# Thinking on moving to Spain



## WMaker (Sep 1, 2012)

Hi everyone, I'm new here so please bare with me. Also since English is not my first language, please excuse any mistakes in grammar or wording.

After considering this for a while me and my wife decided to relocate to Spain, along with our 2 years son. I'm 32yrs old btw. For the start we were 
thinking in renting a 2-3 bedroom apartment/house in the Gandia/Oliva or Denia area.

I'm a computer programmer/webdeveloper and I run an Internet business, so I'm not looking for any jobs (maybe would like to start a small business
at some later time). I don't speak any spanish, however my wife does pretty well. I also intend to learn the language after we get there.

Considering the things below, I would need your advice/suggestion regarding a couple of things. 

We would love to rent a place near the coast line. The main decision factor when renting is the possibility to have broadband (fiber) Internet connection. 
This is a must have for my business and I would like to have a connection of at least 30Mbps download and 5Mbps upload.

We are also looking for a quiet place suitable for raising children. Easy access to hospitals, kindergarten, schools, shopping centers etc. As far as health 
insurance goes most likely we'll be going for a private insurance plan such as Sanitas (any other suggestions?). Are there any plans that cover the entire 
family or only individual ones?

Considering the above which city (or surrounding neighborhoods, residential areas) would you recommend to choose between Gandia, Oliva or Denia?
I've visited Oliva a couple of times, but from what I've read Gandia or Denia aren't a bad choice either, so would love to have some feedback.

Starting up a small business for let's say a computer service/webdesign shop would be a good idea in any of these cities?

Also can you recommend some trusted real estate websites so I can get an idea of the properties available to rent?

Thank you for your time!


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Well Oliva, Gandia or Denia are all good choices, but depending on what you want. I only know that there are at least three computer shops in Oliva, dont know about the others. In Oliva you can rent a flat in the centre for around €350 a month. If you move to Oliva playa area you will probably pay a lot more. I am lead to believe that rentals in Denia are more expensive


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## WMaker (Sep 1, 2012)

Stravinsky said:


> Well Oliva, Gandia or Denia are all good choices, but depending on what you want. I only know that there are at least three computer shops in Oliva, dont know about the others. In Oliva you can rent a flat in the centre for around €350 a month. If you move to Oliva playa area you will probably pay a lot more. I am lead to believe that rentals in Denia are more expensive


Hi Stravinsky, thanks for the info. Do you know by any chance if high speed Internet (Fiber) is available in Oliva? What would be my options Internet wise if I'm looking for a 30Mbps download and a 5Mbps upload broadband connection?


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

Biggest problem is likely to find a place that meets all your other requirements, while offering you as fast internet access that you require.
Fast internet connections are not particularly well developed in Spain.

Costal cities are the best bet, inland is mostly not possible to get a fast connection.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Fibre connections are practically unheard of in Spain; perhaps the big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. The speed you are looking for is top end here in Spain and I know of nobody who has what you require. We get 10meg down and 1 meg up and that is rated as in the top 70%. Your best chance would be ADSL via telefonica or a company that rents telefonica lines which would mean living in a house which as a telephone line installed already.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

The only two ISP's that offer fiber in Spain are Movistar and ONO. You could go onto the Movistar and ONO websites and put in specific addresses to see if they are covered by fiber or not. But I suspect you will find that fiber is only available in the very urban areas. It isn't very wide spread here.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

WMaker said:


> Hi Stravinsky, thanks for the info. Do you know by any chance if high speed Internet (Fiber) is available in Oliva? What would be my options Internet wise if I'm looking for a 30Mbps download and a 5Mbps upload broadband connection?


We are 4 kms out of Oliva and all Movistar could give us was 0.5 Mb rural. They had no plans to upgrade. I must admit I dont know what the speeds are like down there, although someone was talking about 10 Mb the other day. Ive got a feeling that what you want wont be available around any of the places you mentioned. More likely more around Madrid, Barcelona etc

I ended up with a 2 MB wimax connection because MS couldnt give more, but we are classed as rural


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## WMaker (Sep 1, 2012)

Stravinsky said:


> We are 4 kms out of Oliva and all Movistar could give us was 0.5 Mb rural. They had no plans to upgrade. I must admit I dont know what the speeds are like down there, although someone was talking about 10 Mb the other day. Ive got a feeling that what you want wont be available around any of the places you mentioned. More likely more around Madrid, Barcelona etc
> 
> I ended up with a 2 MB wimax connection because MS couldnt give more, but we are classed as rural



I guess Oliva Nova is out of the question. Thank you everyone for your replies, I wouldn't thought that getting high speed Internet would be such a big problem in Spain. Currently where I live I have a 100/100 Mbps upload/download connection for about $10/month.

I've sent an e-mail to Movistar asking if they have any fiber services in Gandia, Oliva or Denia. If this is not available will think about ADSL/VDSL as an alternative. If anyone living in these cities and have an ADSL/ VDSL connection I would appreciate some feedback on these services. 

Thank you and have a great day!


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

WMaker said:


> I guess Oliva Nova is out of the question. Thank you everyone for your replies, I wouldn't thought that getting high speed Internet would be such a big problem in Spain. Currently where I live I have a 100/100 Mbps upload/download connection for about $10/month.
> 
> I've sent an e-mail to Movistar asking if they have any fiber services in Gandia, Oliva or Denia. If this is not available will think about ADSL/VDSL as an alternative. If anyone living in these cities and have an ADSL/ VDSL connection I would appreciate some feedback on these services.
> 
> Thank you and have a great day!



Oliva Nova????
Thats not Oliva you know, thats a golf complex about 4 kms or so away. I doubt VERY much if you would get anything approaching what you want there


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

When we wewre exploring moving here we had a few visits (well about 20) and we simply assumed internet (broadband) would be readily available. We were so worng. All of the agents we met, all of the landords all told us, internet no problem, broadband no problem. It turned out to be a massive problem and the first place we lived we got a max of 1 meg down and 56kb up. But normally we got 44kb down and 12 kb up. Useless. When we moved we were wise and made certain that the broadband company we wanted to use had coverage at the property. Now we are happy bunnies. Well at the moment...


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## FlorinB (May 21, 2013)

Hello, i`m in the same situation as the OP ... looking to move somewhere in Gandia with my wife (we're both 28) and our 1 year old baby.

I`m a freelance programmer/developer and a good internet connection is required as i will be working from home. (looking for a 10-20 Mbps connection at least).

Did anything change in the last 10 months (since the last reply) ? Is it possible to get this kind of connection anywhere in that area ?

Thanks in advance!

// Florin


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

FlorinB said:


> Hello, i`m in the same situation as the OP ... looking to move somewhere in Gandia with my wife (we're both 28) and our 1 year old baby.
> 
> I`m a freelance programmer/developer and a good internet connection is required as i will be working from home. (looking for a 10-20 Mbps connection at least).
> 
> ...


:welcome:

I don't know if internet connections have improved since then (I doubt it though) - but the red tape requirements for coming to live & work here have changed enormously................


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## Nugget_Hound (Jun 13, 2013)

If better internet was available I would have found at least 10 houses to look at when I go over in a few weeks time but it is very tricky as I want a rural area, there are some people advertising the services that you are after.

a 4g Service has just been launched in a few places in Spain 

Vodafone Brings 4G to Spain |

I think it would give you 60mb download and 15mb upload approx!


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## WMaker (Sep 1, 2012)

I was looking for a quality Internet for quite some time now. Looks like finding a broadband connection with around 20Mbps and at least 5Mbps upload is a real nightmare in Spain (unless you want to live in a big city, which I don't).

I've even contacted some of the ISP's from Spain asking for further info about their fiber services in certain smaller cities, but they haven't bothered to reply.

@FlorinB if you have some luck finding anything please let me know as well as I'm still interested. Thanks!

PS: 4G is not really an option for me as I do alot of download/upload traffic. (~600-800GB/month up/down)

@xabiachica - "- but the red tape requirements for coming to live & work here have changed enormously................"

Could you please provide some additional info on this? Thank you!


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## Don Felipe (Mar 19, 2013)

kalohi said:


> The only two ISP's that offer fiber in Spain are Movistar and ONO. You could go onto the Movistar and ONO websites and put in specific addresses to see if they are covered by fiber or not. But I suspect you will find that fiber is only available in the very urban areas. It isn't very wide spread here.


My advice is to do plenty of research outside of this forum. To put it diplomatically, you should consider contributors here similar to people you may speak to in a bar. Always check what is stated as fact. Google is your friend.

EG there is a fibre company in Barcelona called Adam


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## Don Felipe (Mar 19, 2013)

adamo punto es


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## Nugget_Hound (Jun 13, 2013)

600-800gb a month good luck with that my friend , I spoke to someone who runs a satellite internet company and they would shudder at that kind of useage.


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## FlorinB (May 21, 2013)

WMaker said:


> @FlorinB if you have some luck finding anything please let me know as well as I'm still interested. Thanks!


I did some research about the internet in Gandia and the best i could find is the 30Mbps / 1Mbps VDSL connection from Movistar. 

However it doesn't seem to be available everywhere, you need to check the coverage ... depending on where you will rent. (in some areas it shows only the 10 Mbps connection available). 

Not sure how accurate is their "coverage check" service either.

You can go to the movistar website and try different addresses.

-> Autonomo (tab) -> Tienda (menu) -> Consulta tu cobertura (link) -> Consulta por dirección... (link)

At this address for example, it shows that the 30 Mbps connection is available:

'Calle Daoiz y Velarde, 10, 46730 Venecia, Spain'



WMaker said:


> @xabiachica - "- but the red tape requirements for coming to live & work here have changed enormously................"
> 
> Could you please provide some additional info on this? Thank you!


I think he means that the "residency requirements" have changed, since last year.

www[dot]gov[dot]uk/residency-requirements-in-spain (i can't post links yet)

Plus that we (as Romanians), require work permit, to work in Spain.

However, you can get both residency and "work permit" by becoming an Autonomo (self-employed) ... the monthly tax is around 250 Euro from what i know.

---

Forgot to mention that by paying this tax you get some benefits as well (health insurance for you + family members / pension / unemployment)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

FlorinB said:


> I think he means that the "residency requirements" have changed, since last year.
> 
> www[dot]gov[dot]uk/residency-requirements-in-spain (i can't post links yet)
> 
> ...


yes that's exactly what I mean

can you really get a work visa by becoming autónomo? I didn't realise that was possible - I always understood that any resident & work visas had to be obtained before arriving... unless Romania is a different case

this seems to say that Spain isn't issuing work visas to Romanians atm Bulgaria and Romania - Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion - European Commission

the 250€ is actually not tax - & is also a minimum figure (actually iirc it's higher now) - it's a National Insurance payment which goes towards a pension & healthcare - you'd be paying income tax on top of that


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## FlorinB (May 21, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> yes that's exactly what I mean
> 
> can you really get a work visa by becoming autónomo? I didn't realise that was possible - I always understood that any resident & work visas had to be obtained before arriving... unless Romania is a different case
> 
> this seems to say that Spain isn't issuing work visas to Romanians atm


Yes basically by becoming an Autonomo a 'work permit' is not needed anymore & we can obtain residency as well.



xabiachica said:


> the 250€ is actually not tax - & is also a minimum figure (actually iirc it's higher now) - it's a National Insurance payment which goes towards a pension & healthcare - you'd be paying income tax on top of that


Yes you're right.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

FlorinB said:


> Yes basically by becoming an Autonomo a 'work permit' is not needed anymore & we can obtain residency as well.


 That could be a very expensive work permit if you dont have or make much money - what happens if you stop paying????

Jo xxx


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## FlorinB (May 21, 2013)

jojo said:


> That could be a very expensive work permit if you dont have or make much money - what happens if you stop paying????
> 
> Jo xxx


Yes it depends on the business.

Most likely it doesn't have worth to become self-employed for the "work permit" itself ... considering there aren't many local jobs available in the current situation anyways.

However if running an online business or doing freelance work, to work legally you would either have to become self-employed (autonomo), either to create a company. 

And if you don't need to hire other people, autonomo would cost less overall than having a company i guess.


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