Living in Spain - Some Practical Considerations

Posted on July 2nd, 2009 by moving tips

This article may help those people who have ever thought about moving abroad but have never mentioned it to anyone yet. It is specifically about Spain but could well be applied in some of its general principles.

For a Northern European, a Brit in my case, living in Spain was always my dream. From a young age I knew that it was my long term destination. Why though? Like most people I fell in love with the idea of the country on a holiday, a cheap package one at that. My first experience was on the Costa Brava North of Barcelona. The easiness of the lifestyle, the lack of urgency and the general happiness of everyone surprised me. A day out in Barcelona more or less sealed the deal. Prior to the visit I had often thought about living here, this just made it certain.

Then the question was how to get a plan of action to make sure the dream was realised. My suggestions, learn the language, read about the background and visit, lots, to get a good idea of where you want to be in Spain whether that be mainland or islands.

Deciding what you want to do is the next step once you have decided this. If you come without qualifications and language skills life will be hard, after all why should anyone employ you before a local of foreigner with the ability to speak the language.

There are many things you should know about local habits and your life can be very different, lots of those here are taken aback constantly by shop closing times, how late people eat and not being able to find their favourite things. However all of these are just settling problems.

So what is life really like here;

1) Expect to work long hours and fit in your family life around it. People do.
2) While you are learning the language you should expect to take some time in adjusting to the lifestyle and getting yourself into the community. Unless you are in an expat area by the coast it is most likely that not many people will speak English
3) Laughter is a given so expect it. Life is easier here but bureaucracy is like a maze. Take everything with a pinch of salt and laugh about it because in future it becomes an anecdote
4) Come to my blog regularly and read it as you will find loads of details of what happens when you live in Spain, the good, the bad and the downright ugly, usually involving utility companies this part.

Once you have done that and have your preparation off to a tee then you can find out what it is like to live here and you will be ready. Only then should you start thinking about buying a house for sale in Spain. If you come unprepared then expect to return home after a couple of years with tail firmly between legs. If you fail to prepare then prepare to fail. If you follow the advice here you will have a much greater chance of succeeding.

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