Just though it might be an idea to have some sort of checklist of stuff to have before moving to Spain,as it would seem that a lot of people fail owing to not having prepared thoroughly,and for any newcomer to BE it can be a trying process trawling through the various threads.
Any contributions form "old hand" gratefully accepted
Anyway heres my tuppence worth

1;LANGUAGE.BEFORE NOT AFTER MOVING TO SPAIN(In capitals as its importance cannot be stressed enough!).It will get you better jobs in a tough market.

2;Viable means of making a living,either employed or self employed.

Cant think of anything else at min

I think it should be split into a couple of sections.


What you need to do once you have decided to go to Spain and what you need when you are in Spain.

Enough money "stashed" to get home should needs must.

Compile a list of documents required to allow to you to rent/buy somewhere and start work

An understanding of your social and medical rights and what you need to do to access them.

An idea of the area you intend to go to and that your chosen career fits with the area

If starting own business sufficient capital to cover a years running costs

Excellent post
As an aside,I've found a company does online NIE numbers.What you have to do is give them power of attorney,they will sort out the NIE,and send it to your selected notary in GB
Obviously it costs an hell of a lot more than simply doing it yourself,but if your lazy like me.......

Spanish embassy in London does NIE's you jut need a Spanish addy to post to.

It amazes me that people even think of moving to a country like Spain without a basic grasp of the language.

Forget about getting a job - how would you even book an appointment with the hairdressers?? Plus get the hand actions wrong and you could end up coming out with a punk hair-do!

If you're in pain, how do you ask where the Centro Salud is and then tell the nice doctor where it hurts? (Of course, our doctor does speak some English - he knows the words "Thursday" and "Chair" )

How will you discuss your child's progress with their teacher at the parents' evening? How would you help them with their homework?

Of course the biggest benefit of learning Spanish is that you get to meet such lovely people. For me, being able to say something funny in a funny situation that makes our Spanish neighbours laugh gives me a really great feeling inside. Yes, they probably think we're the mad family from Reino Unido - but at least we're making an effort.

OK, lets have a go shall we?

Once you have decided to move to Spain.

Start Saving.........I read somewhere that it will take about 700 euros a month to live in an area outside a city or developed coastal area ( I know it varies!) so keep that in mind when you start to work out what you want to save.

Learn some Spanish...........I'm not saying that you need to be fluent, but some rudimentary and basic Spanish will help, if you can at least sound like you are making the effort then you can manage, people will warm to you and believe me, it will come.

Decide on an area...........Now this all depends on what you want out of your time in Spain and where you prefer to be, and to be honest the only way you can sort that out is by renting in an area for a bit.

Your UK home............If you are lucky enough to own your own house then now is the time to think about your home. Do you want to sell it? Would you be better off keeping it and renting it out in case things don't go well, or would you like to free up the assets so that you give yourself a better start in Spain? If you are selling now is the time to get your house in order, literally. Get it redecorated, have the garden blitzed and generally make it so that someone HAS to buy it.


Kids?................Sort out if the kids need to be put into state or private school, both have their own merits and further discussion can be sought regarding this.

A Sky TV account, and UK billing address.

Just an idea but why don't you guys & Gals who already live here in different parts of Spain let others know your true experiences and thoughts on day to day living in your particular areas.
Employment, schooling, housing, medical requirements could be a few headings to start with.
I am sure there must be quite a few people looking in to moving to your particular area for one reason or another. So why not give them a little advice on where you live and the pros & cons etc.
Like I said just an idea and before someone asks me to start the ball rolling, I would probably need JDR's permmission so I would prefer someone else who lives near my neck of the woods to do that for me.

Thanks for all the above, I'm finding this tread very helpful. I also am a little horrified at the amount of ex-pats unwilling to learn the language and expect others to adapt to them. There are several expats I have met who haven't a word of spanish and use English trades people for everything! I also find it strange that a lot of expats don't bother reading or watching any spanish news and have no idea of what is going on in their adopted country, but can tell you all about the problems heathrow T5 are having!!!

I too look on with horror at this. The people we bought our house from had been in Spain for over 7 years and still spoke damn all Spanish. How can you integrate, how can you function and above all how can you appreciate the culture and the country without some Spanish?

The problem is,is that these sort of people dont want to intergrate,they want GB with sun!
Actually have neighbor like this in Nucia,has lived in Spain for 15yrs,uses the healthcare system for Cancer etc etc.One morning I made the mistake of speaking to him in Spanish,ess hello good morning,(had been on the phone to our solicitor,brain hadnt switched back to English),only to get a mouthfull of abuse,along the lines of "I've already told you lot I dont speak Spanish,for F***S sake!",Being only 18 at the time I responded in kind and told him to f off back to his own country!:curse:

Expats are welcome in my book,so long as they intergrate.Intergration doesnt mean they have to give up on GB entirely,just fit in

So, following on from my post...........


Tax Liability..............Once you have decided to make the move you need to go down the route of informing the Tax office in the UK of your intention to move to Spain. I believe this needs to be done regardless, but I'm sure someone in the know will be able to let you know.



Bank........................This can now be done at almost any time, but a bank account has to be sorted out. Many people have their own recommendations, and preferences, but I would personally go with Mitzy's suggestion of Solbank.



Documents................Its a good idea to photocopy, in duplicate, all of your documents, health forms, insurance docs, driving license, etc, that way even if you lose the originals there is always a hard copy.



NIE..................there have been a wave of discussions about this, and some will tell you to apply in person, others will say to get a Gestor to do it (probably the most expensive option) or even doing it from the UK.........each to their own, but the base line is that you need it, there is no getting around it, its an essential.

How about a basic understanding of Spain, Spanish history, it's culture and it's people?

I could never imagine living in a foreigh land without such...or at least enough curiosity to WANT TO learn a bit about the place.

Unless you just want to be the stereotypical English jackass who has no desire to learn anything and wants to rely on people serving him in English (Hint to those such people...the Empire wnt down in flames quite a few years ago).

Yes I think living that sort of lifestyle in a foreign country expresses a certain contempt for the country and nation concerned.
However,pleasingly most Brits I've met in Spain (with the notable exception of my neighbor),do seem to have an interest in Spain and the the Spanish,and are often pretty apolgetic about their levels of Spanish
Think will try to collate what we have so far,and see what people think