Hi, we are a family of 4 soon to be 5 and we want to move to Spain. We need a 3+ bedroom villa or house preferably with a pool not to far from schools and a hospital with a maternity unit. Does anyone have any advice for us and a rough estimate of how much money we are going to need to survive our 1st year in spain? Many Thanks all

Hi Sammie,

Welcome to BE. I am so pleased you are now part of our community and I hope you enjoy your time with us.

I can't answer you question I'm afraid as I don't live in Spain. but I'm sure some other members will be along soon who can share some pointers.

In the meantime take some time to read through some of the threads in the Spain forum as it may give you some background on some of the areas you may be interested in.

where do you want to live?

where have you visited in Spain? - what did you like/not like?

will you be looking for work?

we can't really answer your questions unless you give us a little more to go on


as for your last question - how much did it cost you to live in the UK last year? - you'll need roughly the same amount here, unless your kids are older & will need international schools - then you need to add school fees

Thanks for your answer, i understand i was a bit brief in my last post! We would like to move to Murcia or Andalucia. I havent visited Spain but my partner has been to both of these places and says that he loves both.

Again depends where you live. You'd probably need 5k per month if wanted to live in one of the big cities or Marbella, but maybe 2k if someone more rural or less expensive

Also depends if you are going to be working or not, self-employed or not etc, as you may need to be quite a lot for social security and health insurance

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

just moved to spain ( see ecobuild) but retired. really consider renting first,do not buy yet. there is plenty of rental to choose from with less financial commitment.

You have never been to Spain but you want to move the family here on the strength that your partner likes it amI reading this correctly?

Go check it out first, especially in the winter, make sure you like it as well. And the kids! It should be a family decision, not just hubby's. Friends of ours are coming home from Portugal (if they ever sell their house!), she went along to keep him happy really, turned out he loved it, she absolutely hates it! I think a lot of families returning home are in the same boat, one liked it more than the other, a recipe for disaster. I'll put you down for the Costa del Sol type area.

What a dickhead you really are.

Well, apart from the questionable tone of the last sentence, there is something in what you say. I have met 3 couples since moving here, within a stone's throw of our house, where one half of the couple only came to live in Spain because the other half was keen (in every case the husband was the instigator of the move), and in 2 cases they had to go back after a couple of years as the wife was so unhappy - in the third, sadly, it has caused the break-up of their marriage and the wife is shortly to return to the UK but the husband is determined to stay here.

exactly as per the couple we bought from. she wanted home for the grandkids and hated it here as well. he went back reluctantly. they were here 7 years. it does need some longish periods here to take in the culture change, the authority hurdles and the pace of life

Hello Cricket bloke. It doesn't cost that much mate. Not unless you want to live in a gold plated villa. Geez, where do you get your figures from?

Erm.... What can you say.. What an absolute clown. I haven't been on here for about eleven months. Because you get the same tedious replies from this arrogant plank. He hates Spain and the expats who move here, yet insists on putting his two penneth forward trying to put people off moving here unless they have obtained a teaching degree in spanish, are pony riding, gold eating millionaires and are lawyers. You've seen the film 'The Grinch' and 'Scrooged'..? Say hello to Scrooge McGrinch. Aka 'The Agoravator'..

Let's not scare off the OP folks ...

Thanks

But he is so right Sue, read a few of agrodiarrhea`s posts, he must of frightened off loads of newbies with his views. I think he has had a Sun 5 quid holiday here 20 years ago and bases his advice on that.