Cost of living

Are you a Brit?or do you have a EU passport?If you’re a Brit and want to work it’s pretty difficult,Visas,work permits etc.EU citizen has freedom of movement so no problem.

A question that comes up on a regular basis. Many things are cheaper here than UK and many things are more expensive (well, I bet that helped)

First of all, taxes. Council tax is much cheaper here. For a 3 bed semi detached I paid 242 euro last year. Yes, for the year.

Bin collection tax and water rates. These used to be billed together but are now split. Bin collection is about 78 euro a year and water rates, if you keep to the allotted quota, are 35 euro per quarter so 140 euro a year.

Car tax. It is different in every town. In Rojales a 1.6 SUV is just over 36 euro a year but Torrevieja is closer to 100 I think (more roads to look after).

If you are going to live on a community or urbanisation, you will probably have community fees. Depending on the facilities this can be anything from a couple of hundred euro a year to a couple of thousand so always check what they are. They pay for swimming pool and garden maintenance, street cleaning, lifts, electricity for the street lighting and so on. Always check.

Food. Believe it or not, fruit and veg can be more expensive here even for goods grown here. Lettuce, carrots, potatoes etc can be double the UK price. You will get them cheaper at the market. Other things are much cheaper and you will have a huge amount of supermarkets to choose from so shop around. For example. 500g dried spaghetti in Lidl at 77 cents yet Consum have branded stuff (what's the difference?) which can cost around 2 to 3 euro. Chicken, pork and even beef is reasonable but lamb is quite expensive and fish has gone up a lot lately. Unless you like hake which is really cheap.

Electricity bills. Will vary and it will depend what tariff and contract you take out. I pay around 47 euro a month (all electric) but others pay a lot more so check the best options.

Diesel is now about 1.35 euro a litre with petrol slightly higher. Again, check out the garages near you as there can be vast differences. 

Alcohol much cheaper. A decent bottle of wine for just over 2 euro (some cheaper but not that decent) or 3 euro for a reserve. Beer has gone up and now about 90 cents for a 50cl can (some even more). Non branded spirits about 6 euro a litre with branded spirits around 10 to 12 euro a litre (super brands maybe a euro or two more). Eating out is cheap. You can get a 3 course Chinese meal with wine or beer for less than 10 euro a head. A decent tourist menu which is 3 course plus wine for about 11 euro.

Clothing is pretty expensive although we do have a Primark and a C&A which are very reasonable. White goods are coming down and used to be far more expensive but now fairly compatible with UK. Plenty of furniture shops to choose from cheap through reasonable to very expensive. You'll generally get them delivered in a day or two so no waiting 6 weeks or so like I did in UK.

That's about it. I get one pension here of around 1700 euro a month and generally 1000 euro is ample for everything, including going out a couple of times a week. Definitely find it cheaper and also the quality of the food seems far superior (no stuffing chicken, pork, bacon etc full of water) veg is naturally ripened unlike the green stuff ripened under gas in UK. 

But as said, if from UK you will need a work visa (with a definite offer of work on a contract) before you can enter Spain. If not UK but a EU citizen then much easier but still some hiccoughs with language requirements etc. From UK I would say that, unless you are in a shortage job (engineer, IT manager, medical research etc) then it would be very difficult. Whoever offers you a job must show the work cannot be carried out by an EU citizen.

Enjoy yourselves, it really can be good.

Hi, 

We are British yes. We know we need visas etc. Do you need to have ajob lined up before you go, as we will move we the intentions of finding jobs, so will fund our living expense for 1 year, hoping to get a job within that time. Do you think that would be do able? 

We are not just restricted to torrevieja, but would like to be near. 

Thanks 

No, it is not possible. You cannot come to Spain for more than 90 days. As said, you need a definite job offer with a contract before you can apply for a visa. 

The only way to do it is to apply for a non lucrative visa which means you can't work, will have to show earnings of at least 28,800 euro a year for the first person and 7200 a year for the second plus at least one year private health insurance.

So, no, coming over for a year while you look for a job is not do able, I'm afraid.

Hi, 

Thank you for your reply.

This is really helpfull. I work in an office as an administrator, but am a qualified massage therapist. My partner is a joiner by trade, but does alot of building work.

We are coming out next year to see what areas are like and see what's what.

So we are going to see prices of food then aswell and hirer a car so we can see places.

I really want to make the move just I want to work and I know that will be the difficult part

Thank you.

There are no shortages of office administrators in Spain and I would think none for massage therapists either. And you would probably have to be fluent in several languages as well.

As for building work in general or any associated work, the unemployment rate in Spain is 4 times that of UK and many in that line of work are languishing at home for a long time. I doubt any employer would be able to show an EU citizen is not available to do that work. 

Sorry, but it's no longer as easy as it used to be. Even those fully established here as residents find the jobs few and far between except, maybe, for bar or restaurant work which is very poorly paid, seasonal and often without a contract. 

And, remember, the maximum stay in the whole of the EU is 90 days in a 180 day period and, if you overstay, the fines can be substantial and can lead to a ban on entry into every EU country for some time. Oh to be back in 2016.

Right ok I see, its proofing to be more difficult than excepted.

Are you from the UK?

Is there a National minimum wage?

Thanks

Yes, I am from the UK but have been a permanent resident here for over 13 years so the pre Brexit rules applied. It was very easy when we were in the EU, just sign on a register and bingo! you were resident. Many people didn't even bother signing on the register or declaring they live here but that's all changed now.

Yes, there is a minimum wage and a living wage. The living wage is 600 euro a month (called the IPREM) and you have to prove you earn 4 times that to take out residency. The minimum wage only applies to those on contracts. For example, a shelf stacker or checkout person at Mercadona (local supermarket) will earn about 1600 euro a month on contract. But Spanish is essential and any reception work will require at least Spanish and English. Our dental receptionist, for example, speaks 4 languages. 

It is, unfortunately, much more difficult now we are not in the EU. An EU citizen can come to Spain, get a job without a visa or work permit and simply sign the register to say they are living in Spain. Just like it was for us. 

The 90 days in 180 (or maximum of 6 months a year but not in one go) is enforced. There are no visa extensions no getting around the rules at all. 

In one way it is a good thing. We had lots who didn't declare they were living here, weren't paying taxes, driving cars with no MoT or insurance etc.Now they are being weeded out and that's a good thing IMHO. 

There are many visas. The work visa and the non lucrative visa have been mentioned. But there's the self employed visa, the entrepreneur visa (which you have to have a business plan showing you will earn over the 28k a year), the digital nomad visa where you work for an online company digitally but still have to show earning of 28k plus. The Golden visa where your invest around a million euro or so in a Spanish company or buy property over 500k (not including taxes). Student visas and so on.

But you have to have a visa which allows you to come to Spain and apply for residency within 3 months and 15 days. You have to show the minimum income for every year up until you've been here for 5 years and then get permanent residency;

It may sound harsh but they are the same rules UK has for an EU citizen applying for the right to stay. 

If you really want to leave the UK it’s much easier now to emigrate to Australia, Canada or New Zealand.