Thread: Moving to Alicante, help!

Hello everyone, i posted a thread ages ago when we were just thinking of moving to Spain, well here is an update and hope that you can help, Myself Husband, son 14 and Daughter 11 will be moving to Alicante in July all going well, our house is under offer in uk, my son has been accepted in the British School of Alicante (unfortunatly because of his age i thought that he would need to carry on the British GCSE's) my daughter will go to a spanish school, (they have been doing spanish in their school here but are no way fluent!)and we will be renting until we get settled, find work/a business to run. so i think that we have followed the advice given out on the forums, but now i need more help!! (always on the take! LOL) I know that my daughter cannot be registered for a school until we have an address so: what would be a good area to look to rent, we have been told Elche or El Campello is this right? what are the junior schools like? i understand that she will be left alone and have to have the right attitude to learn but i would also like to get extra tuition for her. if anyone has any advice on this or any thing else you think may be helpful please let me know, We are all very excited about the new life we will have. Thanks for your help

Sunshineseeker...You have to remember that Alicante is a Province as well as a City. From one end to the other is about a two hour drive. Before you look to rent, do you know exactly where the British School that your son has been accepted at is. If it is in Alicante City, El Campello is not too far. But if it is the one in San Miguel de Salinas you need to be looking at somewhere a lot further South. Let us know where the school is. Just one more thing. El Campello is a holiday resort, and rents will probably be high during the summer months. There was a British School in Elche, but I think that has closed down.

Your son at a British School will follow the British Curriculum and have Spanish lessons, but your daughter at a Spanish school will pick up the language quicker as she will be using it from day one and make Spanish friends. They will not leave her alone. She will be given all the help she needs if she wants to learn.

hello CD Thader, many thanks for the reply, we saw the school in april and the address for the school is
Agua Amarga
C/ Reino Unido 5, 03008 Alicante, Spain
so i believe that Elche and Elcampello are in the right area, i have had very mixed reviews about the spanish school, some people say my daughter will be left some say that she will have lots of help, i guess that we will only really know when she gets there, if elcampello is a holiday resort would it be really empty come september? if so would you recommend another area? kind regards

Sunshineseeker..post code 03008 is in Alicante City....I don't think Elche would be suitable, because of the distance. Do you want to live in the city..Be in an area which is all Spanish or a mixture of Brits and Spanish. You won't find many Brits in the cities.
Is there anyone who lives in or near Alicante city who can suggest somewhere. Torrellano is an almost completely Spanish town a few miles inland. within easy reach of Alicante and close to Alicante airport..Gran Alicant is just south of the airport, on the main N332 road towards Santa Pola..Nice beach, It is a new development..Easy reach of the city, home to a mixture of nationalities including Brits. and with many Brits returning to the UK there may be rental opportunities at a lower price than at a resort like El Campello. If you don't speak Spanish, it would be easier for you to adapt. If you are planning to live here, you really need to have a look round yourself.

September is the end of the holiday season, so you may get a cheaper rent in El Campello or San Juan, but if you intend to stay there during the summer months next year, that would be taken into consideration. Have you thought of asking the school where the majorty of their students live, asking their advice on accomodation, and whether you could be put in touch with some parents.

Your daughter will go to the local Spanish school..Some will give her more individual tuition that others. Some will have British children, others will not, depending where you live.

CD ..... (How about some more suggestions?)

thanks again for your help, it is very useful, I looked at Gran Alicant and i thought that the area seemed very nice, i think to start with i would like a mixture of nationalities, the future plans are to totally immerse ourselves in the spainish culture however to start with we will need a mix of nationalities, I think the only way to get a good feel for the areas is like you say to look around, which is what we will do once we get into spain, I am prepared to have to move several times before we finally find the area that we all love. I did ask the gentleman who showed us around the school, for recommended areas and he suggested El Campello, and he gave me the school bus route so that i could look at the areas. I think what i was hoping that someone could recommend a good area to live in that would be in a good spanish school that they have had experience of. thank you for all your help so far and for the areas that you have mentioned i will look again at Gran Alicant

Hi Sunshineseeker, do you have a rental budget per month and do you have an idea of what type of property you wish to rent? Gran Alicant is a nice place, quiet in the winter though and most of the properties there tend to be Apartments or Townhouses.
Alicante City would be ideal for close proximity to this school, but you would be ending up renting an apartment. If you are looking for a house with garden and pool then I suggest look at San Juan, Bonalba, Campello or Coveta Fuma. With the new link road built you can be in Alicante City within 20 mins from these places.

Hi,

I Have family in Alicante (Calpe, 03710) and my Cousin went to the British school. However my uncle had to driv him every day and it was about a 45 minute drive.

Just for info - Calpe is a mixture of british, SPanish and German (mostly Spanish) all of whom speak good English but are happy to oblige if you want to learn Spanish! Although it is a resort it does go inland a little bit so you are able to get away form the typical tourist holidaymakers and stay with the ex-pats an dlocal spanish community if you wish.

To me it s a kind of "have your cake and eat it" place.

I'll be moving back there with my Son whe he's old enough to start secondary school here. The reaosn is that he's so happy at his promary school I'm not going to upset that.


I think if you spend maybe a weekend looking at different area and different properties i the areas surrounding the schools, you'll have a better idea of what to go for. Your Son adn Daughter can start spewaking Spanish at home now. It will stand them in good stead for when they get to Spain. It will help you practice also -after all practice makes perfect.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Laura xx

hi guys, thanks for your replies, our rental budget is under 800 euros pm and ideally we would like to have a town house/villa with a pool (happy for a communal one) as you say almost a have your cake and eat it area, not near the "beer brits!" (the way you discribed Calpe sounds just right) but near to a expat community so we can get some intial tips with the area, where the schools are/hospitals ect you know essentials when you move into any area!! LOL and also a spanish community so that we can get to know the community, especially important for my daughter to feel settled as i think she will have the biggest challange initally. Stumpywop what did your cousin think of the school? what area are you looking to move back to?

Good luck to you and your family - moving is such a stressful time - be kind to each other while you adjust and try to stay focused. When we bought out here 7 years ago we bought on a Golf course Urbanisation (like a suburb) near Torrevieja - very nice but in hindsight I wish I had bought in a town or larger village - if you want the Spanish Life - it might be hard but I sincerely think that you and your family will benefit greatly and in no time your children will be speaking Spanish and so will you. You will find classes for yourself and your children locally - persevere - speaking it is the best way (athough the grammar is very important) Take care and good luck xx