Where is good to live in mainland spain?

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Craig B

I would suggest to you perhaps somewhere in Catalonia!

It's located right by the Mediterranean sea and its a perfect location!!
I would suggest to perhaps not Barcelona itself, but the town of La Pineda, which is very close to Salou would be perfect. Within that little town itself, there are many shops, bars and restaurants, also within 5 minutes there is the beach, which has lovely sandy beaches, and warm, clear water and also there is the Aquopolis waterpark which your kids would love. Very safe and family orientated place!

Then about 1 hour away from there, you have Barcelona, which im sure you know all about, and also there is Port Aventura which has the Universal Studios theme park and Costa Caribe water park. So life in terms of your children having things to do as they grow up is going to be far from boring! The only downside is, it is in Catalonia, and they have their own language called Catalan so you would probably have to learn that as well as Spanish. You would get along just fine speaking only Spanish, however if you plan to live there, it would go a long way for you to learn Catalan also!!

If you wanted something different however, i would perhaps consider one of the Canary Islands, where moving and setting up family life there is becoming more and more popular these days!

Good luck!!

Salva

Large and lively cities, maybe not as big as Madrid or Barna, but Valencia, Seville, Saragossa, Murcia... they're big but made-to-measure as well and they're not almost dead when it's not holiday season. I'm from Murcia but I live in Saragossa (Zaragoza) so I know what I'm talking about :-D

EDIT to Mrs. G. ---> gypsies are everywhere, not only in Murcia. I know by my own since I was born there.

stephen m

alicante is a real nice place its down the south of spain its very near benidorm and terra mittica theme park also near a place called gaudalest which is the second most visited attraction in spain.
the weather is much nicer here than a lot of spain is

elllielibby

i used to live in costa blanca when i was 6 or 7 . it was boring though i dont remember doing many fun things. so thats a suggestion on where not to live..

Hope i've helped

Angel

i have to young sons also 3years and a 13 weekold, we been here 2 years now and i hate it here we are moving back asap, was ok for the first year but i really am not happy here, doesnt suit everybody, am just waiting for my sons passport now, if you are really thinking about it i would not sell up at home and do a year here renting we are lucky cos we only rent, there are no jobs here so beware, i live in a place called Almoradi think there is a site if you go on google it a nice spanish town with small english community, we pay 350euros for 3 bed 2 bathrom apartment, if you need any advice feel free to email me
good luck x

Jamie P

i think some were along the coast im a kid and i love the coast

Clipper

There's nothing really worse about Madrid than any other city as far as I notice. Especially if you come from a big city in the UK you won't feel overwhelmed and it still feels very Spanish, and its miles from the English enclaves !

All of the suggestions of living in small villages or towns are great, but as some others have said, your kids will get bored if they're used to UK city life and if you want to find a job here then you may be left little to choose from other than Madrid or Barcelona anyway.

Jane S

I'd suggest you go with Craig or Salva's suggestions. They know.

I lived in Sevilla. lots of families there. Real normal sort of place. But I have no experience any place else. They have some other good suggestions.

I would be careful about getting too close to the coast, especially in the south...as you say...the touristy areas are sometimes less than desirable. I think Alicante is good, Barcelona province, Costa de la Luz or the North if you're really into a coastline.

Annie M

I live on the costa blanca and it's great.20 mins to the beach,lots of great places for walking,cycling etc and my two young kids just love it.You really need to come over for a few months and travel about and decide where you would enjoy living.I think it's much nicer to live in a spanish village than in a resort full of moaning expats.it just takes a bit longer to settle in but your kids will pick up the language with ease and so will you if yo're not surrounded by english speaking folk all the time.

Mrs G

Valencia is a lovely part of Spain to live in ... whatever you do dont go to Murcia - my parents stayed there for a year they hated it ...said it turned into a "gypsy" area ..

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