Photo: Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Spain
Spanish · EUR · Central European Time
How it scores for living there
- 64%Cost of livingRated 3 of 5 for living there, workable
- 24%Income tax, new arrivalsRated 3 of 5 for living there, workable. This is the Beckham Law rate for new arrivals, not the 47 per cent ordinary top rate
- AppliesCapital gainsRated 3 of 5 for living there, workable
- 52MbpsInternetRated 4 of 5 for living there, good
- 4.29Doctors /1,000Rated 5 of 5 for living there, ideal
- 10PM2.5 ug/m3Rated 3 of 5 for living there, workable
- 0.7Homicide /100kRated 5 of 5 for living there, ideal
- 83.9Life expectancyRated 5 of 5 for living there, ideal
- 96%People onlineRated 5 of 5 for living there, ideal
- 56Corruption indexRated 4 of 5 for living there, good
- 12of 12Mild monthsRated 5 of 5 for living there, ideal
Facts, not judgements
- UTC+1Time zone
- EURCurrency
- SpanishLanguage
- C, FPower plug
- 126.2mVisitors in 2019
Colour says whether a figure is good for someone moving in, not whether it is high: cheap is green and expensive is red. Every coloured box carries the reason for its colour, the bar under it repeats the score as a width, and boxes with no data are not drawn.
Nomads in Spain
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Who can help you in Spain
Vetted partners for the move: immigration and tax lawyers, relocation services, banking and eSIM, guides and local experts. One Gold partner and up to three standard listings per country.
Spain's go-to firm for relocation: 1,000+ clients a year on visas, residency and tax.
Climate and cost by city
Sea off Lanzarote: warmest August at 23°C, coolest March at 19°C.
Sea off Malaga: warmest August at 26°C, coolest February at 15°C.
Sea off Fuerteventura: warmest August at 23°C, coolest March at 19°C.
Sea off Las Palmas: warmest August at 23°C, coolest March at 20°C.
Sea off La Palma: warmest August at 25°C, coolest March at 20°C.
Average monthly temperature and rainfall from Open-Meteo ERA5 (2019-2023 mean, CC BY 4.0). Sea surface temperature from Open-Meteo Marine. Price level from the World Bank ICP survey, same-year pairing, omitted where the survey does not cover the country.
Cost of living and lifestyle
Day to day, Spain costs about 64% of the US level, on a World Bank income of $60k per person (PPP, 2025).
That percentage is measured against your country, not against ours. It follows the country picker in the header, or your account if you are signed in. With neither, it falls back to the United States, which is the 100 of the World Bank index, and the sentence says so.
World Bank ICP price level (US=100) and GNI per capita PPP, CC BY 4.0. It is a national average: a capital runs above it and a small town below it.
Getting to Spain
| From | Routing | Flight time | Cheapest fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid | Non-stop | 2h 45m | €46 |
| Barcelona | Non-stop | 3h 10m | €61 |
| Paris | Non-stop | 4h 10m | €70 |
| Milano | Non-stop | 4h 10m | €156 |
| London | Non-stop | 4h 15m | €57 |
| Manchester | Non-stop | 4h 15m | €58 |
| Dublin | Non-stop | 4h 15m | €144 |
| Frankfurt | Non-stop | 4h 30m | €302 |
| Amsterdam | Non-stop | 6h 15m | €124 |
Airports and non-stop routes from OpenFlights (Open Database License). Fares and flight times are cached one-way economy prices from Travelpayouts, the cheapest seen recently rather than a live quote or an average. They move; treat them as an order of magnitude.
The practical basics
- Local time…Central European Time, Africa/Ceuta
- CurrencyEURISO 4217
- LanguagesSpanish
- PlugsC, F230/400 V 50 Hz
- Safe tap water100%of people on a safely managed supply, World Bank 2024
- UK travel adviceNo blanket warningFCDO, reviewed 2026-08-12
- Population49.4mWorld Bank
Currency codes ISO 4217; plugs and voltage from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); time zone and flag from the countries-states-cities database (ODbL 1.0); travel advice from the UK FCDO (Open Government Licence v3).
How many people visit
Spain logged 36.4 million international arrivals in 2020, the last year the World Bank series covers. That is a pandemic year and it is not what a normal year looks like: in 2019 the same series counted 126.2 million.
World Bank indicator ST.INT.ARVL, international tourism arrivals, CC BY 4.0. Arrivals count trips, not people: the same visitor twice in a year counts twice.
Tax in Spain, in one line
Personal income tax runs up to 47 per cent, but a new arrival who qualifies for the Beckham Law regime is taxed at 24 per cent. Capital gains: 19%-30% (savings tax base: 19% up to 6k, 21% 6k-50k, 23% 50k-200k, 27% 200k-300k, 30% over 300k).
Tax figures are compiled by us and are being re-verified against primary sources. General information, not tax advice.
Data: World Bank, Open-Meteo, M-Lab, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, under open licences. General information, not tax or legal advice.