On a research mission.

Tourist, researcher, language skills or not etc. doesn't make much difference. My only point was that whilst this forum is an excellent starting point to gather information, if you've never been to Gib you may be wasting your time gathering that information, if when you do visit, you hate the place. I know many people enjoy visiting Gib, whether just for the novelty, or for a quick "fix" of Britishness, many even (inexplicably) go there regularly, but as a place to live or work? Monte Carlo it ain't. The truth is, it's pretty drab. Belfast is much nicer.

But that's just my opinion, which isn't really important. My advice would be to get a cheap flight, rent a car, and just travel around. Go to Gib, go to the places near enough to commute (others on here will let you know which are practical). You'll find reasonably priced accommodation in hostals (most have decent en-suite rooms from around 30 euros). Just hang out, speak to people (English, Spanish, Barbary apes, whoever will listen to you). This is a great time of year to do it - flights should be cheap and available, the holiday towns on the coast are very quiet, dull and boring, it can be pretty chilly at night and if you're lucky it may even rain. This will help prevent you seeing things through rose tinted glasses. This is the only way to get a feel for the place; only you will know whether it feels right for you and your family.

In the meantime, feel free to ask about anything else you want to know. Someone here will usually have an answer.

Looks fine to me. Maybe you spilled your vino on your iPad?

We live inland, with very few expats around, and those that do live here live mainly in the campo.  Our friend Jaqui has an 11 year old daughter and they have been living here for 7 years, so all her daughter's schooling has been in Spain.  Children living in Jumilla (Murcia region) are taught English from a young age, and one school is in the process of becoming bilingual.  Jaqui works in a private academy teaching English to children of all ages and also gives private lessons.  Both her and her daughter Melissa speak Spanish (and English) fluently.  At one stage though Melissa had to have extra tuition to improve her reading and writing in English.  Melissa is the only English child in her school and is very happy there. 

Children can adapt to moving about so long as they feel secure at home.  I was born in the Northeast, moved to Canada with my parents when I was eighteen months, returned to London when I was almost five, then moved to Norfolk.  I went to two different schools in Norfolk before moving to Louth in Lincolnshire.  We moved to Horncastle, also in Lincolnshire, when I was nine so by then I had been to four different junior schools.  The only time I was bullied was when I went to the local Grammar School, as my last junior school was a private one and they thought I was "posh".  Most of my friends had gone on to boarding school, and I was the only one moving to the Grammar School.  I lived to tell the tale though!

Funnily enough, after moving about so much as a child, I decided I wanted to continue travelling and joined the WRNS when I left school - my second posting being to Gibraltar!  I enjoyed myself in Gib (well, I was 20 at the time!) though having been back when we were holidaying on the CDS I don't think I would want to live there now.  We like the Estepona area as it still feels very Spanish there (we did visit off-season though!)

According to ViaMichelin, it will take you 50 minutes to drive from the centre of Estepona to the centre of Gib, though that probably isn't allowing for morning traffic and crossing the border! There are also buses towards Gib, which stop in La Linea.  I think the company is Portillo (?)

http://www.viamichelin.es/web/Itineraires?strStartLocid=31M3ZscTEwY016WXVOREkwT0RFPWNMVFV1TVRRME9EST0=&strDestLocid=31NHN3NzYxMGNNell1TVRJMk9UUT1jTFRVdU16STVNVGM9&intItineraryType=1&caravaneHidden=false&vh=CAR&strVehicle=0&itineraryCarType=0&itineraryFuelType=0&isFavoriseAutoroute=false&isAvoidPeage=false&isAvoidVignette=false&isAvoidLNR=false&isAvoidFrontiers=false&dtmDeparture=23%2F01%2F2011&distance=km&devise=1.0|EUR&indemnite=0&carbCost=1.3&autoConso=6.8&villeConso=6&routeConso=5.6

Although we love where we are living it is easier for us as we have both retired, so our limited grasp of Spanish (even after two and a half years here ) isn't too much of a problem, as we speak enough to get by on a daily basis.  If you are working in  Gib you should be OK too, however I do recommend learning as much Spanish as possible before moving as it enhances the whole experience of living here.

Good luck, and please keep us all updated!

Sue

PS I have had a "complaint" from a friend about the link I posted!  If you cannot access it, try this one instead: http://www.viamichelin.es/.  All you have to do is put "Estepona" and "Gibraltar"  into Salida and Llegada respectively and click on Localizar.  Apologies to anyone who had a problem - I did test it first and it worked for me!