Moving to Spain with children

Starting a new life in a foreign country can be very daunting for adults let alone children. If you are moving to Spain with children, whatever age, it is something not to be taken lightly.

Over the last 20 years an increasing number of families from European countries have set up home in Spain. And for many, the move has turned out to be the best decision they ever made. Many children settle well. They have left a grey life in the UK with bad weather, ever increasing prices, lack of jobs and a "Yob Culture".

But not all families find their paradise in the Mediterranean sunshine. For many the upheaval of leaving their native land and adjusting to a completely different way of life proves too much to cope with and they return home, wiser for the experience and often a lot poorer.

If you're considering moving to Spain with children, make sure you're aware of all the common problems and pitfalls which face foreign families trying to start afresh in a new country.

Generally, the younger your children are the more likely they are to settle abroad and adjust to all the sudden changes in their lives. Young children can adapt much more quickly and easily to almost any change of circumstances as long as they're at the centre of a loving, secure family. Pre-school children pick up a new language in no time, they make new friends quickly and are likely to adapt easily to the new climate and different routine.

The older your children are, the more likely they are to suffer with problems such as homesickness, isolation and feelings of inadequacy at school. No matter how loving and supportive you are as parents, teenagers are likely to find it extremely difficult to settle into a Spanish school especially if they're not fluent in the language from day one. So you'll need to consider whether you can afford to pay for private education within an international school.

Getting children a place in a state run Spanish school is normally a straight forward affair for EU citizens - you can get your child in school almost immediately, it's free and you don't need to wait for a resident's permit ("residencia"). Some of the more popular schools have a waiting list but the local authorities have a responsibility to find an alternative school if necessary. In areas with large ex-pat communities, many Spanish schools provide special language coaching for newly arrived foreign children for the first few weeks.