Posted: Thu Dec 2, 2021 6:02pm
Hi hughmc58,
Congratulations! Being an Irish (EU) citizen means that obtaining residency in Spain is a relatively painless process and much cheaper than the visa process that UK citizens now have to go through following Brexit.
If you're a couple of years from State retirement age, I'm guessing that your age is around 64? So you'll need private health insurance for your residency application and it will need to be at least mid range cover, as basic level and co-payments (what we know as insurance excess) are not acceptable for residency applications. The main things that affect the cost of your PHI will be age and any pre-existing conditions, although often insurance companies simply exclude these from your cover. It's also worth noting that PHI doesn´t cover the cost of prescriptions. It will depend very much on your personal situation, but to give you a ballpark figure, my husband and I, aged 63 and 61 respectively, with no pre-existing conditions, have our insurance with ASSSA at a total cost of €1,780 per year. Friends of ours, aged 64 and 62 respectively, where both have pre-existing conditions relating to their eyesight and the husband has high blood pressure, have their insurance with Salud and pay €2,200 per annum. Those costs are for each couple, not per person. If you want to get a quote, you could speak to Alfonso at Gran Alacant Insurance - he has an advert in the right hand column of this page and is highly recommended by a lot of other members. Once you reach State retirement age, you can apply for the Form S1 from Ireland to transfer your healthcare rights to the Spanish public system. Your healthcare will be free at the point of service and depending on your annual income, you may have to make a contribution of between 10% and 60% towards the cost of any prescriptions.
Income tax is typically more expensive in Spain because the personal allowance is much lower here than it is, for example, in the UK, i.e. €5,550 versus £12,570. I don't know what the personal tax allowance is in Ireland, so perhaps it may compare more favourably? However, in the Spanish system, you attract additional allowances, such as if you're married and also as you get older. There are also municipal taxes you would have to pay, such as IBI (Council Tax), but these are typically much less than in, again for example, the UK.
Spain has been similarly affected to the rest of the world in terms of the rising price of fuel and electricity, so the cost of living is not as cheap as it was when we first moved here almost 6 years ago, but if you like socialising, the cost of alcohol and eating out is still very good value. The "pitfalls" that I would have cautioned you against are around the process of purchasing property and, if feasible, renting before committing to purchase, but you're past that stage already.
One recommendation I would make, should you delay your permanent move, or decide against it, is to switch your Spanish bank account to an online account with an EU IBAN (such as Wise, N26, etc.) - you'll make a considerable saving on Spain's high bank fees. Finally, start learning Spanish - you don't have to be fluent, but the effort is very much appreciated by Spanish people and makes a difference to how you are received here.
Kind regards,
Kim
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