Young English Family Need Advice On Areas & Other Stuff...

[U.K.Family2008]

Hi my name is Paul and me and my partner are looking to move to Spain permanently. We have become fed up with living in the u.k. and with having two young kids we want a better life for them. Having them grow up in the u.k. is not really an option. Youth culture in the u.k. is something that scares me as a parent and i want them to have a happy childhood and spend more time outdoors and safe! We have been there on holidays and done one inspection trip to the Almeria/Murcia region but we are still unsure of a number of things.

One being the employment situation. My partner works in finance as an Accounts Assistant and has experience in Banking having worked as a Personal Banker for Barclays. I have experience in Gardening and Warehousing but i'm currently working in a Supermarket. To me the type of job i do is a means to an end aslong as i can pay my bills and have an o.k. quality of life.

We have been learning Spanish for the last few months and it's getting better everyday. We aim to be Spanish speaking when we do make the move to help us settle and integrate and obviously enhance our job opportunities.

We have two young children, 7 and 5yrs old. We understand about the Spanish school system and would put them in a state run school.

Previously we looked at Huercal Overa, Urcal and surrounding areas 15mins inland but nothing hit our eyes. We would like an old style property that has been renovated to a good standard, something with outside space for the kids a pool would be nice! Thats me being greedy! lol. We dont want to be out in the sticks. We would like to be in a village with a good school and a friendly atmosphere.

We are open to any areas in Southern Spain and any advice from people in a similar position or from someone who has made the leap would be great.

Thanks Paul

[sun shines]

Hello Paul,
I came to Murcia a year ago, I live in Mar Menor, here life is very nice, you can find villages near the coast and near big cities too, for example, here, in the Mar Menor, you are 45km away from Murcia, 30km from Cartagena, 50-60 km from Alicante; you have airport in San Javier, in Alicante, port in Cartagena and Alicante; trains are directly from Balsicas Mar Menor to Madrid (4.30 h), from Cartagena To Madrid, Murcia, Barcelona, France. From Alicante to Madrid, Barcelona too. Here motorways are very well, only in the summer, you can find traffic jam. About beaches, in the Mar Menor, you can have a bath from march- april to october, summer time water is very hot, it is a ideal place for children cause it is not deep. You have MEditerranean sea too, You can look to La Manga web side, this is a previligious place in the world, only crossing the street you have Mar Menor in one side and Mediterranean Sea in the other. About schools, here you have bilingual jobs, or non bilingual. About jobs, here you have Barkleys to so maybe your partner can try, about gardering, here we have lots of golf, there is a big firm, maybe you can ask for a job there, look for polaris in the web. When I came here there was a person who helped me with the purchasing, is in Cartagena, try to look for sapinsolicitor in internet, there are some useful information, and I am sure here in this forum you are going to find interesting things too. Hope I have helped a bit.

See you.

[sun shines]

sorry for the mistakes i am not good on computer jajaj, (sapinsolicitor= spainsolicitor) sorry

[Stravinsky]

Well you've obviously done your research on schools which is good .... at that age they should become bi lingual very quickly.

I cant really advise on the areas you mention, as I'm situated further north, but my best advice is (as you seem to be doing) is spend a lot of time researching what you are going to do, and rent first before you buy. Rentals can be down around 450 per month + utilities and its worth testing the area you are going to before putting your money into a house.

[jojo]

We moved to Andalucia last week. We are renting for 11 months. This will give us time to have a good look round and see where we wanna be and whats available. We were going to buy, but the UK house hasnt sold and property prices here are all over the place at the mo, so I'm glad we're doing it like this.

That would be my advice - get a rough idea of the area of Spain you think you like, visit, rent and then make your ultimate decision.

For us, so far, so good.No major hiccups, the kids are settling in their school (international fee paying cos of their ages 11 and 13 - a bit too old to intergrate easily we felt), the dogs love it and its lovely here - cold, but lovely. I've even been driving the car!!!!!!! Although, its only been a week.......!!!??


Jo

[stokie jones16]

HI hope you dont mind me contacting you but we are in a simalar situation we want to move to live but do you think its best to rent then move also have you got any contacts we can use to help us thanks stokie jones16

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by stokie jones16

HI hope you dont mind me contacting you but we are in a simalar situation we want to move to live but do you think its best to rent then move also have you got any contacts we can use to help us thanks stokie jones16

Look at my signature

[newkidsontheblock]

hello to all ,i am a new comer to this site and you seem to be the man with the most answers.I to am coming to spain to live in hopfully july with my wife and two children (7/10) .The quetion that i would like to ask is that the 7yr old has a few special needs which are mild autism and speech and learning difficulties and we do not know what type of school to put him in,I have tried to contact various international schools in the costa blanca area but i get the same answer that they do not cope with these children. Until i have sorted out the school problem i cant look for a property to rent or buy. I hope you can answer this quirey or know someone who can .Thankyou.

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by newkidsontheblock

hello to all ,i am a new comer to this site and you seem to be the man with the most answers.I to am coming to spain to live in hopfully july with my wife and two children (7/10) .The quetion that i would like to ask is that the 7yr old has a few special needs which are mild autism and speech and learning difficulties and we do not know what type of school to put him in,I have tried to contact various international schools in the costa blanca area but i get the same answer that they do not cope with these children. Until i have sorted out the school problem i cant look for a property to rent or buy. I hope you can answer this quirey or know someone who can .Thankyou.

Hiya, please see my answer on the special needs thread

[pablosho]

Hi everyone,
There is some good advice about relocating to Spain in an article of the same name on another site for British Expats.
The advice I would give having lived in the Cadiz province in Andalucia for 5 years is to take a look at the different areas you think you like make a list of everything you need and require for your relocation. Visit out of season if possible and yes rent first and take your time to have a look around different areas.