Spain: Facts to Know Before Moving to the Country
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00:00 Intro
00:57 Lifestyle
The first thing you should consider when moving to Spain is the lifestyle. Even if you are coming from Europe, the lifestyle in Spain might be quite different from your country.
The dynamics of any given day in Spain are quite different from the UK and the US, and the famous Spanish siesta is taken very seriously in all parts of the country. Many important businesses actually close for around 1h30 or 2 hours in the afternoon for the Siesta.
01:49 Residence Permit
But, before enjoying the great lifestyle of Spain, we have to find a way to legally live there.
The second and perhaps one of the most important aspects you should consider before moving to Spain is how easy it is to get a residence permit to reside in the country.
If you are an EU citizen this shouldn’t be much of a hassle, however you should still register your stay when staying for more than 90 days in the country. If you are from outside the EU, things are fairly more complicated and you should carefully analyze the options available to see whether they fit your needs.
You have the options that you have in the majority of countries such as coming as a student or if you find a job, but also many options that are not available in a number of countries in Western Europe.
Among these, we can mention the residence permit for self-employed persons (trabajador autonomo), the non-lucrative visa (visado de residencia no lucrativa) for those who want to live in Spain but have income from abroad, and the notorious Spanish golden visa with a number of types of investments available.
03:00 Real Estate
Another very interesting and important aspect you should consider when moving to Spain is where exactly you are planning to move to. Property price differences in Spain from the capital and other major cities to smaller cities, towns and the countryside are usually very significant.
03:44 Cost of Living
Cost of living in Spain is moderate. If we consider the fact that it is in Western Europe, the cost of living in the country is certainly fairly lower than countries like the UK, Germany or anywhere in Scandinavia.
But at the same time, if we compare Spain with countries in Central Europe like Hungary or Poland, or in Eastern Europe like Ukraine or Georgia, Spain can be considered quite expensive.
04:34 Citizenship
Getting citizenship in Spain may or may not be relevant, depending on your goal. If you want to get Spanish citizenship though, bear in mind that it will take more years than in most countries in Western Europe if you go through the most common naturalization process.
Most foreigners need to live 10 years in Spain before they can apply for citizenship in the country.
However, there are many exceptions to this.
05:24 Taxes
The next aspect you should consider when moving to Spain are taxes. Taxes in Spain are among the highest in Europe at a personal level. Spain uses a progressive tax system for individuals, and the current lowest bracket is 19%. The highest is 45%.
Taxes in Spain are not only high, but also very complex. You can expect to spend a lot of time dealing with accounting if you are planning to do any gainful activity in the country.
If you want to live on the Iberian peninsula you have an option with better tax rates. You can move to Portugal and enjoy 10 years or relatively low taxes with the Portugal non-habitual residence program. Alternatively you can also move to Andorra which has very low tax rates and to Gibraltar, which is part of the UK but has very low overall tax rates.
06:26 Language
The Spanish language, official in Spain and more than 20 countries, is one of the most spoken languages in the world. Not only that, it is also one of the easiest languages to learn for most expats moving to a different country.
Spanish is a pretty phonetic language, meaning that words are pronounced in almost all cases in the same way as they are written, with very few exceptions.
07:18 Climate
Spain has a lower latitude than most countries on the continent, which contributes to a much milder winter, thus making it a perfect destination for retirees for example.
08:08 Health Care
The last topic I am going to cover in this video about the 9 things you should consider before moving to Spain is health care.
Actually public health care in Spain is one of the best in the world.
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