Moving to Spain from the UK

Last updated 2026-09-14

Moving to Spain from the UK changed after Brexit: British citizens are now third-country nationals and need a visa to stay beyond 90 days in any 180-day period. This page pulls together the figures that matter for the move — the visa routes, what living in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia costs against a UK baseline, what the move itself costs, and the healthcare, tax and setup basics. Everything below is presented as figures with their source and date. It is information only, not a recommendation or an assessment of your circumstances.

The practical shape of a move from the UK to Spain has three parts. First, the immigration route: which long-stay visa fits the way you earn or the reason you are joining someone already there, and what income or documents that route asks for. Second, the money: not just the one-off visa fee, but the cost of shipping a household, a first year of private health cover, the deposits a Spanish landlord expects upfront, flights and — for many families — moving a pet. Third, the ongoing cost of living once you have arrived, which differs sharply between Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia and against a UK baseline. Each of those three parts has its own section below, and each links down to a dedicated page with the full detail and per-figure citations.

Spain visa routes for UK citizens

Four routes cover most people moving from the UK. The table shows who each is for, the income or requirements involved, rough processing time, government cost and whether it renews. Figures are the current published thresholds — the exact evidence accepted can vary by consulate.

Full documents, where to apply, renewal and the route to permanent residence and citizenship are on the Spain visas page. To compare the four routes against your own income and employment situation, use the Spain visa route explorer.

A few points sit behind the numbers in that table. The Non-Lucrative Visa income threshold is pegged to a multiple of Spain's IPREM benchmark, so it moves with that figure; the amount rises for each dependent added to the application. The Digital Nomad Visa threshold is set as a multiple of the national minimum wage (SMI) and is expressed as an annual figure — the monthly figure is quoted differently across sources because it can be divided over twelve or fourteen payments. The Highly Qualified Professional work route depends on a Spanish employer's job offer meeting a salary floor, which is why it is the common route for professionals rather than a general labour-market permit. Family reunification is a two-step process: an in-Spain authorisation followed by a consular visa, which is why its total processing time runs longer than the other routes. Government fees are only part of the picture — apostilles, sworn translations and legal help add several hundred euros to most applications.

Cost of living: Spain vs the UK

The table compares typical monthly costs in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia against a UK national-average baseline. All figures are in euros; the UK baseline is converted from sterling at the rate noted in the source. These are crowd-sourced Numbeo figures — useful for direction, not a personal budget.

Regional variation, three sample monthly budgets and a fuller breakdown are on the cost-of-living page.

Read across the table rather than to a single headline. Rent is the line that moves most between the three cities, with Barcelona and Madrid sitting above Valencia, while the UK national-average baseline is measured across the whole country rather than London — which matters, because comparing a Spanish city to London specifically would flatter Spain. Utilities and eating out are closer between the countries than rent is, and public transport is one area where the Spanish cities are consistently lower. Groceries are shown as a representative single-person basket and are approximate. Because these are crowd-sourced figures converted from sterling at a single dated exchange rate, they are best used to see the direction and rough scale of the difference, not to build a precise personal budget — the currency section below covers the transfer cost that sits on top of any lump sum you move.

What it actually costs to move

Beyond the visa fee, the real cost of the move is dominated by shipping your belongings, a first year of private health insurance, and rental deposits paid upfront. The lines below are typical published ranges; the total is an indicative composite for a family move.

• Removals / shipping£4,500–£7,500 (full 3-bed shipped); ~£3,500–£5,500 if driven via ferry/Eurotunnel
• Visa & residence-card feesUK reciprocity visa fee ≈ £516 (non-lucrative) / up to £719 (digital nomad) + £14.85 BLS charge + ~€16–22 TIE card, per person
• First-year private health insurance€600–€4,500/year per person (visa-compliant private health cover); ~€50–€375/month
• Rental deposits1 month fianza (legal minimum) + up to 2 months' additional guarantee → up to 3 months' rent upfront
• Flights~£20–£120 one-way per person (London–Madrid); avg ~£100–£110
• Pet transport€300–€3,000+ per pet (dog); air freight up to £8,000 for large animals
• Realistic total (family, all-in)~£6,000–£15,000+ all-in for a family move (removals + visas + first-year insurance + rental deposits + flights + pets)

Source: per-line official and provider figures — see the notes in the data source. Figures as of 2026-09-14. For a personalised estimate based on your household size and chosen city, use the Spain relocation cost estimator.

The two lines that surprise people most are insurance and deposits. Visa-compliant private health cover is a mandatory upfront cost for most routes and is priced mainly by age, so an older applicant's first-year premium can be several times a younger one's. Spanish rental deposits combine a legally-fixed one month's fianza with up to two further months of guarantee, so up to three months' rent can be due before you get the keys. Removals dominate the one-off cost of a household move and vary with volume, region and post-Brexit customs handling; driving belongings over by ferry or Eurotunnel is often cheaper than shipping a full container. Pet transport ranges enormously by animal size and method, and because dogs face restrictions flying into the UK many owners use road or ferry routes instead. Flights themselves are the smallest line for most people. The total shown is an indicative composite for a family — a single person moving light sits at the bottom of the range.

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Healthcare

Whether you use Spain's public health system or private insurance depends on your residence route. UK State Pensioners resident in Spain can use the S1 form, under which the UK funds their state healthcare in Spain. Most other routes, including the Non-Lucrative Visa, require visa-compliant private health insurance, which typically costs ~€50–€375/month per person (€600–€4,500/year), age-driven.

Public-system access by visa type, the S1 process and private-cost ranges are on the healthcare page.

Spain's public system is well regarded, but access is not automatic on arrival — it follows from your residence status and how you register. Workers and the self-employed who pay into Spanish social security are covered through it. Pensioners drawing a UK State Pension can transfer entitlement via the S1 form, which the UK funds. People on routes that do not give public access — the Non-Lucrative Visa being the common example — must hold full private cover with no co-payments and no waiting periods to satisfy the visa, and that same policy becomes the first-year insurance line in the move-cost section above. Private premiums are driven largely by age, so the same policy costs very different amounts for a thirty-year-old and a sixty-five-year-old.

Tax residency

Spain applies a 183-day rule: as a general rule, a person is treated as Spanish tax resident in a calendar year if they spend more than 183 days in Spain during that year. Other tests, such as where a person's main economic interests sit, can also make someone resident. This is stated as a rule — it is not an assessment of anyone's individual position. Spanish tax residents are taxed on worldwide income under progressive bands, and the 2013 UK–Spain Double Taxation Convention — signed 14 Mar 2013, in force 12 Jun 2014 (IT/CGT effective 6 Apr 2015) governs how UK and Spanish tax interact.

Income-tax bands, wealth tax, the Beckham law, the double-taxation treaty and UK pension treatment are on the tax page.

Two features of the Spanish system catch UK movers out. The first is wealth tax: Spain levies an annual tax on net wealth above a personal allowance, and because the tax is largely devolved to the autonomous communities the effective rate varies enormously by region — some communities apply large rebates while a national Solidarity Tax picks up the largest fortunes. The second is the special impatriate regime, commonly called the Beckham law, which lets qualifying new arrivals be taxed at a flat rate on Spanish employment income for a set number of years, with most foreign income left out; since 2023 it has been opened up to remote workers and startup founders. As a rule of thumb the country you become resident in taxes your worldwide income, and the double-taxation treaty decides which country taxes each specific income type so that nothing is taxed twice. None of this is applied to your circumstances here — it is stated as the rules that exist.

Practical setup

Once you arrive, a handful of administrative steps unlock everything else. The NIE (foreigner's identification number) is needed for almost every official and financial transaction. Registering on the local padrón (municipal roll) and opening a Spanish bank account are the other core steps, and they tend to be done in a set order because each unlocks the next.

The step-by-step order for NIE, padrón, banking, driving-licence exchange and utilities is on the practical setup page.

The order matters because each step tends to depend on the one before it. The NIE usually comes first, since a bank, a landlord and the tax office all ask for it. Registering on the padrón at your local town hall then gives you the residency proof that many later processes require, including exchanging a UK driving licence and enrolling children in school. A Spanish bank account is needed to set up direct debits for rent and utilities, which in turn are what most landlords and utility companies expect. Getting the sequence right avoids the circular waits that catch out people who try to do everything at once. The setup page lays the steps out in the order most people find works.

Frequently asked questions

This page provides general information and figures only. It is not immigration, tax, or financial advice, and nothing here is a recommendation or an assessment of your circumstances. Requirements change — always check the current official rules before you act.