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What exactly do you mean joining a Spanish school...you will be learning Spanish or teaching it?  The school may have leads on families that will take people in?  It also depends on how old you are and what sort of conditions you would prefer to live in...alone, with a family, sharing a flat which is very common as the rent can be high...look carefully at the pay in bars...don't assume you will make money on tips, as it is not normal to tip waiters here...can you teach English?

Hi,

we are discussing the possibility to live in Spain. near Barcelona or near valencia. does anybody know where would be the right spot to live if you have childeren? are there areas where it is nice to rent a house?

To rent a house to live with children?  Your best bet is to live outside of BCN.  I LOVE the city, don't get me wrong, but unless your budget is VERY large, renting a house within the city will be a stunning proposition, even outside the city it would be pricy.  BCN is geographically small, squashed between the mountains and the sea, with rivers creating boundries on both sides.  It makes it a fantastic city, everything is close together and accesable, but, and this can be a big but, almost everyone lives in apartments, and there is virtually no public space or parks.  There are the big ones, but in the sense of a neighbouhood park...tough going.  You may well be happier in a smaller town outside.  The public transit is excellent. This is how we live.  We have good service into town, but live outside.  My husband and I agree that with our kids, if we had to live in BCN, we would have left already.

This is just my opinion, but there really are very very few houses in BCN other than in the very welathy neighbourhoods up the hill.

To find a nice spot? Look at what you need and like.  Do you fly for work a lot?  That side of the city makes more sense.  Do you mind learning some Catalan as well as Castillian?  If you don't want to, you may be happier in a bigger place.  Beach or mountain or both? 

Hope this helps.