Relocating To Mallorca | Relocating to Majorca
Information
Relocating is a stressful time and takes a lot of planning. Many people presume that the process is set in stone and nothing can go wrong! Our advice is to sit down and plan well in advance for any relocation plans you may have.
It is advisable to visit the area you believe to be the 'perfect spot' and experience the location not only in the beautiful sunny summer months but also in the Winter months.
Many individuals visit the Island in the middle of the summer when the sun is high and all the establishments are open. The island has a more laid back approach out of season and sometimes the weather can really change for the worse. Storms around the islands can be fast & furious and not for the faint-hearted!
It is imperative you experience the Island during the winter months, here you will see how life and the locals exist during the quiet season. Many of the establishments you saw in the summer will be closed and the weather is not as warm.
But you must remember this is no longer a holiday, this island will soon become your home. You will be working or maybe you have retired so you need to think carefully about what surely will be one of the biggest decisions of your life. Think carefully about how you will feel working during the Summer months when temperatures can average 29 degrees centigrade.
Mallorca is an amazing island and many feel the island saves its true colours for the winter months. During Winter you will be very happy with the ambient winter temperatures and Christmas day for the last 3 years has been a pleasant sunny 16 degrees centigrade.
If you have made the big decision to move, you will be pleasantly surprised to learn there are over 175,000 expats on the island! This ensures that whilst on the island and during your initial settling in period there are plenty of organisations for English, Germans and the Swedish, along with many other nationalities.
It is also advisable before moving to ensure you have all the required documentation and information required. You will find out more on our NIE and Residency section.
It's always a good idea to speak to as many expats as possible, some will tell you that it's the best decision they ever made; however some will tell you that they want to return to the UK.
You may have already started your love affair with a particular Mallorcan area and location for living might be your motivating factor. Always remember that Majorca is a very small Island despite its 50 mile length. You may want to give up commuting but whatever you do will never be as much as you did the UK. Many English people have settled in the Calvia region which is home to the well known British resorts of Magaluf and Palmanova.
Pollensa and Andratx at opposite ends of the Island have a huge British following and English people crop up even in the tiniest inland villages of Mallorca. Your ultimate destination will be decided by work and business opportunities, schooling and family life and of course price. You may be content to live in a very Spanish place like we do or your choice might be to live in one of the ‘little England’ areas in the south of the Island.
There is a myth that abounds that everyone in Mallorca speaks English so we don’t need to speak Spanish. You can certainly get by without speaking Spanish and you can always pay someone to translate and accompany you on official visits to Hospitals or other Spanish speaking institutions. It is a mistake to close your mind to the notion of learning Spanish and embracing the new experiences that it brings. There may be time before you relocate to get some Spanish lessons in – you will not regret it. The language issue for children is very different and you need to understand what you are going to expect of your little ones.
If you send them to a local state school anywhere on the island they will be taught in Mallorquin which is a dialect of Catalan. If you send them to a fee paying International school they will be taught in English and be taught Castilian and Mallorquin as subjects. International schools are full of Mallorcan children whose parents want to give them the advantage of being taught in English. There are government initiatives to adopt a trilingual approach to language whereby eventually all state schools will teach in Catalan, Castilian and English in equal measures.
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