karen-a

Does anyone live in Seville? Or previously lived in Seville? Or know anything about living in Seville?
Cheers
Karen

keithwalters

We lived there a short while before moving to Jerez. What would you like to know?

Keith

Chiclanagir

It is unbearably hot in summer.

karen-a

Hi Keith

Thanks for the reply. I guess I really just want to know if you enjoyed living there! Is there a lively expat community? Are the schools good? Is it easy to live there as an expat and would you recommend it? And anything else you can think of! And exactly how hot does it get in the summer?!

Cheers
Karen

keithwalters

I wouldn´t recommend it no. We went there intending to settle and after a very short space of time realised that it was a mistake, and moved to Jerez.

Hot = about 50 degrees in summer. I never came across an expat community, however there is a large number of tourists (particularly american) walking around in their uniform of sandals, socks pulled up, loud shirt and camera around the neck.

Don´t know about schools, but there would be plenty to choose from with almost a million habitants in Seville.

If you look like a foreigner (and we do) you will get picked on by local thieves. Pick pockets, bag snatchers, etc. Anne got robbed in our first week there.

Housing is very expensive. Typical city prices.

Probably not what you were wanting to hear! but I hope it helps.

Why are you interested in Seville?

Keith

Fortaleza

Hi Karen.

Afraid I don't share Keith's view but like other major cities in Spain it is a whole different ball game than living in the touristy Costas.

The following is talking in generalisations

The most important thing to bear in mind is how far you want to integrate. There is a very lively expat communty but not in the "Eldorado" Costa-style sense. These people never necessarily did what a lot of the contributers on this board seem to have done i.e sold up in the UK, had money in pocket, bought apartament or Finca etc and settled into semi-retirement or a different pace of life.
No, these people went with the specific idea of working. Their friends and colleagues are Spanish and they all speak the language to a high level (even if a few of them should be a lot better by now!!). You will not find an expat style pub with almost exclusively foreign clients - there are several Irish Pubs, three of which are "genuine" (Irish-owned), but have a strong mix of nationalities primarily Spanish driven. Even Flaherty's with its prime, cathedral-side location and gets more tourists than any of the others still gets a huge number of Spanish.
There's a high number of tourists as it is one of Spain's biggest attractions- but city tourists as opposed to beach ones. An obvious comment to make but there is a major difference: no gangs of 18-30 "Shazzers" and "Kevs" here but people who are there to discover the city and its history. High number of Americans - there's a healthy exchange programme between Seville Unversity and the States and many young yanks spend their third year here.

Housing is expensive but people tend to rent - 3 bed flat in Triana or Los Remedios would start at around 500 € a month (if you're lucky) but a more realistic price is between 600 € and 800 €.

Crime is everywhere, not just Sevile and it's a question of being vigilant. I find Madrid and Barcelona worse cities for petty crime and the costas are a gold-mine for the pickpocket gangs simply because of sheer numbers of people with their guard down. But Keith is right to say that a lot of petty pilfers roam the streets, yet living there you don't tend to carry around with you all your valuables on your day-to-day business.

And it is hot - but its different. Anyway, wherever you are in Spain, you tend to learn to do as the Spanish and walk around in the shade and only use terraces with shade.In hieght of Summer, terraces are often ignored in the middle of the day in favour of the air-conditioning inside.

I would wholeheartedly recommend living in Seville but be prepared for something different. Why not spend 6 months there teaching for example? A good way for you give the city a test run and gives you time to improve your Spanish.

poollounger

An excellent post Fortaleza. Although we have a vacation house by the coast we have good Spanish friends...initially a work contact, more like family now, in Seville. Our love of Spanish culture and food, my pigeon Spanish (getting better) all help to contribute to the bond that gets stronger with every visit. They too have a house by the coast and it's a joy when we are all together be it in Seville or Chiclana. Yes one gets harassed by the gypsies demanding money to watch your car.... we handed over a couple of Euros then watched the guy get on the next bus. And our friends would not let our car loaded with luggage remain on the street overnight, but insisted on putting their car on the street and us using their space in the garage. The city is still beautiful despite the building going on for the new Metro... very different to Jerez which is more intimate. A common moan that I have heard is how dificult it can be to make Spanish friends. One has to have a feed in..taking an interest in their culture, attempting to speak the language, being open,poking fun at yourself can all help. The New Years eve party at which we were the only Brits was a hoot...roll on the next one.

karen-a

Thank you everyone for your very detailed replys. We want to move abroad because we want a better lifestyle for ourselves and our children. As I write it is absolutely pouring with rain and has been all weekend (we live in glasgow). The nature of my husband's job means that we can relocate anywhere in Europe and we chose Spain primarily because Ican already speak Spanish. Our problem is that our youngest child has cystic fibrosis and due to the excellent care she receives here is doing very well. So we don't want to jeopardise this by moving to a city where the cf care is not so advanced. On the other hand we feel that the better climate and outdoor lifestyle will benefit all of us in so many ways. I was thinking of Seville because I think there is a cf unit attached to one of the main hospitals there but if it weren't for that I don't think it would be my first choice. But until we get the cf care quiestions answered we are a bit stuck, so I'm just at the information gathering stage at the moment. I would like to live somewhere with an expat community but at the same time I don't want to find myself in Eldorado. Thanks again

Karen

Carol&John

Hola!
For shame, Keith! From my own experience, socks and sandals means English! (only kidding!)
Hummm...uniform? Like the Spanish male with his chinos, soft kid leather loafers (socks, no socks?) and alligator polo shirts?
Loud shirts scare away the mosquitoes, and hide the ketchup stains...
The way not to be "classed" as a tourist is NOT to wear shorts in the city, even when it's boiling outside. Am I right, or meringue?

karen-a,
I'm not too far away from you, and happy to hear of the excellent care your child is receiving. Send me a PM if you'd like to discuss further.

Carol

keithwalters

Hi Carol

You forgot to mention the obligatory pullover thrown over their shoulders with the arms tied in a knot at the front. Anne tells me she finds the spanish "uniform" quite sexy!

The other ways to instantly spot the tourists is the ´his and her´ matching pullovers or windcheaters. Bare legs in the middle of December or January. Or basically any lack of colour coordination and dress sense at all!

Anyway, I´m going off topic. Karen - if Seville has the medical facilities that you require then I guess you are pretty tied. We found Seville very claustrophobic and noisy to live in. Even in our tiny little pedestrian only side street the noise was unbearable with loud echoing chatter at 4 in the morning and the scooters going up and down where they shouldn´t. Maybe consider one of the suburbs, although you will then encounter the traffic problems if you try and move in and out of seville during one of the many daily rush hours.

Sevilla is a great place to visit, it´s just crap to live in.

karen-a

All fair comment.We have lived in Tokyo and Hong Kong so know all about claustrophobia! But admittedly where we lived in both cities was very quiet and peaceful. I'm still researching medical facilities so we'll just have to see what that turns up. But obviously the more information I have about all aspects of the move the better. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Karen

Fortaleza

Harsh, Keith. Extremely harsh.

It's a wonderful place to live - vibrant, lots to do, things always happening. Now, if your view of Spain was of something completely unrelated to cities (and remember this is where the majority of the population live) then stick to the quieter places. There's movement in Seville that you just can't find elsewhere

keithwalters

Well, that´s just my opinion. We did all our research back in the Uk and based on other people´s recommendations decided that Seville was going to be the place for us (didn´t want to go to any of the costas, and had to be based in a city for work reasons). As soon as we got there we realised it was a big mistake. Lots do to and things always happening, yes. But too many negative things too. We didn´t like the way we were constantly treated like tourists (eg, the natural assumption that we don´t speak spanish). We went one hour down south to Jerez and managed to hit the nail on the head. It has a population of 200,000 so still pretty big and plenty to do but without the claustraphobia or severe traffic problems. And we´ve never been treated like tourists - integration has been far easier as there is a natural assumption that you will speak Spanish very well (but if you don´t you´ll be left by the wayside!!).

gallerie9

Well we dont speak fluent spanish and we live just out side Jerez I love the city and the people, and we have never been left on the "wayside" in fact we have always been treated with great respect from the first day we arrived and been applauded when our grasp of the language has improved.
We loved Seville, but do love Jerez and Cadiz all for different things

keithwalters

What I meant is that we have been living in Jerez for over four years now. During that time I have met a grand total of zero other British residents. If I couldn´t speak Spanish then my circle of friends would also consist of zero! Being a Billy No Mates would have been too much for me to endure and I would have moved on.

Fortunately for us we have been accepted into a new circle of friends, but they don´t speak any English so speaking considerably better than pidgeon Spanish has been a requirement for us.