A bit of clarity
As someone who has been close to people working at FTE I would disagree with some of the comments posted. Although some people seem well informed there are also comments made without foundation.
FTE Ground School has had a reasonable change of instructors with some long-term ones leaving for various reasons: fear of tax rules being one of them, more of which below. But no two instructors have left for the same reasons, and some who have left have found that life isn't necessarily greener elsewhere. There is a 3 month probation period and after that period an instructor should be able to instruct to the required standard. Recently, unfortunately, some potential instructors did not come up to that standard, so were released.
There are some non-English instructors, but as the school is multi-national then this does not have a bearing as long as the instructor has a good degree of knowledge and can communicate effectively in English. It is a period of transition, but the overall atmosphere in the ground school seems a happy one.
In some respects living in Spain is much cheaper than the UK. If you go to Spain and expect to live the same as the UK (in a little England) and complain that things are not the same as the UK then maybe it is not the place for you. However if you accept that things are different and embrace the culture I’m sure that you will find that you will have a great life: you certainly use fewer heartbeats. The cost of renting a property is cheaper, the weekly shop is cheaper and the cost of utilities, although not necessarily cheaper than the UK, is lower as you do not need to pay for heating all year round and aircon is rarely necessary in summer.
The tax situation is the same as the UK – in the UK if you have assets overseas you are going to have to declare them – exactly the same in Spain. You are not double taxed as there are double taxation agreements between UK and Spain, but you will have to complete a tax return each year (just like the UK). In general, those Brits leaving Spain are the ones who do not want to declare assets to either UK or Spanish authorities, but by 2015 the requirement will be that all European countries will have their citizens declaring all overseas assets.
Jerez has a lot to offer – the climate, the surrounding area; with some beautiful places to visit and beaches nearby. If you want to put your children into school they can go to state school where it will not cost, or you can pay to send them to English/Spanish speaking schools.
My suggestion would be take the time to go and visit, then make an informed decision. Once there you may be pleasantly surprised.