Thinking about moving to Spain from the UK?

It is possible to live in or travel around Europe and the EU for a few years even without an EU passport (although it makes things easier) but there's several things to consider.

We’re still relatively new to this, having made the move from the UK to live in our new-to-us, but very old, Spanish home just over a year ago.

So, we don't have all of the answers but we found it very tough trying to navigate all of the information and to work out where was good for us so we thought it might be helpful to share what we’ve learned so far for any of you thinking about doing the same.

Can you do it? Moving to Spain from the UK can still be done (but it may not be easy).

We're a married, female couple and one of us has an EU passport which makes life a lot easier for us. This is a complex and changing area and we’re not experts but here’s a few resources and things to consider if you don’t have an EU passport as it can definitely be done!

• Firstly, can you live within the 90 DAY RULE (and move in and out of the Schengen zone)?

The answer is probably no if you want to spend more than 90 days at a time (in any 180 day period) in Spain or another EU country. This may change though as both France and Spain are reportedly (depending on what you read) finding it difficult! Keep an eye on that. 

Also, you may not need to live within the 90/180 day rules if you're prepared to leave and re-enter the Schengen zone for several months of the year. (i.e. a minimum of another 90 days.)

You would, of course, have to be working remotely, have plenty of cash or be retired for this option to be realistic. But there's plenty of people out there doing it so it's well worth considering as there's some truly beautiful non-Schengen countries to explore! You can get visas on entry to the different countries too. Definitely do your research but Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Turkey, North Macedonia and Kosovo (amongst plenty of others) are all wonderful places to visit with coastlines, lakes, and mountains to explore. Obviously, we'd recommend doing so by campervan or motorhome (and we have plans to do exactly that in 2026)!

• Could you be a DIGITAL NOMAD?

Helpfully, Spain and other EU countries have adopted a Digital Nomad Visa and it may not be as difficult to obtain as it sounds (so hear us out).

The short story is that you need to work mostly digitally for a non-Spanish company or you can be self-employed. You must have proven earnings from remote work (probably over the last couple of years). It's a little similar to the below NLV in that respect.

Interestingly, you may also. be able to do a little work for a Spanish business to top things up a little too! It doesn’t mean you need to work in ‘tech’ at all so check it out as an option. Just remember that you should start now if as you'll need to prove earnings from this way of working.

We've kept this short as the advice is regularly changing but take a look at the link and don't dismiss it out of hand as you might be surprised to learn what qualifies!

• A solid ongoing income to support yourself? The NLV could be for you.

As the ‘Golden Visa’ is no longer (as of April 2025), this is your only option if you can afford to support yourself. Known as the NLV or Non-lucrative visa, this means that you can prove that you won’t cost the state in healthcare etc (you’ll have to pay for private). Specifically, as of April 2025, you'll need to prove a regular and ongoing income of €27k per year for yourself and an additional income of €7k per dependent. Generally speaking, this is for retirees or those with a significant passive income.

For now though, it's currently available in other wonderful EU countries so do keep checking even if Spain is off the cards at the moment.

Again, this is definitely another area that is subject to change but there’s plenty of resources online to read about it so check 'em out when you get a chance.

• Does one of you have an EU passport?

This makes moving to Spain from the UK infinitely easier! We're lucky and one of us (Niamh) does have an Irish passport so we are able to stay longer. However, importantly for us, as a married female couple, the same rights of residency apply for Eppie, with her blue UK passport, as long as we're together (forevs, of course), she is able to stay longer etc and, to ensure this is easy, we will be legally applying for Spanish residency very soon.

You may not need to be married but it will likely make things easier in some countries, not that it should be the case! For now, it probably does though.

Other things worth thinking about, especially if you're working out where in Spain...

• Do you drive (or want to)? It sounds daft but, honestly, there isn't a lot of public transport at all in some parts of Spain! This is particularly true in more rural areas (like where we live) and we're less than an hour from the coast. You can actually find that just fifteen minutes inland in parts of Andalucia might have one bus/coach a day with a significant walk or drive to a nearby village to get it. Definitely not what many of us are used to, particularly if you're coming from a UK city or town. Also have a think about what you’re used to at home. For example, you can bring a right-hand-drive (RHD) car but a RHD van, campervan or motorhome is much harder or even impossible to bring over to Spain or Europe. Also, it can cost thousands of euros to ‘matriculate’ any vehicle -  more on that once we get our thirty year old campervan legally allowed to reside in Spain (watch this space). Of course, the cities have plenty of local, regional, national and even international travel links so you can rest easy if that’s your plan! They come with a much higher price tag for accommodation and living costs, of course.
  

• What do you like to do? Walking, swimming, running, cycling, snow-boarding, eating and drinking, lying in the sun? It’s all doable in Spain and across the EU, of course, and in abundance, but it will matter where you choose.  We’re fairly active (we like to jog, cycle, swim AND to eat/drink) so we chose a village within an easy hour's drive from the coast but which is a little more remote and rural so we can easily belt around on our mountain bikes or get lost running on the hills and ‘ramblas’ around us.  We’re in a very hot and dry part of the country (there’s even a desert!) so, in summer, that stuff is pretty much restricted to very early mornings but it’s available most of the day during other times of the year. Take a look at one of our favourite runs in Almeria here (you could also follow us on Instagram @gadabouttheplanet as we're adding new tips all the time.) But when it's hot in Almeria, it can be very cold indeed in Galicia (which is great) and Madrid (also great), for example. Not all of Spain is warm or dry all year around! As for eating and drinking.... This is Spain. Eating freshly barbecued seafood or local tapas and icy cold drinks are in abundance. Be warned though..... The (northern) Spanish have a saying which translates a little like 'there's no food worth eating south of Madrid'! We find plenty of lovely fresh produce in Almeria to cook at home as well some super cold beers and delicious seafood freshly grilled over a hot fire in the many local 'chiringuitos' (often seasonal beachfront restaurants). It's one of the pleasures of the Andalucian coastline or, indeed, much of the Spanish coastline.
  

• How’s your Spanish (or other language if you're headed elsewhere)? Life is much easier and better for everyone if you speak the language, of course! You can get away with not speaking much in some cities and large towns but, as you’d expect, it makes it hard to become friendly with locals and to really understand Spanish life. To be frank, in small villages or rural areas, you may find it very difficult especially if you’re looking to get work done on your house! Perhaps the most important consideration when thinking about learning the language is medical - you really do want to be able to understand diagnoses, treatments etc from your doctor or if you need hospital treatment.
  

  How do we learn Spanish?

  We’re still very much working on it and we're now about intermediate level so our focus now is more on active/intensive listening (try downloading Language Reactor to use with your favourite Netflix shows etc) and talking with Spanish native speakers via iTalki. We also use a load of different learning and reference tools including Fluent Forever (for vocab), the Talk Spanish books for grammar and as a reference, the Coffee Break Spanish podcast, Spanish Dictionary (spanishdict.com) and limited use of Google Translate. Our Spanglish is phenomenal (!) but we really want those moments when we connect properly with locals. We have a long way to go but we’re determined to get there and, for us, this is a big part of why we want to live in Spain. We want to speak at least one (for now) other language fluently and, importantly, live locally without creating too much havoc. Bring it on!

One or two final tips...

Don’t forget to get good legal and tax/accounting advice from Spain (you’ll need a local lawyer if you move) as well as the UK or your home country, especially if you’re selling a home, have assets or pensions etc to consider. You’ll want to understand the tax implications of a move - it's a constantly changing minefield even if you're fluent in both languages!

One final suggestion for those of you genuinely thinking about the move but not having spent a lot of time here is to consider staying for a bit and maybe rent before you buy? This is advice we didn't take (ooops) but we got lucky but we know plenty that have regretted their purchase once reality sets in. At the end of the day, it's a big change so it just means you can get a feel for an area and whether you really can make it work for the long haul, I s'pose!

We're still quite early in our journey but we're excited and ready for what it brings. There's more on life in Spain here, and plenty more being added all the time!

See you on the flip side!