Sleepless

We have a sabbatical year coming, and we're seriously considering spending it in a Spanish-speaking country - hence Spain.

Where in Spain would you LIVE for a year?

Here's what we're looking for, in decreasing order of importance:

• Friendly, hospitable people
• A safe, relaxed, small and walkable village where our daughter will be able to roam around freely
• Good climate
• Good housing options
• High speed internet (need to keep working...)
• School for our 5 year old daughter (she speaks Spanish)
• Minimal air pollution

Nice to have:

• Sidewalks cafes, where one can spend an afternoon reading the paper or chatting with the locals
• Good selection of veggies (we're vegeterians - kind of a challenge in Spain)
• Access to a beach

Your ideas are welcome. Thanks!

Sugarlugs

There is a great site www.livespainforlife.co.uk where we first found our house and there is allsorts of info on there and they sell houses too so you can check the prices out in all the different regions, and the lady who runs it is called Sharon and she is lovely and really helpful.

Rosemary

I do not think that there is anywhere in the world that your second condition would pertain to.

Rosemary

lynnxa

good point

silverchick

Certainly not as young as five, although in the village near where we are going you do see older brothers and sisters with little ones, although I always think its a bit unfair to give them so much responsibility, but its a different culture I suppose.

lynnxa

all the kids on our (gated) urbanisation play together - usually mine are the only english ones

sometimes they are allowed to go together to the little park up the road, all looking after each other - age about 4 to 12!

actually I think a bit of responsibility is no bad thing - it certainly happpened to us when we were kids

silverchick

No, but then again if anything happened its unfair for what are just children to bear that on their shoulders. Remember why we've got a yellow ribbon on our signature.

aspeangel

Lynnxa, you are right the responsibility was given to us when we were kids and, maybe luckily, nothing bad happened. Spain is much further behind the media pressure that they face in the UK, if you let a 5 year old play out in the UK nowadays you would be labelled the worst of the worst parents! Don't get me wrong, if anything ever happened to my little boy my life would literally be over, but I refuse to live in fear that there may be someone bad lurking and just waiting for an opportunity. There are actually more good people in this world than bad!
Yes, we are all wishing and hoping and praying that Maddy is back with her parents soon and also that all the other children whose cases aren't in the media spotlight have a happy resolution, but please please don't lets make Spain like a paranoid scared England too soon! For now, it appears to be a child-friendly safe place to be!

silverchick

One of the reasons we are going to Spain is because it does seem to be a safer environment, and don't get me wrong, I'm not a panicky mother, but I do think its unfair to place the responsibility on the shoulders of a sibling of looking after their younger brother/sister, unless there is a large age gap, like mine, 7 and 17, but even then I wouldn't totally trust him, once he becomes entranced with whatever at the time everything else goes out of the window!
Also, its sadly isn't just media hype about these things, I know someone that was shocked to the core after working in the probation service to find how may sex offenders are living in the area we live in now!
anyway enough said, completely off the thread, but i would HOPE most areas are safer than towns in th u.k.

lynnxa

It's not just one older child looking after a lot of little ones....I wouldn't allow my older one to be put in that position (she's 11)....it's about 10 of them all together, all looking out for each other, with most of them at the older end of the age spectrum

Having said that - I think it would be wrong to assume that Spain is really any safer than the UK.............why wouldn't there be paedophiles here? The main thing is the attitude of the spanish.....it's like when I was growing up - everyone in the street was a sort of honorary auntie & uncle........and could & would tell you off.........and also watch out for you

Rosemary

One of the hardest parts of parenting is deciding how much responsibilty and how much freedom to give a child. So many parents unfortunately do not make these decisions in an age appropriate manner and that is when there are difficulties.

You are right in saying that there are sex offenders in Spain because they are in every country so parents have to be very wary. They have always been around but now have a higher profile so people are more aware. I think we can all tell stories about being told when we were given a bit of freedom to keep away from the strange men in the park or the odd bloke in the next street etc, so that proves it is historical.

Being a parent and making sure that you parent safely is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Common sense is the biggest factor in this and few children are harmed if parents think logically and sensibly. The best thing that we can all do for our children is to make sure that they are safe but not to the point of being paranoid.

On a lighter note there is no better sound than children enjoying themselves, their laughter and happy voices are lovely to hear. We sit in our lounge in the early evenings listening to the kids in our street playing the good old simple games that preceeded the electronic games and it is great to hear them. The parents sit in clusters talking and keep a watchful eye on them and often have to shout to stop them doing something silly but the children sound so happy and carefree.

I agree with you about the Spanish people looking out for the children in their area and it also reminds me of when I was a child with all of the adults in our street keeping you in line. Perhaps this is one of the biggest differences between parenting in UK and parenting in Spain and this may be more about the outdoor life rather than anything else.

Rosemary

lynnxa

At some point they have to learn some responsibility for themselves and others, and also take responsibility for their own actions. I think one of the most important things we can teach our children is how to take care of themselves and others.............and I don't think they are ever too young to start learning.

Obviously I don't mean leaving toddlers to fend for themselves - but little things like picking up their own toys & putting them away, buttering their own bread for a sandwich, helping to sort the washing.............age-appropriate things.

My 7 year old can & will get her own breakfast, can cook a meal (supervised) or make a pizza, sandwich or hotdog for herself (I do the oven bit for the pizza), use the washing machine & dishwasher, make her own bed.

My 11 year old can do all of the above and cook a meal, cakes etc. from scratch - unsupervised. The (spanish) neighbours trust her to teach their toddlers to swim (always an adult around, although maybe not actually in the pool), and she is often to be found in the garden surrounded by all the little ones. You often hear the cry 'NO........ ME QUIERO JESSICA!!' when it's nap time

casa del sol

I know a place that has all of the above, except the beach so I shouldn't think it would be suitable.

silverchick

blimey i need some tips from you, my 17 year old has a job heating beans in the microwave, although i think most of the times its a ruse to get me to do it, 'the helpless man routine'

lynnxa

maybe that's the difference between boys & girls


I didn't get my hands on hubby til he was 25, and he grew up with 6 sisters! He is perfectly capable of all the things my dd's can do.............but soooooooo helpless!'

Mind you I 'can't' iron shirts for the life of me