

I've already decided that due to my economic circumstance I cannot afford to attend university to get a degree in Spanish, as I am moving to the UK on very little (I've worked mostly as a volunteer for various initiatives in Africa and other places) and will not expect to get a great job. I am well prepared to sit out my worst case scenario of being a waitress in London for a few months to save a bit of money, or at least just survive.

Any input would be helpful.

Thanks,

Millie

angiescarr

The Spanish Love certificates. If you like teaching, and can afford to get a certificate that's valid in Spain for teaching English as a foreign language You should do well here. Other forum members will know which certificates are valid in Spain.
Of course getting some Spanish under your belt will really help with this too.
Make sure you don't have too rosy an image of the "carefree" life. Although I love living in Spain I wouldn't necessarily call the costas "carefree"

fionamw

Welcome.
To prepare yourself for a number of comments about the importance of a high level of Spanish to give you any chance of work (and some saying it's not important), I strongly suggest you trawl the Spain forum for threads & posts about work-language-areas-unemployment-cost of living etc.
Just a personal query - why Marbella?

Milana_Rosemont

Marbella because I've been there several times, and I would prefer to live somewhere in Andalucia. Also because I preferred it to the cities; the lifestyle is more relaxed.

I'm under no illusions about a carefree lifestyle - I just want a bit more of a laid back sort of place than New Zealand. It's temporary in that I will be trying to experience life in Spain, a reversible change. And I suppose experiencing life there includes all of it, even the sticky bits.

Thanks for your input guys, I will begin trawling through the forum...

fionamw

If you know Marbella fair enough, like all places there are variations within any given area and as a lifelong city-hater/(and still)country dweller I've definitely warmed to Malaga (well the outskirts anyway!) & would steer away from P Banus/Marbella!!
Excellent in my view to look at it as a reversible change - no illusions that will shatter your life, bank balance et al if it goes less well than you might have hoped. But with a realistic outlook, you're less likely to be setting yourself up for disappointment

jonnyx

Marbella is certainly nice to visit and to get income from, because the money lives in Marbella. That's the reason that I and many more have clients in Marbella. But I should never consider to live there, for the same reason. Everything is more expensive in Marbella, compared to practically any other town on the Costa del Sol. I live 30 minutes towards Malaga, that's perfect!

jackytoo

marbella town is a completely different world from Banus. It is still the nicest town on the costas and despite all the rubbish written it is still a very spanish place compared with others. Not many tatty Brit bars there.

ShinyAndy

Oh my, for once I agree with jackytoo! I live right in the middle of Marbella Town and there is not much expat/expensive about it here; wall-to-wall Spanish, menu del dias for 8€, cañas for 1€ and the rents are low! It has all the good bits about living in a city (ie walking distance to everything you could ever need) but virtually none of the downsides (apart from the noise).

None of our clients are in Marbella itself, most are in the outskirts where the people with money live

jdr

Someone ought to tell you it`s not all sunshine, it`s been crap for weeks, rain and very cold.
It was the same around this time last year for about 3 months.

ShinyAndy

Granted it was bad last year, but very cold? It´s currently 15 degrees outside, that´s not really very cold is it!?!

jdr

It`s 12c, very cold for Spain here at the mo and chucking it down again.
Anything under 20c is cold for me after being here a few years.

Jur

Carefree ? Spain? Read this forum for 2 weeks and you will know better.

digbydog

Marbella is a great place to live - you can live like a local or be a tourist whenever you want. All good.

The only real downside to Marbella is for people that need to work the salaries are the same as in the poorer towns but the cost of living is higher.

The people who knock Marbella tend to be the ones who cannot afford to live there