moving to torrevieja

[c.jenko]

hi everyone! im always reading the forum on this site and now iv decided to post my own thread. my family and i are planning a move to torrevieja this year we have planned it for years but have never been sure where to go. although we have never visited torrevieja we really like the sound of it and have a few people we know move out there who love it. our son is 8 at the moment and im just curious about areas and schooling. we would like him to go to a state school can any1 tell me of areas which have english living there and if the schools are good. any info welcome.

[pmgled]

Hi there, shame 50 odd people have veiwed the post and not said hi, anyway we have two children age 9 and 10. We have been here two years now both children in state school at Playa Flamenca, we live in Villamartin. The school is mainly british but does have a mix of other nationalities. The schooling here does seem to be different a different way of teaching, the children and teachers are more on a level but still know who is in chareg so to speak, I can not comment on other schools or other peoples experiances but our two children are fine and doing ok, better than we had thought. Whatever you decidee to you all the best of look.


Marie

[c.jenko]

thank you so much for replying!! thats really encouraging about the children, it makes me wish to move right now!!may i ask you a few more questions if you dont mind? how did you decide what area and whats it like for long rentals i dont want to put the money we will have into buying somewhere straight away. what kind of prices are the houses to rent.after reading lots on this forum there is a lot of negative feedback regarding work and setting up businesses what do you and do for a living? if you dont mind me asking!! il stop there because i could go on and on and on !!!its so good to hear what its really like from someone actually living my dream.. thank you once again.

[Mazzer]

Hi c.jenko
Just thought I`d add my twopenneth worth if I may, me and my Husband moved over in August 2004 we bought a house straight away in Playa Flamenca, then our son who was 20 at the time came out for a visit in November and decided there and then he did not want to return to the UK so he moved in with us. I can quite honestly say it was the best move we could have ever made. Obviously our son doesnt go to the school here but our neighbours son who is about 8 goes to the Playa Flamenca School which is within a few minutes walk from us, we see him playing in the street with another little spanish boy who lives on our urb its lovely to hear him chatting quite easily in broken Spanish he has been at school here about 2 years now. Obviously I am biased about Playa Flamenca and the surrounding area but we have everything you could ever want here Doctors, Dentists, Hospitals, Gyms, Shops, Schools,Clubs, Pubs Restaurants. In the street we live in alone we have a Plumber, Mechanic and my Husband who repairs damaged cars. My son has plenty of work in the summer months doing barwork and waiting, as he`s a comic book illustrator the summer work is what pays the money.I don`t know what you plan to do for a living but this is a rundown of your options in brief, if you have a service that you can provide then by all means start up on your own as self employed, if not and you want to work for others then I would advise you learn Spanish to open up your options even further, because if you don`t you will limit yourself to working for the English and to be honest they only do well during the summer months and often lay there workers off during the winter. If you can speak both Spanish and English you could get work anywhere including Hotels and Supermarkets where we are seeing more and more English working, very good for us English shoppers. Anyway hope this helps and if you have anymore questions don`t hesitate to ask. And good luck

[pmgled]

HI again, we rented a couple of properties for six month at a time in a couple of areas local to the school in Playa Flamenca and La Florida, we then spent time and spoke to people in the different areas to decide where to buy, we ended up in villamartin area as it seems to be more residents rather than holidsy homes, a little furthe rto get to school but hopefully in march they will be in the school bus which stops at the end of our rd anyway so works out ok. The only thing we have found difficult is work things are slowing down a little but there are still things that are needed we are growing our business slowly but all takes time money and loads of patience, never expect thing to happen overnight here and do not go spending money like it will last for ever, Good luck if you want to chat give me a call 0034 966191130 or mibile 0034 660342695

oh yes we also came and spent a couple of weeks here before making the final decision and spoke to people and their experiances, If you do decide to do this you are quite welcome to join me and a few othe rparents for a coffee and a chat.

[RickT]

Hi & welcome.
You asked about Torrevieja but both of the replies so far relate to Playa Flamenca. You should be clear that these are totally different (albeit adjoining) towns, with Playa Flamenca answering to the town hall in Orehuela. Both have their pros and cons. Playa Flamenca is far more Anglified with a huge ex pat population and English spoken throughout.
Torrevieja is bigger and far more cosmopolitan with a British population of about 12.5% out of 103,000 people. English is spoken fairly widely but you are far more likely to hear Spanish. PF has some very nice areas but for me what swings it in favour of Torrevieja is the far better infrastructure with excellent public transport, sports and cultural facilities etc. Sorry, can't comment on the schooling.
I would strongly urge you to visit and do a fair bit of touring round before deciding, possibly even renting for a while before buying. Either way, you'll love it.

[jaritex]

Hello, we live already 6 years in Torrevieja. Our children were 12 and 15 when we moved over. After an intensive spanish course during the summer holiday they went to a spanish school. The adjusted very well and after all these years they are very well integrated in the spanish community. They have spanish friends and they only speak our language (dutch) at home. My youngest sometimes has to look for his words in flemish. We also live in a very spanish urbanisation.
It is true that Playa Flameca is more english than some areas in Torrevieja. It all depends on what you are looking for.
I might be able to help you on other issues too.
Email me on jaritex@hotmail.com if you have more questions.

[c.jenko]

hi again everyone! just want to say a big thank tou to all who replied, marie i wish i could meet up and have coffee right now!!! i feel really happy the feedback iv recieved is all good it just makes me all the more determined.we are defo going before it happens for good but need to sell our house and sort my animals out also. if anyone has more info please keep it coming i love reading about my dream! i feel really positive for my son do they have junior football clubs like they do over here? im sure they do is that a bit of a stupid question?! my son is a keen footballer who plays for a team and id like him to still have the team spirit and friendships like he has here. once again thanks all!! claire x

[Gentleone]

One question I was wondering is what qualifications do UK born children get when they are educated in a Spanish school?

Are these qualifications on a par / recognised by British firms back in the UK.

My main concern over children being educated is how do they move through a career path when they are starting from a dis advnataged point (i.e being not Spanish).

Spain is already known as being 'behind the times' in terms of business practices and competiveness when compared to more established economies (i.e the UK).

Has anybody got any examples of UK Children leaving school and gaining a professional career?

[Steve]

I can tell you that up until 2 years ago not one single expat child from Rojales school had ever continued to a Spanish university!!

[gillreg]

Hi

I can only re-iterate what has been said before, you must go to visit!

[Placebo]

Planning a move to a town you have never even visited is madness. You must go and see for yourself, it could save you a lot of grief in the long run. With an eight year old it's even more important.

[sissy1]

Re: moving to torrevieja

hi everyone! im always reading the forum on this site and now iv decided to post my own thread. my family and i are planning a move to torrevieja this year we have planned it for years but have never been sure where to go. although we have never visited torrevieja we really like the sound of it and have a few people we know move out there who love it. our son is 8 at the moment and im just curious about areas and schooling. we would like him to go to a state school can any1 tell me of areas which have english living there and if the schools are good. any info welcome.

Hi, we too are trying to make the move, id love to share any info we might have collected! would you like to email me on s.barrowcliffe1@ntlworld.com hope to hear from you soon !

[c.jenko]

hi sissy sorry its taken me a while to responde ! thanks for your e mail i will contact you as any info shared is great x

obviously we will visit before we move i have been planning this for some years now so its not justan idea i came up with last night while sleeping we have been looking into it for ages since my son was brn and he will be 9 this year!!! but i do thank anyone who replied to me

ps hi marie if your on this site x

[sissy1]

hi sissy sorry its taken me a while to responde ! thanks for your e mail i will contact you as any info shared is great x

obviously we will visit before we move i have been planning this for some years now so its not justan idea i came up with last night while sleeping we have been looking into it for ages since my son was brn and he will be 9 this year!!! but i do thank anyone who replied to me

ps hi marie if your on this site x

hi Claire, Ive actually just come back from an inspection visit from Torreveija and Alicante areas,right upto Denia and Orba! Im on information overoad! we only spent four days there but ive learnt so much and answered so many questions and doubts i had. will hopefully speak to you soon via email x