Practical advice for a smooth relocation and a great new chapter!
Moving to Spain – My family and I moved to Spain in January 2022, after years dreaming about it and with as much preparation as we could do from abroad. I’ve summarized my main thoughts, discoveries and stories from our move to Spain (and a bit from our previous moves too!) in the topics below.
Much of what you’ll find here comes from our own preparation, topped with the realities we came across in our new home. While preparing, we often could not find answers to some of our doubts and realized that we would have to discover by doing. Now we did it. I hope I can bridge some of those gaps for you.
Table of Contents
Moving to Spain: Visas
We will start with an overview of the visa process. It can be especially helpful to check this info if you never got a residence visa before, as the requirements are a bit more complex than those for a tourist visa. Here are a few tips on how to make this process as smooth as possible.
Moving to Spain: Prepare yourself
So, you have decided to come to Spain and have sorted out the visa documentation. Congratulations, you have completed the hardest step, the one that didn’t depend entirely on you. But now there are a few things that you should know and / or need to do or decide before hitting the road (or the airway)! Details do matter; you can know a lot about different areas of Spain online, so use the internet to your advantage when choosing where to live in Spain and when calculating your future cost of life. Details matter a lot; do not underestimate the power of choosing the correct time of the year to make the move – it can affect your taxes and ability to find real state in Spain. Surprising?
Moving to Spain: Finally, the great move to Spain!
A world of new adventures and experiences is about to unfold in a sunny, beautiful land. If you are here, you probably have some adventurous spirit and courage. I’m proud of you! The effort will be worth it. You are practically in Spain… or not. The feeling is that there is so much to do if I recall correctly. Let me help by sharing some tips and our experience.
Eyes on the prize, let’s keep moving. This process is fast, with a lot happening every day. It is the torment before the calm, so to speak. Get your umbrella ready for now; soon you’ll switch it for the kind that you put on a cocktail. 😉
There is a lot in the next section – Living in Spain – that may interest you while in your preparation. We talk about schools (which was one of my main concerns while preparing the move); housing and driving around Spain; we also deal (in deep) with the documentations you will be doing in your first months, and with the peculiarities of Spanish culture. And if you want to dream a little, check the section about Traveling to the Costa del Sol – it will keep your mood up. Avante! I wish you a good read and an even better move.
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