vivaoliva Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 We have lived in Spain for nearly 3 years & have had a house out here for almost 6 years. We are in a market town called Oliva in Valencia. Quite a few Brits here, but we tend to choose who we do & don't mix with. Although we speak passable Spanish & mix with our Spanish neighbours, as my husband still works in the UK and is away every other fortnight I find it quite a comfort zone to be able to mix with other ex pats. We also found help & advise from others in the same situation invaluable when we first moved out. We are also in our late 40, but didn’t have the complication of settling teenagers into school in a foreign country, our son is grown up & enjoying many free holidays. Have you though about whether you want to put the children into a Spanish school or choose an English speaking school offering the UK curriculum, the older they are, from experiences of my friends out here, the more difficult they find it to settle. Also the more “Spanish” the area is that you choose, the more difficult it will be for them to find work when they are older. I also agree that long term accommodation over summer will be very expensive & difficult to find, we have a second house here that we rent out, but only take short term bookings during peak season, as it is so much more profitable. It is a big step, but we have loved almost every minute of our time out here, & just like the UK, not every day is without its problems, but the cheaper cost of living, laid back life style & a good 6 months of wall to wall sunshine make it all worth while. Good luck with your plans, I’m sure it will all work out as long as you take your time choosing your new life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowgirlie Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 I agree with the last posts, it really is all about planning, and I'm afraid to say, you could do agreeing a definite destination location first! I suspect you're being a little unrealistic expecting up move in the next few months, especially uprooting your family with no firm idea swhere you're going??? Seems a bit bonkers to me... We found out all about Gibraltar in Jan 2006, visitied for a 'recce' in the March 2006 then spent the next year saving up, preparing job changes, handing over house accounts etc etc. In all it took 15 months, from conception to stepping off the aeroplane. It was actually more stressful tying up all the loose ends back in Shef than finding our feet here! We've only been here 3 weeks but absolutely love it. Not living is Gib itself as far too expensive/overcrowded, but next best thing, living in a beautiful apartment just a 10 min walk over Gibraltar border into Spain. Means we can live in 'proper' Spain but nip over to English-speaking places in no time. We've been lucky not to meet a huge pool of 'millionnaire' ex-pats, we suspect they're lurking further up the coast at the Costas! In my experience, it is all about planning, researching, finding a forum for the place you want to move to (I've met some fab people this way) and I can't emphasise enough, LEARN THE LANGUAGE! Oh and of course, a few grand in savings is always gonna help while you're hunting for a job... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jossman Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 You in La Linea Cowgirl?? I spent many happy hours "Over the Border" when I was in the Navy. Border control was very strict then between Gib and Spain, if you missed getting back before the border closed, you were in deep doo-doo. Happy memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hennypenny Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 If you have some money from a house sale, why not buy a motorhome, then you can use it to travel around to find the perfect spot, with no worries that you will end up without anywhere to stay. Once you find somewhere permanent, you can sell the motorhome and use the money again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melaniec Posted April 15, 2007 Author Share Posted April 15, 2007 hi all thx for your advise,where abouts in almeria are you julie22 ? whilst some people may think it crazy to up sticks and just relocate like were doing i find it both scary and exciting ! and cant wait and would go tomorrow if i could we all only have one crack at it and i know we will have problems here and there but no different to living any where else,my only worry and its a big worry is my kids education i am still researching the best options,we have thought about home tutoring if all else fails,there must be some retired teachers out there !can anyone tell me where i can get my kids births certificates and school reports translated into spanish as research has told me its a must for state shcools,i have got my kids learning spanish already,i would like to live in a mixed area of expats and spanish not rural and not were its too commersialised and not too far from the coasts, definetly almeria though,any ideas !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowgirlie Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 MelanieC - well good luck with your plans. I fully agree with the philosophy of 'you only live once' and 'anything is possible' etc, just I didn't have any other responsibilities/committments to consider. See if this is of any use: http://www.womeninspain.com/lifestyle.aspx Jossman - Yes, after waving goodbye to Sheffield end of March we spent 2 weeks renting temporary accomodation in Gib, pounding the streets each day for Estate Agents looking for somewhere to live. We were lucky to find a place we love here on West beach of La Linea. Sooooooooo much cheaper than Gib. (Am still rejoicing over the bottle of rose I found for 1Euro!!! AND it didn't taste like vinegar ) So we've only lived in La Linea 10 days but loving it. I can assure you, the border controls are far from strict these days - me and The Boy lugged all our worldly goods over from Gib (laden down like packhorses with 10 bags, hysteria creeping in about WHY you can't just get one taxi over the border! ) and the officials didn't blink. I thought we'd have to open our bags but no. As there's around 10,000 people cross each day now, they hardly even glance at your passport either. Glad you had happy times here, I'm hoping for the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie22 Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Cowgirl - thanks for the link to the website, didnt know it even existed!! Glad to see you are settling in. When I came over here 2 years ago, having had a demanding job (and known by my friends as a workaholic), I was slightly concerned at what I would do all day!!!. I really love being here and dont miss working one bit!! - dont have any inclination to go back to the UK at all, not even for a visit. Everyone out here is very friendly and as everyone is in the same position, eg moving to a new country, most people are eager to make new friends, bit different from the UK, where everyone is too busy!! MelanieC - hope my previous EMAIL did not seem pessimistic to you. Things are not all sun and sunbathing here, and I do think that many of the TV programmes portray everyone succeeding here and having a wonderful life without looking at the day to day living!! However, I totally agree with Cowgirl, you have one life, go for it. If not you will always regret it. Even if things dont work out at least you have tried. I certainly dont regret moving here and would never swap my life here for one back in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crookesey Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 We are off this Saturday to the Mijas Costa for a couple of weeks in a lovely beach front complex that we have visited several times. This is a holiday complex although a few folk spend six months plus there but it wouldn't do for us, God only knows what it is like in the summer. A friend recently had a villa built (4 bed, 3 bath, heated pool, garden, security, air con, central heating etc) about 10 minutes drive from the beach in a place called La Fustera on the Costa Blanca. We visited it last October and frankly can't wait to go back, we could definately live there and if he ever wants to sell it he need look no further. You need normal things to do like maintaining your house, doing the garden, looking after the pool etc. You also need to live around like minded people who are not on holiday, I know that you will run into a lot of holiday makers but you don't need to be surrounded by them. Spanish villages are all very well to visit but tend to be noisy and don't have the right sized properties with gardens and pools. As for work we have done our fair share and don't want to see any more, plenty of folk find work out there though. Schools have very good reputations out there but I am sure that you will do your research and do the best for your kids. I wish you luck, we won't be that long in following you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopT Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I read in the paper that there is an organisation fighting the English government to pay full English pension to all English Expats. In some countries the pension is frozen at the date the expats left but now Britain is in the European Community the organisation is wanting equality in rulings to bring us in line with other member states pensioners who retain their full national pension rights. Does anyone else know anything about this as it will affect the older people who are considering in making a new life abroad. Happy Days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukdobby Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 We're looking around the murcia region this Thurs for 4 days,hope to find a villa and retire there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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