onlineamiga

Ive been to the North of Spain, Gijon is lovely. However I did find somewhat isolated. Its 100% spanish it really is! Although we all come here with the best intentions of taking on spanish and mixing in and integrating. It really isnt that easy. Despite having spanish lessons twice a week for 6 months before going to gijon i really struggled to keep up with conversations. We do need a bit of our own flavour at times.

Which is why i like Estepona. Its incredibly Spanish, but at the same time. There are English bits you can retreat to. I agree i couldnt live in the tourist areas of Benedorm and in the midst of other brit havens. It just all seems too fake. I do love real spain and i love the real culture. Im forever heading off into the mountains north of the costa del sol to practically unknown little towns where it is completely spanish. Most Costa Del Sol holiday makers would never hit Jimena de La Frontera, or Castellar, or Algatocin. All are in easy reach of Estepona.

freddiem

Trust me just find somewhere else, why do you think so many people are trying to sell up and get the hell out of it.

paintermujer

Do so many people want to get the hell out of it?

freddiem

Yes they do

reggiedh

Why not get a little more specific instead of making completely ludicrous statements that you don't back up?

jay01

Freddiem I would truly beg to differ, we moved to Spain at the beginning of May and have no regrets. It baffles me why people continue to knock moving to Spain, ok you may have had a bad experience, people may have been ill prepared for the economic situation they found them selves in and had to return to their home lands and I would also hazard a guess that many of these were with broken hearts and tears.

We have no regrets, we had done as much homework as was possible although curved balls do get thrown at times but we would rather give it a go now than wonder what if in the future. You never know what the future holds, if you have to hold your head high and return home then learn a lesson and try again some other time but not to try at all will always leave you wondering.

cricketman

The North Coast goes from Galicia, to Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country.

Spanish is the number one language in Asturias and Cantabria and the joint official languages in Galicia and the Basque country. In any city you'll be fine with Spanish (except for maybe the odd Basque one), especially given that you dont need to find work there.

Do note that the culture and way of life in the North is very different from the South, just depends what you want.

onelineamiga makes a good point that if you speak no or little Spanish now, you will have a hard time, almost noone speaks English nor would they prepared to speak it to you if they did know English You will need to do a serious course of lessons. But it is perfect if you are moving to Spain to be part of the country.

Remember it takes years to learn a language, not weeks

GregUK

Many thanks to all who have replied so far

I've just checked flight options from my two local airports, Manchester and Liverpool, which unfortunately rule out northern Spain and Valencia as options.

Am I right in thinking that the east coastal regions have Catalan as their primary language?

I'm very interested in exploring the Andalusia region further. Also, what is the Murcia region like as far as my criteria goes?

SaritaBarcelona

Andalusia is gorgeous if you find the right spot for you... It has a bit of everything in my opinion, I have travelled loads all over Spain, have lived in Barcelona, and am happy living in Andalusia! In Barcelona you don't "need" to learn Catalan but... Long story, look at previous posts by me on the subject.

JLFS

I think you are trying to tick too many boxes considering that you are single and work from home and are only 27.


The type of place you are asking about sounds does not sound like "young, vibrant Sapin, which if you work from home, you would need to have more opportunity of making friends, as a very common sourse of making friends would be ruled out, it the workplace.

instead of trying to find a place which ticks all the boxes, why not find a place that ticks some.


I think a big city would be more suitable, and Why are you asking about good schools, if you have no children yet? I would be asking more about things that suited my life as a single childless man. ie the social life, things to do in my age group.

If you have children one day then the school aspect can be resolved, you are totally mobile, job goes with you wherever you are.


I dont see why good schools are important to you right now
so concerntrate on what your needs are now, not schools for future kiddies that wont be needed untill years down the line.

I presume you will be renting, which is the wise thing to do, so even if you have to move to 3 or 4 different places, I dont see it as being a problem.

GregUK

I am married and would be moving with my wife. We plan to start a family in the next few years, so would ideally like to integrate into an area and stay there rather than moving around.

I agree though: maybe I am trying to tick too many boxes. They are no means set in stone; more of a starting point really

JLFS

Sorry I got the wrong end of the stick,

I dunno, the "I have no children bit" in your post must have confused me, as a married man I would have said "we have no children", so that is where I misunderstood.

as you did not refer to a wife in any of your posts, and your post did seem to me to be in 1st singular.

lynnxa

now don't go getting grammatically technical

I have to admit I wondered the same though

JLFS

Dont you start, how dare you start giving me grief this early in the morning,?


As a downtrodden male, I would get slaughtered if I used 1st singular.

lynnxa

Catalan is spoken in Cataluña/Catalonia - so if the north & Valencia are ruled out, you won't have to worry about that




better to be plural I reckon