Originally Posted by lizzyjones

Hi there, basically you must decide whether you wish to live in a primarily spanish community where you will be using your spanish and mixing with the spanish in general or whether you wish to live in an area where there are a mixture of both spanish and brits and other nationalities. When I first moved to costa blanca I lived just outside Benidorm in Albir and today Albir has grown somewhat but it is a lovely part of the cb north and has many nationalities there including a good number of brits, norwegian and dutch and so on. Fee paying schools have a mixture of nationalities and there is always a need for qualified Teachers especially those teaching English. I taught at the Costa Blanca International College in Albir but there is also a good school in La Nucia, not far from Albir, again they frequently look for Teachers, as does the Lady Elizabeth School in Javea. My visit this time was to Costa Blanca South, near Torrevieja and I can honestly say that there must be 60% brits live there. It is completely different in the south costa blanca to the north costa blanca. My personal preference is for the north costa blanca. I think they have over-developed the south costa blanca and with the economy the way it is, there are problems with selling houses and the cost of living is rising rapidly there and there is just something about it, it remind me of an overspill area in the UK and communications in general are not as good as in the north costa blanca.

If it were me, I would look for a teaching position first and that will dictate where you will live. The Costa Blanca News is available online and you will be able to obtain from the internet a list of schools that you can apply to for a position. You will have a contract and you will have your social security paid for and you will pay into the spanish pension system. After 10 years+ you will qualify for your spanish pension (which is twice as much as a UK pension) with lots of other benefits.
Working hours at school are much the same as in the UK and the curriculum is similar. 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. In the hot months, I can't remember the exact date, but they have summer school June/July and you can opt to work the summer school, 9 a.m. till 12 noon and swimming from 12 -2 p.m. August, no-one works, it's too hot. The Town Hall closes, only the refuse collectors work in the evening.

The schools have air-con, the classes are not large, my class of 9 yr olds - I had 23, mostly spanish, some norwegian and dutch. Teaching in Spain is a pleasure compared to teaching in the UK - I can say that with complete honesty.

If I can help further, don't hesitate to ask, Libby