Dexta

Hi folks, I realize this is vague but we are at the early stages of upping sticks from the UK and moving to Spain.

I'm fortunate in that I don't need to work in Spain, my income is made online and safe, so finding work etc isn't an issue.

I'm going to lay out my criteria and situation below and hopefully this will give some structure to my families requirements and anybody who feels they can help out , especially based on experience, that would be great.

We intend to rent initially, for around a year, I would need a 3 bedroom + office or 4 bed home.

I would like to be either sea view or within 5-10 minutes walk of a nice safe beach.

I would ideally like to spend no more than 1,500 euros a month on rent and rates, electricity if possible. I would like a small garden as I have two young children and a dog and if we could squeeze a teeny pool into that rent, that would be great but it's not mission critical, just after feedback as to whether that is possible.

I have to a solid, reliable , fast internet connection, at least 10 MB or so. That isn't an optional requirement.

I have two children, 1 is 5 years old, while I like the idea of mixing into state schools, I'm not sure immediate dunking into all spanish speaking is viable , to much of an upset so I guess private is the only solution and the schooling is important.

As a 40 something, with a family, the club scene is pretty far behind us, while we do occasionally go and shake our stuff once or twice a year, it's far from our list of important elements to be near a lot of nightlife of that kind.

We do want to be within 10 minute walk or so of a more quiet scene, late night resturants, good food, civilized drinks in the evening sun etc..

I want to be near a safe beach I can take the girls swimming etc.

Our reason for moving are that.. I guess we can.

We're all a little bored seeing the same grey skies every morning and while we can , we want to go out and try a new scene for at least a few years.

I can speak a little Spanish and existed in Northern Africa for a year on it, I'm sure it will come back and we will both be attending Spanish speaking lessons prior to leaving and once we get there to help us find local friends.

My biggest concern is my wife, she has many friends here and is concerned about meeting friends in Spain, I can totally understand that, I'm not really worried about that end but she enjoys her flits into two with her friends for coffee and goes horse riding and dozens of kids clubs etc , I want her to be really happy so we don't move and then have a fractious time with her feeling she is isolated.

We have looked at Barcelona as it seems to have a lot on offer, and various areas around it seem interesting and worth checking out but we are totally open to suggestions from people with experience who might be able to help us out.

I would ideally like to be within 30 mins of an international airport that can get us back to the UK to family etc , but this isn't 100% critical.

Thanks in advance.
Dex

steviedeluxe

Hi - welcome to the forum. There are a lot of knowledgeable folk here, who know different areas, so with luck they should be able to give you a better idea as to where to go.

You mention Barcelona, and although it's probably a good place for IT connections and expat links, you have to remember that it's an expensive place to rent. A good idea of what's available, in English, can be found here - http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/
Also, you will probably have to cope with 2 languages, as Catalan is spoken widely, and some Catalans refuse to communicate in Spanish for political reasons.

Valencia is a far cheaper city, and you'll be able to get good web connections there. But it also has a local language - Valenciano (v similar to Catalan) to contend with. There is a very friendly group on Facebook called cv35 (iirc) that can help you.

There are of course many other towns/cities to consider that have good internet facilities (not always the case in the campo we're told), and I'm sure others here can tell you the advantages/disadvantages of each.

Good luck!

Dexta

Cheers Stevie.

We wouldn't need to be absolutely slap bang in Barcelona and it may well be far to noisy for us anyway so a few miles out would be ok if that helps on rents.

Barcelona just appealed as it looks like it has a cool cosmopolitan feel etc, but we are entirely open.

Domino

As you are probably finding out, Spain is full of what you are looking for, from the beaches to the horse riding, from the entertainment to the houses on both the Med and Atlantic coasts.

may I suggest you look at the major airports such as Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville as you want to be able to get home from time to time
Those places also have the infrastructure you will require for schooling, where there are other English speakers learning, as well as day to day transport, shopping and also the internet speeds you may require for the work (some people out in the sticks have to rely on mobiles or flaky 1mb connections which may put you off)

most importantly you will be able to dip into multi-cultural communities which should help the better half to understand the benefits, but also be able to provide her friends with somewhere different for those girly catchup meetings.

hth in the short term until you start getting the needle pointed in a more positive direction
kind regards

Dexta

Thanks Domino, just the sort of advice I'm after.

Internet connection is 100% vital.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Dexta

Rosemary can you change the beginning of my thread title from "where IS spain" to "Where IN Spain" , bit of a typo... thx

Pocaloca

This article might be of interest to you:

We live in a rural area and have a 7Mb ADSL contract with Jazztel for €29.99 a month (including landline calls, but we have to pay an additional €20 a month for the Movistar landline). I typically get speeds of 5 to 6Mb, it rarely dips below 5.

The service has only gone down once in the past year. I can't comment on their customer service because (touch wood) we've never needed it! On the other hand, we get power cuts at least once a month, lasting from 5 minutes to up to a few hours, but I guess that wouldn't be the case in a city.

cricketman

We've never had a power cut either in Barcelona or in Oviedo. Though we did get the odd one in Benalmadena

You can get fibre optic 100MB internet in many parts of Barcelona. However, sounds like you dont actually want to live in the city. You must realise that there arent really any suburbs to Barcelona, so it doesnt get quieter as you move out of the city, it just gets poorer and uglier as it is surrounded by satellite cities e.g. Manresa, Badalona, Terrasa etc.

You may like somewhere like Castelldefels or Sitges which are on the Coast and have lots of foreigners. The Coast is much nicer as you go towards Girona, the Costa Brava. The whole area is quite expensive if you want a villa with pool and garden. You get a lot more for your money towards Valencia, property is about half the price to rent.

In Barcelona, you will have a very limited life if you only speak English, you will need Catalan AND Spanish. Though you can get by with just one of these languages

Dexta

Places like Sitges seem nice but we were concerned about facilities and were told rental in places like Sitges was as expensive as in Barcelona, that seem about right?

mikelincs

I think your main concern MUST be the internet spped, 10mb will be very difficult in a lot of the places that otherwise might fit you bill. One of the big cities like Barcelona would seem to be the best option, you also need to factor in healthcare costs, in you situation you would have to pay for private cover.

steviedeluxe

I'm wondering whether Mallorca may be your ideal location. There is a poster here, amideislas , who can inform you about the place. It seems to tick most of your boxes (plenty of safe beaches, good nightlife options, lots of flights back to the UK etc). The only snag may be higher rents, but maybe amideislas can update us on that?

cricketman

Facilities I dont know, depends what you mean

Sitges and Castelldefels are as expensive as Barcelona city, but you are more likely to be able to find a quiet street with a house and garden

In Barcelona it is more likely to be a nice-ish 3 bed flat in a good part of the city for 1500 euros. Rents are much cheaper than 5 years ago, but still pretty expensive. My nephews live in Poble Nou where a nice 3 bed flat is 1500-2000 euros/month and the state schools are very good. It is also a 2 min walk from the beach and there is a lovely village atmosphere. However, it is very Catalan and no idea if there are any English schools

Pocaloca

Any "nice" coastal resort will have high rents for long-term lets - owners can make much more money from holiday lets.

Look inland a bit and prices will come down! After all, you'll only be going to the beach for a few months of the year, and there are lots of communities with shared pools and other facilities.

This website is good for seeing what you get for your money, it shows the average price by location.

http://www.fotocasa.es/en/

Domino

we had one yesterday evening around 9.30, only momentary whilst someone flicked a switch somewhere but enough to knock all off so computers and clocks needed resetting. Had to send the BH to bed early to reset the bedside clock

and out here in the olives we get 1.5mb using a radio system cos this part of the village has no telephone cables (yet) but we did get a very distinctive landline number out of it