Moving to Spain from the UK: Where do you actually start?
- Rach Bricknell- Hola Spanish Lifestyle
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
If you’re sitting in the UK with a cup of tea, scrolling property websites in Spain and thinking, “Could we actually do this?” you are not alone.
I remember that feeling very well.
I’m Rach, I’m 54, and I run Hola Spanish Lifestyle. I help people plan, move and build a life in Spain. I also happen to have done the move myself, with my husband John and our son, after selling almost everything we owned and packing the rest of our life into three suitcases.
Three suitcases. For a family. I still think that deserves some sort of medal, or at least a very large gin.
We now live in Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol, and while life here is wonderful, I’ll be honest with you. Moving to Spain from UK is not just about sunshine, tapas and finding a terrace with a sea view. It is a proper life move. There is paperwork. There are decisions. There are costs you might not expect. And yes, at some point, there will probably be a printer involved when you least want one.
So where do you actually start?
Not with a random Facebook comment from “Dave” who moved to Spain in 2017 and says, “Just turn up, mate, it’ll be fine.”
Let’s start properly.
Start with the life, not the location
Before you look at visas, estate agents, removals or schools, ask yourself a much bigger question.
Why do you actually want to move to Spain?
I don’t mean the polite answer you give people at a barbecue.
“Oh, we fancy a better quality of life.”
Lovely. But what does that mean at 7:45 on a Tuesday morning?
Does it mean working remotely from a quiet apartment with fast internet and a café underneath? Does it mean walking the dog by the sea before breakfast? Does it mean your children going to a local school and becoming bilingual? Does it mean downsizing, slowing down and finally having time to breathe?
When John and I started planning a move to Spain, we had to get honest about what we wanted our everyday life to look like. Not holiday life. Everyday life.
Because you are not choosing where to holiday. You are choosing where you will do the washing on a Tuesday.
That sounds less glamorous, I know. Nobody puts “excellent laundry logistics” on an Instagram reel. But it matters.
Think about:
How you want your mornings to feel
Whether you need community around you
How much Spanish you want, or need, in daily life
Whether you want coast, countryside, village, town or city
How close you need to be to airports
Whether healthcare access is a priority
Whether you need schools, public transport or coworking spaces
How much heat you can actually cope with in August
Spain is not one lifestyle. Living in Spain can mean a rural finca in inland Andalucía, an apartment in Valencia, a village in Murcia, a busy Costa del Sol town or a quieter northern city with very different weather.
Start with the life. The map comes later.
Check whether you have a legal route before making big plans
I know this is the sensible bit, and nobody enjoys the sensible bit quite as much as looking at Spanish houses on Idealista.
But this matters.
Since Brexit, UK nationals can no longer simply move to Spain and stay long term without the right residence route. Moving to Spain after Brexit means you need to understand what legal options may be available for your circumstances before you sell the house, quit the job, enrol the children or put a deposit on a rental.
There are different routes depending on your situation. You might be looking at retirement income, remote work, family circumstances, employment, study or another option. The right route depends on your personal details, and the rules can change.
I help people understand the relocation process and get organised, but I am not an immigration lawyer, regulated visa adviser, tax adviser or financial adviser. For specialist legal, visa, tax or financial advice, you should always confirm details with the relevant authority or an appropriately qualified professional.
What I will say is this: before you make major life decisions, establish whether there is a suitable route for you in principle.
Do this before:
Selling your home
Handing in your notice
Taking children out of school
Paying large deposits
Shipping belongings
Booking non-refundable travel
Announcing “We’re moving to Spain!” to every relative you have
Once you know there is a realistic route, then you can plan with much more confidence.
Work out what the move will really cost
A lot of people ask, “Is Spain cheaper than the UK?”
The honest answer is, sometimes yes, sometimes no, and not always in the way you expect.
The cost of relocating to Spain is not only the flight and the first month’s rent. You need to think about the cost of moving and the cost of living once you arrive.
Your moving costs may include:
Visa or residence application costs
Professional support, where needed
Document translations or legalisations, if required
Travel to appointments
Short-term accommodation
Rental deposits
Furniture and household items
Removals or storage
Pet transport
School costs, uniforms or materials
Insurance
Car-related costs
Emergency buffer money
Then there is daily life.
Rent or mortgage, utilities, community fees, groceries, healthcare, transport, phone contracts, internet, tax obligations, private health insurance if needed, trips back to the UK, and the occasional “we’ve just arrived and need to buy everything from pillows to a potato peeler” moment.
When we moved with our three suitcases, we avoided the cost of shipping a full house. But let me tell you, there is a flip side. You then need to rebuild the basics. Towels. Bedding. Kitchen bits. Hangers. A mop. The glamorous side of Spanish relocation rarely includes standing in a shop debating which washing basket best represents your new life.
Build a proper budget, and include breathing room. Spain can be a beautiful new chapter, but it is much easier to enjoy when you are not panicking over every unexpected bill.
Choose the life first, then choose the postcode
This is one of the biggest things I say to people.
Choose the life first. Then choose the postcode.
A place you adore on holiday may not be the right place to live all year round.
On holiday, you might love a little hilltop village with one bar, no parking and goats wandering past as if they own the place. Charming for a week. Less charming if you need to get to a hospital appointment, the children need school transport, or you work online and the internet has the strength of a sleepy hamster.
Benalmádena works for us because it fits our real life now. We have access to the coast, transport, shops, healthcare, community, the airport in Málaga, and plenty going on. It gives us a lifestyle we enjoy day to day, not just for a summer fortnight.
When choosing where to live, think beyond the pretty photos.
Visit areas out of season if you can. Walk around in the morning, not just at sunset. Check what is open in winter. Ask yourself whether you would still like it when you have errands to run, work to do and a load of washing waiting at home.
A good location for your life will support the way you actually live.
Don’t start collecting documents too early
This one surprises people.
When you begin researching how to move to Spain from UK, it is very tempting to start gathering every possible document. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, bank statements, criminal record checks, medical certificates, proof of income, translations, apostilles, copies of copies of copies.
It feels productive.
Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is expensive chaos in a folder.
Different routes and circumstances can require different documents. Requirements can also depend on timing, format, validity periods and where you are applying. Some documents may need translation, legalisation or an apostille. Others may not. Some may expire before you even use them if you start too early.
So please don’t run off and translate your entire life into Spanish before you know what your specific route needs.
Get clear first. Then collect the right documents, in the right order, at the right time.
This is where a proper moving to Spain checklist can save you money, stress and quite a lot of muttering.
Free 12-Month Countdown to Spain Checklist
If you are at the stage where the dream is starting to feel serious, my FREE 12-Month Countdown to Spain Checklist will help you see what needs doing and when.
It gives you a calmer way to plan, instead of waking up at 3:00 wondering whether you need an NIE, a visa appointment, a removals quote, or just a biscuit.
Email me at: holaspanishlifestyle@gmail.com for your FREE checklist
Remember that the visa is only one part of the move
People often focus on “getting the visa” as if that is the whole move.
It is a big part, of course. But it is not the whole story.
Relocating to Spain involves a chain of practical decisions, and they all connect. If one part is ignored, it can cause stress later.
You will need to think about things like:
Housing before and after arrival
Healthcare access and insurance
Tax residence and financial planning
Banking
Driving licences and vehicle rules
Schools, if you have children
Pets
Belongings, removals and storage
Mobile phones and internet
Registration and paperwork after arrival
Community, language and daily routines
This is why I always encourage people to plan the move as a whole life project, not a single application.
Again, specialist areas need specialist advice. Tax, pensions, investments, healthcare entitlements and legal residence questions should be checked with the right qualified people. My role is to help you understand the moving parts, prepare properly and avoid the “I didn’t even know I needed to think about that” moments.
And there are quite a few of those.
Build a realistic timeline and work backwards
Once you know your likely route, budget and preferred lifestyle, create a timeline.
Not a fantasy timeline where everything happens in six weeks and everyone involved replies immediately. A real one.
Start with your ideal move date and work backwards. What needs to happen before then?
Think about:
When you need to understand your residence options
When to speak to qualified specialists
When to prepare documents
When to tell employers, schools or landlords
When to list or sell property
When to arrange accommodation in Spain
When to plan removals or storage
When to sort pets, cars and insurance
When to book travel
What needs doing in your first weeks after arrival
If you are moving as a family, build in extra time. If you are approaching retirement, build in time to check pensions, healthcare and tax. If you are a remote worker, build in time to confirm contracts, income structure, internet needs and where you can legally work from.
The timeline is not there to make life rigid. It is there to stop everything piling up at the end.
Because nobody wants to be packing, crying, cancelling broadband, searching for a missing birth certificate and trying to remember whether the cat has the right paperwork, all in the same afternoon.
Accept that you won’t know everything before you arrive
This may be the most comforting thing I can tell you.
You will not know everything before you move.
You can plan carefully. You can do the research. You can get the right support. You can make sensible decisions. But some parts of moving and living in Spain only become clear once you are here.
You learn how your local health centre works. You learn which supermarket has the things you like. You learn that some errands need three visits, two photocopies and a level of patience you did not know you possessed. You learn when to push, when to wait, and when to go for coffee and try again later.
When we arrived with our three suitcases, I had done a lot of planning. I still had moments of, “Right then, what on earth do we do now?”
That is normal.
The goal is not to remove every unknown. The goal is to reduce the avoidable stress, make informed choices and have enough support around you so the unknowns do not knock you sideways.
A good move is planned, but it also needs flexibility.
So where do you actually start?
Start with the life you want.
Then check whether there is a realistic residence route. Build the budget. Choose an area based on daily life, not holiday memories. Get clear on documents before spending money. Remember the visa is only one piece of the puzzle. Create a proper timeline. And accept that some things will make sense only once your feet are actually on Spanish soil.
If you have moved from “Wouldn’t it be lovely?” to “Could we actually do this?”, this is exactly where I can help.
I offer a FREE 30-minute Discovery Call for people who are starting to take the idea seriously and want a friendly, practical conversation about what may be involved.
It is not a high-pressure sales call. I’m not going to chase you around the internet waving a clipboard. It is simply a chance to talk through where you are now, what you are hoping for, and what your next sensible steps might be.
Moving to Spain is a big decision. It is exciting, emotional, practical and occasionally ridiculous. But with the right planning, it can become much more than a dream.
See you in Spain.
Rach x
Hola Spanish Lifestyle
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