Hello
My husband and I are thinking of buying a property and living full time in Spain. Could anyone give us some information on the current sitiuation in Spain as regards the cost of living exspenses given the current climate with the Euro.
We have checked out properties that are for sale and they are very affordable but obviously we know it doesn't stop there. Any info on Council Tax, household bills plus everyday living ie. food prices would be appreciated.
We have recently been over to Turkey and Bulgaria to check a few things out but we thought we would also cover Spain as another option.
I look forward to hearing from anybody who could help me gather any info.
THANKS ANGELA

hi

some parts of Spain are more expensive than others, and a lot depends on how you want to live - but on the whole, day to day living costs are pretty much the same as in the UK now

'council tax' would generally be a lot cheaper - but electricity & gas costs have increased exponentially here over the past couple of years & I believe are at least as expensive as in the UK now, if not more so

telephone & internet costs are WAY more expensive than in the UK

overall food is somewhat cheaper - but clothes more expensive

so swings & roundabouts really

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

our council tax has gone up by 25% this year, but has doubled in the past three years, as previously said it depends where in Spain you are thinking of living, Car taxes are different in each area as set by the local council.
I would agree with internet is much more expensive, I think the most expensive in Europe, better than it was though

We dont have high heating bills as due to living where we do in winter it rarely goes below 10dg at coldest, but Spain does have cold winters, not all sunshine and as said electric is expensive, we buy the butano bottles for gas at just over 16€ not much of Spain is piped gas.

So best bet is to decide an area then people will be able to give you more of an idea.

what a good excuse for exploratory holidays, just remember that Spain is a Huge country compared to UK, many more diverse local characteristics.
you will need to work out where you feel at home the most and go for it.

just remember that many houses/flats don't have the UK's central heating, they have concreted and tiled floors which are supposed to keep it cool in summer - just so damned cold in winter, and carpets are very expensive.
many popular places on the CDS strip are almost a mile high above sea level, windy deathtrap roads, which has put us off some very nice properties.

but if its what you want, go for it, treat the whole thing in the same way as you would in the UK, investigate, check it out summer and winter, is it right for you.
(we have a nice rental, low priced, overlooks the park. In the summer they have late night movies and dances and live entertainment until 3am Thurs to Sat. The main access road to the co-op olive processing plant runs by the house, so tractors from 4am to 11pm in the picking/processing season.)

Thats because property prices have dropped by 20% or a lot more in some areas and the forecast is for prices to continue to drop, this years €200k house is next years €150k house. To be honest you really don't want to buy for a couple of years, go and rent; rental prices have dropped a lot too.

Sound advice, We moved here in May and are currently renting, I certainly wouldn't buy in the current climate,

Angela, your "very affordable" houses would not get a seal of approval from a UK surveyor, no foundations, no dpc, no cavity wall, no insulation (although it is required by Spanish building codes)

No cavity walls or insulation? It was certainly put in our place when we had it built around 2004

Likewise - our place was built in 2002 and is well-insulated as standard.

have a part finished property 2 doors down from us and a pair of semi's directly opposite us, one almost finished - but then he said he has only been building them for 6 years.

none of these, and others I have seen around the area have more than one brick wall, no inner cavity wall, and unless they are waiting for the nosy guiri to finish walking past, have no cavity infill.

perhaps things are different round your way, perhaps it is because they are ostensiably building for themselves, but....I can only state what I have seen.

Due to Spaniards arf arsed way of doing things, generally the outside block wall is built, and then later the inner wall added. So unless the wall that is built has already been screeded, the chances are it will be done later