HELP moving to spain next year

hi my family and myself are hoping to move to the costa del sol next year as my 15 year old is in last year of school so he can sit his GCSEs then we want to move over.

We have a successful business here in uk so would like to keep this running until we can set up a new business in spain.

My other 2 children are 11 and 13 at the moment so am considering a spainish school  or private english school which i know can be pricey.

We would like any advice on keeping business in uk and contributing into the tax system in spain and schooling for the children, also is it best to rent property first ?

Can we have a business in england and live in spain ?

Any advice would be welcome please !!!!!

 What will your 15 year old do when he moves over here, take an A level course,? It's tricky bringing children of those ages out here.Finding work would be tricky, unless you get another business going here.You are brave to even think of moving here. What sort of business are you hoping to start in Spain? Your main concerns will be healthcare, and tax. Make sure you go to a properly qualified tax accountant in Spain-there are many stories of paying vastly differing amounts of income tax. It's a good idea to rent first to see if life in Spain is for you. If possible, keep a bolt hole in the UK!

Can we have a business in england and live in spain ?

Yes. However... there are numerous tax issues. You really must take expert, professional advice on that, otherwise, you could end up getting hassle from two sets of tax-collectors. Not a happy prospect.

There are various business structures that can cope with this, but again, it really is a taxation minefield. It would be worth getting one opinion, then another. You really, really do not want to get this wrong.

I can't really give any advice regarding having a UK business and live in Spain, although I know people who do do this. I think you need to seek some professional advice about that.

Regarding schools and education, your 15 year old would definitely need to go to a private international school.  There is no way he can go to a Spanish school so budget around 1000 Euros per month for that.

At 11 years old it's a little borderline in terms of putting him/her in a Spanish school.  Imagine if you were suddently placed in an environment where no one spoke your language?  At this age kids are normally put back a year to get them to catch up a bit as they inevitebly struggle with the language.  

At 13 I also wouldn't risk a Spanish school. 

There is a good guide on here all about this subject which you can buy:

Schools and education in Spain

It covers a lot of what you need to know about.

Best of luck.

I agree with Justin that international school is the only option.  I have seen two ten year olds start ordinary Spanish state school with no prior knowledge of the language - one thrived and was, according to the teacher, talking like a native after one year; the other learnt nothing, hid at the back of the class and just succeeded in getting a year behind before returning to the UK.  And he was a lovely boy and how must he have felt, not understanding anything and feeling really stupid?  But the other one thrived...  I wouldn't risk it for any child over the age of about eight, really and even that is tricky.

As camposol says, I would also wonder what the post-GCSE child would do.  This child would also need to go to international school.  No-one can turn up aged 16 without an excellent knowledge of Spanish and go to Spanish school - it's inconceivable.

Basically, given the ages of the three children, I would only consider the move if you could put all three in private international schools.  Justin may be right, but I thought that there were some international schools which cost more like 6,000 euros a year each, but I'm probably out-of-date.

thank you for your advice.

we brought a mobile home last year as a holiday home and have been over 7 times already so we know we like spain and the area we want to live.We know the financial situation is not perfect at the moment but it will get better.

my wife wants to move over in january would we be able to show our income in uk to get residentia ? Also do we need residentia to get kids into school ?

Thank you

To get kids into a state school they will need to be on the padron which you can do at the town hall.

I don't mean to come over all heavy but if you move over in January, won't that be really disruptive to your kids' education?  You said in your earlier post that you wanted to wait until your eldest did his GCSEs.

We live on the Costa del Sol and the honest truth is that most expat kids that arrive here at an age where they struggle in the school with no friends in a language they don't understand, they tend to end up as wasters.  We see them all the time hanging around the port here in Manilva just drinking beer during the day.  These kids are anything from 14 to 18.  What on earth is their future going to be???

The Spanish secondary education system does not actually force children to study or do well.  Those that want to learn sit at the front and those that don't can site at the back of the class and do whatever they want...or just not bother turning up at all.

We have seen so many expat teenagers struggle here that this subject is a sore point for me.  It pains me to see it happening.  Parents think that their kids are enjoying life in the sun, out in the open, etc, but the reality is that so many leave school with nothing in a country with the highest unemployment rate in the EU.

It's sad but true.

In terms of things getting better in Spain....we're a long way away from that yet.

eggcup, primary international school is normally around 600 euros per month but secondary tends to be more expensive, between 800 and 1000 per month.  That's what we found out when we looked intto it.

 my son is staying with my wife in england until he has done his exams and im moving over in january with my 11 and 13 year olds to get our business up and running.my eldest is going to be working in our busineses when he leaves school so he wont be hanging around drinking beer.

he already works for us now in the evenings and weekends.the education in england at the moment is a joke.we speak to people every day that are not happy about it.

my other 2 children want to work in our busineses as well so finding a job isnt a issue.

the reason for coming over is for a better way of life and an outdoor life instead of sitting in front of the television or playing the playstation for hours on end like there friends do.most kids in there school are smoking and drinking already we obviously dont want that.

another reason for coming over is for the golf all three of our kids play to a very high level.in england the courses are not that great through winter and the light is gone when they get in from school in the winter.this is putting there golf back each year.

thank you for your advice

michael

Well best of luck with it all.  It's a big decision to up sticks and move abroad.

I hope everyting works out well so do let us know how you get on.

thats why we are keeping the business in england justin so we have money coming in and a something to come back to if anything goes wrong.

originally we were going to sell the business as well.we are only renting in england so its not like we are selling our house or anything.

thanks for all your advice.

michael