THERE are many factors that come into account when buying a house - cost, location, size, transport and local facilities to name but a few. However here in Spain an increasing factor for young families is “how close will we be to the grandparents?” Family units remain strong here, and when grandchildren come along these are often reinforced, with many Spanish depending on their parents to look after the kids while they return to work. Many low paid jobs would not be able to provide for the expense of childcare and turning to Granny and Granddad means that many people can start to get their lives back rather than wait until the children are school age.
Many families see being within ten minutes of at least one set of their own parents as one of the key factors when buying a house. Often a few years further down the line the favour will be returned as children and even grandchildren help out their elderly relatives with things they may be starting to struggle with.
