# Living in Spain short term - what I need to know



## emjeast (May 18, 2010)

My Husband and I would like to move to Spain for around 6 months, possibly a little more depending on how it goes. We will therefore do a long term let.
We visit spain regularly so we know the general cost of living when it comes to eating out, supermarket shopping, petrol etc but when it comes to things like household bills / taxes etc we aren't quite sure so wonder if anyone could help us in order that we can work out how much on average it will cost us to live there.
We would be renting a 2 bed/2 bath small townhouse type property so can anyone who lives in a similar property in southern spain (we are looking at the Nerja area) please advice me of what you would pay and how often for gas/electricity/water and I understand if you on an urbanisacion then it will be between 40-70 euro per month for maintenance fees.
What other costs can we expect, anything similar to council tax in the UK? how much? Would we need to pay anything on our car or just take out Spanish insurance whilst there?
We have our own small software business which will remain registered in the UK and we will just be working on it in Spain just online so will need a decent internet connection so how much would this cost as we noted when we were there last time that the adverts seem to advertise pretty slow internet.
Any help that will give us an idea of what our total monthly outgoings would be would be great, thanks.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

in a town house you don't normally have problems getting a landline and internet connection, but you should make sure the line can arranged before you move in. 
the eqivelent of council tax is about 60 to 70 euros per anum. There might be an extra anual tax for collecting rubbish. If you are only here for 6 months, you don't need to do much about the car, Insure it as usual but tell your insurer that you are having an extended holiday. Also make sure (if Needed) that your MOT doesn't expire while you are here.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

....Rule of thumb with utility bills is roughly the same as the UK. Gas is a bit cheaper, you buy when you need it per bottle. Electricity is......... well depends where you are, but ours do an estimate one month and........ well they're supposed to read it the following.....!!???????????????

Jo xxx


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

emjeast said:


> We have our own small software business which will remain registered in the UK and we will just be working on it in Spain just online so will need a decent internet connection so how much would this cost as we noted when we were there last time that the adverts seem to advertise pretty slow internet.
> Any help that will give us an idea of what our total monthly outgoings would be would be great, thanks.


Someone else will respond on the gas/elec I'm sure but ...

Don't know what sort of software you do but I do software and my set up in Spain as as follows:

Internet connection to flat.
A stick/fob connection through Movistar (I use it when I travel around spain and in the airport but anyway a good backup in the flat).
A local townhall (2 min stroll) that offers free WiFi.
In the UK a PC that I can connect to using remote Desktop. (This not only reduces bandwidth requirement for many things but it also gives access to anything non-UK restricted. If nothing else that means test match special on the beeb but I have had clients blocking non-UK).

All in costs less than 500 Es per year but includes telephone within Spain (I have family there so very important for me).

With that I feel well covered and unlikely to let a client down. And there have been times when the inhouse broadband has gone very slow or down for some hours.

And if around 6 months means 183 days then you can forget the dreaded Spanish mafia (sorry I mean government  )

But good luck and enjoy the adventure

O ps remember you can't reclaim the VAT and that will be going up soon.


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## fourgotospain (May 4, 2009)

Definatley check you can get a landline if your business is dependent on it - we use wireless internet which ok - we would have preferred ADSL but after a month of asking Telefonica finally got around to telling us the exchange is full!!
I don't know about the south - here on the CB 3 or 4 MB is the best you'll get.


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