Moving to Spain from UK?

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lightworker

vergavibra's comments were very rude and so should be ignored.

Listen i have lived here in the Costa Blanca 18 years, and never spoke a word of Spanish when I arrived and didn't worry about it. I now speak fluent Spanish (yes, vergavibra.......fluent!) Your child will adapt very quickly, kids seem to get along without language as a hurdle. Nurseries are generally private and can be expensive, state run ones usually have a waiting list.
But work is very very hard to come by at the moment regardless of where you are in Spain.

Of course there is more retiree advice as there are more of them here. The best advice I can give you is why not rent for a year and then if you find the place you love you can look into buying, as renting is cheap at the moment and it's a buyers market, but once bought if you don't like the area etc, it may be very very difficult to sell. (I used to be a property agent)
Don't go and live on one of those Brit urbanisation's (a bit like a council estate of nosey Brit neighbours wondering what you are doing)
In all the time we have been here we have never lived on an urb, we have always lived within the Spanish community and my daughter finally married a lovely Spaniard too.
Someone said don't live too far from an airport, yes, I think that is good advice as I like my trips back to the UK to shop now and again, but hey what's an hour by car to the airport once and a while?
It is also true that for official things like doctors, school, hospital, police etc you will need to speak good Spanish or take a person with you that can.
Why not wait a year and learn more Spanish your child will still fit in and the economy for us all hopefully will be better. Good luck to you

ihaveasexyhusband

When my friends moved to Spain they moved to Valencia and thoroughly enjoyed it there especially when they have their celebrations in March. They were close to the beach which is child friendly.

They decided that it was a bit to hilly for their liking and decided to move somewhere "more British" and moved to San Jose where they really like it. It's about an 1.5 hour drive to Valencia where they can spend the day on the beach and visit their friends but San Jose has many English speaking people and Ex pats.

Take a month off and go out there and have a look round as everybody have different tastes.

Good luck.

Ihaveasexyhusband

slivovic

I prefer the south anywhere in the mountains around Granada.you are a drive away from the coast,from the skiing in the sierra nevada and beautiful mountain landscapes in the apajoras mountains.

dart

Do you have any idea what you will do for work?

Cause there aren't any jobs in Spain, you know...20% unemployment and rising. Not a terribly wise move at this point in time.

I have to wonder why so many people who DON'T speak Spanish want to live in Spain?????????

Carousel

It depends on what you want. You can either live in an expat community and feel safe, or you can live in an area of mixed expats and locals. If your son is two years old, then that gives him a great advantage of settling into his new country. He will make Spanish friends before starting school. That is a big plus for him.
Spain is a great country to bring up kids. As for where you want to live. That depends on how much finance you have. Property is cheap here, but the exchange rate is bad, so you will need quite a bit of money just to get this project off the ground.
If you are serious about coming here you should come for a short holiday, find a good English speaking lawyer (abogado) and ask their advice about living in Spain and what to do when you get here.

Valerie M

My only advice would be not to choose an area too far from an airport if you feel you may want to return regularly to the UK. spanish is a fairly easy language to learn, so don't be put off by the rather rude comments about going to a country without speaking the language. In most areas of Spain where tourists are present, English is widely understood. However, don't expect it to be spoken in medical centres, schools, etc. and accept that until you can speak the language you may have to pay for professional help when sorting out legalities etc. Do be careful if buying a property and don't trust anyone just because they are British. they can twist you as well as any Spaniard. If you need to work, then that is a major consideration and the advice to spend some time in Spain before burning your bridges is a good one.

vergavibrar

Why sure you only speak the usual 20 words of Spanish that people like you seem to think qualifies for being fluent.. and moving to a FOREIGN COUNTRY and NOT SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE is really very smart..

That being said... I have a Condo in Valencia.. it's Spain's third city and it's about the best small city I know of in the EU.

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