Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

Hello all, sorry this maybe a long message.

I am starting to think about retirement and where to live, Firstly a little background, I'm a triple citizen and one of those is an EU country so I think I'm ok on visa ect. I currently live in the states but lived and worked in the UK before that, so I have an understanding of what moving to another country can entail - yes I would have to learn Spanish before I move and that would be a challenge for me (I have what I call a scientific brain and not an arts brain so languages are difficult for me). I have lived in the states for 22 years now so its not an easy descion to make for me but my family are all in the UK and we are all getting older so maybe I should be closer. My mum died during my flight home to see her which i dreaded would happen.I don't want to move back to the UK so that is why i'm thinking of southern europe.

It's fine reading all the websites but they just give a general view of things not the nitty gritty. So I kind of have some questions, I would be very grateful for any answers.

1) Whats the average cost of car insurance and does it go on the type (engine size) of the car.
2) whats the cost of house insurance both buildings and contents. Mine went up by 50% this year and I live in a house made of wood
3) How are houses heated/hot water - electric, gas or oil and what is the monthly cost
4) What is the cost of health insurance - I know i will have to get private insurance as I have never paid into the Spanish system, which i don't have a problem with,I actually think its the right way to do it.
5) Is it easy to convert to a Spanish driving leisence and what age can you drive upto without someone saying you are unfit to drive - you can just keep renewing it in the states, thats why Florida has so many bad drivers
6) What is an average weekly grocery shop like and how much does it cost.
7) What is the bread like - I know this kind of sounds stupid but the bread in the states is disgusting, very sweet and never crispy

I'm not looking to see if I think the grass is greener on the other side, it's not going to be, every country has its problems. I also don't have the I liked my holiday I could live there attitude, the last holiday I had in Spain was in the 80's.

thanks in advance for your answers.

Brendan

Re: Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

That's a lot of questions in one post, I won't attempt to answer the ones about car insurance or driving licenses as I have no knowledge of either.

House insurance - obviously it's going to depend on the size and type of the property and the location. I live in a flat and my home insurance now costs just over €200 per year, renewal isn't due until April but last year's increase was 7%.

Domestic heating - it varies a lot. Gas central heating is much more common in areas of the country where winters are cold (and in larger conurbations) than in warmer Southern areas or in the countryside. Some rural properties use oil for central heating. Woodburning stoves are also fairly common and effective. Butane gas heaters are also used as they are cheap to run but can cause condensation if properties aren't ventilated properly. Our flat in Andalucia is all electric, we use inverter air conditioning for heating but don't have central heating. Our total spend on electricity in 2023 was just under €700.

Health insurance - cost depends on your age when taking out the policy and whether you have any pre existing conditions. For someone in their 50s with no pre existing conditions I'd estimate around €1,000 a year but to register as a resident, even if you have an EU country passport and don't need a visa, you need a policy with no co-payments or exclusions. Insurance companies will almost always exclude all but trivial pre existing conditions. And few policies include the cost of medications (a few offer partial reimbursement but only up to a fairly low annual limit. If you are retiring here, though, and will never be entitled to an S1 form from a country you receive a pension from (the S1 form confirms that the issuing country will pay Spain for your public healthcare) then if you had to rely on private health insurance into old age it could get very expensive. After being legally resident in Spain for at least one year there is a scheme called the Convenio Especial which allows you to pay into the public healthcare system. This currently costs €60 per person per month if aged under 65 and €157 per person per month if aged 65 or over. Any and all pre existing conditions are covered, but the cost of medications are not so could be costly for someone over 65 if they need expensive medication.

Grocery shopping cost - impossible to say what an average grocery shop would be as it depends entirely on size of household and individual preferences. Your best bet is to look at the prices of what you might typically buy on an online supermarket site - here's one from Carrefour which has stores all over Spain and also sells electronic appliances and some furniture so you can look at those as well.

Carrefour: Ofertas en Electrodomésticos, Moda, Alimentación, Informática..

Bread - a wide variety is available. Nasty white sliced bread is certainly available in supermarkets but there are other more palatable options on sale as well, most of the bigger supermarkets have instore bakeries and any town will have a good number of small independent baker's shops (often open 7 days a week), there are also so-called "artisan" bakers selling things like sourdough bread, at higher prices.

Re: Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

If your driving licence is USA then I think you can drive in Spain for 6 months and after that you will need to take a Spanish driving test. I know a couple from the USA and they both had to take Spanish driving lessons and test.

Re: Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

If you passed your driving test in UK then that entitles you to 'exchange' it for a Spanish one, DGT will check your entitlement with DVLA so you shouldn't need a physical UK licence to hand in.

Probably best to not even mention a US licence, it cannot be exchanged and can only create confusion.

Re: Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

Thank you for your answers, these two figures kind of made me laugh to myself

The home insurance is so cheap, my building and contents cost me $2500 for the year, I don't live in a big house in an exclusive area, infact I live on a main road not in the nicest of cities. I live in New England close to Boston so the cost of living is getting ridiculose and my wages are certainly not going up that much.

Again the health insurance is cheap, depending on who you can get to insure you it can cost $1000 a month, I'm lucky and get mine through my employer but still pay $200 a month plus because I live in Massachesettes and you don't have the right insurance you get to pay extra tax when you fill in your tax forms, something like $2500 for the year. Even when you reach 65 over here you have to pay for the government Medicare again about $150 a month.

Again thank you for your answers

Re: Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

Hi Brendan
I can answer the easy question about bread.
It comes in all sorts of sizes, shapes & textures. Much is similar to the French style, baguette, but each region also has its own. Most is crusty. Yes, there is white sliced, similar to the English "Mother's Pride", but there are also artisan bakers who produce a wide range, such as "integral" as its Spanish name is (brown, wholemeal etc). It's always an important element in restaurants and bars.

Probably your biggest challenge, apart from learning Spanish, will be deciding where to live.
We live in the Basque country, (retired) because my wife is from here. There are not many expats, so that might be an important factor for you. We do know 2-3 American families along the coast and our son rears turkeys for their annual Thanksgiving! Our village has 7000 inhabitants and I'm the only Brit!!
Annual rainfall is about 1200litres/m² (approx 50inches). Much greener than southern Spain, though we do get hot weather, sometimes touching 40ºC (104ºF). I'm afraid you'll need to get used to centigrade & the metric system, but it's easy really.

Property prices in this area are generally more expensive than other parts of Spain. In our village a 3 bedroom flat with garage is around €300-350,000. Property is cheaper further west.
Spain has one of the highest % people living in apartments in Europe, over 60%.

Best wishes for your future.

Food is of great importance here. San Sebastian is the mecca for food lovers & it's ¾hour from here. France is an hour's drive from us. Useful for a change.

Public transport is excellent. Bilbao airport serves a huge number of destinations & Britain is about 1½ hour's flight away.

Re: Thinking of retiring in Spain
 

Maybe you could rent somewhere and live a few months in Spain as a tourist and then decide, instead of jumping straight in and maybe finding out later there are things you don't like.