Moving to Spain with your family

Hey Bhavna,

It is a great place with nice people. Depending on where you settle in spain I found it a little difficult in Catalunya as when I spoke castellano to the locals they responded in catalan and then were very cold with me when I did not understand completely.

Other than that the Spanish are nice/funny people - it would be ideal to learn spanish to better enjoy your experience.

Also to get setup with a job/NIE/Social Number/ register the kids in school & enrol them in some local sports teams.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Cheers
Rob

Hi Bhavna!
Our family had an incredible year in Spain although it took some inevitable adjustment. I have written extensively about our experience on my blog www.ouryearinspain.com
This post covers the 5 top tips for moving to Spain. They range from getting clear about what is important to you and your family when choosing a location to live, organising your finances, learning the language, being prepared to go with the flow and be open to trying new experiences. There is plenty more there about how we had to adjust to the different pace and timing of life among many other aspects.
http://ouryearinspain.com/2015/10/26/to … or-a-year/

We moved to Spain from the USA in August 2012 with 2 kids.  They were 7 and 10 at the time, now 11 and nearly 14 yrs we have loads to share.  Our family travel blog Wagoners Abroad has hundreds of posts, but on the home page we have a photo with "move to Spain"  if you click on that, you will get the posts most appropriate for you move to spain, from dreaming to planning and to taking action and making the move, as well as once you arrive and adjust.   :-)  I will place a link, but not sure the admin will allow. http://wagonersabroad.com/non-lucrative … isa-spain/

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your precious feedbacks on the topic, it will definitely benefit members of the forum.

Your blogs are most welcomed as they  contribute in giving some precious insights about moving to Spain. Do not hesitate to add your blog in the Blogs from expats in Spain section of the website.

All the very best,
Bhavna

When we first moved to Menorca, our son was just 11 years old.  Our immediate requirement was to enroll him as a local school.  One of the schools had a number of English children and our first thought was to enroll him there.  However, other ex-pats warned against it.  They said that he would almost certainly join an English speaking clique.  If he was sent to a school with no other English speakers it would be tough but he would learn quickly. 

We did as suggested and it broke our hearts to see him standing in the playground on his first day.  He couldn't look more English with blond hair and blue eyes.  For the first couple of months his progress was very slow but then he began to play on the handball court.  He was good and his confidence grew.  By the end of our first year he was totally fluent.  Years later when he moved across to the senior school he was required to learn Catalan.  It seemed, having learned one foreign language, the second one was easier and it was amusing to hear some of the other kids asking his help with their Catalan homework.

Years passed, he married here and had two sons - the eldest is a Catalan speaking stepson.  Due to a lack of work here in Menorca, they all moved back to the UK last year and the boys had to polish up their English before they were accepted into schools in Bristol .  The have recently both won prizes.  The eldest, whose native language was Catalan, won the prize for best in English Language and the youngest (6 years old) won the whole school prize for singing- naturally he sang in English.