# Cost of living, Cantabria



## gm197 (Apr 22, 2012)

I'm looking for someone who lives in Cantabria who I can pester with questions about cost of living. If you can help I can ask follow up questions via PM. Thank you.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Although I live in Valenciana province I feel that prices in Spain are very much on par with the U.K. except for booze and cigarettes.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

I agree, I live in one of the poorer regions in Spain 

https://www.thelocal.es/20150721/rich-and-poor-divide-of-spanish-regions-reveal


I agree with the post above, based on like for like allows room for the odd differences. 

To add to ciggarettes and booze I’d also add coffee €1. As with everything it totally depends on what you include in costs of living!


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

Check out https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp
Enter a couple of cities to check how the cost of living compares.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> Although I live in Valenciana province I feel that prices in Spain are very much on par with the U.K. except for booze and cigarettes.


I'd include public transport in that - much cheaper than the UK.


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## gm197 (Apr 22, 2012)

Trubrit said:


> Although I live in Valenciana province I feel that prices in Spain are very much on par with the U.K. except for booze and cigarettes.


Having never lived in the U.K., that doesn't help me very much! 

I'm very seriously considering retiring up there and I want to make sure my pension would be enough to live on and support my family with small children.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

gm197 said:


> Having never lived in the U.K., that doesn't help me very much!
> 
> I'm very seriously considering retiring up there and I want to make sure my pension would be enough to live on and support my family with small children.


Why not add your 'from' & 'to' flags to your profile?

That can help members to answer your questions more helpfully.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

gm197 said:


> Having never lived in the U.K., that doesn't help me very much!
> 
> I'm very seriously considering retiring up there and I want to make sure my pension would be enough to live on and support my family with small children.


That would very much depend on whether you received a generous company pension that will cover your future needs when
retiring to Spain and therefore not bothered about anything the state might provide in the way of state pensions.

If on the other hand a state pension is an important consideration then ( assuming you will be an Expat but not from the UK ) 
then your other countries pension or the EuroPension route ( if you worked in more than one EU country ) will need to be
factored in.
As mentioned before it would be useful to know which country you will be coming from when you retire to Spain.

As Spain could be seen as expensive if coming from Eastern Europe or cheap if coming from Canada, the United States,
the UK, etc. All we know is that you can speak English but many Eastern Europeans speak English as a second language
or consider it important for their childrens future needs.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

gm197 said:


> Having never lived in the U.K., that doesn't help me very much!
> 
> I'm very seriously considering retiring up there and I want to make sure my pension would be enough to live on and support my family with small children.


You have to give a certain amount of information about your situation and if talking about economy, your finances for forum members to be able to give pertinent advice!


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## gm197 (Apr 22, 2012)

I'm looking to retire from the US. I have a wife and 3 children, ages 2, 5, and 8. The whole family are Spanish citizens except my wife who has another EU citizenship. I would have a fixed pension of approximately €3000 per month. I'd like to rent initially before buying a house so I'd be looking for a 3 bedroom house or townhouse for rent. I'm specifically looking for a breakdown of all expected expenses, rent, utilities, internet, food, car, car insurance, children's activities (very expensive here). I'm familiar with citydata and númeo and similarmente sites comparing expenses but I know those down always translate to what people pay out of pocket.


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Not been for some years now but we always found the cantabria area more expensive than the South. Also I have found Madrid less expensive than Marbella but as megsmum says depends on a lot of factors.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

gm197 said:


> I'm looking to retire from the US. I have a wife and 3 children, ages 2, 5, and 8. The whole family are Spanish citizens except my wife who has another EU citizenship. I would have a fixed pension of approximately €3000 per month. I'd like to rent initially before buying a house so I'd be looking for a 3 bedroom house or townhouse for rent. I'm specifically looking for a breakdown of all expected expenses, rent, utilities, internet, food, car, car insurance, children's activities (very expensive here). I'm familiar with citydata and númeo and similarmente sites comparing expenses but I know those down always translate to what people pay out of pocket.


Ok great but bearing in mind the costs of supporting four members of the family on 3000 Euros a month. 
Will your wife be totally dependent on your income or do you envisage her returning to work or doing
some sort of job in Spain, to add to the income of the family ?

Because at the moment it looks like you will have a tight squeeze regarding income and expenditure here ( particularly
as the children grow up ) unless the wife's adding something into the equation.
Also do you stand to make a profit from the sale of any property or other assets you might have in 
the States, that can be thrown into the equation, as this could make a difference as well.
Property sales can make a big difference if there's a large equity, to be gained from the sale of your
former home or other property you might have in the States, after allowing for any taxes you
might incur of course.

Finally you need to reach out to an American Expat in Spain for any initial incidental costs that 
might be incurred with regard to anything like visa's, residential permit's, etc, etc. Unless it can
be found in a FAQ on this forum.


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## gm197 (Apr 22, 2012)

The sale of our existing home would probably allow for a >60% down payment of a sufficiently sized house (I frequently browse idealista to get a feel for the market). However we would probably want to rent for a year or so to find the ideal place. That interim period is what concerns me, having to make a large rental payment on a fixed income, saving our cash for a down payment and enjoying a low mortgage from that point forward.


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## cermignano (Feb 9, 2017)

Can I ask why you have chosen Cantabria as opposed to other regions?


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

gm197 said:


> The sale of our existing home would probably allow for a >60% down payment of a sufficiently sized house (I frequently browse idealista to get a feel for the market). However we would probably want to rent for a year or so to find the ideal place. That interim period is what concerns me, having to make a large rental payment on a fixed income, saving our cash for a down payment and enjoying a low mortgage from that point forward.


Yes without doubt, that would be the best way to go when you first move to Spain,
Rent first, get a feel for the place and the area and then once you get your
bearings, proceed from there.

To tell you the truth if Cantabria's anything like the housing market in Asturias, you can get
some pretty decent property ( that might be similar ? ) to what your looking for upto around
the 200,000 Euros mark.

Finally I don't know whether your aware but Spain is very much an apartment loving
country and you can find some pretty big apartments for families of your size as
well. Many big apartment blocks come with their own swimming pools.
Of course if you should ever fancy apartment living and choose to buy an apartment 
instead, you should find yourself spoiled for choice and you can buy one for anywhere from
110,000 upto 200,000 Euros here, depending on where you choose to live, in the city
or somewhere out in the sticks.

Finally the golden rule here - is the best bargains to be found are where you find a place
that's perfect for you ( but as you always know, the asking price is higher than your
prepared to pay )
Then be cheeky go into the Agents office and haggle the price down !!
Most property owners in Northern Spain tend to have had their property up for sale for months
or even a year or so, with little to show for it but the occasional nibble from any prospective
buyers - so bearing in mind - this is Northern Spain and nothing like the Costa's, go in
and haggle the price down.
Of course you have to be here to do it !!

Finally the Spanish as with many other continental europeans prefer to rent rather than buy,
so there tends be less competition from locals on the housing market than you would find,
say in the UK.


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## gm197 (Apr 22, 2012)

cermignano said:


> Can I ask why you have chosen Cantabria as opposed to other regions?


My wife hates the heat! I would prefer a finca in the south closer to family but happy wife=happy life.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

gm197 said:


> My wife hates the heat! I would prefer a finca in the south closer to family but happy wife=happy life.


Then she would love the climate in Cantabria and Asturias, the only thing is to be sure to have your 
trusty brolly to hand when out shopping here.

Just like John Steed from the british Avengers.

But don't worry you will see plenty of sunshine to keep hubby happy, without the searing heat that
you find down the Mediterranean side of Spain in the summer.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

gm197 said:


> I'm specifically looking for a breakdown of all expected expenses, rent


This can vary widely depending on the property you decide on.


gm197 said:


> utilities


Electricity is expensive here! We pay nearly 200€/month in the winter (electric heaters) and about 100€/month in the summer (A/C). We seem to pay more than most on the forum for water, about 40€/month. And gas for hot water runs us about 30€/month in the winter and half that in the summer.


gm197 said:


> internet


 about 45€/month


gm197 said:


> food


 400-500€/month for a family of 4 adults without extravagant tastes.


gm197 said:


> car


 Costs can vary widely depending on the km you drive. Gas is about 1.24/liter right now.


gm197 said:


> car insurance


 Again, depends on your car, but for all inclusive we pay about 450€/year,


gm197 said:


> children's activities (very expensive here)


 Most kids seem to participate in programs run by the local town hall (sports of all types, dance, music, painting, etc) and they're very _inexpensive_, in the order of 25-40€/month. As for child care, public schooling starts at age 3, and around here there is free before and after school care to accommodate working parents. 


You haven't asked about cell phones, but ours are tied in with our internet package and run us about 20€/month/phone for unlimited calls and 4GB of data. There are cheaper (and more expensive) plans out there.


I live in the Seville area, but I don't think prices vary that much for the things you're asking about. 




gm197 said:


> The sale of our existing home would probably allow for a >60% down payment of a sufficiently sized house (I frequently browse idealista to get a feel for the market). However we would probably want to rent for a year or so to find the ideal place. That interim period is what concerns me, having to make a large rental payment on a fixed income, saving our cash for a down payment and enjoying a low mortgage from that point forward.


Be sure to look into the Spanish tax implications of capital gains from the sale of your house in the States. 

Hope this helps!


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

Running costs of a house can also vary considerably depending on location. Close to the coast in Cantabria the temperatures are milder in the winter, compared to inland where snow is common in the mountains. Close to the sea means a higher purchase prices but less on heating, close to the mountians will mean cheaper property but higher heating bills.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Madliz said:


> Running costs of a house can also vary considerably depending on location. Close to the coast in Cantabria the temperatures are milder in the winter, compared to inland where snow is common in the mountains. Close to the sea means a higher purchase prices but less on heating, close to the mountians will mean cheaper property but higher heating bills.



From someone who lives on the coast ( albeit in Asturias ) I'm sorry but the temperatures are certainly
not milder on the coast during winter, as you forget we have those big North Atlantic winds blowing
into the Bay of Biscay. So winter temperatures are similar to living in the Midlands in England
but not as cold as living on the east coast of England.
Of course it gets cold up in the Cantabrian mountains and that's where the snow settles in winter
but it can also be very cold on the coast, particularly this year what with the Siberian winds
from the beast from the east and everything.

Returning to heating my only complaint about apartments and houses in Asturias, is that they are
certainly not as well insulated as what many Brits would be accustomed to in the UK, so your
doubling the number of radiators and heaters you have on during the winter months and 
this certainly has a knock on effect on your EDP bill.

Finally kalohi is spot on with the heating bills with my EDP bill ( that includes gas and electricity )
working out at 200 a month over the winter months and 100 down to 85 Euros a month
over the summer months.

Internet well we have Telecable which started from a Cable TV background and therefore
had the fibreoptic connections to your door before broadband internet access became available.
I will always favour a Cable TV broadband provider over Movistar or similar and as the 
package throws in your fixed line phone ( really a wifi phone ) as well as multichannel
cable TV and a discount on your Mobile phone access through Telecable, I cannot complain.
So the whole bundle works out about 95 Euro's a month.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

Williams2 said:


> From someone who lives on the coast ( albeit in Asturias ) I'm sorry but the temperatures are certainly
> not milder on the coast during winter, as you forget we have those big North Atlantic winds blowing
> into the Bay of Biscay. So winter temperatures are similar to living in the Midlands in England
> but not as cold as living on the east coast of England.
> ...





> Close to the coast in Cantabria the temperatures are milder in the winter, compared to inland where snow is common


 Are you disputing this?


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