moving asap

hi there

i have been following the forum for several weeks now and thought i would introduce myself and hopefully ask you kind people for some much needed advice?

we have our house on the market at the moment as we want to relocate to spain asap

we have a 13 year old daughter so we need advice on schools and area info

we initially thought about Torrevieja as we had been there many times but have heard on other forums that it has become a haven for crime and unfinished properties so if someone actually from the area coz give info on how things actually are it would be appreciated. we intend to rent long term until we know we are happy with our area choice.

our other area choice would be estepona or its surrounding villages as if we can only find employment in Gibraltar its a reasonable distance to commute?

any info, good or bad, will definately help us as we have put our move off several times over the years due to work commitments and have to decided to wait now longer, as sold as the house has sold we will be on our way

thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to reply

Regards

Debbie

Hi,

our other area choice would be estepona or its surrounding villages as if we can only find employment in Gibraltar its a reasonable distance to commute?

If you need to work, then unfortunately Gibraltar is your only realistic option.  The costas are experiencing a savage economic depression and there are no jobs.  The main type of work in Gibraltar is IT/online gaming, finance and customer services jobs (with a 2nd language other than Spanish) mainly with the online gaming companies.  Estepona is definitely commuting distance - around an hour door to door and is a really nice little town.  Very Spanish.  A lot of people that work in Gibraltar live in Manilva/Duquesa, which might be an option for you...

 Hi Debbie and welcome to the forum.

I agree with sanchez1. Gib seems to be the only place with English speaking jobs at the moment.

In terms of your daughter, she is too old to start a Spanish school without knowing Spanish.  It would be cruel to dump her in a Spanish school at that age without the language behind her.  Instead, you will need to check out international schools and budget around 1000 Euros per month for that.

Best of luck with the move.

Justin

Hi Debbie,

We are in a simlar position, we have a place in Elviria(near Marbella) and we are currently looking to move out there permanently.Though I would just forwarn you on our experience,

 We have spent many weeks looking at schools etc to try and find the best solution for our 6 year old son and 10 year old daughter.After much deliberation  we have taken the children over to sit the entrance exam at one of the International schools as we thought this would be a safer bet for them settling in. We have last week been officially offered a place for the children and all seemed straight forward although the fees 16,000 Euros per year I did feel were extremely high.

 We have now studied all the paperwork for the registration and we are alarmed to see school lunches (compulsary) are an additional 6,000 Euros per year, they also require a300 Euro registration fee a  2000 Euro per child non refundable deposit which they hold until your children leave-this is not taken off the annual fees. The initial 16,000Euro per year is more like 27,000 Euros and this has now forced us to re-think.

If anybody can offer any advice or information on anyother  schools in theMarbella/ Calahonda area I would be really grateful, we are hopefully exchanging contracts in July and intended for the children to start school in September, but this is unlikely now.

Please help

Good Luck Debby with your move x

Hi - just to respond to the initial question about Torrevieja, I live just to the south of the city, in Orihuela Costa, and do not feel that crime is a particular issue here.  I'm originally from Glasgow and have been here just over 2 years and I feel much safer here than I ever felt in Scotland. 

There is crime, but it is mainly opportunist theft with very little violent crime and you just need to be sensible, like you would be anywhere.  There has been an increase in thefts reported and it is being linked to the fact that here we have 22% unemployment, a bit higher than the spanish average, which is already sky high!

That brings me neatly to the next issue of work.  It is extremely hard to find work here.  The only ads you see in the paper are commission only sales jobs and bar & restaurant work which is seasonal.  You need to bring enough money with you to last a long time (I would say 2 years) if you don't have anything lined up before you come. 

I can't really comment about schools other than to say that there are international schools in all the areas where there is a high expat population.

As for unfinished properties, I think you would be wise to rent first, wherever you go, and get a good feel for the area before you commit yourself.  I would not recommend buying anything that is not completely finished with all the paperwork in place (with very few exeptions) and there is a huge choice at the moment.  Prices here are very low now and seem to be bottoming out, but there is no reason to rush into buying as there is no sign yet of prices rising.

I hope that helps and good luck with selling your house in the UK.

 delicloths, I think you could consider putting your son into a local Spanish school and putting your eldest into an international school.  Not ideal but it's an option.

Justin

Hi,

Thanks for your replies-we have thought about splitting them up that and maybe that will be the best option although would be easier for them to go together, they have made an error on the lunch fees as the total includes the non refundable deposit so not as bad as we first thought, just a massive commitment financially and Im unsure if this is the best option as there seem to be so many additional extras on top of the fees?

Karen

 Also Karen, some international schools don't have very good reputations so it's best to do some research into each of the schools too...although I'm sure you've already done that.

Schooling is such a tough issue facing expats here.  We see many expat teenagers who are just wasters now having been through the Spanish education system and having come out with nothing, as they have been lost in a system and language they can't understand.  And with most expat parents unable to speak Spanish it does make life even more difficult for those kids, especially when they are in their teens.

Best of luck.

Justin

Thanks Justin it is a worry and we are so keen to get it right!

thanks for the replies and to justin for the welcome!

i agree with karen about getting it right is such a worry-you make this decision on behallf of your kids so you feel solely responsible if it goes wrong but luckily (in one way) our daughter is a little older so had the opportunity to put her two peneth in.

we are bringing a nest egg with us Claire but just out of curiousity (based on living costs now) how much would you see as being enough to sustain us for the 2 years-we have a basic idea but not living there it would be beneficial from a residents point of view. appreciate the info on Torrevieja, has been of help and put my mind at rest but after justins advice about not putting her in a state school it probably makes us lean towards the Gibraltar side of things as wewould have more chance of employment to contribute towards the fees.

it seems it doesnt matter how much you think you're prepared there is always more you need to know. i thought doing a TEFL course and being a hairdresser might have given me enough chances to find employment, combined with being an office manager for a marketing company at the min would stand me in good stead for a sales job and trying to learn as much Spanish as possible before we went  but i'm wondering if all those strings to my bow are not enough because of the financial climate.

i hope when we come over for a recce in sept/oct we get more idea of where we want to live as our head says one place and our heart says another!  haha

i hope you get everything sorted out karen, its terrible when it keeps you awake at night and truly hope you aren't at that point yet 

thanks again for everyone's input, if anyone can guide me as to whether the long term rentals on here are for a 12 month period or only 9 that would be great.

kind regards

debbie x

Debbie, moneywise it's difficult to say.  Depends what sort of property you rent, will you need to buy a car or two cars, etc, etc.  Whatever you budget then that is the absolute minimum you would need.  There are always unexpected costs that arise so you need the safety margin in hand to cover that.

Most long term rentals are usually for 11 months.  Longer contracts mean tenants have more rights so landlords tend to do 11 month contracts that you can then extend.  It's quite normal practice.

Justin