Cost of living

How much do you need to live comfortably in Spain? Is living in Spain expensive? These are just some of the questions we aim to answer in this guide to the cost of living in Spain in 2021.

Is electricity more expensive in Spain?

Summer is just around the corner and many Europeans, despite Spain holidays affected by the coronavirus in some cases, are starting to pack their suitcases in preparation for a holiday in Spain this summer 2021.

Spain has introduced its new electricity tariff charges this June 2021, meaning that customers, including the thousands of expats living in Spain, will have to get used to reading a new electricity bill and in many cases, higher household expenses and utility bills.

Generally speaking, it is possible to install fibre optic broadband in Spain for around 30 euros per month, including VAT. When you add mobile lines, the average cost rises to 40 euros per month.

A sizeable amount of property demand in Spain comes from expats who have relocated to the country, and despite uncertainties such as Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, the expat population in Spain continues to grow and moving to Spain in 2021 continues to be a good idea.

Spending more time at home, forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, has opened the eyes of many residents in Spain who consequently want to improve the health, comfort and safety of their homes.

The British insurance company CIA Landlord has published a report where it analyses the best cities for teleworking for the British, and Spain's capital, Madrid, leads the ranking.

The consulting firm Mercer has published a new edition of its famous ranking on the cost of living in the main cities of the world for expats. As usual, Hong Kong leads the list of the most expensive cities, although there are some changes in the top positions compared to previous editions.

The Spanish Government has recently approved a guaranteed minimum income scheme (“ingreso mínimo vital”) set to help 850,000 of Spain’s most vulnerable families amounting to around 4.89% of the population.

The obligation to remain confined to our homes since 15th March due to the state of alarm decreed by the Spanish Government has altered all of our daily habits, including consumption at home.

The InterNations website, a website which helps people to connect with fellow expats, has published 'The 30 best cities to move to in 2020', according to a survey of 20,000 expats, foreigners living and working outside their home country.

Who hasn't thought about leaving behind the grind of everyday life and moving to another part of the world? Maybe the moment has arrived given that nowadays there are even towns and cities in which they will pay you to live there and a Spanish village is one of them.

The quality of life in a city is measured not only by average wages, household savings capacity or rental prices, but also by the expenditure made by tourists. For Deutsche Bank, Milan, Copenhagen, Zurich and Madrid are the most expensive cities for a weekend getaway.

All homes need to make use of electricity and therefore have to contract their supply. However, not all homes have the same consumption habits and needs may vary depending on several factors.

The price of electricity seems to go up every year, with consumers struggling to save a few pennies to pay their more expensive electricity bills.

The heat makes the thermometers go up, and our electricity bills too. In the next couple of months, we’ll be seeing the highest temperatures of the year, which will cause the electricity consumption of households all over Spain to skyrocket by more than 20%.

There are few cities in the world where people live better than in Madrid.

It’s all very well knowing where you want to buy property in Spain and how much the average house prices are there, but what about the price of upkeep and maintenance?

Are you thinking about changing your life around and moving to a new city, but not sure where that would be? InterNations surveyed 7,985 ex-pats from 40 different countries to find out the best place for ex-pats in the world.

Original article written by Monika Rüsch The economic consequences of the attacks of August 2017 are already lagging behind, since European cities that have suffered such tragedies in this field recover in an average period of 13 months.

As you might have expected, life in Spain is very cheap. Even so, it is important to spend some time analysing the cost of living before you decide to buy a property in Spain, whether you plan to live there or just want to buy a holiday home.