deciding which area is best?

[SteveHall]

All makes perfect sense to me - Málaga has much better public transport to its airport than Alicante and in a different league to San Javier, Murcia. (2 trains per hour along the coast from Fuengirola, express coaches to Marbella etc etc) Madrid just 3 hours by AVE etc etc.

There is so much to rent you will have no problems whatsoever. If I am here in January I will be happy to meet up. I PERSONALLY would normally keep my property in storage in the UK until I had found "heaven" but that's my shout. Others will have a different "take"

[dosprompt]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

All makes perfect sense to me - Málaga has much better public transport to its airport than Alicante and in a different league to San Javier, Murcia. (2 trains per hour along the coast from Fuengirola, express coaches to Marbella etc etc) Madrid just 3 hours by AVE etc etc.

There is so much to rent you will have no problems whatsoever. If I am here in January I will be happy to meet up. I PERSONALLY would normally keep my property in storage in the UK until I had found "heaven" but that's my shout. Others will have a different "take"

Will look forward to some of your advice on things if your in the area and also the offer of pointing us in the direction of somewhere to stay for a couple of days (hotel). It seems that Ryanair now fly's from Edinburgh and this will allow me to fly back and forth each week end, with Easyjet as a backup.

[SteveHall]

Just be careful of weekend flight prices with Ryanair! Best to try to book them as far as possible in advance usually. (!)

[lshilleto]

Hi all,
have just been reading this link & it has calmed my nerves somewhat,
My family & i are taking the plunge in june & have been really up & down about the whole moving to spain thing as we keep changing our minds (or my other half does anyway) on what area we want to live in,
We lived on the costa del sol briefly in 2000 but we are looking at the costa blanca region & feel quite drawn towards the valencia region at the mo,Denia especially,
We are going to rent for a month to start with so we can travel around & choose our area carefully before renting on a longer term,
We have two children,one of 8 & one of 16 months so obviously the school thing is a concern but like yourselves i think a state school is the way to go,
I really admire you Jacs for doing that alone & its nice to hear that you are doing well with it all & you have renewed my faith that my little ones will love it,even though my 8 year old is totally against the idea at the mo bless her,
Mum2twinsplus1, if you move near me i will be your friend & we can freak out together when our little ones start school LOL,
It is a worry all round but you know what, the only regret i will have is if i at least try & give my kids a better life,i just wish that i had never come back to uk at all,
If there is anyone reading this that lives in the Valencia Region,any advice on schools,areas etc...would be welcome,cheers.

[SteveHall]

I have lived in CV for 7 years and know it well.

Ok, first question.
What language do you want your children to be taught in?

[lshilleto]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

I have lived in CV for 7 years and know it well.

Ok, first question.
What language do you want your children to be taught in?

Hi Steve,
Well my little 16 month old will not know any different so it will be straight into a state spanish school for her,no worries there,
Its my 8 year old that i am concerned about,i really want her to go into a state school & be taught in spanish but am sooo worried that she is going to find it all really daunting,& i'm really confused with all the different area languages.

[SteveHall]

Originally Posted by lshilleto

Hi Steve,
Well my little 16 month old will not know any different so it will be straight into a state spanish school for her,no worries there,
Its my 8 year old that i am concerned about,i really want her to go into a state school & be taught in spanish but am sooo worried that she is going to find it all really daunting,& i'm really confused with all the different area languages.

WRONG answer ,,,,,sorry!

If you don't know what languages they teach in any area why are you even considering it? Those who know me know I get very emotional about education for expat children and I have written frequently about it. (I know quite a few Spanish teachers and what I hear is not pretty)

Anyway, here we go! In most of the CV your children will be taught in TWO languages. Are you ready for that? Will you be able to support them in these two languages. If you think one language will be daunting, what about two?

Denia? Nice enough but IMHO opinion over-priced and cut off from a big city - if you need/want that. God's waiting room - not many young children.

[lshilleto]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

WRONG answer ,,,,,sorry!

If you don't know what languages they teach in any area why are you even considering it? Those who know me know I get very emotional about education for expat children and I have written frequently about it. (I know quite a few Spanish teachers and what I hear is not pretty)

Anyway, here we go! In most of the CV your children will be taught in TWO languages. Are you ready for that? Will you be able to support them in these two languages. If you think one language will be daunting, what about two?

Denia? Nice enough but IMHO opinion over-priced and cut off from a big city - if you need/want that. God's waiting room - not many young children.

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your input,& i understand that living out there for seven years makes you the expat expert,but why so harsh,the whole point of me coming on this forum is to find nice people to help me along the way,we all have to start somewhere & i do understand where you are coming from but to be honest there really is no need to make me feel like i am sitting an exam,i realise that different areas speak different languages & i am sorry but it is a little confusing,all i was trying to say is YES its a little scary & can someone give me a little advice on the subject,you probably are emotional because you get alot of people on here without a clue but in all fairness thats because they have'nt got a clue,Hence the coming on here in the first place to try & find out more,what is wrong with that?
Maybe I'M being a little emotional (as it is that time of the month) but i do feel that you come across a little harsh,was actually looking forward to your reply this morning as it sounded like you know you what you are talking about but to be honest all you have done is make me feel like a dumbass which i am not,please dont put people down for trying to find some information on what may be the biggest decision of their lives,i want honesty fine but the WRONG answer sorry line was a bit much,thanks for the information you did give me even if it was backed with too much emotion!
If there is anyone on here who is willing to have a chat(not a debate) with me about living on the costa blanca,maybe someone with children who has already been through it all, please let me know your experience,good or bad as i have'nt got rose tinted glasses on as i have done it before,just not with children,maybe you could recommend an area away from the one i'm looking at,thanks alot.
Thankyou steve for your time.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by lshilleto

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your input,& i understand that living out there for seven years makes you the expat expert,but why so harsh,the whole point of me coming on this forum is to find nice people to help me along the way,we all have to start somewhere & i do understand where you are coming from but to be honest there really is no need to make me feel like i am sitting an exam,i realise that different areas speak different languages & i am sorry but it is a little confusing,all i was trying to say is YES its a little scary & can someone give me a little advice on the subject,you probably are emotional because you get alot of people on here without a clue but in all fairness thats because they have'nt got a clue,Hence the coming on here in the first place to try & find out more,what is wrong with that?
Maybe I'M being a little emotional (as it is that time of the month) but i do feel that you come across a little harsh,was actually looking forward to your reply this morning as it sounded like you know you what you are talking about but to be honest all you have done is make me feel like a dumbass which i am not,please dont put people down for trying to find some information on what may be the biggest decision of their lives,i want honesty fine but the WRONG answer sorry line was a bit much,thanks for the information you did give me even if it was backed with too much emotion!
If there is anyone on here who is willing to have a chat(not a debate) with me about living on the costa blanca,maybe someone with children who has already been through it all, please let me know your experience,good or bad as i have'nt got rose tinted glasses on as i have done it before,just not with children,maybe you could recommend an area away from the one i'm looking at,thanks alot.
Thankyou steve for your time.

There are alot of folk who come onto this site and rightly or wrongly assume that cos everything is grim in the UK, Spain is a cheap, happy, easy utopia. I think that people who have been here a long time know the many pitfalls of moving here and dont "pussyfoot" around the issue. Also alot of humour.emotion can be lost by the written word on forums etc - so please dont take it to heart!!! But what is said is true!

Anyway, as for schools and kids, well, I only wish for my daughters sake I'd moved here when she was 8! She's 11 and is having a bad time at school, alot of it of her own making cos she wont try to speak Spanish, she wont try and make friend and is not happy (see my thread).

Definately, the younger they are the easier it is for them to adapt - my daughters problem is that she's hit the self conscious teenage years and I'm not sure what to do with her!!

Jo xx

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by lshilleto

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your input,& i understand that living out there for seven years makes you the expat expert,but why so harsh,the whole point of me coming on this forum is to find nice people to help me along the way,we all have to start somewhere & i do understand where you are coming from but to be honest there really is no need to make me feel like i am sitting an exam,i realise that different areas speak different languages & i am sorry but it is a little confusing,all i was trying to say is YES its a little scary & can someone give me a little advice on the subject,you probably are emotional because you get alot of people on here without a clue but in all fairness thats because they have'nt got a clue,Hence the coming on here in the first place to try & find out more,what is wrong with that?
Maybe I'M being a little emotional (as it is that time of the month) but i do feel that you come across a little harsh,was actually looking forward to your reply this morning as it sounded like you know you what you are talking about but to be honest all you have done is make me feel like a dumbass which i am not,please dont put people down for trying to find some information on what may be the biggest decision of their lives,i want honesty fine but the WRONG answer sorry line was a bit much,thanks for the information you did give me even if it was backed with too much emotion!
If there is anyone on here who is willing to have a chat(not a debate) with me about living on the costa blanca,maybe someone with children who has already been through it all, please let me know your experience,good or bad as i have'nt got rose tinted glasses on as i have done it before,just not with children,maybe you could recommend an area away from the one i'm looking at,thanks alot.
Thankyou steve for your time.

Sorry about that, Steve tells it as it is

OK, I live on the CB North. Not so far from Denia. We did an enormous amount of research before we came here. We wanted to live on the Northern CB. We started in Altea and worked our way up. Some places were holiday places, some had too many Brits. Some were overpriced. Denia ticks all three of those boxes. I like to go there (I even like to go to Benidorm) but I wouldn't want to live there

We ended up outside Gandia / Oliva. We chose to live somewhere where we need a car to get anywhere, but because it has a hell of a view.

Depends on exactly what you want, but some of the towns can be very noisy at night. To find a smaller village just outside the towns is ideal, as you have the best of both worlds ..... you do get used to having to drive, and its no big deal .... the price you have to pay I guess!

Oliva / Gandia region has blue flag beaches, plently of national parks, beautiful countryside nearby, and its close to two airports. I dont have problems here with two languages, although I do notice a lot is written around here in valenciano. However its not a problem