cat6

There's a bilingual program in the colegios concertados where we live in the Basque country. And as for jobs, if you fancy teaching English, I would say you'd have absolutely no problem here at all. Just as a counterbalance to the many posters who have a tendency to assume the CDS, Costa Blanca etc. are completely representative of Spain as a whole.

dmu

Hi, I've been following this thread with interest since the beginning. The OP said in her first post that she wouldn't be working.
She simply wants to go to Spain for an extended holiday with her adolescent son and toddler daughter. Those who have kept on-topic suggest that it's not a good idea to take a 14 year old out of UK education for several months (and away from his friends and family). He wouldn't have any mates to discuss teenage problems with, he wouldn't settle in a Spanish school, ... The toddler should be OK except that she'd prevent her mother from having a social life until babysitters and/or Day Centres are organised.
One point no one has brought up - will the OP get permission from the father(s) to take the children out of the UK?
Since she won't be working, has she calculated how much money she must take with her to pay the rent, utilities, insurance,... and feed and clothe the three of them for the duration? if she were contemplating coming to France, I'd recommend at least 2000€ per month for rent and basics, but maybe Spain is cheaper....

JuanSolo

I'm sorry to hear you're suffering and I wish a fast recover for your OH. I'm glad you two cope with this setback with bravery and positiveness.

Should this help people to understand that what happen to you does not matter, it's how you take what happens that matters.

amideislas

Thanks for that bit of wisdom. I feel much better.

By the way, I have a 2-mile stretch of beautiful beachfront property in Belize - perfect for your dream home. I am forced to sell it to pay my Endesa electric bill this month.

You can rest assured that I have forgiven Endesa for charging me €100K this month - after, all, it's how you take what happens that matters, right?

So, to thank you for that wisdom, just give me €100K in cash, and the beachfront property is yours. Then you have a beautiful beachfront property, I can pay the electric bill, and Endesa gets €99950 in profit. Everbody wins!

fionamw

And this contribution helps the OP (or indeed any newcomer who may have taken some snippets of info from the thread as per HBG suggested...!) HOW___????

Please guys letś try tokeep on topic, the forum loses out when threads wander too far from the themes.

whitelinen

UK residents dont need permission to take their children out of the country.

However, its often not the same freedom for French and Spanish parents in their own country.

dmu

That's certainly true for us in France. It's to prevent divorcees from taking children out of the country without the other parents' permission. Also to prevent kidnappers from taking children out of the country.... You have to show an official signed paper at Border Control.
There was a thread on the USA forum some time ago about fathers not being willing to give permission for an English mother to take their children to the US.
Which is why I mentioned it here...

Unmutual

Endesa are charging you 100K for a monthly electricity bill?

tex_ritter

DMU said (part quote)
"I'd recommend at least 2000€ per month for rent and basics"

Thats probobly about right for a six month stay, even renting furnished there will be things you feel you 'need' and buy plus other start up costs such as car rental or even travel costs to look at different areas. Don't forget she would not want to go and live a back packer lifestyle, she would want to go eat out, try different things so really for a six month trip I guess she would need £12k minimum

Realistically if she intends to live there long term the only option for the eldest is one of the private schools, maybe @ €400 a month(?), rent €500 ish?, add food, utilities, child care etc and the gal needs a steady income of at least €1500 a month income. A retired couple can live on less but lets be honest with a young family your costs go up.

We don't really know the ladies personal financial circumstances so this may be a feasible project for her and good luck if she goes for it but without that financial security I fear the trip would end in tears.

Rosemary

Depends very much on the circumstances, if she is divorced and both partners have parental responsibility the law states that neither parent can remove the child from England or Wales without permission of the other parent or any other person with parental responsibility. Written permission should be kept with the childs passport.

Rosemary

whitelinen

Parental Responsibility in the UK is meaningless these days as is automatically granted to married parents to allow the CSA to get child maintenance if and when they separate.

However, for instance, it does not give a divorced parent the automatic right to contact or even to see the the kids, this has to be done through the Court.

Can you imagine the queues at passport control if every adult with a child or children was questioned! How would anyone know if the adult was single, married divorced or widowed? For instance, I have a friend who despite having been married 3 times retained her maiden name throughout on her passport and has 3 kids with different surnames.

I actually dont think there is a UK law that states that someone with parental responsibility can stop another from taking their kids on holiday. Ive looked and cannot find it.

Maybe someone can find it as would be interested to read it if it exists.

noelrosie

English friend of ours was told at Stansted this summer (returning to UK) that she had to carry her daughter's birth certificate with her as they have different surnames (the child is 10). Sometimes the immigration officers ARE interested ...

jdr

Many years ago we used to take our childrens friends on holidays with us, even back then we were advised to carry letters of approval from their parents in case of problems at the borders.

JuanSolo

You're most welcome. I'm overjoyed to help people to feel better. Besides I appreciate your feedback.

I'm sorry to hear that. For sure you had to work very hard to purchase such a wonderful property. I hope things don't go that far.
If you feel forgiving Endesa will make you feel better, then it's Ok. €100K is a very expensive bill for a residential facility, even for a hotel with 3000 rooms. There must be a mistake. I'm sure it can be fixed. Perhaps it is more complex to solve a €20 issue than a €2000 one. If you yell at them, you may gain less than if you just smile and set an interview. €100K worth it, both for you and them. Being assertive is often profitable.
Unfortunately I can't afford that property. We live four people in 60 sqm. We spent holidays at my parents in law's and we must get by with my modest wages because my wife got fired because she had a baby. I have a degree in IT and 15 years of experience as a PM / Architect, but somehow I don't grow professionally even though my talent is recognized. That's other reason why I want to move out of Spain.

All of us have long stories to be told with a bottle of good whiskey.

We could complain and moan, or start working hard to override our situation. Things happen, we can tackle the ones within our influence circle but there's no point in suffering because of the ones out of it.

It took a lifetime for me to gather my current wisdom. Sarcasm is fun but it's a two edge sword. Yo can make fun on it or take advantage of it, it's up to you.

Unmutual

What work do you do at the moment Juan?