Moving to another country for good is never an easy step. Some leave their home country for political and economic reasons, some move to join family, and some are driven by a passion for change. Either way, some time after the move people assess the results on a scale from “if I had known it would be this hard, I would never have moved” to “I have never once regretted moving”. In this article we will talk about the pros and cons of living in Spain.
Our experience and that of our clients shows that a serious assessment of the pros and cons of permanent residence in Spain allows you to make a balanced decision, prepare for all the possible difficulties that no immigrant can avoid, and cushion the fall wherever possible.
Is it worth moving to Spain permanently?
When deciding whether it is worth moving to Spain permanently, you will have to take many factors into account: family, financial, social and so on. Let us look at the most important ones.
Pros and cons of living in Spain: moving with children
If you are moving to Spain with children, you need to be prepared for local specifics. The standard of education in Spain at state schools can be described as average. Private international schools, on the other hand, stand out for a strong curriculum and a good level of teaching. Universities also offer a fairly high standard: some universities and departments have a good ranking across Europe.
In small towns there is a limited choice of clubs, sports and after-school activities, which you also need to be prepared for.
And finally, in Spain children under 13 (in some cases under 10) may not be left without adult supervision either outdoors or at home, which creates problems for families where both parents work full time.
Pros and cons of living in Spain: healthcare
Opinions on Spanish healthcare vary widely: from “one of the best in Europe” to “an incredibly low standard”. Private health insurance does not give a 100% guarantee that you will never come across incompetence, but it makes life in Spain much easier, allowing many health problems to be dealt with very quickly. And private insurance in Spain is affordable on almost any budget.
Pros and cons of living in Spain: business and the economy
If you plan to move to Spain permanently with a residence permit without the right to work, you not only need sufficient financial means to live on and must be ready to prove this with documents at any time, but you also have to prepare a set of documents every year for the Spanish banks where you hold accounts. As a rule, these are employment certificates, company documents (if you receive dividends), tax returns and so on.
If you plan to open your own business in Spain, you should try to get at least a general idea of the country’s tax system, do some tax planning and prepare a realistic business plan with a calculation of the expected profitability.
Spain is well disposed towards foreigners and does not stop non-residents from setting up companies, but its tax system is one of the least flexible in Europe. When dealing with Spanish taxes, you will also have to work through the question of tax residence carefully.
Pros and cons of permanent residence in Spain
Let us sum up the pros and cons of permanent residence in Spain:
- Pros:
- A good climate;
- Low cost of living;
- Free movement within the Schengen Agreement countries if you hold Spanish residence;
- Low house prices compared with most European countries, and property can be bought and sold freely;
- A quick and transparent procedure for starting your own business.
- Cons:
- You must know Spanish (English is not widely spoken);
- A bloated bureaucracy, and many administrative procedures are complicated and slow;
- A complicated tax system and almost no financial support for business;
- A low level of professionalism among administrative staff.
In Spain it is common to have many administrative and tax matters handled by advisers, “asesores” (from the Spanish asesor), tax advisers and personal lawyers. A good specialist can make their client’s life noticeably easier by taking on most of the bureaucratic red tape.
