Spain Expat Forum

weneedtomove
Joined 2016
Posts: 2

7 years ago

Utterly confused. Considering moving my family to Spain or France. Craving insight from those who've done it!

7 years ago

Help! Utterly confused. Considering moving my family to Spain or France. Craving insight from those who've done it!

We're an English family of 4 with 2 kids (12 and 7) and 2 dogs. We've been craving life in a warmer climate for years. We're very unsettled here in Doncaster! We love travel, new cultures, people, places and food.

We plan to move in 12-18 months time and learn the language of our chosen country between now and then. In France we've visited Provence and Dordogne - loved both. In Spain we've visited Marbella, Estepona, San Pedro, Mijas - quite a bit of that area. We love that too!

We plan to put the kids into an International School - at least for the first couple of years and see how that goes. Our eldest is in private school now and the other is in state school for the time being. We think they will settle relatively easily as they are fairly confident kids.

We plan to rent for 12 months while we explore and learn about our new home. Then, if we settle, we will buy.

We are unsure which country offers the best solution. We hear people say the French are generally less welcoming to expats / more frosty but I have not experienced this personally during our holidays there. Does anyone have any experience of integrating into a French community?

We hear the Spanish are warmer and more sociable. Spain has the better winters but summers seem stifling - not sure how our kids / dogs would cope with the heat.

France seems to offer much more property for your money but has colder winters. Climate is a big thing for us. I am not sure if the longer, warmer summers in France would make the winters seem less of a hardship. How bad are the winters in the middle/south of France?

We want to be close to sea and / or mountains ideally.

The dilemma is how the hell to choose out of all the possible towns and cities without visiting them all which is not practical! Hence we're reaching out for some opinions that might help and guide us.

Access to good schooling is obviously important and we need a home with a garden and room for the dogs to exercise as well as a pool. We realise this means we need to live a little outside the towns/cities. But we don't want to be a long trek from schools and entertainment. Rent budget is probably up to 1,800 Euros per month. Purchase budget would be up to 600k ish, maybe a bit more if necessary.

Help!!!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A puzzled.....but enthusiastic, would be expat family.

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Help others in Spain by answering questions about the challenges and adventures of living in Spain.