This is why I and others said early on in this thread that it's very difficult to give Wilf any meaningful figures to go on, because everybody's bills are so different based on what appliances they have, property sizes, etc.

Even during the last few months when additional charges for retrospective price increases have been included, I've never had an electricity bill higher than €42 a month - between €30 and €35 is more the norm. But I don't have a pool or air conditioning, I don't have an electric oven, hob or a dishwasher. I use bottled gas for all cooking and most heating, with a small amount of supplementary electric heating (bathroom and occasionally in bedrooms for guests). We have an electric water heater which is on a timer, on for a couple of hours a couple of times a day. Our total spend on bottled gas is around €140 for a year.

So for me, utility bills are considerably lower in Spain than I paid in the UK. When I left there in 2006 I was paying £49 per month for gas and electricity on a combined tariff, no idea what it would be now.

lynne. thanks for that. my fuel tariff is £80.00 A MONTH, WATER 35.00 A MONTH, COUNCIL TAX 130.00 A MONTH. ALSO GOOD ADVICE FROM ALL FORUM MEMBERS.
I am flying out in january for a week or so to check things out.

Wilf, when you have decided which town in Spain you would like to settle in, one thing that it would be good to check out is when the catastral value of properties was last updated (that's the equivalent of what used to be the rateable value in the UK). If it hasn't been revised for a few years, you need to be aware that when it eventually is, the IBI bills (like Council Tax in UK) would go up considerably. Lots of people have been complaining in the last couple of years that their IBI bills have gone up by a large amount.

My IBI bill is now €519 a year (it was about €260 when we bought the house in 2003). But the Council brought in a discount scheme after our catastral values were updated, so I get a reduction of €200 on that, making €319 to pay. I was paying £90 a month in England.

People who live on urbanisations or in apartments also have to pay Community Fees which can be quite pricey.

But if you plan to rent, IBI bills and community fees are normally paid by the landlord so you wouldn't need to worry about that. Just make sure you don't get stuck for them!