Moving to Spain...

[sunshine_gal]

Well we got back on friday and had loved it in Spain that much that we have decided to go and live out there, we are leaving on the 1st of september... mad eh...

The only thing i'm panicking a bit about is that fact that im in my 18th month of trying and have had one miscarriage so if i move out there will i still be able to get any help with fertility if i need it??

Does anyone on here live in Spain? I've also heard that they dont have gas and air... eeek...

 

[SarahH]

Squiglet is in Spain and a few other members too!

 

[sunshine_gal]

Oh good, hopefully when they are on line they can reply too..x... thank you

 

[xxsammyxx]

God help you girl! lol. I moved here 2 1/2 years ago. If you don't speak Spanish you are scuppered and jobs are few and far between even if you do! There is a big recession here and recently my partner got made redundant and I was getting paid 1 € and hour basic and commision on top (which was not very much!) I'm qualified in IT Technical Support and worked for NEXT Head Office in the UK. I gave up my house, sports car and job of 10 years to move here and it was the worst mistake of my life. Its great for a holiday but you try and sort all the legal documents, i.e. N.I.E., Residencia, Bank Accounts, buying a car and all the documents, Suma, household bills... etc if you don't speak Spanish and you will be at nervous breakdown stage by the end of the first week! Translators are expensive. Setting up a business here is a bad idea here as there is so many plumbers, estate agents, window companies, electricians, that there is not enough work for anyone. The police follow you everywhere and normally we get stopped at least every 2 weeks. Yep drinks are cheaper and fags (if you dont live in the City!) Generally things are going up in price! Our neighbours have just rented a 3 bed detached and its 850€ a month. As far as fertility clinics go they are very very few and far between. There is one in Benidorm and one in Alicante City (read my post for the incompetence of that one!) NHS is not free, everything is private and you cant get on the "so called" NHS now (new laws from a few weeks ago) without paying social security and having N.I.E. and Padrona. Prescriptions are expensive... i paid 8.50€ for a few zinc tablets for OH (normally £2.50 max in the UK. Any english food is REAL expensive (I saw a tin of Spam for 4.50€ in El Campello!!!) Before anyone disallusions you into thinking its a holiday life here, THINK really carefully before you come. Its not and after 3 years of living here I cant wait to go and live in another country. BTW since I have lived here my bag has been stolen 5 times and once from inside my house. We had our house robbed in Feb, the neighbours got theirs done the month before (all have security grills which the thieves crow bar out) and our neighbours car got done 2 nights ago. We live on an all english estate, detached houses with private pools and a communal pool so its by no means a ROUGH area its quite upper class. BUT it doesnt matter where you live cos the crime rate here is like nothing else. Anything else you want to know feel free to PM me.

 

[emeraldsroses]

@ xxsammyxx: YIKES That sounds like a nightmare place to live. I'm certain that not all parts of Spain are like that, though. Although you give some good advice, please don't scare the poor girl. Sorry, I had to say this as I'm certain that others may think the same way. Besides, every country has their good and bad points.

@sunshine_gal: Good luck to you. I hope you find happiness in Spain. Just remember one thing: it's one thing to go to a country as a tourist; it's another to live there. As much as I loved Japan while I was there on my honeymoon in July/August last year, I'm certain it would be different if I moved there. Just use your common sense and you'll be fine

 

[sunshine_gal]

wow, you really regret it then eh...

When i went to visit last week i went to stay with some friends, two of which are translators which is a bonus for us i guess, a couple we met through our friends are in the middle of setting up a business over there and don’t seem to be having too much of a problem, only that laid back attitude that people have out there which is making things take longer than it should but other than that they are getting on quite well and have said that it was the best move of their life, they've been out there for 2 years so far.

As for work I wont need to find a job as i am a dog groomer and so long as i have a few dogs a week i should be ok, the couple setting up the business need to take on more workers by the end of the year too so they've said i can work with them while i get my business off the ground, they are running a uk business over there so its paid by the uk and they get about £1500 per month so although i don’t want to go back into office work the good thing is is that i have got a few choices.. As for my husband he owns an advertising website so all he has to do it unplug over here and plug back in over there and he'll still earn the same as what he earns here so again i don’t think we need to worry too much about the work situation..

Where abouts in Spain are you living? We are looking at moving to Gran Alicante to begin with as someone is lending us their apartment for a few months till we find the right property and then we'll be moving to my friends area, i cant spell it but its about 25 mins away from gran Alicante and its so quite and lovely..

Im also not too worried about my house being broken into as I have a 9 stone Rottweiler who I think would make anyone think twice before trying to come anywhere near our house when we are out..

I know there is an awful lot to sort out and i am quite nervous about it all i just hope that things run smoothly for us..

Thank you for telling me about your experience its much appreciated.. Have you had any good experiences there?

When are you leaving spain?

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi emerald... im not trying to scaremonger, really. Its in our newspapers all the time about people in the supermarkets and while they are there morrocans puncture their tyres and then when the suspect female (normally alone or with kids) comes out they offer to help. When they accept the thieves go to the boot of the car for the spare wheel and their accomplice robs their bag from inside the car. I dont want ANYONE to make the same mistake I did. I thought i was coming to the sun, sea, etc and all would be fine. I ignored people saying work can be found and now im unemployed yet qualified in many different areas. I forgot to mention i lived one hour away from here (i live on the Costa Blanca) and i was followed home from a bar one night and they person tried to push me out the way when i tried to get in my apartment. I fought him off and managed to shut the door but i trapped his arm in the door and he got mad and punched the security glass and it smashed and fell into my foot and scarred me for life. I had to go to hospital and the police were called. This is normal throughout Spain, its not one particular area hun. Friends who live an hour in the other direction (girl and her fella) were asked for a cigarette light one evening by a group of lads and when she reached in her bag they snatched it off her and even stole their indian takeaway!!! Another male mate was sitting on a wall one night waiting for his friends to come out of the bar and 4 morrocans approached him, hit him over the head with something and stole his wallet and phone from his pocket. My friend from Alicante was walking home early evening and she was knocked unconcious on the street. People in the newspaper only a few months ago were forced off the road by a car full of people and robbed. Sunshine, get a copy of the Costa Blanca News before you come and read it thoroughly. This can, has and continues to happen out here. Mum and dad came home one afternoon (they live here too) to find a Spanish girl climbing up the side of their wall to try and get onto the terrace to break in. We have even been told the neighbours were out one day and thieves tied some rope to the security grills and to the back of their car and ripped the grills off and robbed the house. Kenny, our friend worked on a building site and told us the builders watch the houses for people to go out and then break in, he was disgusted. Its important you realise what you are coming to before you come as to give up your whole life is a big step. I wish someone had told me what I was up against, I would have thought twice back then although its too late now. In addition, at our local bar, Studz, 3 children were attempted to be snatched by people in a silver car 4 months ago and our neighbours 10 year old was asked to get into a spanish drivers car 6 months ago at the top of our road. The police were called and he is a builder here in Spain. He got let off through lack of evidence and still works on the estate. Is that really something you would like to happen to someone else? Its heartbreaking having someone rob your house and take thousands of pounds worth of belongings and I panic now whenever i go out and leave the place unattended. I would prefer to tell Sunshine the downsides... we all know the positive things like the sun, sea, cheap alcohol. Its a bit different having a holiday home here where you only visit once in a blue moon to spending your entire life here. Im not saying this happens to everyone but believe me I speak to FEW people that have not experienced at least one of these things. There are a lot of Romanian, Morrocan gypsies here and they make their money from robbing people or houses. All my life in the UK i was never broken into, ok i know this happens from time to time but speak to a few people who have lived here permanently over the space of 2 years or more and you will soon fine out the majoity will agree. Im not proud of how this country is or of my experiences, its made me nervous, wary and unsettled but we plan to move to the USA in a few months so the sooner im out of Spain, the better.

 

[sunshine_gal]

Studz is your local bar? that bar was in the town near to where i stayed..
We have about 10 friends out there all living in that area and although they've told us we need to be carefull when going to somewhere like the market, making sure that you wear your bag on your front they've never said that they've ever had any problems out there..
Bad things happen everywhere incuding here.

How come you've stayed out there for so long?

 

[xxsammyxx]

hi sunshine... well if DH is working online you will have no problems and if you know someone that needs some staff thats a plus point. If your friends speak Spanish.... more brownie points!!! lol. And the rental of the apartment is a good thing, dont buy until you know the are etc. Gran Alicant is nice hun, ive been there a few times. Its about 20 mins from the City so near enough to visit for shopping but away from the hustle and bustle. The Rottweiler will come in handy! Our neighbours have just put theirs outside since our other neighbours had their car robbed. I wouldnt tackle the thing! ha ha. I doubt any burglar would either if im honest. ha ha. Yes we have had some good fun here, not much luck with being robbed and various experiences (i havent told you the HALF of it!) but its fun, good fiestas. Like i said work is not good here though but your covered in that area. There is a fertility clinic we use in Albufereta which i can give you details for. Its not badly priced but they are pretty shit at times but maybe we were unlucky! Its close to you only about 25 mins away maybe. You sound as though you might be ok considering your circumstances. It more difficult for other people. You will like Gran Alicant though, its quite english but has some spanish their. There is a complex on the urbanization with shops, bars, restaurants etc. The villas are nice there. We live in Quesada its about 25 mins from Torrevieja (thankfully we dont live too close to that!) It a small little town (in comparison to Alicante City of course) with lots of Urbs... We live about 25 mins from Gran Alicant.

 

[xxsammyxx]

Just to add.... i hope your move goes successfully and you enjoy every minute. Like I said, these things dont happen to everyone. I/we have just been very unlucky. Others have experienced the same but im quite sure people have lived here with no problems at all. I never had a translator when i moved here and it was a nightmare trying to sort out all the paperwork etc and all the places you have to go to get it, queuing up at 7am etc but once its gotten then thats it. You will be ok as you have help on this front. Basically with all thats gone on and the emotional stress and upset we have encountered OH and I have had just about enough and cant take anymore. He has been for interviews for a Dutch company (hes Dutch) and they post people out worldwide so we are waiting until he has worked for them for a few months then we hope to move to the USA, Australia or New Zealand eventually. Good luck in everything you do, please dont let it put you off, I just wanted you to be aware of what it CAN be like as sadly i had to experience the bad side of living here. All in all, you seem like you have your heads screwed on and sorted with work so thats a HUGE plus point and i hope you will be very happy. If you want details of the fertility clinic anytime then let me know and ill send you the details (they do speak english, well, some of them!) lol.

 

[sunshine_gal]

Thats where we are moving to Quesada,we loved the golf course area too gonna look at houses there, we have been warned to stay the hell away from Torrevieja as its supposed to be the biggest roughest area in Spain.. I thought Quesada was lovely and i cant wait to move out there, yes i'm sure we'll run into a few problems but hopefully things will work out ok in the end, weve also been warned about the queing at 7am for all the papers and that but they said the same as you that as soon as its done than thats it...

Thank you so much for telling me about your experience, i hope things work out well for you in the future.. Hey i wonder if you'll still be there when i get there, we'll have to meet at studz although i've heard that that bar is a bit of a rough bar too so maybe the breaze bar for Karaoke.. hehe...

Hopefully i'll be preggers before i get there but if not i will have to get those details from you for the fertility clinic...x...

 

[xxsammyxx]

Wooo hooo... thats fantastic!!! We live in Lo Crispin (about 2 mins from Quesada!) Yes its a nice place to live, like i said crime is everywhere but hopefully you will never experience that! We drink in Quesada all the time and visit Bar Studz every couple of days at least. Its not a rough bar hun its very family based, eat, Karaoke, sit in the sun (when we have sun, bit grim this month ) Breeze Bar is full of old gimmers (theres loads in Benimar) so i dont think you will have much fun there. There is the Amsteleria in Quesada which is always busy and popular and very friendly. There is a good indian opposite Studz in Benimar and the chinese there is good as well. Also a Mexican and a new Wok Buffet (Chinese) We have a lot of friends here and would love to meet up with you both for a drink and some Tapas. I guess we will be here in September (not through my choice though! lol) OH has to work a few months with this new company (at least 6 mths - 1 year) in order for us to move and he hasnt started there yet! It would be good to meet and exchange stories etc. If you need any help, advice etc please feel free to contact me and ill do my best to help. OH works in property and he has a degree in this line of work so if you need any help on that im sure he would be happy to help you both (he knows all the legalities on it, i dont, lol) Its a nice place to move to though... yep steer clear of Torrevieja its worse for crime than here and full of Spanish, not the most pleasant place in the world! There are Spanish schools here as well for your baby when he/she is conceived. They are ok though they work the kids quite hard, never a terrible thing but sometimes i think its a bit toooo hard! If you visit before hand and want to know where to go let me know.

 

[emeraldsroses]

He has been for interviews for a Dutch company (hes Dutch) and they post people out worldwide so we are waiting until he has worked for them for a few months then we hope to move to the USA, Australia or New Zealand eventually.

Sorry, to go off topic, but what part of the Netherlands is your OH from? I live in the Netherlands and am married to a Dutchie I didn't move out here because of him, mind you. I had already been living here for 16 years when we met.

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi emerald, he comes from Almelo but he studied his degree in Amsterdam where he lived for a few years. He moved to Spain abou 2.5 years ago and we met in Bar Studz, Benimar a year ago last month. He has been two'ing and fro'ing to Amsterdam etc having interviews for Dutch companies for the last couple of months. He was offered one recently but it meant living in Dublin for a year and we dont really want to do that. Another company has just called and want him to go to another assessment in Holland so i guess hes off again He has just gone out to get his blood test results (for TTC) and i know hes worried so im a little anxious now. He also has searing pains in his apendix area so we are not having a good few days so far... god, at some point a nice life would be very much appreciated!!! Anyway... onwards! Where is your DH/OH from?

 

[Krystal]

yep steer clear of Torrevieja its worse for crime than here and full of Spanish, not the most pleasant place in the world!

Sorry this made me giggle. I would assume so since your moving to Spain
I hope the move goes well for youm i've been tempted by Spain a few times but never have the balls to go as i'd miss my family and friends too much.

Obviously I don't have experience of moving abroad but one thing i'd suggest is looking into doing a language course before you move across and at least learn a little bit of it. I think it would help you a lot and also I just think it's pretty ignorant to move to a country and not know at least the basics of the language.

Good luck

 

[xxsammyxx]

lol... actually the spanish are not bad people there are some really nice ones here. The guys are a bit slimy though (dont know if thats just spanish guys) What i meant was that sometimes its a bit daunting living in the middle of an all spanish area/urbanisation. I live in a typically english one (actually that has it minus points as well since we have our fair share of old curtain twitching gimmers ) A nice mix of both is quite nice... as when the spanish get elderly they tend to turn a bit "weird" occasionally, you know, they all sit outside their houses in their chairs watching the TV thats actually inside the house... confused yep, me too!

 

[emeraldsroses]

Hi emerald, he comes from Almelo but he studied his degree in Amsterdam where he lived for a few years. He moved to Spain abou 2.5 years ago and we met in Bar Studz, Benimar a year ago last month. He has been two'ing and fro'ing to Amsterdam etc having interviews for Dutch companies for the last couple of months. He was offered one recently but it meant living in Dublin for a year and we dont really want to do that. Another company has just called and want him to go to another assessment in Holland so i guess hes off again He has just gone out to get his blood test results (for TTC) and i know hes worried so im a little anxious now. He also has searing pains in his apendix area so we are not having a good few days so far... god, at some point a nice life would be very much appreciated!!! Anyway... onwards! Where is your DH/OH from?

My DH is from an island south of Rotterdam. He moved to Delft to study Chemical Engineering (perhaps they should rename the study as it sounds kind of eerie) and lived in that area for 10 years before we moved to another island southwest of Rotterdam.

Good luck with the test results for your OH. And good luck with his job interview

 

[xxsammyxx]

Thanks hun... he has just got the results and they are all negative. Ive got my results Friday morning so fingers crossed. Ill update my thread and keep you informed. Im not sure where Rotterdam is (my geography is pants) but im sure OH will know!

 

[sunshine_gal]

Yes i agree thats why i'm off out today to but some spanish cd's..hehe..

Woohoo, we'll deffo have to meet then, i was told that that indian wasn't the best, hehe, its funny how different people tell you different things eh... We went to the mexican and the food was amazing, very exspensive but well worth it...
We watched the footie games last week in the little morrocan bar at the top of the hill cant think of the name but its lovely and the only bar that had room in as studz was packed and had no where to sit so we went up there and had leather couches to ourselves, and pretty much the whole place to ourselves infront of a lovely bit tv.. hehe
We would like to look in Lo Crispin for places too its lovely there eh.. so long as its near that sort of area than thats cool.
Just trying to sort our my animals at the mo... thats a bit of a pain but we'll get there.. grrr..
Maybe i can introduce you to my group of friends, maybe you already know them. how funny if you did.... we should deffo meet up for a drink tho eh...

 

[emeraldsroses]

Unfortunately, Almelo isn't on the map, but you can see Rotterdam on it. We live near Europoort. Europoort isn't a city, but an industrial area with lots of chemical companies and storage facilities.