Internos

Hi. This is my first post & my question is one you’ve probably had a million times before but I need to do research before we make a decision to move to Spain. I would like to know what is the cost of utilities? Electric Water etc & what is the equivalent of council tax please?

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst myself and BEVS moderate Europe. Please read the Site Rules Site Rules | British Expatriate Community adhere to them so that the site runs smoothly. Moderators are there to ensure that the rules of BE are maintained. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

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Rosemary

missile

As you suggested this topic has been discussed many many times before.

Just like in the UK cost per unit is set by the utility company and available for you to view online.

The cost will depend on what your use is likely to be.
Which utility company/ies?
How many kW?
What potentia do you require?
How many litres water?
What type, size and cost of property?

You don't know(?) and we cannot guesstimate for you.

I would suggest you budget for whatever you currently pay in the UK. Some utilities will cost more and some less. The total will be similar to whatever you currently pay for a similar property in the UK.

emsr2d2

As far as electricity is concerned, I have a two-storey holiday home in Blanca, Murcia and we had the ground floor rewired last September. Our electricity is supplied by Iberdrola, we have a potencia of just over 3kw. We haven't even visited it yet since the rewire (we've waited 18 months to have the water reconnected!)
The only people who have been in are builders doing some renovation and they've only been there for a total of about 6 days since September.
Our bills have been just over €30 per month which is made up almost entirely of the standing charge. I think our lowest one in the last 6 months was €29.25 and the highest was €33.50 (that was the month the builders spent most time there).
So you're certainly looking at a basic charge of around €30 a month even if you're not there and no electricity is being used.

I read somewhere else that some of the electricity companies, a while back, lowered their usage rates but put the standing charge up, specifically so that people with holiday homes would still have to contribute quite a lot every month even if they weren't there.

flotsum

We rent a flat in town the water bill for 4 people is approximately 40 euros per month BUT we do our washing in our house in the country so my guess is that if we used only town water the cost would be about 60 60 65 per month. Some towns have the rubbish collection bill as part of the water supply but our town does not and we have to pay 90 euros per year for that.
If you live in the countryside and are on non drinkable water the cost is significantly less for water.

missile

You transport dirty washing to save electricity?

flotsum

No to save water. We are in the country every morning working in our gardens ( it's very close) the grey water from the washing is used as irrigation for trees etc.

missile

Sorry, I did mean save water. Modern washing machines are very efficient and use little water. However every little helps and if you are going anyway, it is not a hassle for you.