Top 12 Tips for Moving to Spain

Moving to another country is exhilarating and exciting, but also a bit stressful to plan. We moved in 2019 from London and have put together what we think are the top twelve tips to get you settled.

1) BE REALISTIC BUT ALSO DON'T KEEP POSTPONING 

So, you’ve decided you are moving to Spain. Great! But you haven’t told your boss and your friends keep asking when the leaving party is. You keep putting it off as you think one more month’s paycheck will be handy or you have that wedding coming up so may as well wait for that to be done. You will have to take the plunge at some point, and it will always be a little scary and/or inconvenient.

Afraid to quit our jobs and have enough money saved we kept pushing our move-date back. Sometimes this made us feel like we were never going to go. This can cause arguments if you are moving as a couple and one person is more keen to move than the other. Think about what figure you would be comfortable as a saving cushion and set an end date to have moved by. We set this for September 2019, and moved October 2019. If we hadn’t set a date at all, we wouldn’t have moved till after Christmas for sure.

2) DO SAVE MONEY THOUGH

Having a safety cushion is important for unexpected costs along the way. As any veteran expat will tell you, there are always additional costs that you haven’t considered. For example, a lot of landlords ask to see a work contract for renting- but if you have substantial savings you can show them this may be up for negotiation. The bureaucracy (worthy of a point in itself, see below) will also perhaps get the better of you and you will want to hire a lawyer or accountant for your mental health. Thankfully, Spain is on average cheaper than some of its European neighbours, so this doesn’t have to be a lot.

3) DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO LIVE AND WHY

You may be clear on wanting to move to Spain, but the regions in Spain vary A LOT and your experience will be very different depending on where you go. Of course, if you are moving for a job relocation or if you have to consider your families education, the decision will be made for you. But for most of us, the choice is wide open and when you look at the map it can seem a bit overwhelming. Especially when you think of the distance between big cities. From Malaga to Barcelona for example it’s a whopping 10-hour drive.  

Many head straight to the well-known destinations like Barcelona or Madrid but we invite you to give it some more thought. Firstly, you need to think about why you initially wanted to move to Spain. Was it to learn Spanish? (then Barcelona is probably not your best choice). To enjoy a slower-pace of life? You have a remote job and want to save some money whilst in Spain? To find a new job? To enjoy the beach? The countryside?...

If finding a job pronto is top of the priority and you don’t speak Spanish then the bigger cities such as Barcelona, Madrid or Bilbao are a safer bet as here you will find more international companies and English-speaking roles.

If you want to take a bit of time out and learn some Spanish before getting on the job hunt, we recommend you head to one of the more affordable laid-back spots first. As we all know, job searching is stressful and this is heightened if you see your bank account decreasing rapidly. To give you an idea, in Granada our rent was 50% less than it is in Madrid and eating out in similar-standard restaurants costs us around 30% more in Madrid. When you just arrive it is also nice to enjoy what you later may not be able to. In the provinces by the coast you can have city-life with the beach less than an hour away. In Granada you can be in the sea within an hour, walk into the countryside from the centre of town and drive for 45 minutes to be in a ski-resort. All things we miss in Madrid.

4) GET READY FOR LOWER WAGES BUT CHEAPER DELICIOUS MEALS

We presume if you are reading this blog, it’s because you have decided to move to Spain for the quality of life over the paycheck. But, just in case, we thought it is worth mentioning as we were a bit naive to this before arriving. Workers in Spain earn 20 percent less than the EU average; on average, €1,751 per month. However, this will of course massively be impacted on the field of work you are in and what level of your career you are at. When doing the maths, do keep in mind that as far as western European countries go, Spain is very much affordable. You don’t need to earn that much to have a comfortable life. This was one of the main reasons we decided to move from London to Spain. And now, although on a lower salary, we save more at the end of the month. In London, a spontaneous casual dinner out would cost in the range of 30-40 pounds, whilst here is can easily cost us half that.

5) USE IDEALISTA AND FOTOCASA TO LOOK FOR A HOME

These are the most common sites to use to search for flat-shares and private homes. Remember, some things are negotiable in person. So, an advert may say two months deposit, agency fees and an additional guarantee for furnishings…but in person, once they have seen your well-put-together self and contract/savings there may be some flexibility.

We recommend you travel light on your initial journey and put your things in storage or schedule to have them sent out a month after your arrival. This way you can stay in short-term accommodation first (it is common that if you book a longer term stay on Airbnb it comes with a substantial discount on the daily rate). This will reduce stress and give you time to get to know where you have moved and which areas are your favourite.

6) JOIN USEFUL FACEBOOOK GROUPS BEFORE THE MOVE, BUT THEN UNFOLLOW

There are many groups for foreigners to help each other and ask questions (e.g. Expats in Granada). You will find all array of questions asked and answered here. From where to find a jar of marmite to the tax rate for LLC company owners continuing their business abroad but residing in Spain. Use it for what you need and then unfollow- as many comments are actually more comedy-gold than helpful and you will lose hours on there. I remember reading a comment from a man wanting to know if anyone would be interested in buying is sourdough starter as he was moving and couldn’t take it with him.

Once in Spain swap these groups for meet-ups groups for hobbies you are interested in. We are experts in this! We have done rollerblading, running, language-exchange, volleyball and netball through online groups. The best one for meeting Spaniards is Padel as this is a popular sport in Spain and not many foreigners play it.

7) RESEARCH LIFE ADMIN BEFORE YOU GO AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH ONCE YOU HAVE LANDED

Research as much as you can of what you will need legally to live and work in Spain before you go. Finding out these things once you are there can throw you off and get your mood down. Thankfully there is a lot of free useful info online in English on legal and financial advice. Set a timer with a cup of tea, put on chilled music and dedicate a set time to do this on a few days. Do not do this after panicking at midnight on a Tuesday.

Now, Spanish bureaucracy is notoriously slow. Taking a deep breath (or many) and accepting it will be slower than you hoped will be essential. You can read online the exact documents you need to present and be all prepared with your neat folder at the Oficina de Extranjeria just to be told you are missing something or other. This is when we strongly advise you to ask a Spanish-speaker to accompany you. Ironically, not a lot of people speak foreign languages at the office for foreigners, and they will try to send you away with a mumble of what you don’t have. A native Spanish speaker will be able to insist that they give you clear information so you don’t waste any more time. Even if you show up early (get there as early as physically possible, even before the opening time) there will be a queue, so we will defiantly owe your friend a dinner after this favour.

8) DON’T BOTHER WITH SPANISH CLASSES BEFORE YOU GO

This may be contrary to other advice you have heard/read and this is simply our opinion of course. We think if you are in full-time work then going beyond Duolingo before the move is pretty fruitless. Juggling packing, saying your goodbyes, leaving a job, etc will be keeping you busy and although signing up to that evening Spanish class will seem like a great idea and you will feel smug with yourself…it simply won’t be worth it. When you aren’t living in the country of the language, what you learn in these classes simply won’t stick. When you move to Spain you will learn in a week what took you a lot more time, effort and money to learn back home.

9) CONNECT WITH FOREIGNERS FOR SUPPORT BUT DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE

As mentioned, there are many groups online explicitly for expats. It can be very tempting to stick solely to these groups for both practical advise and also to fulfil your social needs. However, it is beneficial to push yourself out of your comfort zone and do some activities or use services which are used by locals; whether that be a yoga class, hiking group or going to the dentist.  It will push your level of Spanish and give you a true sense of community when you bump into some locals that you know in the street.

A word of warning from experience with online meet-up groups.  Some of them can lend themselves to creepy characters who, unfortunately, take advantage of the wide net of people on these groups. Do not let this put you off them, however, just air on the side of caution when meeting up with anyone or giving out personal information.

10) HOW TO HANDLE MONEY

Opening a bank account will likely be one of the top things on your to-do list when moving abroad. However, in Spain most banks do not allow you to open an account with them without your NIE number. Also, many will have additional monthly fees if you are not entering a certain monthly amount of cash (e.g. Sabadell requires you to make an entry of 700 euros a month if you don’t want to pay a penalty fee). With many cards lending themselves to travellers (Revolut, Monzo etc) we advise you use these until you have your paperwork and NIE number in order. This will save you hours of going to different banks asking to talk to the right person; (also we advise you to spread out the life admin so you can actually enjoy your brand-new arrival to Spain!).

But if you are in a hurry, we found Sabadell and Abanca a good temporary option as they let you open an account with your passport number.

11) DON’T GET EXCITED FOR A SIESTA EVERY DAY

So, siestas are a bit of a myth. In pre-aircon times this was of course necessary for rural workers starting their days very early to escape the heat. But now, most people just get on with their day as usual. In fact, an OECD study found that the average Spaniard works 1,687 hours per year – more than people in Germany, France, and the UK. So, it may even cause a bit of offense if you keep saying you are having a siesta like a local to your new Spanish friends.

12) YOU WILL NEED TO LEARN SPANISH

Unlike other European countries, most people in Spain do not speak English. In the bigger cities you will encounter more English speakers, but even then this will be reserved to a certain age-group and sector of society. In the countryside you will certainly be limited to smiling, waving and pointing… but this is a positive we think! This lends itself to full emersion and quicker language progress. It is painful to walk through the hip streets of Berlin hearing only English.

We chose Granada as a starting point due to having family here, however another good reason was that Spanish classes (and general life) were a lot more affordable than other big cities and not a lot of Granadinos speak English. Granada is also in a beautiful region of Spain- Andalucía- which is perfect for weekend trips!

Now with the newbie La Escuelita on the block you have another great reason to pick Granada to start Spanish!