I think Valencia can be a good bet for a bussiness. It’s a very dinamic city in Spain. Another option you can consider is Málaga in southern Spain.

jabch,

Can't say I blame you for the career path change! Are you and your wife planning a visit to Valencia (and/or other parts of Spain) before selling up and packing up?

Emilio: What about not being a native Valenciano speaker. For example, some people, even Spanish native speakers, feel a language barrier in places like Barcelona. Is the same going on in Valencia? (By the way your English is really good, so I’d like to continue our comments on this subject in this thread and keep them all together.)

Lanoma: Thanks for the suggestion!

Puna: I was even planning on visiting Valencia this month. However, my wife is almost seven months pregnant and a trip like that would be really harsh on her. So I just had to calm down and accept that this will have to wait. But for sure we will visit before we make any decision. About being a lawyer…I know! Everyone wants out…I should have listened to my father!!!!

Well, I can figure why some Spanish native speakers felt a language barrier in a city like Barcelona.

That won't happen in Valencia. In the city, 99% of people speaks Spanish, and Spanish is the everyday language. You'll see advices written in Valenciano everywhere, but the Advices are generally bilingual (Spanish-Valenciano).

Of course, sometimes you'll hear people speaking in Valenciano, but if you talk to them and they realize you don't speak Valenciano they will speak in Spanish to you 99% of the times (or should I say 100%?.. well, "por si acaso"). You won't find in Valencia the language barrier that you may find in Barcelona.

In many of the Pueblos and small Towns surrounding Valencia, people use to speak Valencian as mother tongue, but they'll also speak to you in Spanish if they realize you don't understand.

As you see, there are two areas: the city itself (99% Spanish speaking) and the province (great percentage of native Valencian speakers), but the people attitude is very similar to non-Valencian speakers.

As well, the Valencian, although being a variation of Catalan, has not the ideological charge that Catalan has in Cataluña to many people, and the valencian people's attitude is different. I don't mean better (although you can easily imagine my opinion, but...), just different.

Don't worry about that, you can perfectly live in Valencia without knowing a word in valenciano. Situation is not comparable to Cataluña at all.

Emilio: Again, thanks for all your comments! I am willing to learn Valencian, but it is good to know that Valencianos are willing to speak Spanish as needed. The truth is that I always hear good comments, from Spaniards and not Spaniards, about the people of Valencia.

Jose Antonio