Settling into a new life in Spain with a family can be daunting at first, but with perseverence it should be one of the best decisions you ever make. Here we tell you about expat Penny Berlin’s experience of moving to the Costa Brava with children.
Article written by The Overseas Guides Company
Penny arrived in Spain with her husband and two daughters in 2004. They had been feeling uncomfortable about what they termed “the Nanny State” in the UK and after a visit to Gandía in Valencia, Penny couldn’t settle back into life at home.
Penny already spoke some French and thought that learning Spanish would be easy when they relocated. When she first arrived, she found work selling advertising space with a magazine published in English. A language problem soon became apparent however, as when she approached companies in Barcelona, the switchboard and reception staff often did not speak English even though the directors did. Penny realised that to continue in this job she would have to improve her Spanish. She tried other things to earn a living and eventually became self-employed (autonomous) when she started selling pool heating equipment quite successfully.
Becoming autonomous was not too difficult as she used a good English speaking gestor (someone authorised to see people through certain legal and tax matters). “Be prepared to queue for everything in government agencies,” she says. One of the problems she found with being autonomous is that you have to pay towards social services whether you are actually earning money or not, and the moment you start to earn any money you are immediately taxed.
One of the first hurdles for the family was to find schools for the girls, aged 8 and 13. Penny was able to communicate with her French and sign language! “Don’t be embarrassed by looking foolish as people will respect you for trying,” she says. The language problem was compounded because Penny and her family decided to settle on the Costa Brava, where they speak Catalan as well as Castilian Spanish. It is similar in the Valencia region, where both Valenciana and Castilian are spoken and in the Basque region where Basque predominates.
The younger daughter, Milly, settled into the local school pretty well and in six months was speaking Catalan. However, the family opted to send the elder daughter to a private Catalan school and thought they were doing her a favour. Unfortunately, she struggled. She was given no help to learn the language and they paid for her to have extra lessons in Castilian as all the science and maths lessons were given in that language, whereas all other subjects were taught in Catalan. Socially, she was excluded because her classmates wouldn’t speak to her as she was speaking in Castilian.
Eventually, her parents decided to send her to a state school where she was offered lessons to improve her Catalan. The state secondary schools are very different from schools in the UK and are less obviously friendly than Spanish state primary schools, where the youngest daughter began her Spanish education. However, Victoria is a bright girl and managed to obtain good marks in the Bachillerato (final school exams). She is now taking a degree in tourism on the Internet, while gaining practical experience working for a large hotel chain.
Meanwhile, Penny started her own company, Brava Connect, in 2011 because the economic situation in Spain meant pool heating was no longer a priority and sales began to fall. She still sells them as well as providing services for English speaking people and businesses.
Penny and her family plan to stay in Spain despite its problems. She says: “It might be tough in Spain at present, but the culture here far outweighs that of the UK. My business has good and bad months, but brings in amazing contacts. For our girls, Milly, who is not academic, will be looking at an artistic Bachillerato. My eldest daughter is taking a degree and speaks Catalan, Castilian, English and a little French!”
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