# cost of living in Spain



## ken&kate (May 30, 2013)

We are planning to sell up and retire to Spain in 2015.
We are looking for advice on the most practical area to buy property, also the cost of living in Spain, electric, gas, water, council tax, phone, T.V. etc etc 
are there any hidden cost we need to look out for.
Thanks Ken & Kate


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

ken&kate said:


> We are planning to sell up and retire to Spain in 2015.
> We are looking for advice on the most practical area to buy property, also the cost of living in Spain, electric, gas, water, council tax, phone, T.V. etc etc
> are there any hidden cost we need to look out for.
> Thanks Ken & Kate


The cost of living in Spain isn't fixed and finite. it will depend on your preferred lifestyle: the kind of house or apartment you buy, the area you choose to live in...just as in the UK, in fact.

It's no longer cheap to live in any part of Spain so estimate your expenses at roughly the same level as in the UK. Hidden extras could include health care and if you bring a UK plated car, changing it to Spanish plates.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

The Canary islands are cheaper than the U.K. or other parts of Spain, with a more temperate climate we burn less fuel therefore no heating bills.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

I couldn't live as well as a pensioner in the UK as I can in Spain, but it depends on your lifestyle.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

A good "rule of thumb" is whatever it costs you to live in the UK - use the same figure, but take the £ sign away and put a € sign infront instead! That gives you a rough guide, give or take.....!

That said, it very much depends on your lifestyle

Jo xxx


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

jojo said:


> A good "rule of thumb" is whatever it costs you to live in the UK - use the same figure, but take the £ sign away and put a € sign infront instead! That gives you a rough guide, give or take.....!
> 
> That said, it very much depends on your lifestyle
> 
> Jo xxx


and *where* you choose to live.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We have had several visitors from UK over in the past month and all of them are staggered by how cheap everything is here. Of course, they didn't pay for electricity or gas etc but they were amazed at food prices and much other stuff. I took them to a Mercadona and pointed out a decent (frozen) leg of lamb for €7. They had leg of lamb just before they came out, cost? £24...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thrax said:


> We have had several visitors from UK over in the past month and all of them are staggered by how cheap everything is here. Of course, they didn't pay for electricity or gas etc but they were amazed at food prices and much other stuff. I took them to a Mercadona and pointed out a decent (frozen) leg of lamb for €7. They had leg of lamb just before they came out, cost? £24...


I know people who pay through the nose for a tiny frozen 'leg of lamb' from Iceland - until I tell them about the Mercadona shoulder of lamb for about 7€, as you say

& it's lovely...


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

*costs*



ken&kate said:


> We are planning to sell up and retire to Spain in 2015.
> We are looking for advice on the most practical area to buy property, also the cost of living in Spain, electric, gas, water, council tax, phone, T.V. etc etc
> are there any hidden cost we need to look out for.
> Thanks Ken & Kate



Her's a few:
Accountants costs for financial advice/income tax returns/asset declaration(if applicable)
Interpreter may be necessary at health centre if not fluent in Spanish
Licences for all work done in your house and garden
Not hidden cost, but if you travel back to uk regularly to see family, lots of money disappears.


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## JoCatalunya (Mar 16, 2011)

thrax said:


> We have had several visitors from UK over in the past month and all of them are staggered by how cheap everything is here. Of course, they didn't pay for electricity or gas etc but they were amazed at food prices and much other stuff. I took them to a Mercadona and pointed out a decent (frozen) leg of lamb for €7. They had leg of lamb just before they came out, cost? £24...


Try buying a decent leg of lamb here for 7 euros and you will be sorely disappointed. The cheapest in our Mercadona is 14 euros and is so scrawny as to feed one person alone, not a family.

Strange how things are so different in Catalunya in comparison to Spain. Mercadona surely is the same shop, selling the same stuff, but I will be jiggered if we pay the same prices it would seem.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

*food cost*



JoCatalunya said:


> Try buying a decent leg of lamb here for 7 euros and you will be sorely disappointed. The cheapest in our Mercadona is 14 euros and is so scrawny as to feed one person alone, not a family.
> 
> Strange how things are so different in Catalunya in comparison to Spain. Mercadona surely is the same shop, selling the same stuff, but I will be jiggered if we pay the same prices it would seem.


I have seen adverts on tv for uk supermarkets, showing lamb, beef, steaks etc at far better prices than I have ever seen in Spain. The lamb I've seen in Mercadona has been scrawny, mostly bone.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

extranjero said:


> I have seen adverts on tv for uk supermarkets, showing lamb, beef, steaks etc at far better prices than I have ever seen in Spain. The lamb I've seen in Mercadona has been scrawny, mostly bone.


I buy a _paletilla - _shoulder - usually costs 6€ to 8€ - it's New Zealand Lamb & when cooked slowly in the oven the meat just falls off the bone - there's more than enough for 4 hungry people - the 8€ ones would feed 6, easily


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

thrax said:


> We have had several visitors from UK over in the past month and all of them are staggered by how cheap everything is here. Of course, they didn't pay for electricity or gas etc but they were amazed at food prices and much other stuff. I took them to a Mercadona and pointed out a decent (frozen) leg of lamb for €7. They had leg of lamb just before they came out, cost? £24...


I was in the UK recently and a leg of lamb I bought was £24 and it wasn't the biggest. We have a local butcher in our Spanish village and I can buy a large leg for about €17. I guess that is expensive to most Spaniards. In the supermarket in the UK they were selling Campo Viejo wine for £8.29 a bottle, but in our local shop I can get the same for €3.50.
Yes, electricity isn't cheap and gas is on the rise, but with the low local and council rates and the same for our car tax, I know where I prefer to live.


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## fourgotospain (May 4, 2009)

Having been back in the UK for a couple of months now, I would say that compared to the northern Costa Blanca, general groceries are a little cheaper maybe - but then I buy a lot of 'value/essential' brands - toiletries are cheaper, medicines are MUCH cheaper, but booze is WAY more expensive. Frozen NZ lamb leg is about £8 a kilo, so maybe £12 for a family of four. Fuel bills are pretty much the same and I have actually been properly warm this winter. Council tax is much much more here. Running a car is pretty much the same - tax, insurance and fuel are now similar. No chinese bazaars, but I do now have Primark, Poundland and ebay!


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## christiansenn (May 30, 2013)

Which area in Costa del Sol can you recommend?


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

As it happens I bought a 2kg leg of NZ lamb in Iceland last week, £10, Fresh UK lamb is double that, Shoulder lamb is cheaper than lamb chops these days. Generally UK meat can be a lot cheaper than in Spain and of course the range is much better UK side (including groceries). You'll find Spain cheaper for a lot of the fresh vegetables/salads though. Tesco were selling large water melons and pineapples at £1 each...begs the question how much the growers get paid.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

christiansenn said:


> Which area in Costa del Sol can you recommend?


You know, it's very difficult to reply to questions like yours without knowing more personal details.
For example: are you looking for a city, a large town, a small town or a village - there are still a few sleepy unspoiled villages on theCdS, I live in one...
Do you enjoy night life, plenty of restaurants, bars, would you prefer to be near or even in a Swedish community, will you be relying on public transport....and most important of all, your budget, because property and rental prices vary a great deal along the CdS.

Torremolinos and Estepona are both fairly large towns on the CdS, barely an hour's drive apart, but very different in character. Torremolinos is very touristy, loads of Brits, shops, bars, nightlife whereas Esteponsa is quiet, Spanish, not much to do at night after dinner...

I prefer Estepona


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Up here, a fresh leg of great Burgos-raised lamb is between 9-12€ a kg. 

I am always shocked when I go down south of how cheap things are, especially houses. Then again, up here, if you go about 20 mins into the mountains, prices drop exponentially too. Here's the "coffee index" for this region: 

Bilbao metro area: 1.30 - 1.40€ / coffee
Cantabrian coastal cities: 1.20€
Cantabrian mountain villages: 1.00€

Although I'm going to spend more money on gas to get up to my new house, I'm also going to save a lot of money on local taxes, coffee, etc.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

christiansenn said:


> Which area in Costa del Sol can you recommend?


Anywhere in the region known as La Axarquia.


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## christiansenn (May 30, 2013)

ok nice need to check it out.


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## wencra (Oct 12, 2010)

hi all
on the subject of cost of living can someone clear something up for us, we had a look at a spanish comparrison site for the price of electricity - comparador de ofertas de energia (not sure if I can post the link to the site)
it came up with a FORMULA LIGHT HOMES 
Annual Amount 1st year 608,30€
Annual Amount 2nd year 610,37€
Valid only for domestic consumers
Additional services including - None 
Contracted power of 3.30 kW Electricity Consumption 3000 kWh/year
is the amount 608.30 the total cost per year? or are there energy usage on top?
does anyone know what the 'Additional services' are and if they are worth having?
is that price average as it seems about half of what we are paying in the uk at the moment
thanks


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