Things To Know When Moving To Spain
Posted on 10th December 2021 at 07:16
If you are thinking of moving to Spain, then you are by no means alone. As of 2019 there were estimated to be around a quarter of a million Brits living in Spain, and that number is steadily rising. After all, if you move to the south of the country, you will have hot summers and 320 days of sunshine a year. In the north, the climate is temperate with warm summers and mild winters, while in central Spain, away from the ocean, there is a tendency for extremes of temperature from hot to cold.
One of the advantages of living in Spain is the cost of living. Although it varies from one area to another, with the cities being more expensive, your euro will go far further than it does in the UK. In fact, the average cost of living in Spain for a single person is about €1,500 a month which equates to about £1,250.
The Spanish lifestyle is very relaxed, as the population likes to enjoy free time and spend it with family and friends. You can enjoy the siestas in the afternoon, the leisurely evening stroll, and sun that doesn’t go down until after dinner.
Another advantage of moving to Spain is that flights back to the UK are cheap and quick, so coming back to the UK for the weekend to visit family and friends is simple. Transport within the country is easy, with all the big cities having trams and metros together with a bus system, and the rail network is comfortable and cheap as well if you need to go out of town.
Healthcare
The health system in Spain is very good, with both public and private options. If you pay into the Spanish social security system, you can get free public healthcare. In fact, Spain gained the title of the world’s healthiest country in the Bloomberg Healthiest Country index in 2019.
If you need to work in Spain, you will need a visa and a work permit since you are no longer an EU national. You will also need a social security number. In addition, you need a UK criminal records certificate, Spanish criminal records certificate, certificate from the Spanish sex offenders’ registry, and a record of your employment history in Spain if any. If you plan to work for yourself, that needs further investigation, but you can find out about this on the UK government website.
If you are retiring to Spain on a UK pension, you need to remember that there are always fluctuations between the pound and the euro, so you need to make allowances for that.
At Movers International we can help you with removals to Spain. In fact, we have weekly runs to Spain so if you are not taking a huge amount of belongings with you, we can put them on one of our vans as a part load, which will save you some money.
Of course, if you want to use our removals to Spain service for all your furniture and other belongings, we have vans of varying sizes to help you.
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