Search results
Sep 11, 2024 · Spain offers numerous attractive and dynamic cities and villages that might be excellent places to live for expats. Here are some of the most significant areas for expats to reside in Spain and why: Barcelona: Barcelona is a cosmopolitan city with modern and old buildings, delicious gastronomy, and a vibrant arts and cultural scene.
Jan 4, 2024 · Be prepared to allocate a significant part of your earnings to taxes, and note that this can impact your total cost of living and financial planning. The overall tax rate is high in Spain—between 19% and 47%—and you also owe local taxes if you live in a place like Catalunya. Income (Euro) Total Tax Rate.
Sep 18, 2024 · 7. Pro: Warm and Welcoming People. One of the best parts of living in Spain is how welcoming and warm the people are. Spaniards are known for their hospitality and friendliness, which can make settling in much easier. From friendly neighbors to helpful strangers, you'll rarely feel like an outsider. 8.
Aug 26, 2024 · Here’re 3 obvious and unarguable reasons to live in Spain. Community - Spanish people are generally seen as very warm and welcoming. They certainly put a lot of emphasis on establishing strong bonds. This translates into a culture where people value having a good time and a great social life.
- Living in Spain: Pros and Cons
- The Food in Spain
- Houses and Rent in Spain
- Weather in Spain
- Plants and Exotic Gardens in Spain
- Parties in Spain
- Spain Is A Pet Paradise
- Healthcare in Spain
- Culture in Spain
- Cleanliness in Spain
We moved to Spain in June 2017. Our move was a business decision as well as a personal choice. We initially decided we wish to live in Portugal, but the housing market was not advantageous giving the summer gold rush and the demand for short term lets. From a business perspective, we figured we could potentially find more freelancers in Spain we co...
Pro
Food in Spain is seasonal, fruits and vegetables have great taste. If you love seafood, then you will find plenty of fresh fish at your local shop. There are various Spanish cheeses which taste good and many are accustomed to the Spanish Jamon which is actually really nice. The meat looks generally nice, much better than in a supermarket in the UK. Prices are quite decent too. There is a huge variety of food available for gluten intolerants for the same price as the rest of the products. We f...
Con
After a while, the food becomes a little boring. There are not many international products or niche supermarkets around, which makes it harder to spice up the dishes. Seasonal food, as great as it is, can also become a little problematic. When you decide to make a particular type of food and realise you don’t have ingredients until next Autumn, it can easily be a little frustrating. I love Asian dishes and for example, making my own coconut curry costs me quite a big buck since coconut milk i...
Conclusion
I prefer lots of options when it comes to products and unfortunately, I didn’t find a huge variety in Spanish supermarkets. Carrefour, for example, has a much larger selection of products than say, Mercadona, but unfortunately, the prices are also significantly higher. Overall, food prices are higher in Spain than in the UK, and for the same amount of food, we pay 1.5 times the amount of money. Spain is a good country for fresh produce, but not so much for international options.
Pro
This will depend hugely on the area you wish to move to. We found a terraced house not far from the centre of Seville and pay £200 less than our rent in the UK. The house is much bigger, well organised and nicely decorated. There is no council tax added extra which makes us save quite a lot of money. Apartments are even cheaper, even the ones in the centre of the city. House prices are most certainly a great advantage for Spain.
Con
Whilst is awesome that you can save so much in rent, it’s a little sad that you have to pay a lot of money for utilities. Never in my life, have I paid so much for electricity or water. I understand that water can be scarce in Spain, so sure, I have no issues paying more than in the UK, but overall, the prices seem just ridiculous. As such, what you save on rent, you spent on utilities. Another thing I found upsetting, is the sheer amount of sun that Spain has, and the unnecessary amount of m...
Conclusion
While rent is much cheaper and the houses are more spacious, you lose a lot of money on amenities. What I gained on rent, I lost on electricity bills. Before starting your life in Spain make sure you calculate your rental and bill outgoing to see how it compares with your current situation.
Pro
How much do you like sunshine? If you love long summers, then Spain is definitely the place for you. Even when we came back from 3 days in Viennain October, we had to change into our shorts before driving on the Spanish motorway. I’m literally sweating as I’m writing this article, whereby all my friends from the rest of Europe are looking to buy winter jackets.
Con
Things change if you decide to live in Southern Spain, so this is very important to note. The summer in Seville is like stepping into a frying pan. We’re talking about 42 C degrees. And if you think that’s awesome, think again. Every time we would switch the TV on, the news would be all about people complaining it’s too hot. Moreover, to survive, you need to have air conditioning in your home. That further inflates your bills, which makes living in Spain quite expensive. Please note that Span...
Conclusion
Not all of Spain has the same climate. If you want median temperatures, go for the North of Spain. Check the annual averages in the city you want to live in. And please make sure to wear sunscreen all the time, especially if you come from a Nordic country as your skin will be a lot more sensitive. An alternative option is to move to the coast, so you can enjoy the sea breeze. I would avoid Seville in the summer, but rather aim for something in the mountainous regions such as Granada. If you w...
Pro
We have a beautiful, tropical garden just at the back of our house. When we go for our evening walk, we enjoy the gorgeous sunset over the palm and banana trees. There are plenty of jasmine bushes all around us, which fill the air with gorgeous flowery smells. Seville has lots of exotic gardens and is home to the Alcazar, which offers free entry to Seville residents. The plants are gorgeous and I can’t find any cons. This applies for the rest of Spain too. It has such lovely natural landscape...
Pro
Do you love parties? Then Spain will definitely be your place. These people love and know how to party. Think of those Latino summer nights, Latino music and the dancing vibes. I’ve heard from other expats that parties are ideal for meeting new people and making great friends. As such, for university students especially, Spain really is awesome. I mean in general, Spanish people are friendly and inclusive and they do know how to have a good time.
Con
We are not party people. We love quiet, which means that we don’t enjoy listening to music until 1 in the morning. We also don’t have the same taste in music as our neighbours which makes things a little tricky. Nobody seems to crank up the classical music or some zen chillstep. During summer, people tend to go out after sunset (understandable as the weather is insufferable before) and just talk really loudly in front of the houses. This can go on and on, until crazy o’clock at night. Come on...
Conclusion
We prefer peace and quiet and would trade a silent place for lively Spain any day. We actually love the insatiable appetite for life the Spanish have and in a sense, wish we would be more like them. However, since we are reserved people who love the sound of silence, we couldn’t adapt to this and weren’t prepared to change our sleeping patterns. For people who want to retire in Spain, this might seem like a huge disadvantage as elderly people might want to enjoy their peace and quiet. But of...
Pro
Spain is super animal-friendly. If you have a dog and are thinking about living in Spain, go for it. There are lots of bars, restaurants and places which encourage you to bring your pet. That’s pretty cool. In fact, I don’t know anyone around the neighbourhood who doesn’t have a (massive) dog. Dogs are huge here (think Rottweilers and Great Danes). To be honest, even when we go for super long walks, we see virtually everyone accompanied by their dog. P.S. I didn’t forget about you, cat lovers...
Con
People don’t seem to be as obsessed with training their pets as UK folk. This means that dogs will freely bark at any time of the day, evening or night. Dogs will bark every time there is a car or a human in front of the garden. Nobody ever tells a dog to stop barking. You can imagine the sort of bark concert you can hear at all times. Although we live in a residential area with villas and large pools, people deem necessary to have chickens and roosters around here. This is madness! We had fr...
Conclusion
If you love dogs and don’t mind the barking, then awesome. But if you love quiet, make sure you move in a stand-alone house, ideally as far away as possible from other houses. Maybe look for a house with trees all around it to further soundproofing. We can’t comment on life in an apartment as we only lived in houses while in Spain. We love dogs so much, but their barking kept us up at night on many occasions. Maybe we would have gotten used to it eventually, who knows. Either way, this is som...
Pro
Once you register as a resident here in Spain, you can get access to free medical care. As European citizens, this is not unusual for us, but we are aware people from the USA find this an attractive pro for living in Spain. Many people from the UK choose to retire in Spain, hence it makes sense to know the government has your back for when you are old. Having access to free healthcare seems pretty great no matter how you look at it. Luckily, we didn’t have to use the healthcare here in Spain,...
Pro
With 17 autonomous regions, you can expect an array of cultures in Spain. From the passionate sounds of guitar in Andalucia, through the cosmopolitan vibe in Madrid, to Gaudi’s unusual architecture in Barcelona, Spain is a delicious cultural dish. All you have to do is figure out what you love and make sure you select your region carefully. As you gathered thus far, we picked Andalucia. There are various interesting cultural things about Andalucia. Flamenco music and dance originated here. Bu...
Con
The part that concerns us most about culture in Spain is how many events are cruel towards animals. Miguel Ángel Rolland created a documentary about animal cruelty in Spain during the 16,000 religious festivals across the country. He calculates that during the 1,868 festivals involving bulls last year, more than 11,000 were tortured and killed. You can read more about it in this awesome article.
Conclusion
There is something awesome about the whole community coming together and sharing food, love and experiences. Spain is soulful and the people are kind and open. That’s a lovely aspect of the Spanish culture. Ultimately, you have to be cut for this sort of lifestyle. We are more reserved and prefer a completely different type of human interaction.
Pro
Seville has to be one of the cleanest city I’ve visited in Spain. A while back I visited Barcelonaand you know I didn’t like it. Partly because of how dirty it was. Seville, though, seems spotless. It really is beautiful to walk around this city. I love the exotic gardens, the amazing architecture and absolutely adore how clean its streets are. And Seville is not the only clean city! In fact, you will find this as a great positive when living in Spain.
Con
The suburbs and some communities in Spain tell a different story from their cities. There are overgrown parts, dog poop everywhere, dirt in front of people’s front yards. Even the playgrounds for kids are in pretty bad shape. Communal spaces are just not well kept. Again, this is my experience in the outskirts and not in the city itself. Either way, I simply don’t like an unorganised and dirty place. There is no excuse for such a tight community to not come together every week and clean their...
Conclusion
Living in the city might be cleaner than in the villas just outside the centre. However, I want to stress that people in some dirty neighbourhood are not poor. Their villas are huge and as I said, people have pools, pool houses and mega large gardens. I didn’t see the same level of dirt in the city, as I mentioned, so I am not too sure what is causing some parts here to just be left overgrown and dirty. For me, this is an issue and I prefer an organised, clean neighbourhood. Before starting y...
Mar 26, 2024 · 7. Malaga. Malaga is a lively port city full of hotels and resorts, often known as the capital of the Costa del Sol. It is the second-most populous city of Andalucia and has established itself as the coast’s commercial and cultural hub. City and port view: Malaga in Andalusia, Spain.
People also ask
Is Spain a good place to live?
What is it like to live in Spain?
Where do expats live in Spain?
What are the benefits of living in Spain?
Is it bad to live in Spain?
Is Madrid a good place to live?
Jun 13, 2024 · 5. Madrid. Recommended by Paulina of Paulina on the Road. Madrid is one of the best cities in Spain for expats as they can experience high-quality life. The city offers excellent restaurants, lively neighbourhoods, art galleries, and affordable areas to stay in. Madrid is a wonderful city with a lot to offer.
