About Spain
Over 100 Destinations
What do you need to move to Spain from the UK?
Since Brexit a British passport no longer gives you the right to live in Spain. You need a visa that fits your situation, a foreigner’s number, and registration at your local town hall. Visitors without a visa are limited to 90 days in any 180. The paperwork takes months, so start it before you book a removal.
Which visa do you need?
There is no single answer, and this is the question that decides your timeline. The Spanish routes open to UK nationals now include study, retirement, work including as a digital nomad, an internship, medical treatment, joining family already in Spain, religious work, volunteering and research.
Two of those carry most British moves. The non-lucrative route suits people living on savings or a pension who will not work in Spain. The digital nomad route suits people working remotely for employers outside Spain.
Apply from the UK, at the Spanish consulate, before you move. This is the part people underestimate.
The three bits of paperwork everyone trips on
The NIE is your foreigner’s identification number. Almost nothing happens without it: no bank account, no utility contract, no property purchase.
The padrón. Once you arrive you register on the municipal register, the padrón municipal, at your local town hall. It is what proves where you live, and it feeds your healthcare and your residency paperwork.
The TIE is the biometric residence card. British nationals legally resident in Spain who hold one are exempt from the EU Entry/Exit System checks, which matters every time you travel.
Can you use your UK driving licence in Spain?
Yes, and better than most people expect. The UK and Spain have a reciprocal agreement, so you can exchange a UK licence for a Spanish one without taking a theory or practical test.
The timing is the catch. If you moved to Spain on or after 16 March 2023, your UK licence is recognised for six months from the date you got residency. After that you need the Spanish one. You will need a DVLA check code to make the exchange.
Six months sounds generous and disappears quickly while you are dealing with everything else. Put it on the list early.
Healthcare
How you access Spanish healthcare depends on why you are there. If you are a UK state pensioner, the NHS may fund your healthcare in Spain through an S1 form, which you register in Spain. If you move for any other reason you will usually be covered through work, through the public system once you are contributing, or through private insurance, which most visa routes require you to hold anyway.
Sources: GOV.UK, Living in Spain and GOV.UK on driving licences in the EU.
All Spanish towns and cities have a very strong cultural feel and a real sense of patriotic pride oozing from every inch. So when moving to Spain you will be truly immersed in the culture, tradition, history and lifestyle in which ever city, town or village you choose to call home!
BASIC FACTS ABOUT SPAIN:
- POPULATION: about 49.1 million
- TOTAL AREA : about 505,990 square kilometres
- CURRENCY: Euro
- CAPITAL CITY: Madrid
- TIME DIFFERENCE: Spain is 1 Hour ahead of the UK
- POPULAR REGIONS: MADRID CENTRAL
BARCELONA: NORTHEAST
MALAGA : SOUTH
MARBELLA : SOUTH
VALENCIA: EAST
SEVILLE: SOUTH WEST
CLIMATE – The Spanish Climate varies between regions, here are examples from five major cities to provide an indication of regional climates.
| MADRID | MALAGA | VALENCIA | SEVILLE | BARCELONA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Average rainfall (mm) | Average temp (°C) | Average rainfall (mm) | Average temp (°C) | Average rainfall (mm) | Average temp (°C) | Average rainfall (mm) | Average temp (°C) | Average rainfall (mm) | Average temp (°C) |
| January | 35 | 4 | 81 | 12 | 36 | 11.5 | 66 | 10.5 | 42 | 8.5 |
| February | 36 | 6.5 | 55 | 12.5 | 32 | 12.5 | 61 | 12.5 | 29 | 9.5 |
| March | 39 | 9.5 | 49 | 14 | 35 | 14 | 90 | 14.5 | 42 | 11.5 |
| April | 45 | 11.5 | 41 | 15 | 37 | 15.5 | 57 | 16.5 | 45 | 13.5 |
| May | 43 | 15.5 | 25 | 18.5 | 34 | 18.5 | 41 | 19.5 | 56 | 17 |
| June | 31 | 21.5 | 12 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 8 | 24.5 | 45 | 20.5 |
| July | 10 | 23.5 | 2 | 25 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 28 | 29 | 23.5 |
| August | 11 | 23.5 | 6 | 25.5 | 19 | 25.5 | 5 | 28 | 59 | 24 |
| September | 34 | 19 | 16 | 23 | 51 | 23 | 19 | 25 | 86 | 21.5 |
| October | 48 | 13.5 | 56 | 19 | 74 | 19 | 70 | 20 | 92 | 17.5 |
| November | 53 | 8 | 95 | 15.5 | 51 | 15 | 67 | 15 | 58 | 12.5 |
| December | 44 | 5 | 88 | 12.5 | 52 | 12.5 | 79 | 11.5 | 49 | 8.5 |
Madrid, the capital city, where the fast paced lifestyle is very exciting in a beautiful city, monuments and experiences that wait to be discovered. This fantastic city is full of fun and vibrancy where you will always find something to see, somewhere to go, and someone with which to have a glass of wine after a hard day!
Amongst the hustle and bustle of the city, there is a small place of tranquility which is the largest park in Madrid, Parque Del Retiro. This peaceful place has a large lake in the centre used for pleasurable boating trips, and the park often hosts fairground attractions. There is also an outdoor public swimming pool, perfect for cooling off in the Spanish Summer heat, cable cars to get a great view of the entire park and some of the city, and also a zoo for the animal lovers!
Adjoining the Parque Del Retiro is the Atocha Railway Station, which has a 4000 metre squared indoor garden filled with tropical plants, ponds inhabited by turtles and goldfish, shops and cafes all under one roof! This Railway Station has really become a tourist attraction in its own right, and a beautiful place to visit and relax despite the trains!
For the culture vultures, as you may know there is something called the ‘Golden Triangle of Art’ in Madrid. This consists of 3 prestigious and popular art galleries; PRADO MUSEUM displays some of the work from two of the masters, Goya and Velazquez, THYSSEN MUSEUM displays a mixed private collection of Modern Art and REINA SOFIA MUSEUM displays one of the most infamous paintings in Art history, Picasso’s ‘Guernica’.
For the all night party people, or even if you just fancy a few quiet drinks at the end of your busy day, Madrid is the city that can satisfy your socialising needs! The most popular areas for evening entertainments, bars, restaurants and clubs are Bilbao, Tribunal, Alonso Martinez, Moncloa and the Gay District of Chueca. So depending on your preferences, you could be out dancing till the early hours, checking out some of the local live bands or just socially drinking with friends. Madrid can cater for everyone!
One of the most famous, globally recognised traditions of Spain is Bullfighting. A Matador with red capes and a bull charging around a stadium was once the most common and exciting form of public entertainment in Spain, now it is still very much a maintained tradition. There is a Bullfighting Season from March to October and a prestigious festival, San Isidro, where the best of the bulls and the best of the bullfighters display their talents for massive audiences. This festival is usually in May or June and there are twenty consecutive days with Bullfighting every day! It is suggested to buy tickets early, especially for the San Isidro festival, to avoid disappointment and this is a very popular period of the Bullfighting Season.
For the shopaholics out there, there is a large market called the Rastro Flea Market, which is open every Sunday from 9am till 3pm. There are stalls full of furniture, clothes, souvenirs, jewellery and probably much, much more! The square in which the market is situated has amazing antique shops lining its perimeter, and conveniently they are also open on Sundays too! Definitely worth a visit and you may pick up a few great bargains as well.
Another very popular and beautiful Spanish city is Barcelona. The original industries cultivated here and still flourishing today are the fashion, textile and fabric businesses. Due to this history and passion for fashion ingrained into the city, Barcelona has been the sole host of the Bread and Butter Urban Fashion Fair since 2007. The perfect place for shopping with a view is the Olympic Port, with wonderful areas to sit and admire the sea and boats, whilst taking a break from the shopping complex there. Leading down to the port from the city is one of the busiest streets in Barcelona, La Ramblas, with street entertainers and small stalls every few steps and countless restaurants, bars, cafes and bistros lining either side of the street. An exciting experience for the eyes, and for the stomach if you stop to sample some of the amazing Spanish cuisine along the way!
Sights to see in Barcelona are the magnificent yet unfinished Sagrada Familia, designed and started by Antoni Gaudi in 1882. Work is still being done on finishing this breath-taking cathedral, but even in its unfinished state it is truly awesome. You will discover on your travels around the city that the designer and architect Antoni Gaudi has mastered many of the buildings with his fantastic design; a couple to mention for definite viewing are Casa Mila, Casa Batllo and the outstanding Park Guell.