We are looking at moving to Spain this year and was wondering what tips would you give. Possibly looking at around Valencia area or a bit lower

Hi Aaron, welcome to BE.

Are you planning on working or retiring?

Hi thanks for the reply. We think we will be renting first over there and renting our house in UK to see how we get on. My wife will be working from home in Spain and I will be house husband! Maybe part time work for me. We are only early 40's

Four things :

1. Check out nearest airport and flight frequency to UK . Valencia a lot of people use Alicante has more choice
2. If you find an area you like rent for at least the first six months so you get to know what you like and dislike . - don't buy in a hurry because you like a place.
3. Check out all the bureaucracy involved - residence after 90 days , privaye health insurance for first year, register on the local "Padron" ( Town Hall Citizens Register ) , tax residence after 183 which means Spanish tax declaration.
4. Get updates from the UK Govt web on Brexit impact

I'm only a bit younger than you and although we have a house in Spain, I certainly wouldn't move full time today. Maybe you have enough cash but Is your wife self employed and do you have to rely on an income? Apart from the tax situation, you also have to consider other things like your pension, healthcare etc. Are you working in the UK and if you only work part time in Spain, will you have enough money in your pension pot for later?

Thanks for that. We are like you said looking at nearest airports to where we will be staying. We are going to be going over soon on a weekend to look at things like schools (English speaking) and the area

You have children? That opens several other issues!

Yes 2 girls age 9 and 6. We will be looking at schools near by. Is that more of a problem?

No, its just another opportunity

It might be worthwhile for you to give a larger more detailed overall picture of your present situation in life and then you hopes for your new life? Might save others from having to be overly psychic.

Well it's basically my wife and I are getting sick of UK both work full time and want to have a brilliant life in Spain near Valencia. My wife will be working from Spain and going back and forwards once a month to her business and I will be doing schools runs with our children in Spain. At some point I think I will be working part time over there. Ideally in the engineering side but I would try other stuff part time while the kids are at school. Where are you guys from?

English speaking Schools are not cheap and if your unsure if you will be staying long term it would not be right to try and integrate your children into a Spanish School IMO. Obviously you must know the very high unemployment rate so budget for you not being able to find work then if you do its a bonus.

"my wife and I are getting sick of UK both work full time and want to have a brilliant life in Spain" Why do you think life will be brilliant in Spain over the UK? Still getting up for work, still taking the kids to School, food shopping, cooking, paying bills and you don't know the language, the culture, the traditions but...your vitamin D levels will be fine because you get more sunshine. Think long and hard and do a worse case scenario family budget plan because there is no benefit system to fall back on.

Some International Schools on this list
https://www.expat-quotes.com/guides/...s-in-spain.htm scroll down.

I would wait until the dust has settled over Brexit, you may make all sorts of plans etc, but Brexit will, almost certainly the way this government is working, have a big impact, at worse you only have 11 months to wait.

Again good points. The thing is that if you go after a long winter in the UK, it's not really the true picture. You're income is still coming from the UK, you can still afford everything and life in the sun is soooooooo cheap. If they work full time in the UK and are sick of it, why didn't they quit the jobs in the UK? As you say, daily routines kick in, suddenly you have to go to the dentist, the car needs a repair and of course nobody will overcharge you. Not only will income from the UK be taxed in Spain, you will also have to compete with other Engineers for jobs and when you don't speak the language, will you be the top candidate. The idea of part time work might seem fine now, but even these jobs won't always be easy to find. As mentioned, then you have pension contributions to think about and all the other stuff. One always has to remember that hundreds of thousands Spaniards also move to places like Germany, Britain etc. As always it can work out for some, but don't let that big yellow thing in the sky fool you

Thanks everyone for all the information. I take it you are all in Spain?

I split my time between the UK and Valencia city. Feel free to hit me up with any questions.