I ditched the UK for Spain & there's 3 things that make drop-offs so much nicer, my boys say school is ‘more relaxed'
After feeling fed up of working just to pay bills, mum-of-two Becky packed up her life and moved to
4
A mother has revealed that she left the UK for a "fresh start" in Spain
Credit: Getty
4
Not only is the school drop-off totally different, but Becky is also adjusting to different meal times too
Credit: tiktok/@bex_from_rain_to_spain
4
She claimed that teachers will kiss students on the cheek when they arrive and youngsters will go to the park at 8pm
Credit: tiktok/@bex_from_rain_to_spain
4
Social media users described Becky's life in Spain as a "dream"
Credit: Getty
But now, the mother has got candid on her 'fresh start' as she shared the five things that have 'altered her brain chemistry since moving to Spain.'
In a short clip uploaded online, the content creator posted a variety of snaps from Alicante and while she can't get used to the eating schedules, explained that she is a huge fan of the way those in Spain do the school drop-off.
Not only does she prefer the school run in
Becky confirmed that shortly after arriving, she experienced the 'school drop-off shock,' with three huge differences from that in the UK.
Read more real life stories
She acknowledged that not only do teachers give students kisses on the cheek, but parents always casually hang around the gate after saying goodbye to their little darlings.
And that's not all, as she also explained that unlike that in the UK, there is 'no chaotic morning rush,' making the whole experience much smoother and more chilled.
Having said that, Becky has struggled to get on board with popular meal times in Spain and claimed that the 'eating schedules make no sense,' with many sitting down for lunch at 2pm and dinner at 9pm.
Kelly has also had to adjust to seeing the local police at the school gates helping control traffic and was shocked to witness kids crossing the roads without parents accompanying them everyday.
Most read in Fabulous
She also found the 'playground culture' a challenge at first, as she recognised that it is now 'normal' for children to go to the park at 8pm.
Finally, she recognised that those in Spain are always throwing street parties, with parades, bright costumes and loud music.
I quit my job and did a complete 180 moving to Spain - beer is just $3 a pint and my life is so much better
She shone a light on the Spanish "
The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @
The kids have been amazing! Literally took it in their stride
Becky
Social media users were impressed with Becky's clip and many raced to the comments to praise her 'dream' life.
One person said: 'It's freedom and
Another added: 'I love it. Spain is my dream.'
How easy is it to move abroad?
Brexit means British citizens now have to apply for visas to move to countries within the EU. While some countries residency restrictions are easier than others, here's what you need to do at home before moving:
Notify HMRC about your upcoming move.
Let your local authority know and provide a forwarding address.
Contact your mortgage and utility providers and bank before leaving.
If you have paid enough UK national insurance contributions, you can qualify for a state pension abroad - contact the
You can sign up to the Royal Mail's
If you have outstanding student loans, contact the
If you have children, give due notice to childcares and schools.
A third commented: 'I love all of these things about
Meanwhile, one mother penned: 'Spanish school and the
In response, Becky wrote back and confirmed: 'That's what the boys tell me, 'it's just more relaxed here mum.''
Not only this, but another parent asked: 'If you don't mind me asking, how did the kids adjust? We would love to move over with our seven year old.'
To this, Becky responded and shared: 'The kids have been amazing!
'Literally took it in their stride, also I no longer battle [getting] my little one into school in the morning.'
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme -
Sun Club
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Dunnes Stores fans set to love new €20 waistcoat perfect for office in two colours
DUNNES Stores fans are set to love a new waistcoat that's perfect for the office after it landed on racks. The Crew Neck Waistcoat is available in stores and online now. Advertisement 2 The new waistcoats have just landed in stores 2 They are very easy to style And shoppers have two versions to choose from ivory and stripe. The retailer said: "This modern waistcoat features a crew neckline with contrast trim and detailed gold-toned buttons down the front, mirrored on the two front pockets. "Style with jeans or trousers to add a smart touch to everyday outfits." The waistcoats come in sizes XS to XXL. Advertisement READ MORE IN FASHION They can be styled with jeans, trousers or skirts for a smart-casual office look. Meanwhile, a fashion fan has told how she tried a Lauren Egerton She said: "Why is nobody talking about the new two pieces? Advertisement Most read in Fabulous "I got the red one but I can't remember if it also comes in black. "So the two piece is a top with lovely gold buttons and a ribbed detail. "The pants are a wide leg and are the same material. They just don't have pockets. "I used to never wear red, I hated it but now I can't get it off me. Advertisement "Everything I buy is red these days because you told me to buy red! "So if you're that person that doesn't like red or don't think you can pull it off just try it." The Short Sleeve Button Detail Jersey Co-Ord Top is a bargain at just €15. Its description reads: "This soft jersey top features short sleeves and gold-tone buttons on the shoulder, adding a stylish detail. Advertisement "In a textured finish, wear with denim or the matching trousers (sold separately) for a coordinated look." The matching trousers are also priced at €20. The retailer added: "These straight-leg jersey trousers have a textured finish and an elasticated waistband for a comfortable fit. "Pair them with the matching top (sold separately) for a relaxed, coordinated look." Advertisement The outfit comes in sizes XS to XXL with some sizes already sold out. THE HISTORY OF DUNNES STORES DUNNES Stores opened its first store on Patrick Street in Cork in 1944 - and it was an instant hit. Shoppers from all over the city rushed to the store to snap up quality clothing at pre-war prices in Ireland's first 'shopping frenzy'. During the excitement, a window was forced in and the police had to be called to help control the crowds hoping to bag founder Ben Dunne's 'Better Value' bargains. Dunnes later opened more stores in the 1950s and began to sell groceries in 1960 - starting with apples and oranges. The retailer said: "Fruit was expensive at the time and Ben Dunne yet again offered Better Value than anyone else in town. "Over time, our food selection has grown and that spirit of good value has remained strong. "Now we offer a wide range of carefully-sourced foods from both local Irish suppliers and overseas." The retailer's first Dublin store opened its doors in 1957 on Henry Street and a super store on South Great Georges Street was unveiled in 1960. They added: "In 1971, our first Northern Irish store opened, and many others soon followed. "Expansion continued in the 1980s in Spain, and later into Scotland and England." Dunnes now has 142 stores and employs 15,000 people.
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Nepo-baby with Hollywood star dad and award winning actress mum lands top role in new TV series – can you guess who?
A NEPO baby with very famous parents has bagged herself a huge new role in Netflix's Monster anthology, but can you guess who she is? The 25-year-old will play infamous alleged killer Lizzie Borden in the fourth season of Ryan Murphy's show. 4 A nepo baby has bagged herself a new role in Netflix's Monster anthology Credit: Getty 4 The stunning actress clearly has acting running through her veins Credit: Getty Lizzie is an acquitted American woman who was the main suspect of murdering her dad and stepmum with an axe in 1982. The actress clearly has acting running through her veins as her dad has had a career as an actor and filmmaker, spanning over six decades. He played Clyde Barrow in the hit crime film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 and also produced the project also. Meanwhile, her mum has starred in 1999 classic American Beauty and superhero film Captain Marvel which released in 2019. READ MORE ON HOLLYWOOD That's right, the star in question is Ella Beatty, daughter of the legendary actor Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. Ella made her foray into the acting world last year with a recurring role in the FX on Hulu anthology series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, also directed American Horror Story creator Ryan. Proving she's a chip off of the old block, she starred on the big screen in A24 drama If I Had Legs I'd Kick You which released earlier this year and made her Broadway debut in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' plays Appropriate. Ella's dad Warren, 88, made his own acting debut as a teenager in love in the Elia Kazan drama Splendor in the Grass in 1961. Most read in News TV His illustrious career has seen him win an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2002. He's also been nominated for 14 Academy Awards in total including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture and two for Best Director. Bonnie and Clyde - Original trailer for crime and love story with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway The icon has directed five films, including 1981 epic historical drama Reds and 1990 crime action film Dick Tracy. Meanwhile, her mum Annette has had her own career spanning over four decades, winning numerous accolades including a BAFTA, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Warren and Annette met in November 1990 while working on the film Bugsy, where they were playing love interests. Warren, who also wrote the script , was casting the movie and thought of Annette for the role of Virginia Hill, Bugsy's girlfriend. The pair met for lunch to discuss the part and ended up connecting both professionally and personally. The two tied the knot in 1992 and went on to have four children together, Stephen, 33, Benjamin, 30, Isabel, 28 and Ella. 4 Ella is the daughter of Hollywood royalty Warren Beatty and Annette Bening Credit: AFP 4 The actress has acting in her genes Credit: Getty
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Why Tupac's music and politics still resonate with the Irish
We present an extract from Words for My Comrades: A Political History of Tupac Shakur, the new book by Dean Van Nguyen. From Pitchfork and Guardian contributor Dean Van Nguyen comes a revelatory history of Tupac beyond his musical legend, as a radical son of the Black Panther Party whose political legacy still resonates today. Growing up in Dublin, Ireland, I saw Tupac as omnipresent in the schoolyard. In the late 1990s, kids with distinct musical taste tended to fit into two camps: there were the rockers, who wore thick black hoodies, often bearing the face of their deity, Kurt Cobain. And there were those who gravitated toward gangster rap, then reaching the peak of its global infl uence. To the latter, 2Pac CDs were a currency of cool; "Thug Life" was a slogan scrawled on many notebooks and bookbags. When some Irish kids were old enough, they got Tupac tattoos inked on their skin. Listen: Dean Van Nguyen talks Tupac to RTÉ Arena It should come as no surprise that Tupac appeals to the children of Ireland, a nation that after four hundred years of British colonial rule embraced the ideals of resistance, rebellion, and revolution. Unlike Public Enemy, whose songs had more specificity, or N.W.A., whose portraits of dissent felt undetachable from the South Central Los Angeles streets that inspired them, Irish people could transplant meaning onto Tupac. He was an icon of righteous defiance, cut from the same cloth, we surmised, as Irish freedom fighters. I believe he grew more popular in Ireland after he died because that's what Irish heroes did: James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, Roger Casement, Michael Collins— they all died for their cause. "I will live by the gun and die by the gun" is a quote often attributed to Tupac. To Irish revolutionaries, it could have been a rallying cry. The first 2Pac song I remember being enthralled with was "Do for Love," a posthumous single that sees him chart a rocky romantic relationship. I was twelve years old, browsing for CD singles in chain record store HMV, when the creeping, funky bass line grabbed me. Then there was 2Pac's voice, so often parodied but always so powerful. I stayed in the store until the end of the song and bought it immediately. Included on the disc was "Brenda's Got a Baby," 2Pac's famous single- verse saga of a preteen girl molested by her cousin, impregnated, forced to turn to sex work, and slain on the streets. It was a heavy song for me, not yet a teenager. But a dose of realism from beyond my gray, narrow, all- boys Catholic school upbringing was no bad thing, and nobody could paint these portraits as vividly as 2Pac. Perhaps this is why his albums were passed around the schoolyard like precious contraband. It should come as no surprise that Tupac appeals to the children of Ireland, a nation that after four hundred years of British colonial rule embraced the ideals of resistance, rebellion, and revolution. Unlike Public Enemy, whose songs had more specificity, or N.W.A., whose portraits of dissent felt undetachable from the South Central Los Angeles streets that inspired them, Irish people could transplant meaning onto Tupac. He was an icon of righteous defiance, cut from the same cloth, we surmised, as Irish freedom fighters. I believe he grew more popular in Ireland after he died because that's what Irish heroes did: James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, Roger Casement, Michael Collins— they all died for their cause. "I will live by the gun and die by the gun" is a quote often attributed to Tupac. To Irish revolutionaries, it could have been a rallying cry. In 2008, popular comedy rap duo the Rubberbandits recorded a song called "Up Da Ra," which playfully examined the lasting popularity of this slogan of support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The song includes the line "And to all the patriots who have died before in the Irish wars? / I know you're up in heaven smoking a joint with Tupac and Bob Marley." I spoke to Blindboy Boatclub, the group's core creative turned author and podcaster, about the lyrics. It was, he said, partially infl uenced by seeing drawings on bus stops of Tupac with a speech bubble saying "Tiocfaidh ár lá," an Irish- language slogan of defiance that translates to "Our day will come." He also remembered a mural in Ballynanty, Limerick, that portrayed Tupac alongside a group of rugby players with horses in the background. It was, Blindboy asserted, "beautiful." "The lads would have been booting around in Honda Civics in '97, '98, they were playing the Wolfe Tones, Bob Marley, and 2Pac," Blindboy said. "The Wolfe Tones and 2Pac, you played them alongside each other and whatever it was, it represented the same thing. I don't know if people were thinking about it but there was a similarity. I always compare certain Irish rebel songs to gangster rap." Ireland's affinity for Tupac is just the latest in a mutual sense of kinship shared by Irish people and Black American activists that can be traced across centuries. In 1845, Frederick Douglass fled to Ireland to escape slave catchers after the publication of his book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. He encountered Daniel O'Connell, an Irishman fighting for Catholic emancipation in Ireland. At the time, Catholics were a majority in Ireland, but subject to harsh rule by the Protestant minority and the British Empire. O'Connell was opposed to all forms of oppression and was one of the few political leaders who spoke out against American slavery. Douglass drew comfort and inspiration from O'Connell: "I have heard many speakers within the last four years— speakers of the first order; but I confess, I have never heard one, by whom I was more completely captivated than by Mr. O'Connell." After the Irish War of Independence, a guerrilla struggle fought from 1919 to 1921 by revolutionary paramilitary organization the IRA against British rule, there was the establishment of the Irish Republic, which resulted in partition of the island. Six of Ireland's thirty- two counties located in the north of Ireland remained under British rule. Irish Catholics in the north suddenly found themselves on the opposite side of a border from their countrymen and kin. Living among a Protestant majority who saw themselves as British, the Catholics were denied basic rights such as votes, housing, and jobs. By the 1960s, they were taking their cues from the civil rights movement in the United States by organizing protests, but these were ruthlessly suppressed. A need for protection revived Irish paramilitary operations, with some identifying as the successors of the old IRA. "Everyone was very radicalized at that stage," said Tim Brannigan, a west Belfast Black Irish Catholic who went to prison in the 1990s on IRA weapons charges. "But, of course, what the IRA did was rather than see the potential for a mass movement, they saw the potential for clandestine guerrilla struggle." The kinship between the Black American struggle and the Catholic struggle was sharply felt in Derry, a city in Northern Ireland. In August 1969, a march was organized to protest discrimination, but participants faced counterdemonstrations and a police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), its officers deploying water cannons and batons. Residents of the Bogside neighborhood responded by rioting. In what became known as the Battle of the Bogside, Catholic resisters declared the area autonomous territory. They erected barricades to prevent the police entering. Radio Free Derry played rebel songs as a call to locals to resist. A famous mural reading "YOU ARE NOW ENTERING FREE DERRY" was painted on a corner house signifying a police-free zone. It's still there today, an enduring symbol of the resistance. Lasting intermittently for three years, Free Derry showed the power of a community united against oppressive forces. Yet Derry would be deeply wounded by some of the most brutal sectarian violence in what would become known as the Troubles. In 1972, there was Bloody Sunday, a peaceful protest that was attacked by the British Army and resulted in the murder of fourteen civilians, a case which is still unresolved. Imprisoned for a short period for her role in the Battle of the Bogside was Bernadette Devlin. A working- class revolutionary socialist, Devlin was elected as an MP to the British Parliament aged only twenty- one. In 1969, she toured the United States to raise funds for political prisoners in Ireland. Such was her celebrity that she even made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. As the tour stretched on, Devlin spoke increasingly about the Black American struggle, criticizing Irish Americans for failing to show unity despite the obvious parallels occurring back in their motherland. They may have been opening their wallets for her cause, but to Devlin, these Irish Americans were complicit in a similarly oppressive policing system that brought tyranny to marginalized communities. After being awarded the freedom key to New York by the city's mayor, John Lindsay, she delivered it to the local Black Panthers via her comrade, Eamonn McCann, with a message: "To all these people, to whom this city and this country belong, I return what is rightfully, theirs, this symbol of the freedom of New York." Devlin befriended Angela Davis after visiting the imprisoned Panther in 1971. Years later, Davis joined the campaign to free Devlin's daughter, Róisín McAliskey, jailed on IRA bombing charges. Addressing a protest in San Francisco, Davis declared, "Róisín must be freed and Northern Ireland released from the shackles of British imperialism!" (In his book How the Irish Became White, author Noel Ignatiev explains how the new Irish immigrants in America achieved acceptance among an initially hostile population by proving that they could be more brutal in their oppression of Black Americans. This was the start of a chasm between Irish people and Irish Americans that exists today. While in general, Irish Americans look fondly at the island many see as their ancestral home, the descendants of the Irish who stayed look at them with less affection.) Ireland's affinity for Tupac is just the latest in a mutual sense of kinship shared by Irish people and Black American activists that can be traced across centuries. The IRA and the Black Panther Party were founded to fight back against oppressive states. Both established networks of community services to provide what the state failed to offer. Both faced suppression through counterintelligence. And both sought a radical left- wing reorganization of society. The two groups, not failing to spot the parallels, used their own newspapers to report on and support each other's cause. It was instinctual for Irish freedom fighters to express solidarity with other political prisoners given their long history of imprisonment at the hands of the British state. Throughout the twentieth century, Irish prisoners used hunger strikes to protest British authority, many condemning themselves to the horrible fate of death by starvation. Playwright and politician Terence MacSwiney died after a seventy-four-day hunger strike in 1920; his demise was known to have had a profound impact on Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican Black nationalist leader. Garvey even sent telegrams to both British prime minister David Lloyd George, urging him to compromise so Mac-Swiney's life could be spared, and to Mac Swiney's priest, asking him to "convey to McSwiney [sic] sympathy of 400,000,000 Negroes." Garvey's admiration for the Irish response to colonial rule had been total. The year before MacSwiney's death, he declared, "The time has come for the Negro race to offer up its martyrs upon the altar of liberty even as the Irish has given a long list, from Robert Emmet to Roger Casement." As the Troubles in Ireland continued throughout the 1980s and into the '90s, and the Provisional IRA's bombing campaign, undertaken with the goal of ending British rule in the six counties, claimed more and more innocent lives, they struggled for support at home and abroad, dubbed terrorists rather than freedom fighters. Still, after peace on the island was achieved through the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, a younger generation, with no war to fight, but who still shout "Up the Ra," have found alternative ways to keep the spirit of resistance as part of their identity. Expressing kinship with Tupac is the contemporary version of the same mutual understanding between Irish and Black American struggle. Around the one hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, a key event in the Irish struggle for independence, a Facebook page was set up with the purpose of ensuring Tupac received credit for his contributions to the cause. The group's admins photoshopped Tupac into old photos, alongside Connolly, Pearse, and other heroes of the armed rebellion who'd almost all been executed for the part they played. It was for laughs, yes, but through meme culture, the group was ambiently solidifying the bond. It made a weird kind of sense: Tupac Shakur was in the original IRA. The joke wouldn't have worked with any other rapper— maybe, even, no other American.
