SpanishJob

Please suggest some towns to live in the Southern Spain based on the following facts:

I don’t intent to work in Spain, I’ll be spending my savings, I am a bit of a sports freak, so I’m looking for a place which offers a skate park, nearby gym, good social activities, a library to study, a language school that offers french.
I’ll like to live in town where I can get by without without speaking a word of Spanish.

Many Thnaks

Mama_Carol

I don't understand why you want to live in Spain and learn French but not Spanish. Why not consider moving to France?

I think wherever you live in Spain you need to learn at least some basic Spanish. If you were suddenly taken ill or had an accident it could be a matter of life and death if you cannot say what is wrong.

SpanishJob

Mama_Carol, Sorry but, this is my first question on this good forum and so I thought my original questions were pretty specific, I have my reasons for choosing Spain over France, if you cannot answer my questions directly I would prefer if you didn't respond at all, rather than telling me how wrong my original questions are, it’s time-wasting, simplistic & dictatorial all at the same time.

If I was taken ill or had an accident, I’ll hire a translator. Basic Spanish would be of little use after a serious accident anyway: stating ones blood group, describing the events, pain etc etc.

I expect to find many English speaking doctors in most major hospitals
anyway.

Dxf

Hi Spanish Job,

With the benefit of experience, Bournemouth, Brighton, or even Southend !!!

What all experienced posters will tell you is "Don´t do it". Don´t move to Spain with that as your criteria

Davexf

SpanishJob

Dxf, Why the hell not, will people stop telling which country I shouldn't live in and just answer my questions.

I currently live in Holland, have done for the last 5 years with the same criteria, and now I want to move to Spain, I dont speak Dutch or Spanish and dont intend to learn either.

Ok I agree the % of English speakers in the Netherlands is much higher.

Have you seen what type of shit hole you’ll get for the same money in the places you mentioned back in England?

Rosemary

People tend to react unfavourably to impolite demanding posters. If you want the answers to your questions you need to be more polite, take things that people say and work out which facts you think will help you and then make your decision. The way that you are doing it is more likely to encourage people to totally ignore you and you will then get no facts at all.

rosemary

SpanishJob

The Oddities

And which specific facts are those? other than the suggestion to relocate to Southend instead of sunny Spain:
Matthew 7 ==> Wish on to others as you wish for yourself & all that....


You’re mistaking being direct for being impolite.

Rosemary

There is a high proportion of English speaking people in Holland as well you know but the reality in Spain is different. As someone who was rushed into a very large teaching hospital and spent more than a year there believe me there is only a minute proportion of doctors that speak English and an even smaller proportion of nurses. My wife was often used to translate between doctors and British people who had not learned any Spanish and if we had not been there I do not know what they would have done.
The idea that you can pop out and hire a translator at a moments notice, certainly here is not an option, but best of luck in your mission.

Graham

SpanishJob

Thank you Graham, I’ll keep that in mind, but let me ask you this:
How many countries have you traveled to on vacation where you spoke their language?

My plan is to live in Spain for a year, no more.

Assume no English speaking Doctors, no translators to hire & I dont have my trusted machine translation tool (Larousse) with me at the time, and no access to google translate, then I’ll have to take my chances.

With your hours spent learning Spanish, after an accident, I still don't see how you would be able to inform the surgeon that you have a displaced transverse fracture of the proximal third femur, all you can do is point to where the pain is, and he'll do scans and make their own assessments.

For the benefit of risking my questions going unanswered, lets assume I spoke perfect fluent Spanish with their kings accent, can my other criterium be met? if so which town?

snikpoh

I think if you'd stated that originally, people would not have been so 'down' on you.

Mama_Carol

This is what you said in your original post

"I don’t intent to work in Spain, I’ll be spending my savings, I am a bit of a sports freak, so I’m looking for a place which offers a skate park, nearby gym, good social activities, a library to study, a language school that offers french.
I’ll like to live in town where I can get by without without speaking a word of Spanish."

With this sort of unrealistic request, of course people will answer in the way they have.

I don't think you have any idea what it is really like here in Spain when you cannot speak any Spanish. It is not true that there are English speaking Spaniards everywhere.

Last year a friend of mine was rushed into San Juan (Alicante) hospital by ambulance. The doctor refused to treat her unless a Spanish/English speaking person was present. The doctor said if the patient could not understand what was being explained to her it could cause more harm than good. The hospital does not provide translators.

Luckily, I was able to go along and help for a couple of days until she could find an official translator (€15 per hour).

This is on the Costa Blanca, not far from Benidorm. If that is what it is like here, imagine what it is like elsewhere.

Have you considered living in Gibraltar?

cricketman

I'm not sure I can suggest anywhere in Spain for this.

I assume you will need the library to have a lot of English books rather than Spanish books, and the French course will be aimed at Spaniards i.e. the teachers will teach in a mixture of Spanish and French which will be no good for you.

As for being able to get by only in English, there are lots of British urbanisations in the South but they dont tend to have many or any facilities.

The sports facilities you mention will be in any Spanish city or town. Skate parks will be the least common, but I've seen a few around and about.

jackytoo

Sounds like Trolls RU

Rosemary

Totally agree with you.

With regards to paying a translator for a set time such as seeing a specialist it works well. However, I expect that your friend had difficulty regarding the everyday contact with the other health providers because they walk into the room ask you something to which they expect an immediate answer. They are too busy to stand around whilst a person types it into an electronic translator and of course the patient has to have caught what they said in order to put it into the translator.

I do not know where to suggest that the poster should try but I definitely think that the Valencian Province would not have enough English speakers to accommodate him.

Rosemary

mikelincs

I suspect this is your main stumbling block, if you only want to speak English, then your shopping will be very limited as the supermarkets are almost completely Spanish run, and you do have to at least be able to ask for the items you want, pointing doesn't really work, and could well be construed as vey rude. The English run shops are very limited in stoack, and sell mainly English imported foods that work out very expensive compared with the Spanish ones. Translators at medical clinics, and at hospitals usually have to be booked in advance, not a possibility in an emergency. Spanish people are very friendly, as long as you do try to undertand and speak to them in their own language, they will accept your lack of knowledge as long as you do try and do at least learn the basics, such as greetings, please and thank you, but if you just try and use English only, then you will find yourself runnning into a brick wall, it's the same with the French as well. Most towns have sports gyms, libraries, which are often only available to people who have residencia, so using them as an internet cafe might be difficult, if that is what you wnat. They will have few, if any, English or French books.