# cost of living in spain



## margott (Dec 11, 2015)

I am 60+ and am thinking of moving to Benidorm area some time next year, apart from the cost of renting a small apartment, what is the monthly cost of living per month?
what is the cost of council tax, electricity, gas, water, food.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

margott said:


> I am 60+ and am thinking of moving to Benidorm area some time next year, apart from the cost of renting a small apartment, what is the monthly cost of living per month?
> what is the cost of council tax, electricity, gas, water, food.


Cost of living varies so much on many factors including lifestyle, where you live, habits (drinking, smoking, etc.) 

We (3 adults and two small dogs) can manage on my OAP but we don't smoke nor drink (apart from a very occasional sherry), we live in a village and (according to the locals we are part of the village inferring that we have integrated) get quite a lot of produce given to us when it is in season (i.e. there is a surplus)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

margott said:


> I am 60+ and am thinking of moving to Benidorm area some time next year, apart from the cost of renting a small apartment, what is the monthly cost of living per month?
> what is the cost of council tax, electricity, gas, water, food.


:welcome:

It's really quite impossible to answer these questions, when there are so many personal variables.

General rule of thumb though, is if you can live reasonably comfortably on your income in the UK, you will be at least as comfortable here - if not better off (though likely you will be better off)


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

If you rent an apartment, it's usual for the Council Tax (called IBI here) to be paid by the landlord and not the tenant, so you won't need to budget separately for that.

However, as personal tax allowances are much lower in Spain than they are in the UK, it's possible you wil pay more income tax here, unles your income is from a Crown pension which has to be taxed in the UK.

The exchange rate makes more difference than anything else to how cheap/expensive things seem to anyone who lives in Spain but receives their income in sterling. At the moment it's quite good (€1.38 to the pound today, was over €1.40 until last week) but a few years ago it went down to near parity so life quickly became much more expensive to people living on fixed incomes.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> Cost of living varies so much on many factors including lifestyle, where you live, habits (drinking, smoking, etc.)
> 
> We (3 adults and two small dogs) can manage on my OAP but we don't smoke nor drink (apart from a very occasional sherry), we live in a village and (according to the locals we are part of the village inferring that we have integrated) get quite a lot of produce given to us when it is in season (i.e. there is a surplus)


Car (how big/ paying for parking/ price of petrol/ road tax will depend on local council etc)
Use public transport (how often, how many people etc)
Heating (electric or gas/ kind of dwelling/ size of dwelling etc)
Healthcare (state or private/ prescription cost etc)
IBI tax (depends on local council/ size of dwelling/ if renting might not need to pay etc)
Food (do you want fresh milk or other? meat/ fish/ ready made food/ frozen/ British?)

Whilst I fully understand your asking the question there are so many variables it's something only you yourself can find out by asking to see bills (winter and summer) in a rented property, going to local shops etc 

Ask us another that we answer more easily


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I agree that the cost of living is about the same as the UK - some things are dearer, others cheaper.

But as Lynn says, the exchange rate is really important, because it's completely outside your control, unlike spending. When we bought our house 10 years ago it was nearly €1.50 to the pound, when we moved here in 2008 it was 1.28, then it fell to almost 1:1, now it's back up to 1.40. If you have a lump sum it's worth converting at least half of it to euros when you move, so you're better protected against fluctuations.


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## pnwheels (Mar 3, 2013)

margott said:


> I am 60+ and am thinking of moving to Benidorm area some time next year, apart from the cost of renting a small apartment, what is the monthly cost of living per month?
> what is the cost of council tax, electricity, gas, water, food.


Maybe a search through previous posts on here will help. This sort of question gets asked quite often - there really is a mine of good info on here!


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

In referring to a favorite Spanish word (depende). Man, the re are so many variables to that QUESTIONS. Locación, afecta of Spanish economy on that area, what your lifestyle will be, etc. Everyone is different. Weown our flat, use public transportation, are also part of our community and travel often. We do quite well on US social security. We could spend a lot more but Why?


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

I hope you find this helpful
Cost of living in Malaga, Spain: July 2015 | East of Málaga


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

Damn, you would think that after a few years here I would remember to turn off my Spanish keyboard when typing English. What I was basically saying previously was that there are so many variables to respond appropriately to this question. It all depends on your style of life. For example, we always lived pretty well in the US but below our means. In Spain we live like the locals in Jaca very well. Sure, we could afford to buy a casa here but why? We had houses in the US and now live in a flat. The upkeep, etc! Also fully expect the cost of living to be much higher in large cities except Zaragoza. Man, it all depends on what you want to live with or without. At the end of the day, a house is just a house and you can take no personal belongings with you when you die.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Roy C said:


> I hope you find this helpful
> Cost of living in Malaga, Spain: July 2015 | East of Málaga


That is useful. The writer says a lot of things that are similar to the posts here on this thread ie it depends, but has also included a lot of actual figures which will give the OP and idea. That article must have taken ages to write!


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