Hello All,

We have recently been presented with an opportunity that is hard to pass up.  A family friend owns a house in Dolores (Alicante province) and has offered to let us stay there rent free as long as we pay the utilities.  We are seriously considering it…we believe you only live once and life should be an adventure.  I am 28, my wife is 26, and we have a 1 year old baby boy.  I know a little Spanish and have been to Spain before.  My wife does not know any Spanish.  We are already working on our Spanish now to prepare.  I am sure it will be a challenge but I think we will eventually be able to grasp it.  We are creating our own real estate firm and hope to be up and running 6 months after we arrive.  From what I have researched online we know that things are economically a little rough in Spain at the moment but we are hoping we can survive on savings until we get going. 

Does anyone know anything about the town of Dolores…good or bad?  I have read there is a large population of English and Norwegians there…but we are planning on immersing ourselves with the Spaniards because we really want to be able to grasp the language and understand the culture of the Spanish people.

I was also wondering about the crime rate.  With a wife and small child I would only move them somewhere I found to be safe and friendly.  I have read on other forums about the locals wanting to discuss politics and religion…being an American and especially an American from Texas I am a little concerned.  Naturally we want to feel safe and welcome. 

I have tried to research Dolores as much as I can online but I can’t find much.  Wikipedia only tells you so much!  If anyone can tell me anything about Dolores or the surrounding towns I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your time.

Hi Guys, Dolores is a small inland town in the Alicante region. Yes there is an expat community as well as Spanish. It is safe and that should not be an issue. Might be worth looking at the local papers, but don’t believe everything you read!

I assume you are not EU citizens so that will throw up some issues on health cover, driving, taxes etc - suggest you research this site and others fully.

Good luck.

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=37&Itemid=34

http://www.coastrider.net/main/index.php

brandonj,
moving to spain from texas is not anything like moving to let’s say california, where upon arrival you can start looking for jobs or setting up a business.
you must remember that you are coming as tourists and that means if you overstay, you will be overstaying aliens.
i suggest you consult the spanish consulate in texas about moving to spain and get informed of the requirements you have to meet.

Hi,
I’m an American who has been living in Spain for nearly 8 years now.  Coming from the U.S. to live in Spain is not the easiest thing in the world to do, there are many hurdles to overcome.  One thing that will be the hardest is getting your residency/work permit.  If you don’t have a visa and are entering Spain with just your passport, you are legally able to stay 90 days.  One thing that will be important is to register with the local goverment (called empadronamiento), which will basically include the government having a record of where you live, nationality, etc.  After that it will be necessary to apply for your residency/ work permit.  If you have sufficient money to live on, you can apply for just a regular residenty permit, providing that you can prove that you have sufficient “monthly” funds available to live on.  If you intend on working here, then it’s a whole new ballgame.  You’ll need to either apply for a permit as being self employed or receive a work offer / contract from an employer here in Spain. Once that happens, the wait begins.  For me starting out, after finally receiving an offer for a job and filling out all paperwork, it took over a year for my permit to come through, and it was only part time (20 hours per week).  It took me another two years to get a full time work permit.  I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but it won’t be an easy thing to do.  As far as the Spanish spoken in Alicante, be prepared to hear Spanish that you probably won’t be studying.  The provinces of Valencia and Alicante, while having regular Castellano speakers, also have a dialect called Valenciano, which is a dialect (or variety may we say) of Catal?n. 

Driving will be another issue.  A US drivers license is only valid here for 3 or 6 months here (I forget now which) after which you will be required to get a Spanish drivers license.  And it’s a chunk of change as well.  Classes, driving classes, the exam itself, etc. 

This isn’t meant to scare you or dampen the the excitement of things, but to help prepare you for some of the possible challenges.

Saludos cordiales,

D

Hi again,
I forgot to tell you, Dolores shouldn’t be too bad. It’s not right next to the beach, but about 20-30 minutes away, and as flat as a pancake.  I know of someone who worked teaching French in the high school in Catral last year, which is only around 2 km from Dolores.  She said the area was ok, and from what I have seen of the area it looks alright.  Torrevieja isn’t too far away (really touristy) and Orihuela is a really nice little city that is nearby.

As for being in American in Spain with politics and things, you’ll find that things have changed a bit with the turnover in the White House.  It’s a little bit easier to say that one is American here in Spain these days than in the prior 5-6 years.  It’s when one goes overboard and gets arrogant about it that things get chilly, as one could expect, American or no.  One has to remember that we aren’t the best in everything and we don’t know it all.  It’s always a good idea to sit down, look around, listen and learn.  It’s so much more fun and interesting.

Saludos,

d

Where would we begin with research on Health Insurance and how to become eligible for it. That is something we can’t go without. I know there is travelers healthcare or you can apply for an EUIC but that would be for temporary coverage. If we decide to take this opportunity we would base it on a timeline of being there 5 years. So of course we will need the resources for a drivers license we already have 2 cars that are over there for us to use. They come with the house. We will be living on a farm so we will save on taxes is what I’ve heard. As for business tax I’m not sure how that works. The company that we will be running has already been established as a Spanish company (not sure if that matters) we would essentially be “self-employed” but if we needed to be contracted under that company in order to receive a visa then that could be arranged. Is the visa something we can go ahead and apply for before coming over to Spain or should we just wait and deal w/ that when we arrive? If you’re saying it will take a long time then we should go ahead and get the ball rolling as soon as we land or before we get there. If you were in our shoes where would you begin with all of the above. We realize there is so much that would need to be done before we sell everything we own and move over there but any advice is greatly appreciated as far as what to do next.

Good to know things have calmed down since the changing of the Presidents.  Thanks for putting our minds at ease. 

If Dolores is as flat as a pancake then it is just like Texas!

For right now you’d have to rely on temporary coverage until you could get the residency thing worked out.  Once you get residency, you can buy private health insurance with a company like Sanitas, which would run about $65 per month on average for a healthy male under age 40, haven’t looked at family coverage.  If you are working as an employee, then you would be covered by Spanish helath care, and would have money deducted from your paycheck.  The nice thing is that you never see a bill with the government system.  You make an appointment with the doctor and go, no copays, nothing. 

Overall, health care coverage will be another challenge for you I believe.  Check with your friend to make sure you know if you’d be working for someone or for yourself (autonomo), because that will give you a much better idea on where to begin.  Another thing I would recommend is to have a criminal background check done while you are still in Texas, as this is normally asked for as well when applying for a visa or residency permit.  It will need to come from the local police department and be formally signed at the State level. 

All in all, fun stuff.  I would contact the Spanish Consulate there in Houston I believe as well, as you may have to start the process in the US instead of Spain.  That was something I somehow didn’t have to do.

Thank you to everyone for your replies.  They were very, very helpful.  We are going to take things one step at a time and try and do our “due dillegence.” 

I knew about the different dialects and all, but we figured trying to learn regular Spanish would be a good base and then try and pick up and adapt to the dialects once we got there. 

Thanks again!

Valencian (aka Catatlan) is not a dialect of Spanish—it’s its own language!  However, it should be easier to learn if you’ve studied Spanish, because they are both Romance languages. Also, Spanish is spoken throughout Spain so that language is probably the one you should learn first.

Also, you definitely need to get the visa stuff figured out well before you get to Spain. From what I’ve heard you *have* to pick up your visa in the U.S.
So, if you applied for it after you were already in Spain, you would have to return to the US to get it. 
But you should definitely apply for it several months before your planned departure.. because there’s always a chance you could get turned down!  I wouldn’t move all your belongings to Spain until you have final confirmation that you’ll be able to stay their legally.