What is your name, age and how long have you lived in Javea?
My Name is Maureen and we moved to Javea in December 2008, after renting in Moraira for a few months. I am 51 years old, a more mature mum having my first daughter at 35 and my second daughter 6 weeks early and a couple of weeks before I was 45.
Why did you decide to move there?
We had decided to move to Spain after having a holiday home on the Southern Costa Blanca for a few years and we came across Easybuy who were planning on expanding to the Moraira & Javea area so we bought the Franchise. It also coincided with me having the option of redundancy from my role in the UK which gave us that extra nudge we needed.
What is the area like where you live?
The area is lovely, very green with mountains and home to a variety of nationalities. Javea is a popular holiday resort and is very busy during the month of August when many Spanish families come to their holiday homes for the month. Just 20 minutes inland are many typical Spanish villages and some amazing scenery. We´re fortunate that we are around a 25 minute walk from the beach and have an amazing sea view and a beautiful forest view. There are some lovely long sandy beaches further up the coast at Oliva and Gandia. We´re only an hour or so from city Valencia which is great for children with its museums and Zoo. Whilst there are quite a few nationalities here including many British it is still quite Spanish and not really commercialized like some of the other areas along the coast.
What nationality are you and your partner?
We were both born in West Yorkshire in England.
How many children do you have, what are their names and when were they born?
We have Megan who was 16 on Monday (14.11.95) and Alice who is 7 (8.7.2004)
What was your experience of relocating to Javea with children?
On the whole it was good, we had a holiday home here so had spent quite a bit of time in Spain. Alice was only 3 and a little too young to really understand the concept of moving abroad. It was harder for Megan who was 12 and very reluctant to leave family and her friends. We arranged for her to have Spanish lessons in the UK and decided to enrol Megan at the International College in Javea which was the best decision for her. We think it helped her to make friends easier and she has continued with the English curriculum taking her Spanish IGCSE a year earlier and achieving and A*. It did take her over a year before she started to really settle. Our youngest Alice started in the Spanish school in Moraira and from day one has been fine, there are a few other English pupils in her class but the majority are Spanish and she mixes well with both. It was hard for the family left in England, especially Grandma but they speak on the phone and have visited and we send regular pictures.
Do you work and if so what do you do?
We bought the easybuy Franchise and opened up on Moraira in September 2008, for the first 2 years my husband continued to work for his UK firm which was good and provided us with a regular income. If we hadn´t have bought the business then I think we would have struggled to find work. I also started the Holiday Villa Rentals side with my friend during 2009/20010.
How do you manage to juggle work and family life?
I worked full time in the UK in a senior role so was used to juggling work and family, one of the reasons for moving here was to spend more time as a family which has been possible. We take the girls to school and pick them up something I never did in the UK. I think we do much more as a family here than we would have done had we continued to live in the UK. Having our own business gives us the flexibility however I would say that we do work long hours like everyone else here to stay in business and remain competitive.
Did you buy or rent your property? How did you find the process?
We rented in the area initially and then found somewhere to buy, it wasn´t the first time we had bought in Spain so we knew the process. It is however difficult to find the right property and the right area and I´m not sure that agents actually listen to what you want, many will just show you lots hoping that one will be suitable. We did use a property finder. In our own business we can use this experience and listen to people and ensure that they have all the information that they need.
How well integrated would you say you and your family are? Not as integrated as we would like to be, we tend to mix with Spanish families only through our younger daughter´s school activities and sometimes in the park after school.
What language do you speak to your children?
Alice is taught in Valenciano and is learning Castilliano and we speak in English at home and read with her in English. Megan does speak Castilliano but again we speak English at home. The girls can speak to one another in Castilliano.
Do you think it is essential to speak Spanish when relocating to Javea?
I don´t think it is essential but it does certainly help, we had done a basic Spanish course back in the UK mainly conversational but it came in useful. We have picked up quite a bit since but need to do more. Its just finding time to fit classes into our work & home life. Helping Alice with her homework has helped us!!
What is your impression of childcare and education in Javea?
We have been pleased with the school that Alice attends (this is in Moraira), she is happy and is progressing. I like the fact that the teachers will hug them and pick them up if they fall without having second thoughts. I also like that from an early age they get them involved in local Fiesta´s and parades. We have also been into class and taken part and we had to do a presentation on Alice from when she was born. Alice helped with the language and the questions we got asked after!! Parents can arrange to go in and speak with the teacher and check on progress and they do have beginning of term meetings to go through what they hope to achieve. The teachers could be more helpful and speak English as many of them do but choose not to but then I need to improve my Spanish! Megans school has been the right choice for her, lots of homework but I think they have reached her potential and pushed her that bit further where needed. The first year she made some good friends but due to the economic climate returned to the UK which did unsettle her, but it’s the nature of the type of school she´s in and she seems to have accepted that. The only drawback is as it’s a small school the A level courses are limited. Unfortunately the work situation is not great here so Megan like many of her friends will return to the UK after completing her IGCSE´s next year. We are fortunate in that we had made provisions for Megan´s school fees, we do know of children who have moved here at the same age and have really struggled with the Spanish system and have been kept back on more than one year of schooling. We have had mixed reports about the secondary schools here so we may need to look at what we do when Alice reaches secondary level but that is some way off yet!!
Alice has attended summer school each summer, this has been brilliant and at a cost of 100€ per month is great value for money. This is run by the local council and is usually for the whole of July & August and from 9am to 2pm each day. If I think back to what we were paying in the UK for full time nursery fees and before school and after school care these fees are nothing.
What do you think are the main advantages and disadvantages of being a parent from the International Community living in Javea? The advantages have got to be learning and understanding a different culture and being able to introduce your children to this, the Javea council is starting to do a lot more to integrate the different nationalities. The disadvantages are that they are not always
How welcoming were the locals when you arrived in Javea?
Moraira & Javea are quite big towns, when we first arrived we dealt mainly with English people and made a network of friends through other parents. From a business prospective I joined the Women in Business group and made contacts and friends through them but again mainly from the international community. The locals we have got to know have been very friendly.
Would you say your area is family-friendly and is there anything you think would improve children´s lives where you live?
The area is family friendly with lots of activities for children out of school. Alice attends ballet & tap on a Saturday morning and has performed in the international festival in Javea and a village theatre. There is tennis, football, Judo etc. I find that children are welcome at all restaurants and the Arenal beach in Javea has climbing frames, slides etc. the beach in Moraira has these too & there are play areas in the centre of Moraira. The older children maybe a bit limited, however there are sports and my eldest has attended weekly netball practice. She has also just passed her test and can now drive a 50cc moped, she did the written test in Javea and went to Denia for the practical. She now goes to school on her scooter and out and about with her friend. Not sure there is anything that springs to mind that I think could be improved.
.What advice would you give for anyone having a baby or thinking of relocating to Javea with children?
Can´t comment on having a baby here, although we have experienced the hospital in Denia when my husband had a bad accident and I can´t praise them enough and the standard of cleanliness was second to none. I think if you are relocating with children then you need to get in contact with parents who have done this and depending on the ages of your children research the options for schooling and out of school activities and clubs. Visit the area several times ( we spent a few overnights here on separate occasions and drove round Moraira & Javea and this part of the coast). If you can get them Spanish classes in England then do, it gives them that bit of extra confidence and I think it definitely helped Megan. We had the last few weeks of the summer holidays and then the girls started in school and we opened the business which was a good way of spending a bit of time in a new home together & then getting into a routine. It’s a lovely part of Spain but very different in Winter.
What couldn´t you live without in Javea?
The sea, the beaches, the fiesta´s
What could you live without in Javea?!
The mountains of paperwork for everything, the lack of customer service
November 2011
