uniblonder

Hi, Okay--first I'm an American. I hope you guys will let that go--since this is for British Expats!! I had to confess.

Second, I have a question: I recently lost my beloved, adorable husband. It was unexpected and sudden. We had 2 small children (2 1/2 years and 7 months old), who now-more than ever--are my reasons to keep going! Before my husband's death (just two months prior), we had taken a trip to Spain. We, right then and there, decided we would work toward relocating there and would settle in Barcelona (we just fell in love w/ it). I have lived in Spain--on and off--for the past 20 years, so I am very comfortable there, am fluent in Spanish (I am an interpreter by trade). My husband's parents are from Ireland, so the children will have Irish passports.

So--here is my question. After weighing my options, I don't know (or at least I'm not convinced) that Barcelona would be the best place for us, as it seems to be VERY expensive compared to the other parts of Spain. When I've lived in Spain, it's never been as a parent, so where I lived before might not be a good *fit* now, if you know what I mean. It looks like I may eventually have a fixed income of approximately 30K Euros and can always work once the children are in school.

My main focus would be to live somewhere that is safe and friendly and that is still very Spanish. I don't necessarily want to be in the middle of an expat community, but wouldn't mind be near some English-speakers!

Again, I'm very comfortable with the Spanish lifestyle and language--and do want my children to be in Spanish--or at least bilingual schools.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations. I hope that eventually we would buy something, but plan on renting until I know where we are is a good fit.

Thanks again for any and all recommendations!!!

Karen
P.S. I guess I should add that we are coming from the NYC area, so big cities are not a problem!

montgomail

Remember your kids would have to be tri-lingual as they will need Catalan for education, and work later on.

Don't know enough about Barcelona to comment, I'm afraid. Valencia is Spain's third city and has a lot to offer - might be worth a look.

uniblonder

Catalan is something that thrilled my husband--the thought that the kids would learn a third, obscure (somewhat) language was exciting to him. I'm not so thrilled about it (as a single-bilingual mom!). He was an outside-the-box kinda guy and while I lean that way, now that I'm juggling 2 kids on my own, logic and practicality rule the day! That said, I'm not against Barcelona, but just want to make sure I'm weighing all my options and choosing carefully.

Thanks for the reply and for the suggestion of Valencia.
K

montgomail

Although the same equation applies to Valencia, ie Valenciano language which is similar to Catalan (apparently).

torie

Try checking out north of Barcelona, like Girona, if you like the idea of living in Catalunya. (Due to that crazy american tour de france winner, there's actually quite a few americans in Girona! Put hey - don't let that put you off or anything...)

Yes, this area IS more expensive than the rest of Spain, but it's worth it, in my humble opinion. It's beautiful, close to the sea, mountains, barcelona, france and lakes. And cheap flights make visiting other parts of europe rather affordable and far too easy...

As for the kids learning 3 languages: I don't have kids myself, but quite a few folks I know out here do and their kids thrive. It's pretty cool to see them switching between english, catalan and spanish in the same sentence sometimes! The town hall even offers free catalan courses for adults.

Good luck on your search

t0rie

uniblonder

Great--that's a good suggestion. I'm up for north of Barcelona--close enough for a daytrip?

Any recommendations on neighborhoods? I'll gladly add that to the list of possibilities.....also, is it cheaper than BCN at least? Maybe?

Thanks so much.

torie

Ooo. I could recommend tons of places. And yes, it's cheaper than Barcelona - well, at least, the towns outside Girona. I think Girona itself is rather expensive! You could have a look at a few estate agents for ideas, I suppose... There's expensive estate agents and cheap ones.... obviously!

It takes about an hour on the train from Flaça to Barcelona. Which is the station we drive to as opposed to going into Girona itself. There's actually a bus right from our town that's about an hour and a half or so, but have never actually taken it!

Of course, when they finish building the infamous high speed rail link, it's supposed to cut the journey time down to about half hour or something crazy... But who knows when that'll be finished!

Feel free to contact me through PM or my blog if you want any suggestions or help!

t0rie

Chiclanagir

Can I say I am sorry for your loss. Is the 30k a year? If so you would be in a very good position.

uniblonder

Yes, it's a year. I would hope that would be enough to keep us at least maintained.

Thanks and thank you for your condolences.