cost of living - Page 3

I am interested in the fact that you have stayed here for 6 month stints in the past.  We were out for a meal with friends and discussing the changes after brexit. I said that in the past, many people stayed in Spain for months on end and one Swedish lady bear us stayed for 8 months at a time. The other couple said you were only ever allowed 3 months at a time but I disagreed. That is the new times that we will be permitted to stay after January (6 months in total). Does anyone feel able to put me in the picture , am I correct or not?

I’m not sure what the future holds for people with only British citizenship/passports.

We both hold British & European citizenship & passports so brexit won’t affect us really.

I wouldn’t be too put out regarding things to be honest, believe me it’s in Europe and definitely Spains best interests to keep the British money rolling in and when things come to a head someone will fold. Maybe in the short to medium term there will be implications but in the medium to long term there will be an agreement reached regarding travel and things will settle down. Simple economics will dictate that really.

I share your sentiments exactly but others would disagree. I believe that they may enforce the 90 day Stay rule initially but that may relax after a while. Who knows?  

I think you are right from the research done here, albeit everything changes in a month's time. Yes 6 months in total but 90 in any 180 rolling. Nice to see your posting GrannyRose ;-)

Back to the OP's question re cost of living as we have monitored our spend over the past couple of months here. We are paying about a third less in terms of food costs (wine etc) with no change of living standard, electricity is higher at 61 Euro this last month but we have been pushing it - work computers etc, 33 euros for water but I think that is for a quarter, not seen our agricultural water charge as yet but it is supposed to be low - for the pool and orchards, less needed now (22mm of rain tomorrow lol), fuel seems slightly cheaper - a 50 euro fill has lasted 3-4 weeks now with several longer trips over to the coast, IBI / council tax is a lot less and eating out similarly. We pushed it to spend 40 euro and there are many lower cost places, our local restaurant and menu of the day is great value at 8 euro each while the English places in Pinoso offer Sunday lunches at 10 Euro.

I meant to add - we don't pay bank charges with Sabadell as we took their house insurance out as a product.

'Our' farmer costs 8 euros an hour or 20 if it is tractor work - the once a year ploughing around the almond and olive groves. It took a few hours but this place has a lot of land, some 4.5 acres. There is a deal to be had re the olives where he / she does the work and you receive oil in return, more than you could use in a year. The almond price wasn't good this year - last year was 1.20 per kilo outer shell off, this year it is 68 cents.

Hope this helps. Living more for less for sure here albeit we are not in Torre but up the road and inland a little. 

Best wishes, have fun and enjoy it.

I second this perfect answer 

Hi  Sharon  Robbie

Came  across  your  post  about  cost  of  living  in  Spain,  getting   some  figures   that  are  not  in  line  with what  I  was expecting 

If  you  got  your  move  to Spain  done  and dusted, as  I  am  planning on  stating  that journey  when  life return  to  some sort of  normality 

I  will  give  you  figure   that  an  Estate  agent  gave me  considering   they  are  trying  to  sell  a  property  to me  and  I  accept  there  opinion   on  this  cost  of living,   maybe  you  could  agree or  disagree 

Community  Charge   30  monthly

Council  Tax   30   monthly 

Water  30    monthly

Electricity   40  monthly 

 Building  insurance    15   monthly 

Internet  15  monthly 

Property  will  only  be  a  2  bed  quad nothing   fancy

I  hope  you  might  throw  some  light  on  these figures 

Hi Sligo gent,

In my experience your agent has provided you with incorrect information or possibly out of date information.  We are two people who have had a property in different parts of Spain for fifteen years and even back at 2004 prices were more then than what has been indicated to you.

I can't comment on community charges as we don't have any but we did once and they came to 60Eu a month and heading North year on year.

Council Tax - might be about right in this area I think, might be a bit less.   I didn't see any mention of Non Resident tax but that will be another hundred per person, maybe a bit more depending on the property, thats yearly not monthly.

Water - it isn't just water, it is also refuse collection and something else, can't remember now but usually around the 60 mark. per quarter.

Electricity has never been less than 50 - I believe it was around 40odd even when we were not there.  This was due to charges that have nothing to do with usage.  Our last bill for two people was 90 odd and that was only using electric heating very occasionally as we have a pellet burner and rarely need the air con heating.

House Insurance - I don't recall but around 200 a year I think.

Internet is 24 here.

If you have a garage there will be a charge for that as well.

Electricity is more expensive in Spain than anywhere in EU although I think its about the same as Ireland.  

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and wish it could be better but on the plus side generally you have cheaper booze, cheaper car fuel, supermarket shopping maybe a third less than home (Ireland) eating out cheaper and the sun and fresh unpolluted air and crime free are other considerations to weigh up not to mention the freedom and peace of mind. Plenty to see, great road system, good bus service and cheap fares.  Lots of English speakers, friendly helpful people in the main - a bit like home, some better than others but in the main very helpful and friendly. 

Best of luck in your project.  Not sure if you are planning on permanent living or not but I'm afraid there are significant costs associated with applying for residency if you are and Health insurance in Spain is more expensive than home too.  You'll need Private Health Insurance if you apply for residency. 

Can't think of anything else.  Let me know if you need more information, if I can I will.

Hi  Eureka.

You  are  not  the  bearer  of  bad  news  you  tell  like  it  is, That  what  I  wish  to  know, Thanks  for  that

I  am  only  planning/dreaming   at  the moment  for  moving  permanently  to  Spain,  so  any  tips  no  matter  how small  I  can  pick  up  are  greatly appreciated,  I  do  not  want  to  jump  to  a  Small  pond  only  to  find  if  infested  with  Sharks

Pubs  do  not  interest me anymore,   as  they  did  in  the past,  Dinning  out  once  or  twice  a week, Gyms  and  areas  to  walk/jog  mainly  flat  as  age  is  coming  into  play  with  association   changes

Medical  is a  big  concern  of  mine  as  have  a  few  issues, and  Private Health insurance will not cover them   if  hopefully  not  need  in  Hospital  treatment,   not  sure  how  that  will  work  over there

Peace  and  quiet   and  safe  areas  for  a  wee  dog is  another  concern, Looking   on  internet  at  moment   as  no  Honest  travel  allowed  and won't  travel  till I  get  vaccine, But  2  bed quad Bungalow  interested  me, areas  Coab  Roig anx Playa Flamenla   at  the moment,  Do  you  know  much  about  those  areas,

I  am  a  man  that likes  to  have  my answers  rather that  go  looking  for  them,  From  your  figures  I  need   to  allow   about   110 e  a  month   just  for  basic  Water,  Electricity,  Community,  Insurance  etc  before  food  and  car  and living  expenses,  I  would  now  guess  300e  a month  for  single  person  to live

Stay safe and be Happy Phil 

I tend to agree with you 100%, let’s face it the Brits bring in a lot of money into Spain and given how bad the Spanish economy is specially post the pandemic the need for this cash is even more crucial than before

Spanish economy specially in southern regions and the Irelands heavily rely on the expats and tourists to function, hence the Spaniards know this deep down and as you mentioned sooner rather than later they will calm down and life for the Brits whether tourist or second home owners will be exactly as it used to be 

That is for sure 

Spain will welcome lucrative visas from Brits, Russians, Chinese, Indian... You name it. 

However, Brexit has shut the door on your average Brit looking for a cheaper life on a modest pension. 

Be interesting to see the immigration rates in 2021 in comparison to the past decade when Brits were third most common immigrants after Romanians and Moroccans.