Living abroad with my son has been a dream of mine for years. Turning that dream into a reality was quite a journey, involving an incredible amount of planning. From navigating the visa process, to finding housing and schooling, to landing solidly on our feet here in Granada, Christine has been by our side.
From our very first zoom meeting over a year and a half ago, Christine has been my steady source of guidance and support. She patiently answered (and reanswered) my endless questions as I tried to decide where, when, and how to move to Spain. Ultimately, my son and I decided to move to Granada, for its rich culture and beautiful, mountainous location. And, boy are we glad we did–we are in love with this city!
Christine helped me navigate the numerous educational options for my son, who now happily walks to his local Spanish school each day with his new friends. Christine also helped me find a wonderful Spanish language school for my studies. And thanks to Christine, we live in an amazing apartment in the heart of the Albayzin, where we are able to walk everywhere, connect with locals and other expats, and simply be immersed in the richness of this ancient city.
Moving to Spain is a bold move, one I know will forever change me and my son. Christine, we are incredibly grateful to you for helping to make our year in Spain a reality!
We decided early in late 2023 to move to Spain. We were nervous because we’re a larger family and have a son with special needs. However, Christine welcomed the challenge and with tenacity, grace, and perseverance paved the way for us with incredible attention to detail. By the time we arrived in the summer of 2024, we had places for all of our children in local schools, appointments for our padrón, TIE appointments, etc. She has continued to be a help as we’ve found our own apartment and applied for other necessary documents. We sincerely appreciate her help and patience with us throughout the entire process. We are now settled in sunny Spain and loving this new chapter!
Your year in Spain team´s support and guidance has been truly invaluable and we cannot recommend them highly enough. From our very first informative zoom meeting 18 months before our move, Christine was a wealth of both concrete information as well as insight and wisdom.
She started by asking us many questions about our goals and desires and used our responses to craft a thoughtful list of suggested Spanish cities for us to consider. When we flew to Spain to see the cities in person, she arranged for us to go on “practical tours” of each city to see the neighborhoods, schools, and leisure activities we might enjoy in a given city. Once we picked Granada, she went in person to check out rental properties, helped negotiate our lease, and hand delivered paperwork to the children’s school.
Immediately after we arrived, she accompanied us to various appointments and necessary trips to city hall, the bank, immigration office, etc, etc, etc. Had we not had Christine as a resource, we would have been overwhelmed by the paperwork, appointments, and requirements. She is impeccably organized and responsive. She saved us countless hours and preserved our sanity during a time of so much transition.
My husband and I decided in October of 2021 that we were ready to move out of the states and move somewhere that our son could use his Spanish. My husband made the trek to Granada and when he came back was raving about how much he loved it and that this was the place for us. With that we decided that we would move full force ahead with no idea of how to make any of it work. Derek had met a few people while he was in Granada doing the research and all had referred us to Christine to help us with housing. We didn’t realize that when we connected with her that she would not only help us with our housing she would help us with enrolling our son in school, after school activities, give us a plethora of information regarding activities for us, for our son and even help us with obtaining appointments to register with the city and get our NIE’s. Christine was absolutely essential in our move. She negotiated our lease with our landlord and explained all of the intricacies of our lease and how Spain renting works. She hand delivered our school applications to the school and kept the processes moving forward so when Antony started school we didn’t have to worry about a thing. Christine scheduled our appointment for us to set up our bank account and went a step further and made sure we had a representative that we could communicate with. She even sent us phone cards so that when we landed in Spain we were up and running with a Spanish number. We cannot express enough how much we appreciate the work that Christine put in to make sure that when we arrived in Spain that the hardest work was done and we could just explore and get to know our new city. We highly advise and recommend Christine and her team! Thank you a million times over!
I have lived in a dozen countries, and never has my transition been so smooth as my move to Granada, thanks to Christine of Your Year in Spain. She knows everyone, caters to all your personal needs, speaks multiple languages, and is brilliant and detailed in helping you realize your dreams. Also, she’s a deeply nice and interesting person. Working with her is like having a really good friend in a new country you want to visit who takes care of all your concerns. Highly recommended.
It is safe to say that this has not been the easiest year to spend away from your home country. Not to mention the complications of getting to Granada in the first place, driving through covid struck Europe from Denmark all the way to Granada after taking the ferry from Iceland.
What made us stick with our dream was the careful preparation and organising that we had done beforehand, all with the invaluable help of Christine and Bianca. The beautiful house with swimming pool that we longed to live in and were prepared to spend quarantine in if worse came to worst. The schools that the girls were already enrolled in and the University course that Einar was going to attend. Everything was ready. Although it has not all been plain sailing, we have had a wonderful year. The girls have integrated well into their schools, made friends and gotten proficient in a new language. We have been able to travel quite a bit, mainly within the province of Granada however, and enjoy much of what the city has to offer. An unexpected part of our experience was the national park of Sierra de Hüetor, which is around 15 minutes from our house that offers a multitude of hiking routes and a welcome respite from the busy city environment. A covid free year would have been different, but we are very happy with the one we got.
We want to thank you for all that you have done to make this such a seamless, enjoyable experience for us. It was easier to find a home in another country with you! When we decided to make the move to Spain, I was completely overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. It almost seemed impossible to do anything from here. You were so patient with all of our questions about schooling and waiting to find that perfect home…four bedrooms and fruit trees?! Amazing! Thank you again
We moved to Granada on a whim, based on the magic of an extended weekend break three years previously. We are a family of three with a 10-month-old baby and none of us speak a word of Spanish. Looking for a house, renting one, finding out about how everything works, knowing how to navigate the new social and cultural environment with a baby—all this seemed Herculean tasks we didn’t really have the skills or time to cope with. That changed once we came across Bianca’s website while looking for a house to rent in Granada. She has a collection of homes in the Albaicin she has carefully sourced through her valuable contacts in the neighbourhood. Although we had scoured local websites for a house for months, we didn’t find anything we really liked, until Bianca’s website. About two months later, we are now living in the house we dreamed of — waking up to amazing views of the Alhambra from our windows every morning. Bianca facilitated contact with our landlords, drew up the lease agreement in Spanish, and provided valuable information and contacts necessary for settling into our new life. Moving hasn’t been easy, but without Bianca it probably would have been impossible.
We found Bianca online and enjoyed her blog posts about life in Granada. She helped us narrow down our city, neighborhood and home allowing us to make living abroad a reality. Once we secured a house that would allow our dog to join us, we looked at schools. We chose to put our boys in a concertado (a former Catholic school now funded by the government) called Ave Maria Casa Madre in the Albaicin. Since our boys spoke a little Spanish and all three aged 4, 6, and 8 could attend (including our youngest who has Down Syndrome) it made walking the 5 minutes to and from school each day a family excursion. The boys made easy transitions and lots of friends which in turn helped our family find a community of locals. The Albaicin is like a little pueblo attached to the city. It sits on a hill opposite the Alhambra where locals and expats mix seamlessly. Our boys love to race through the maze of streets and play in the plazas. We moved here to find a slower, simpler life but we take every opportunity to travel around Spain and Europe. We do not have a car but find walking everywhere is fun and interesting. When we need a ride the taxies, buses and rental cars are easy and inexpensive. The swing in temperatures is extreme but the proximity to the Mediterranean and Sierra Nevada provide great opportunities to ski and hit the beach. Perhaps Bianca’s greatest gift to us was introducing us to other expats making similar transitions. Together we have enjoyed this beautiful city and the adventures that lie in wait. My husband likes to say Granada is a pretty lady with a dirty face. There is beauty everywhere you look and opportunities for a family to be together in a café, a park or just wandering through the labyrinth of undulating streets. Bianca can provide a great picture of life in the Albaicin that will help you decide whether the city and lifestyle is right for you. The expat community is vibrant and welcoming. Bianca’s ties to it will benefit all who hire her to help with their move.
Bianca’s blog inspired us to move to Granada when we were looking where to spend a year in Spain, and then with her assistance the dream became reality. Bianca helped us find our beautiful apartment in the centre of Granada which was set up when we arrived. Everything went without a hitch and we liked Granada right from the start. She also recommended a terrific Spanish language school which is really good for those who like an intensive, fast paced but fun classroom environment. Bianca knows Granada well and those who come here will understand why there is such an attraction for this city.
Bianca provided us with clear and concise information regarding our move to Spain. We are delighted with the house she arranged for us, and have followed many of her recommendations regarding restaurants and cultural activities now that we’re here. Thank you!
Bianca helped our family tremendously in putting the pieces of the puzzle in order for our year-long move to Spain. In addition to helping us find a lovely home to rent and enrol our kids in the local school, she has also been available to answer questions about mobile phone use, packing and shipping, and Spanish classes. She has helped us make connections with locals and other ex-pat families who are taking the plunge. Thank you, Bianca!
Bianca provided us with an enormous amount of support in the lead up to our year in Granada. Not only did she find us our wonderful house to rent, she also assisted with enrolling our children into school and provided advice on activities in the area. Bianca is a passionate and energetic person with a fantastic understanding of what foreigners are looking for and a great ability to research and synthesize local information. She will be an asset to anyone looking to experience time in Spain and we highly recommend her services.
Your Year in Spain helped our family realize our dream of living Spain for our year adventure. They helped coordinate our furnished rental house and enrolment in the local school for our children. They are extremely thorough and organized and I felt like we could ask them any question and get a candid response. They are also well connected with locals in the region that can help get answers or follow-up on some of the more specific requests. Thank you for all of your help!
Truly, our landing in Granada would not have been this idyllic had it not been for you. Your help got us this marvellous house overlooking the Alhambra, our kids in a wonderful school, and our family surrounded by a friendly and helpful community of locals and expats. Thank you!”