Advise needed on our move to Spain.

sarahjanelovesspain · #1 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 12:46 PM

:) Hi, Where do I start! Me, my family (hubby + 3 kids) are moving to Spain hopefully before the end of this year.
I am a hairdresser/Beauty therapist so work for me is not a problem. My husband is a unskilled laborer so work for him may be difficult so any advise welcome.
My children are aged 13, 9, 5 so my big question is do I put them in English or Spanish school?
I have several relatives who already live in Benalmadena and have been there 10+ years. They would never come back to the UK and tell me the move is very hard .
My reason for moving is for a better future and lifestyle for my family.
The UK is great but we no longer want the material life, we have a beautiful home, 2 cars, holidays each year ect ect.
I ask my family for advise but they seem to try and put us off for some reason! possibly because of the kids? I don't know.
So I would be very, very, very grateful for any advise you ex pats have to offer.:confused:

chris(madrid) · #2 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 01:04 PM

It is a tough time to move right now. Unemployment is High. Expect LONG hours in your profession (my neighbour is one). If I were you I'd make sure you have a 12 month buffer to enable you to find work that fits.

Hubby may find it very tough unless he can network amongst other ex-pats. There are masses of South Americans and Romanians here now - many in the same state - and many are so desperate they're heading home.

If you plan to stay - send the kids to Spanish State school.

sarahjanelovesspain · #3 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 01:41 PM

Thanks for your honest advise and yes I know its going to be very hard but im hoping in the long run it will be worth it, and if we don't try we will never know and I think that would be worse. As for schooling I think your right, nearly all ex pats say the same. Thanks again for taking the time to give me this advise and you have a great day!

kellseye · #4 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 03:24 PM

Please think about your kids before coming to live in Spain. They could grow up hating you for throwing them in with a lot of spanish children who will torment the life out of them.
Secondly, your hubby will find it very hard to make a living here without skills, there's thousands of locals here already without skills.
Thirdly, you could find yourself with lots of competition in the hairdressing and beauty business.
and lastly, your pound only buys 1.25 euros, a big drop from last years 1.52
Sorry for popping your dream bubble.

covfan71 · #5 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 03:29 PM

Sarah, where are yo thinking of moving to. I myself am moving to Spain within the next 18 months and am having the same worries about work. My daughter will be 4 when we move am are going state school. She will hopefully be fluent within a year

Stravinsky · #6 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahjanelovesspain

Hi, Where do I start! Me, my family (hubby + 3 kids) are moving to Spain hopefully before the end of this year.
I am a hairdresser/Beauty therapist so work for me is not a problem. My husband is a unskilled laborer so work for him may be difficult so any advise welcome.
My children are aged 13, 9, 5 so my big question is do I put them in English or Spanish school?
I have several relatives who already live in Benalmadena and have been there 10+ years. They would never come back to the UK and tell me the move is very hard .
My reason for moving is for a better future and lifestyle for my family.
The UK is great but we no longer want the material life, we have a beautiful home, 2 cars, holidays each year ect ect.
I ask my family for advise but they seem to try and put us off for some reason! possibly because of the kids? I don't know.
So I would be very, very, very grateful for any advise you ex pats have to offer.

The 5 and the 9 year old will probably be fine in Spanish school, I'd be a little concerned about the 13 yr old though as she/he is going to have to pick the language up fairly quickly to deal with higher education ..... maybe some lessons in the UK might be advisable.

Just bear in mind overall, as Chris said, the hours can be long. Life is certainly based on families in Spain but salaries are relatively low here. So the cost of living is better but if you are earning in € then it wont get you too much further.

But at the moment getting up every morning to sunshine is wonderful, and I remember how depressed I used to get back in the UK when every day seemed to be grey and drab.

If you can adapt to Spain, rather than trying to get Spain to adapt to you then you can accept it ....... but never utter those words "it wouldn't happen in England"!

sarahjanelovesspain · #7 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 06:55 PM

Hi im moving to Benalmadena. This is my first time on this site and I love it! All the feed back I've had so far, good and not so good has been a real help. I've talked to my kids about how hard its going to be and luckily my kids are very outgoing and cant wait to go and live in spain. In the uk once you have got your nice house, cars and 2.4 kids what else is there? I might go to spain and after 6 months I might hate it and come back to the UK but unless I try I will never know. If I don't go with great expectations then I wont be too disappointed. The reason us brits have such nice homes is because were stuck in them most of the time cos the weather is so crap lol. My family who already live in Benalmadena come back to the UK for medical reasons and when they come back they get straight on the net and book flights back to Spain. They really dont like coming back and wouldn't if they didn't need to.
Its so depressing! we are in July and so far all it has done is rain , rain, rain.
Luckily I didn't get flooded last July but many of my friends did and it wasn't nice seeing all those people forced out of there homes, losing personal belongings ect. This year seems to be going the same way and frankly I've had enough. The government hasn't improved flood defences and home insurance has gone through the roof, thats if you can get it!
Need I say any more? Spain here I come :-)

Stravinsky · #8 (**permalink**) 7th July 2008, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahjanelovesspain

My family who already live in Benalmadena come back to the UK for medical reasons

You mean they live here in Spain and access the NHS for medical treatment?

chris(madrid) · #9 (**permalink**) 8th July 2008, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahjanelovesspain

Hi im moving to Benalmadena. .....
Luckily I didn't get flooded last July but many of my friends did and it wasn't nice seeing all those people forced out of there homes, losing personal belongings ect. This year seems to be going the same way and frankly I've had enough. The government hasn't improved flood defences and home insurance has gone through the roof, thats if you can get it!
Need I say any more? Spain here I come :-)

I don't want to seem a KILLJOY - but there are areas of Spain where one could apply EXACTLY THE SAME words. Flash Floods have devastated certain areas of Spain.

Seems you have a good idea what to expect.

sarahjanelovesspain · #10 (**permalink**) 8th July 2008, 07:14 AM

Hi I dont have a great dream of sitting by the pool every day. I realise life is just as tuff if non tuffer in Spain but the difference is in spain ant the end of a 50+ hour week I can look forward to taking my children to a beautiful beach, they can play outdoors with their friends and have the benefit of living in a different culture. I do watch costa del street crime lol, I know Im not moving to Disney land. Im sure once we move we will know weather we have made the right decision. I have tried to think of all the bad points about Spain and not focus on the sunshine so all your comments are a great help. Thankyou every one :-)