nice places in spain for a family

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by angela

thanks i do understand what your saying i think because its such a big move i want to make sure its best for us all as far as work and schools are concerned because i dont want to miles away from the schools etc i have no intentions of being in the middle of a holiday resort as this would be pointless in moving i want a new life not a little britain as you put it lol

The best possible thing you can do is come over for a fortnight and have a look around. Go to Torrevieja ... see what its like. Then travel to a few other places ... take your time, its a big move

The age for your kids is great for state school, they will become bi lingual very quickly ... well the eldest will anyway

[Eva33]

Originally Posted by angela

thanks i do understand what your saying i think because its such a big move i want to make sure its best for us all as far as work and schools are concerned because i dont want to miles away from the schools etc i have no intentions of being in the middle of a holiday resort as this would be pointless in moving i want a new life not a little britain as you put it lol

Hmm....I am Swiss and want to move to Spain with my family, I am thinking about similar things right now. But I am wondering what you brit's have against brit's.... Just joking....

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by Eva33

Hmm....I am Swiss and want to move to Spain with my family, I am thinking about similar things right now. But I am wondering what you brit's have against brit's.... Just joking....

We dont have anything against each other, its just nice if you move to a foreign country not to be surrounded by them

If you came to Spain and found yourself on an urbanisation full of Swiss people, would you feel OK about it?

[rjnpenang]

Hi Angela,
My wife & I moved to the Costa del Sol in 1983, within a few years we had 2 kids, both the births were in the UK so they had British passports which I thought was important at the time.
We put them into a PRIVATE Spanish school, starting with pre-school at the age of 4, within a few months they were fluent in Spanish at their age group.
At 6 they moved up to the proper school and we were very surprised to find the fees went down!, it seems the private schools were/are subsidised by the goverment. My point is that its posible to send them to a private school without breaking the bank. I cannot remember the fees however if you´re interested I can ask my wife for further details.
Although it was´nt the best school in the world I believe our kids were very happy there, I seem to remember only one incident of bullying which was quickly dealt with, the teachers/Spanish really love children.
They stayed in the same school until 16 then up to instituto before going on to Uni.
Although they had English lessons at school its very basic so its important they have extra lessons especialy in reading & writing, the verbal they will pick up at home. Our son is now 23, trilingual, (we sent him to Switzerland to study), and our daughter 21, bilingual, although they now live abroad they still have Spanish friends from school.
WE live in a great area called Mijas Costa, just a couple of miles from the sea, surrounded by Spanish neighbours but within driving distance of a resort.
There are quite a few private schools down here, in Fuengirola/ Mijas English, Finnish, Swedish but they tend to be expensive so please consider a Spanish private one. By the way your 2 are just the best age to move to another country.

[Eva33]

Originally Posted by Stravinsky

We dont have anything against each other, its just nice if you move to a foreign country not to be surrounded by them

If you came to Spain and found yourself on an urbanisation full of Swiss people, would you feel OK about it?

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

[chris(madrid)]

Originally Posted by Stravinsky

I want to explode a myth!

You dont need to go to heavily populated Brit areas to make a start in Spain.

Knowing the basics in Spanish, the Spaniards appreciated that we were trying and went out of their way to help. Quite a few have basic English.

If I had to make the choice - I'd go where there are predominantly Spaniards. If I wanted to live with other Brits I'd live in the UK.

Many younger Spaniards are already fairly good with English - but as with all folk - they're afraid of making mistakes so don't try - UNTIL you make the first move and they see you are not afraid to make mistakes.

True there are folk who are comfortable in an Ex-pat environment - and whilst it's not for me - I understand (I'd for example fully understand if my parents decided to spend their latter years in the warmth with no new language stress - but knowing them they'd prefer to communicate with the locals - and my dad cant handle much Sun). But it's NOT imo the best you can do for your children.

It's MUCH better for children to be immersed in the local language. And not stressfull.

About 2 weeks ago I was at a Wedding - Full of families from all over - Norway, France, Spain etc. The kids all played quite happily together not able to speak to each other. They assimilate this change better than most adults.

[Deepdiver47]

Heaven and Hell


In heaven:
The English are the police,
The Germans are the mechanics,
The Swiss are the administrators,
The French are the lovers,
The Italians are the cooks.

In hell:
The English are the cooks,
The French are the mechanics,
The Swiss are the lovers,
The Italians are the administrators,
The Germans are the police!

Maybe its a place called Spain. Funny though, what happened to the Spanish?!?!

[covfan71]

Angela, i am in exactly the same boat as you. I am looking to move to Spain with my wife and 4 year old daughter in the next 18 months and we are still undecided on where to move to. As Stravinsky said the North Costa Blanca is supposed to be really nice. We have been on a viewing trip to Costa Almeria (which we found to remote for us) and are off to the Mazarron area (Murcia region) in a couple of weeks. We personally, don't want to live right in the thick of a British community like Benidorm, Torrievieja, Marbella (if i did i would move to Gib) but would like to be within striking distance if you know what i mean. 10 - 15 miles inland from a main resort would be ideal for us so we could be close to schools and maybe have a better chance of work. Just far enough away to mix with the locals but close enough for work if we get it. Perhaps i am hoping to much for this but that is why we are going on a few viewing trips. If anyone thinks i am being too optimistic please speak up.

[Deepdiver47]

Originally Posted by covfan71

Angela, i am in exactly the same boat as you. I am looking to move to Spain with my wife and 4 year old daughter in the next 18 months and we are still undecided on where to move to. As Stravinsky said the North Costa Blanca is supposed to be really nice. We have been on a viewing trip to Costa Almeria (which we found to remote for us) and are off to the Mazarron area (Murcia region) in a couple of weeks. We personally, don't want to live right in the thick of a British community like Benidorm, Torrievieja, Marbella (if i did i would move to Gib) but would like to be within striking distance if you know what i mean. 10 - 15 miles inland from a main resort would be ideal for us so we could be close to schools and maybe have a better chance of work. Just far enough away to mix with the locals but close enough for work if we get it. Perhaps i am hoping to much for this but that is why we are going on a few viewing trips. If anyone thinks i am being too optimistic please speak up.

What kind of work are you looking for? My wife and I are both Management and Strategy Consultants and as such an occupation is communication based we believe that we may be 'challenged' until our language skills equal our technical ability!

[rjnpenang]

Hope everbody is aware that Spain is entering its biggest recession since the early 90s, theres going to be a lot of Spanish & foreigners out of work this winter. Rob. (25 years in Spain).