Hi all, I’, 29 and my husband is 40 we have 2 children one 7 and one almost 1 (and one on the way!!) and have decided after over a year of ummming and arrring that we are definately going to move to Spain.  But where do you start!!!!  If anyone would be able to advise me on the best region to be looking for property in then that would be a good start I think.  It would have to be a good family region with good schools.  Many many thanks in advance x

Hi Tezza,
Great decision!

There have been some rather lengthy discussions spurred by members asking the very same question here on the forum. Check through some of the posts and, if you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, post a reply!

Try the Living in Spain forum category.

Hi Tezza,

It depends largely on what you like about Spain (and your budget) - there is such a wide variation across the country, with positive and negative factors for each!

If you like the coastal regions, you will find many ‘Little Britain’ Ex-Pat communities with many of the facilities you are used to, but property prices are much higher than Inland Spain.

Granada is the most visited city in Spain, and in my opinion, has some of the most beautiful scenery in it’s surrounding area - Lakes, Forests and Natural Parks, as well as Ski Resorts in the Sierra Nevada!

Take a look at http://www.cavehomes.com for more information.

Regards,
Alan.

Hi Tezza,

I agree with Alan - depends what you want! Costa Blanca south offers lots of choice of ready now sensibly priced legal properties (despite what people say!) with a well established infrastructure of roads, airports, schools, job opportunities and a very cosmopolitan population. You need to come and spend time on research and see what suits you! If we can help further you only have to ask. Good Luck.

Trogg - 23 February 2007 03:22 PM

Hi Tezza,
Granada is the most visited city in Spain, and in my opinion, has some of the most beautiful scenery in it’s surrounding area - Lakes, Forests and Natural Parks, as well as Ski Resorts in the Sierra Nevada!

Um, no. Granada is NOT the most visited city in Spain. Check your stats bud. Granada might see an impressive 1.6million tourists per year, but Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia tops 2.3 million tourists itself besides Barcelona being the No. 1 conference destination in Europe. Overall it’s #7 for most arrivals in Europe, Madrid is #9.

Granada sounds lovely, but let’s get the facts straight for the newbies ok? There are enough problems with trust over here already.

Hi Guys, thanks alot for all your replies.  We have decided to rent for 6 months somewhere around Torrevieja depening on whats available to rent.  I have my house up for sale now so its just a case of waiting for things to happen now I guess.  The family have all started to try and learn some basic spanish while we’re waiting for things to get started, I’m hoping this will make my 7 year olds first few weeks in a spanish school a little less daunting.  My husband is a concreter and we’re aware that he’s propably going to have trouble finding this kind of work so we’re going to come to Spain with an open mind and see what happens.  Terri

Hi Expatriator,

Thanks for the feedback, but if you search for ‘Granada most visited city’ on google, you will find hundreds of sources that confirm this, as well as some claims that it is one of the most visited cities in the world!

Also researching the Alhambra Palace (which is in Granada) it is claimed as the most visited monument in Europe!

Also, Granada Airport has acquired ‘International’ status after recently starting to take a number of low-cost airline routes from the U.K. Germany and Italy and handled 777,000 passengers in 2006.  With more routes set to open, the figure could easily hit 1,000,000 in 2007.

I would never intentionally mislead anyone, so here is a quote from the official figures:-

Official tourism figures furnished by the INE (National Institute of Statistics) for Spain and passenger statistics published by AENA (the governing body of Spanish airports and civil aviation) The Financial Times also reported that there was an increase of 25.88% in tourism for Granada last year (2005).

What we have also taken into account, although there are no official studies, is the number of European tourists who drive to Spain. Our own experience over the last five years has shown us that French, Italian, Spanish and in some cases German, tourists prefer to drive to their holiday destination here in Spain. These tourists would be over and above the official 2,500.000 figure of visitors to Granada in 2004/5.

I can understand why certain tourism sites might want to inflate their own stats, but my info comes from official government research.

Regards,
Alan.

Hi Tezza, we are moving to la herrada, los montesinos about 9 km from torry, we are going out in April to complete. I am 36 and my husband is 30. We have 2 children, bex 14, james 6 they will be going to spanish schools in los montesinos of which we have been told are good schools but who knows what and who to believe. We are taking a gamble, have sold up everything here in derby and are hoping for carl to get work in property selling. We have spent a week over there and we absolutely loved it but obviously different when we have to work and the kids have to go to school. Would be nice to keep in touch as its a very stressful decision and is nice to know other people who are going thru the same experience. If there is anybody who knows any info on where we are moving to good or bad!  please let us no. Thanx