Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

My family and I are not sure whether to move to Spain and set up a business or move to New Zealand where employers have showed an interest in my husband. We have two young children so obviously it would be easier language wise to settle in an English speaking Country but we love Spain and it is closer to UK and I would like them to be bilingual.
Are there any young families who have moved to Spain? I would like to hear about their experiences.

Helen

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

This is not from a young family prospective, but soley from a realistic view we took when choosing Spain. We had thought about other areas in the States, but the overriding factor for us was that it would take us just two hours to get back to the UK at quite reasonable cost with the low cost airways, rather than 10 hours from the US. Of course NZ is a 24 hour journey, and fairly costly.
Spain seems a very family orientated place to me so ideal for young kids, and if you have family still in the UK that you don't want to lose touch with then the choice has to be Spain. My daughter remains in the UK and I want to be able to go and see her whenever I want to.
Just my 2 penneth! :)

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Thanks for your views Spain definitely is more convenient and there is the thought that if you go as far as NZ you may never see elderly parents again. The main worry in Spain would be if a business did not work it would be difficult to get employment unless fluent in Spanish and you would end up going home with your tail between your legs which would be the last thing I wanted in an English speaking county my husband and I could get employment.

Helen

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Yes you are right there. In general it tends to be who you know, not what you know. From what I've read you do need to have a knowledge of the Spanish language otherwise you limit yourself and have a distinct disadvantage.
Having said that I've seen plenty of success stories with paople who have made it.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is ...... can you live with leaving your elderly parents back in the UK, travelling half the way around the world, and depriving them of their grandchildren.

I know its a horrible thing to bring up. I haven't got grandchildren yet but I think I know how I'd feel if my daughter did the same.

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

We have an 8 year old daughter and much as the other poster mentioned we have lived in North Carolina for a couple of years in the past and loved it but the flights home and their cost did leave you isolated from family and friends.
So we are heading for Spain because we have friends who have settled all over Spain with small kids and in the main they loved it they all remark on the love of children and how child friendly the country is and of course it helps that two hours away is the family and a lot of our friends folks like ours are retired meaning they can come for extended visits.
Most also had kids that became bilingual within 12 months.
With regard to New Zealand we had friend who is a doctor who spent two years with his family down there they loved it but did not extend their stay because of the isolation from family and also remarked on how outside the main cities it was limited in terms of facilities

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Thats what we love the fact that they love kids, before we had kids and visited Spain we thought the Spanish were a bit abrupt, but when we went with our 3 year old daughter they were all over her and they did seem more friendly inland than on the coast, perhaps they get sick of the stereotypical lager lout holidaymakers on the coast.

Helen

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Why not consider Nova Scotia. It is English speaking, cheap to live and only 4.5 hours from the UK (about the same as The Canaries).

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

I can see why you prefer Spain... I own a property in Turkey and although i think it's a fantastic place and so are the people, i doubt i could move there permanently. Too many restrictions...

Spain on the other hand is just 2-3 hours away from the UK and the flights are really cheap, so if you fancy a weekend break or want to invite your family over it's not going to break the bank... :beer:

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

To GrayC we considered Canada but not sure about the winters and imagine it is quite hard to get into as popular place to emigrate to.

Helen

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

I lived for a year in Canada and loved every minute of it but froze during the winter, I was in Vancouver/Calgary. I have a 9 month old daughter and both my wife and I truly believe she will have a far better upbringing in Spain, our only question is where in Spain to move to. With regards to setting up a business, Spain is no different to anywhere else, As long as you do the research and know your subject then any business has a pretty good chance. My plan will come to fruition, and can only get better as my knowledge of Spanish gets better. My wife is a qualified Child minder/nursery nurse and has already been asked for details.
So for what it's worth I say go for Spain.
Enjoy
Kevray

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Thanks for that advice Kevray yes a business is the same anywhere you go. Andalucia is our favourite place in Spain beautiful scenery and national parks, you see the real Spain in the little white villages whilst not being far from the coast if you fancy a taste of home i.e going for a Chinese or British food.

Good luck

Helen

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

If i can add my two cents worth, I'm down in Madrid (from Germany) for a short term project and the first thing I noticed is that with out Spanish you will be totally lost, I wouldn't recommend setting up a business unless your very good in Spanish, unless you plan on catering to Expats only.

Another tip which is to give the kids Spanish lessons ahead of time.

I would recommend watching every episode of no turning back to get an idea of how others did it.

Chris and I moved from Canada to Germany 6 years ago and while the transition was tough we'd never go back.

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Just curious. Why would you not go back to Canada? We are considering moving to Canada or Spain soon.

Graham

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Remember everyone there is a lot of disinformation relating to moving to Spain, just the same as many other subjects. Most of the media and websites have a vested interest. Often users in forums are not quite who they would at first seem to be. People throw in comments such as the one about about passing the phone. At their prices I´d pass the fone at arms length.

I was chatting to a lady recently who was running short of money on the costa blanca and she was telling me that a local estate agent had told her that if she could sell just one property a year she could live in luxury. Thats the price that people pay.

Check things out carefully and dont get stung. Just think for example, why on programs on the TV they dont they mention the 3000 houses in the area of Elche that were knowinhly being built illegally (by Spanish builders), the buyers (mainly british) paid up and moved in, then received letters saying they were being fined for an illegal build. Soon as they paid the fine they were told the places were to be demolished, and they were.

Wonder if perhaps the reason the builders were not stòpped was because the local government doesn't want loads of unemployed builders, electricians, plumbers, electrical goods shops etc.

Recently a family had their car rammed in a shopping centre when they had briefly popped in a shop. The daughter was waiting in the back whilst the gang stole the shopping and all their christmas spending money, which amounted to 1000s. Ok they were pretty stupid leaving 1000's in a car, but the police never came and when the people visited the police station apparently the police said no crime had been committed because the car was unlocked.

A newspaper on the Costa blanca says it will not publish bad news. Presumably because they don't want to put estate agents and others off advertising.

It is not uncommon to read in the Spanish papers and see on Spanish television shootings, the police mal treating a person (such as the arrest of 5 officers on the Costa del Sol for mis handling a British man - witnessed by many passers by).

The Spanish can be quite racist towards other europeans who have the same rights in Spain as themselves. It is not uncommon to hear Spanish comment on how the British have spolied their towns. Forgetting the fact that they'd probably still be growing oranges if it wasnt for money from other nationalities.

Not only the Spanish treat people in this way. A well established british online supermarket in Spain (britbuys) has terms and conditons that are ridiculous (and probably illegal under distance sellign regulations) , and presumably people are foolish enough to put up with it.

"5/We are not responsible for any breakages once your order has left our premises. This is all covered with insurance with our transport companies. If you do recieve anything broken then please keep the broken item and get in contact with us immediately so we can arrange for an insurance assesor to call round to you.Britbuys.com will not make any refunds.


6/ Any items found to be close to their sell by date will not be refunded unless returned to us with the customer being responsible for paying for returning the goods. Any items out of date on the date the parcel left us will be refunded.

7/ All sizes and weights are approximate. Any items received which do not match the description on our web site will not be subject to a refund or extra charge .

8/ No exceptions will be made to these rules as it is taken that the customer has read these points before placing their order

Re: Young families experiences of living in Spain
 

Blimey :scared: and I thought everyone on this forum wanted to help us poor brits move successfully to Spain, If all Expats had your views :eek: Nothing you have said other than your rant on "britbuys" is particularly relevant as these occurrences happen in all countries. As for Britbuys, well I suggest if you don't like them don't buy from them. ;)