Linzilou

Hi to all,
Planning on moving to the Torrevieja area in the early spring with hubby and our four kids aged 5,7,9 and 11. Desperately seeking some guidance ! Can anyone give us some advice on schools, jobs, good and bad points on living in Spain. Hubby is a fully skilled tiler and painter/decorator. He is also a qualified football coach, he currently coaches a successful youth football team and he would love to still be involved in football in some way when we come over. Unfortunately, football is like oxygen to him !

mikelincs

Plenty of youth football teams in the area, and Torry are quite a good team in itself. He WILL need Spanish in some form, lots of expats offering painting and decorating as well as tiling. Only know of schools in the area I live, and they seem to be very good. Your children are young enough to go to a state school, where they will have all lessons in Spainish, so useful for them to start to learn it now.

keddyboy

What made you choose Torrevieja??

Mitzyboy

Think you asked this on another forum, or he did .... read through the Free Beer thread at the top, that will give you some info.
Welcome to the forum

mikeoc

Not in Torrevieja

Joe King

Presumably you have visited Torrevieja before and will know that English is widely spoken - not least because of the big ex-pat community which may even be big enough to give your husband work (not sure how many other joiners are there already though looking for work).

A retired joiner friend of ours only got work fitting kitchens and as the above post said fitting wardrobes - may sound strange, but nearly all Spanish homes have fitted wardrobes, especially new builds. Tiling is obviously huge in Spain too so he might get work there.

If you are coming back over before making the move don't be afraid to go to kitchen companies, etc., and ask about work availability. Also go to the football club and ask about getting involved. This will give you a lot more confidence for the move.

Good luck!

brilyn

I would consider another area. There are thousands of new builds going on and every other home is for sale, my sister has been trying to sell her house for the last 4 years (having been burgled 3 times), with not even a viewing. It cannot be classed as Spain. We were there recently and did not see a Spanish person, except serving in a shop. Its okay if you want England in the sun, but we were glad to get home after 2 weeks. Sorry to sound pessimistic but there are so many lovely areas in Spain to live.

helenba

torry is very british 4 children taking to spain you are very brave i coudnt do it ares are 16 and 13 . remember the exams they take are not the same as is spain .lits of are freinds have sent there children back to stay with familys to finish there education....work wise if in area with lots of brits work should be ok ,but i would advice you to have spanish lessons.helen

happybunny

Hi cant give you any advice,but good luck with your move julie

jeanc

Just read your post and feel that you should consider that people live in that area and may feel offended by your slating of Torre. I have been to Torre several times and stayed there on occasion and it is not just full of Brits. Not everyone wants to live in the sticks especially with 4 kids and not speaking Spanish. Just because it's not right for you does not give you the right to slag the area off.

mikelincs

Don't know what part you went to, every time we go there we have coffeee in a cafe on teh Paseo, and are usually surrounded by Spanish people and families.. Yes there are Brits there, but also German, Scandinavian, Dutch. There are houses for sale that have been on the market for a long time, but usually these people are overpricing their houses. In any case, I wouldn't suggest Torry as a place to live, in the same way as I wouldn't suggest Central London, but plenty of nice areas just outside.

Linzilou

Big thanks for all your replies, good and bad ! The main reason we have decided to move to the Torrevieja area initially, is because of our children. As there is quite a large expat community, we hope to find a Spanish state school in this area that has English children attending, to try to make the move into Spanish School a little easier for them. Any recommendations? We are happy to move to the outer suburbs of Torrevieja as long as we are not in the middle of nowhere ! Once again, any suggestions ? Finally, as mentioned before, hubby is a skilled Tiler, Painter/Decorator. Where do you initially start to look for work?

lex&paris

Good luck to you. We have 4 ninas and to get work here is very tough> Schooling is not aprob but i live in real spain in cadiz and the expats is very small here and not a tourist area