Were looking about buying a home in Spain, has anyone ever lived there?

Question

were looking for something near the beach , but in a area that would be family oriented , , my husband has just left for spain today , to look at the area , he has been to spain about 5 times on the island , but were looking for something that would be more for the family, and has good english and spanish speaking schools as well , good places to live and work,

Answer 1

well i have lived in spain for six years and i have a daughter that goes to a spanish school, she is now fluent and she has a good education ,i live in albir , 8 kms from benidorm, its a wonderful village. but i have to work in benidorm, its not an easy life here .if you have money its very nice but working here means long hours for little pay.

Answer 2

Yes, I moved to Spain 3 years ago, and live in Valencia.  Great beaches, schools and a good community.  Further down on the Costas although more anglicised, there is a lot of crime and people need to be aware of this.

Spain is very much a family oriented country and all children are loved here.

Answer 3

Spain isn't an island, that's confusing me somewhat! I liove here and can't wait to leave, the country is heading for a recession and many will soon be in negative equity, property sales are very slow, don;t listen to what the estate agents tell you, they'll tell you any old bull to get you to buy, they are desperate for the commision! There is an article in Todays free paper, stating that in 2005 almost 100,000 ex-pats left to go back to the UK. ITV are even doing a programme about it. There is very little work and nothing in the way of support if one cannot get work, if one cannot work, then there is often no healthcover, the legal system is not like the UK and it is vastly different, much more different that a few holidays can show you. best idea is to rent a place for 6 months over the winter and see for yourself, whatever you do, dont buy first!

Answer 4

Yes, the Spanish people have been living there for quite a while.

Answer 5

Friends of ours took four kids to Almeria  four  years ago.The first two were good,but now the signs of discontent are beginning to show.The trouble is They bought land had a house built and cannot afford to come back. A word of warning. The Spanish  land grab is still happening..

Answer 6

YOU MENTION AN island. DO YOU MEAN Mallorca or Canarias?

There are too many foreigners in some parts of Spain.

A good place to live? Decide if you want to live like a foreigner or go native.

Learn Spanish to a basic level before leaving.

If you need a job...........think carefully as there is high unemployment and low wages. For example, a school teacher

gets half of UK wage.

Answer 7

Has anyone ever lived in Spain? What kind of a retarded question is that, of course they have. The Spanish live there right now! The Moors lived there for a bit, not to mention the Catalans and the Basques.

Perhaps you should consider Blackpool instead as I'm sure if you moved to Spain you'd never go further than Dave's English Cafe and the local Pitbull English Pub.

Answer 8

try Salamanca.

Answer 9

Hi, I'm Spanish, the only thing I will say you is that before sign any contract to buy a house be sure that the house is legal and has all the installations made, I'm really sorry to have to say that, but nowadays there're a lot of problems here with false licenses to build and illegal buildings that maybe someday may be expropriated... so, be sure that all about the house is right. (I write about installations, because last month appeared in the news that in one urbanization, mostly bought by English people, after 2 years they didn't have water provision yet, so be careful)

PS. Don't worry to find work here isn't so difficult, of course, Barcelona or Valencia is better to find it, the same as London or Manchester is better to find a job than a town...

Answer 10

Lady, do you speak spannish or have any contact with Spain whatso ever?

I live her have married a spannish man, i see lots of English that come here, that speak little or no Spannish, and look very silly!

Answer 11

I have been living and working on the Costa del Sol for almost five years now. The Costa del Sol is an obvious choice for people wishing to venture out to Spain as it is a relatively "easy" move. Getting to and from the UK is easy all year round, the weather is good for most of the year (we just won't mention the rain we have had recently), the infrastructure is well developed, there is plenty to do here, it is a good spot from which to explore the rest of Spain.............There is already a huge ex-pat community here so there are plenty of good International School to choose from and it is not impossible to live here if you do not speak any Spanish (in fact it is v easy and the biggest danger is being "lazy" and not bothering to try and learn the local language or customs).

The biggest "problem" is finding a decent job..........there are plenty of jobs to be had but it is difficult to find a good one as the only real area a non-Spanish speaker can move into is real estate and the market is not what it used to be...........Of course there is always the possibility that you could find work in Gibraltar...........really depends what you do at the mo..........

Anyway, I love it here! And would defiantly recommend that you move to the mainland rather than one of the islands if you actually want to "live" in Spain rather than just have an extended holiday. If you have any other questions or queries, please give me a yell!

Answer 12

Dear expat, you come to Spain looking for sun and then you discover that there is sun but not work. Unfortunately all this sunny areas, with the exception of Catalunya and Valence city, are tradicionally the poorest in Spain. With the exception of turism and real state market it is extremely difficult that you can find an interesting job. If you want to move to Spain, if you want sunny days, my recomendation is to search in the industrial areas of Barcelona or Valence, your only chance of getting a good job, obviously with a proficient spanish. If not your maximum salary expectations can be around 1000€, if you are lucky.

Answer 13

We live in Javea on Spain's Costa Blanca. We are 3 kilometres from the beach and have a sea view. The World Health Organisation state that Javea is the "near perfect environment for the human being".  I certainly agree with that.  We purchased a building plot and had a villa built, we employed a Spanish architect for the design and got a very good reputable Spanish builder).  Not everything here is perfect.  Bureaucracy can drive you mad.  We have been burgled twice (so make sure you have good security on your windows and doors).  We had rejas (iron grilles) and a good alarm system fitted afterwards.  They say you learn by your mistakes !  It is a great life for children and there are lots of good schools in this area.  If I can say just one thing DO YOUR HOMEWORK.  There are a lot of pitfalls, but once you have decided life here is wonderful.   Good luck with your dreams.  You can email me for more information should you wish.

Answer 14

hi ii'm spanish n must say that english love the east coast of spain, in fact ther's a lot of places where there's a lot of english people...so, that's my advice, the east coast of spain!!maybe u'll find the wether a lil bit hot but spring in the east is lovely!!

good luck

Answer 15

I live in catalunya and have done for three years i would agree with what most of the people have said work is very hard to come by as the jobs are handed down to familiy members father to son etc etc.

my advice would be dont sell your uk home if you can avoid it as house prices here as getting stupid the reason being is brits have bought just about anything they could get cheap and done up to a standard and are now asking stupid money for them .

and a lot are illegal builds keep away from almacens as they are allowed to put agricultural vehicles in them and the brits have found that they cannot get permission for a habitation so a almacen is the next best thing but you will not have any services for an illegal build so keep away from them.

most brits come, as some form of builder so do morrocans, poles,roumanians,just about every d i yer in england and work is now drying up so you are warned.

were i live my 15 year old has found it difficult at school although he speaks catalan like a native .

our 6 years old is doing excellent but the schools are different here to the UK.

Also remember that where you decide to settle that as in catalonia they have their own language catalan so in reality you will need to learn two languages castiliano and catalan or basque etc etc.

So before you decide to live in Spain take my advice and try a few websites fir expats they will give you a good insight i have posted two i use hope they help good luck.

http://www.thinkspain.com/

http://www.idealspain.com/

check the message boards loads of useful info

Answer 16

Nice place,