This article was written by Michael Saliba, son of Paul Saliba who recently gave us his story about moving to Spain.
I do wonder quite often what would have happened to me if our family had never decided to move to Spain. I’ve now lived more of my life in Spain than I ever did in Britain. I can’t say I have a perfect memory of how my six-year-long life was in England, but I know for certain that I love the life I live now.
Eight years ago, in the year 2003, my family decided to move to sunny Spain. I remember vaguely saying goodbye to my best friend, but I was just six years old at the time. I was a little confused to tell you the truth. I had been on holiday abroad before, but now we were going to live in a country I barely knew about! I felt excited, a whole new life opening up before me. I was leaving the coastal city of Plymouth for the warm, Spanish sun of Alicante. We headed off with all our prized possessions, including our cat, Kiki, and we left my older sister behind as she went to university. Leaving Plymouth at such a young age meant I never really missed it. I was too young to remember how life was over there, but I’m definitely sure that my life in Spain is better.
We settled in the mountainous town of Onil. The house was a nice introduction to Spain. We had a pool, something that we would never have owned in Plymouth, and the weather was warm for a change! There were the odd problem or two, namely living a fair distance from our school, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and I made some good friends immediately. Of my three first friends, I’m proud to say I still know them all today.
After living there, we moved to Matola, near Elche. Not only were we considerably closer to school now, but also we had a huge garden that allowed me and my friends to play in and a lovely swimming pool. The house was nice and large, and we had our own olive tree field at the far side of the premises of our house. I loved it, my older brother loved it, my parents loved it and Kiki liked it too. Soon after, we bought our first dog, Willow, and we have treasured her since. She loves our grand garden and I always remember how that wouldn’t be possible if we had stayed in England.
I recall the countless days I spent with my friends in the summer, playing ‘tag’ or ‘guns’ or any other game we could ever dream of playing. Spain gave me the opportunity to develop a passion for their favourite sport too: football. At the age of seven, I was being introduced into the footballing world by my friends and classmates. I am now a football fanatic to say the least, and even though I may not be Lionel Messi when it comes to playing, I still enjoy a ‘kick-about’ either with my friends at home or at my school. Whenever I talk to my friends from England, they never talk about playing football, which I think is a shame.
We met people who lived near us too and developed more friendships. I made more and more friends as the years passed and I celebrated a few good birthday parties too as time flew past. Spain was great for our family. My father was happy running his own dental practice and my mother would always be at home, caring for me and my brother, Toby. My sister from England would come back to Spain to see us several times a year. She appeared happy in England, and she seemed fine with our move to Alicante. We still see her quite often.
The other big difference I’ve noticed is that whenever my father and mother want to go to a restaurant, the Spanish are happy to allow children in of almost any age. Instead of being frowned upon, like so often in Britain, we often see children sitting, very sensibly, with their families. There is never any disruption and I wonder whether taking the children out to genteel restaurants at a young age makes the child more mature. All in all, I certainly prefer a lovely meal from a top-class restaurant than a ‘happy meal’ from McDonalds!
After a couple of years in Matola, we took another choice to move to another house, the one we still live in today. In 2005 we moved to a small urbanisation called Valverde. We have a pool, a lovely garden and much more space in the house. I would never want to leave Valverde any time soon. We are closer to school than ever, just fifteen minutes in the car, and the urbanisation has so many great facilities. They have two football pitches, one large and one small, a huge communal pool (although we do have our own!), a park and two concrete tennis courts. Luckily for me, two of my friends moved into the urbanisation too! I am practically next-door-neighbours with one and the other lives around the corner. This means that we often meet up to play football and then jump into one of our refreshing pools. In England, I am almost 100% certain that this would never have been possible, but I’m living in a place that is great for me.
We bought our second dog, Alfie, to keep Willow company. Kiki didn’t seem to mind, and our entire family has lived happily since we bought him. My sister in England worked hard and things went well for her even with her family in Spain, and my brother has finished his GCSE’s and has gotten great results. As for me, I’m starting my first important exams next year. Every year I’m excited to what might happen; whether it’s performing on my guitar or my acting, to getting the best results I can manage and while keeping enthralled in my English.
What I’ve learnt here in Spain is that there are very few countries that are as good with children or as good for children. I’m still keeping up with the English curriculum in my school while being fluent in a foreign language at the same time. I have developed a passion for sport, in particular football, and I have taken up both guitar and drama. I hope this shows that Spain has so many opportunities for all children, no matter what they want to do. I love my life in Spain and never, not even once, have I ever wanted to return to Britain.
