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Hi. I currently live in the US with the wife and 18m old toddler. I start a permanent position in Spain at the end of the year. So uh, we're selling the house, cars, all our personal belongings, etc, and starting again in sunny ESPAÑA. My wife and I are thrilled, scared, and pretty stressed out. The baby doesn't seem to care. My position allows me to work from home so exactly where to move in Spain is up to us. We have decided on Valencia as we want to experience a big city but avoid the high prices of Madrid and Barcelona. The silly bit then is that we've never been to Valencia. I'm not even really sure what to ask at this point. Both me and the bab are EU citizens so the immigration stuff is "reasonably" straight forward.... Does anyone here live in Spain? Advice for neighborhoods in Valencia? Things to definitely do or not do? Finding housing is our main concern right now. The plan is to arrive two weeks before my job starts and to use that time to find an apartment. There seems to be a lot of available housing but we really have no idea what the process will actually entail...
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Sep 7, 2017 14:50
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Associate Christ
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since you apparently can choose to live anywhere in the country, why not spend a week or two travelling to the cities you think you might want to live in instead of randomly choosing one you've never been to before based on size?
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Sep 7, 2017 18:23
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Preamble: I've lived in various towns surrounding Valencia for several years, but never in Valencia proper. However, since none of those towns really ever had anything to do besides be the place my house is at, a lot of my time was spent in VLC. Since you mentioned you only live in the States, but are a EU citizen, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume you're some sort of Anglo anyway, so please keep the following in mind: Most Spaniards speak relatively little English. This is especially bad in Valencia, as it isn't taught in schools as the primary "second language", unlike many other places in Europe. Obviously most schools focus on Spanish, but in Valencia the main emphasis besides that is put on the Valencian dialect, which is basically the same as Catalan. Also, never refer to either Valencian or Catalan as a dialect. They don't like that. Call them languages when speaking with their respective speakers. Even though they aren't. Valencia is a hideous city, unless you make a lot of money with your weird job and can afford to live in one of its nicer districts. The less nice places in Valencia are noticeably less nice that less nice parts of nicer places than Valencia. The extremely rude and condescending expression "provincial minds", which is something only an elitist jackass would ever call other human beings, applies to many people from Valencia and its surrounding towns. If you're not the white kind of European, be prepared to be called rude things. Often. If you are the white kind of European, use Spanish phrases often so people know you're making an effort to learn the language. People find that endearing anywhere you go. Except France. The French can be very mean if you're just starting to learn French. But I digress. Public transit is subpar compared to most places worth living in, but from what I've heard it's also poo poo in most places in America, so you might not even notice. If you've got a car, you might have to spring for your very own parking space, as finding a place to park on the street is often a loving nightmare. Also, people in Valencia drive like absolute loving poo poo. Sorry if this got a bit (or very) rambly, I just wrote down stuff as it came to mind. Will post some more as more things come to mind.
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Sep 7, 2017 19:49
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other people posted:Hi. I think you're sort of crazy for committing to a city based solely on size without visiting it first, but on the other hand you probably won't get a good feel for what it'd be like to live there after a few days of travel, so I suppose it's not too crazy. As Bk. said: do try to learn the language, and don't be a jackass. Everywhere I've been in Spain has been welcoming and easy to "figure out." It'll be intimidating at first, probably, but there's no huge gotchas. Apparently it's a pain in the rear end to convert a North American driver's license, though, so that's something to watch out for, if you don't want to rely on public transit.
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Sep 7, 2017 21:13
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I can ramble with the best of them! Hi earwicker. I really like your music (srsly). We considered many cities in Spain and investigated living in any. Valencia won out for us due to a number of factors. I would love to spend more time traveling and picking the perfect place but with the baby and my job we really need more stability than that would provide. I need a quiet place where I can be on occasional phone calls, I can't do the coffee shop thing unfortunately. And the short timeline for the move (and $$$) doesn't really allow for a reconnaissance trip. But anyway, we're not buying a house on day 1 or anything; we can always reassess our location down the road... We have traveled a few times in Spain so have a rough idea of what to expect. Our first choice of place to live was Barcelona (of course, right), but the housing is hilariously expensive and given the huge discrepancies in pay with the US vs EU and cost of living, we really don't feel comfortable committing to a higher rent until we have a better idea of what our monthly expenses will look like. We'd like to have rent under €1000 which in Barcelona proper doesn't seem to get you much at all and things appear to be snatched up so quickly. In VLC it seems it could get a nice 3 bedroom (I need an office to work from home) in the heart of the city and there appears to be a decent selection. Neighborhoods like the hip Rusaffa and Old City look really appealing and housing prices even there seem reasonable. We're using fotocasa and idealista. We've considered just hooking up with an agency but I'm not sure if that is a good idea. I guess if we find that we end up with lots of extra €€€ at the end of the month AND dislike VLC for some reason then we can always reconsider BCN.... We have no plans for a car and will avoid owning one at all costs. Sure we have cars here in the US but I already commute to work on a long bus ride and far prefer it. Though as a suburban dad I really don't know what urbanites do with babies when taking a taxi or train. You just hold the baby on your lap??? But conversely, I'm not going to carry around a car seat... I speak a bit of Spanish but I'm already realizing it is woefully insufficient. The Spanish tax form my company gave me to fill out.... lol. I mean I understood what all the fields are but... gently caress. But, we've already been put in touch with places to practice the language and take lessons; I'm really looking forward to it. We definitely do not want to be isolated by language so becoming proficient is the highest priority. We'll have to avoid spending all our time with british expats. Also also, my company gives all Spanish employees a €9/day meal card!! 
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Sep 7, 2017 22:47
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Valencian and Catalan are absolutely languages and have a distinct history from Spanish, being more similar to the nearly-extinct Occitan in southern France. However, they're actually two names/dialects for the same language. "Dialect" has two meanings to a Spanish speaker and your intention won't always be clear when you use the word: one use is a subset of a wider language, the other (pejorative) use is a "lesser", almost non-language without any prestige. For simplicity's sake, call it Valencian in the Valencia region, Catalan when in Catalonia and Mallorquín in Mallorca etc. Anyway, my advice for living is this: apply for a NIE (foreigner's id number) as soon as you can once you have a chance of employment. In Barcelona, especially, getting an appointment for one is nigh-on impossible. Without the number you can't really function as a resident as it's used in countless situations. As said, the centre of Valencia is beautiful but the rest of it, not so much. Also, your building will have cockroaches, so set up preventative measures.
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Sep 11, 2017 10:28
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Captain Splendid posted:Valencian and Catalan are absolutely languages and have a distinct history from Spanish, being more similar to the nearly-extinct Occitan in southern France. A dialect is "a language with an army" so, as of right now, Catalan is a dialect in spite of its former history as a language. But hey that could always change again though!
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Sep 11, 2017 14:40
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Earwicker posted:A dialect is "a language with an army" so, as of right now, Catalan is a dialect in spite of its former history as a language. But hey that could always change again though! No, it's definitely a language. That expression you quoted is used to describe when two dialects diverge enough to either still be considered dialects or as separate languages. American English and British English are two dialects of English, Brazilian and European Portuguese, Argentinian and Peninsular Spanish etc. Hindi and Urdu are basically the same language but politics and such means they're treated as distinct. Catalan is its own thing. The disagreement that does exist is whether Valencian is a dialect of Catalan (which, yeah, it is). 
Captain Splendid fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Sep 11, 2017 |
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Sep 11, 2017 20:13
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Captain Splendid posted:Valencian and Catalan are absolutely languages and have a distinct history from Spanish, being more similar to the nearly-extinct Occitan in southern France. This is all true. Captain Splendid posted:
This was what I meant when I called it a dialect rather than a language. With regards to the NIE thing, it's a very important part of legally residing there and not having one (or possibly some sort of confirmation from the pertinent authority that you have already requested one) will be a big ol' hurdle in getting a lot of important poo poo done. Since anecdotal evidence is the best way to prove any kind of point: I was once chilling by myself at a friend's house, watching the first of the new Star Trek films, when somebody rang. T'was the mail person, with some mail. After convincing her that I was a friend of the homeowners, rather than the world's most incompetent burgler, she handed me most of the mail she had for this partical address. However, one letter required an adult's signature, and only after said adult provides photo ID. I tell her to hang tight while I head back inside for my pants, which is where my wallet was, which is where my ID was. Now the reason I was at this friend's house with no pants on in the first place is that I was only there on vacation, having not lived in Spain anymore for several years. I don't just not wear pants whenever I visit friends. So all my old paperwork, my NIE X, my certificate of empadronamiento (dunno how to translate this), all that poo poo, is long gone. I try to explain to this woman that I am a citizen of a free country, where human beings are not assigned numbers like cattle, and I'm only visiting the country this time around, so I neither have nor do I need a fuckin' DNI/NIE. To circle back around to my original "provincial minds" comment, she just cannot seem to comprehend that somebody could not have some sort of government-issued identification number to write in the pertinent blank space on the signature form. tl:dr - poo poo is crazy, get yourself a foreigner serial number ASAFP.
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Sep 13, 2017 19:20
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woah language talk. we're going to focus on strengthening our Spanish before we worry about the nuances of the Catalan dialects... The plan is to arrive two weeks before my job start date and to use that time to get IDs, open a bank account, and secure housing. How crazy is this? We have an airbnb for a month so even if finding housing and making it livable takes a bit longer we have some buffer room... My work is helping with immigration, a firm called Fragomen is handling it. As an EU citizen it should be as straight forward as it can be (which is still not very, I am sure). So getting an ID # should be all lined up. Being an EU citizen with a national ID should surely make opening a bank account "simple", right??? Any banks to recommend for or against? One other small thing I have no idea about... How long should I expect it to take for internet service to be activated? I can't work without it. If anyone has a recommendation for an ISP to use or ones to avoid please do say! I'm sure I'll have more questions as the move date nears... house goes up for sale next week so we're pretty busy with that mess.
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Sep 18, 2017 15:35
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Yo I lived in Spain for 5 years so I can probably answer everything. I’ll start with the banks one ‘cause I’m phone posting. I had an account with Santander and it was fine. Be ready for a monthly fee of about 12€. Barclays is a good option if you already have a Bank of America account as you can withdraw from your American account with no conversion fees. You will need your NIE to open an account, I think? Internet as I recall may take a few days to set up but that’s been the case for me in the states too. What takes awhile is sending the technician over, once he’s there you’re good.
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Oct 21, 2017 17:54
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Hi Xibanya. Thank you for those deets. We move in 10 days. Not nervous at all nope not at all. gently caress. I am kind of panicking right now because the company which is handling the immigration details just informed me that I cannot apply for my Residency Certificate (get my NIE) until *after* the start date of my euro job. This is throwing a giant wrench in our plans. My rough plan was: 1. Fly to Spain before the euro job starts 2. Get NIE (since I have a EU passport and a signed job contract) 3. Open bank account 4. Find apartment, sign lease (requiring a bank account, I imagine) 5. Start work Now it looks like the plan is: 1. Fly to Spain before the euro job starts 2. Flail around for ~2 weeks without an NIE or local bank account. 3. Accomplish nothing 4. Start work 5. Get NIE, open bank account, and find an apartment, all while working 40hrs/week This kind of blows. I have a sterling Santander International account. Maybe they will open a Euro account for me without any trouble which I can use before work starts. Or heck, maybe I can rent an apartment without a local bank account.... Though if I am reading Article 3 right (from the nice translation at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/residency-requirements-in-spain) ... quote:Employed workers must produce a declaration to the effect that they have been hired by the employer or a certificate of employment. These documents must include, as a minimum, details of the name and address of the company, tax identification and Employer’s Social Security Number. Presentation of an employment contract registered with the corresponding Public Employment Service or a document of registration or situation similar to registration with the corresponding Social Security System will be accepted, although it will not be necessary to produce these documents if the interested party agrees to have his details checked against the General Social Security Finance Office files “Ficheros de la Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social” I have a signed job contact (it is in both English and Spanish) with the company details... all except their tax id or SSN. If I my employer gets these for me... hopefully I can file on my own. Any one ever done this? edit: I've talked to two people I know in Spain and they've said that renting without an NIE or local bank account is probably not a big deal. So while it will be annoying to not have a local bank account it hopefully won't stop us from finding a place to live. other people fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Nov 3, 2017 |
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Nov 3, 2017 14:47
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For what it's worth, I lived in Spain for six months, renting an apartment the entire time, and didn't need an NIE or a local bank account. They're useful, but you can find ways around needing them. You'll be fine! Enjoy Spain!
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Nov 10, 2017 16:49
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