You have finally decided to move to Spain. For a long time you have dreamed about tapas, sangria and siesta and finally decided to live the adventure. Enhorabuena! (= Congrats!)
WifiAway has some awesome tips to share with you to get you ready for your Spanish adventure and make sure you’ll enjoy every second of it.
Before moving to Spain, there are some things you should know and some others that you must do once you arrive.
Before arriving:
Practice your Spanish!
You will need a basic knowledge of the language. Why? Because only a few people speak English in Spain. Although Spaniards are always happy to help foreigners finding the closest churros bar, it will not be easy to understand each other if you don’t understand where derecha is.
Also, you’ll need Spanish to fill in all your documents and settle down.
If you want to know the best ways to learn our language, here’s a useful link.
Documents
Do you still want to move to Spain? Great! The next thing you need to know is what type of documents you’ll have to get.
If you are a European citizen, you’ll only need your national ID card (or passport) to enter the country. On the other hand, if you are a non-European, what document you’ll need will depend on your home country. We suggest you go to a Spanish Embassy of your country and get all the information you need.
In which city would you like to live?
A big and exciting city or a smaller and more relaxing town? On the seaside or close to the mountains? Spain can satisfy all tastes and all preferences.
Finding accommodation in Spain
This part can be very challenging. But there are plenty of channels you can use to find your new home. The most used ones are:
- Idealista: a listing website you can use to find your perfect accommodation by using the location and filters.
- Airbnb: you have probably already used it for your trips, but Airbnb is handy to find accommodations for long stays too.
- Facebook groups can help you get in contact with people looking for roommates.
Make sure you are always connected
For your next roommate to contact you, to answer the first one to an email for a job interview or to share the best moments of your new life with your family and friends you will need to be connected 24 × 7.
In many Spanish cities you won’t find free Wi-Fi hotspots and getting a phone contract can take quite a bit of time and a minimum commitment of one year.
If you prefer to have Internet without contracts or commitments don’t forget to make a subscription with WifiAway to get a portable Wi-Fi device that you can use anywhere you want and at any time.
If you got to this point, you made it to Spain!
Either you come to Spain to work or to study, there is some paperwork you’ll have to get sorted out:
N.I.E. or T.I.E.
When you plan to stay in Spain for more than 6 months or if you want to get a job, the N.I.E or T.I.E (depending on whether you are European or not) is the most important document that you will have to do, it will be your identification in Spain and you will need it for anything. In this blog they give you advice on how to get the NIE if you are from the European Union, or if you are from outside the EU.
European Health Insurance Card
If you are a European citizen, do not forget to take the European Health Insurance with you, it will cover most of your basic medical needs, although it will not guarantee that all services are free. On the other hand, if you are not from one of the European Member States, it will be mandatory that you obtain private medical insurance for your entire stay in Spain. In this post about the Spanish health system they have a section in which they tell you to do it.
Open a Spanish bank account
To facilitate all monetary transactions. In Spain you can find your option in any of the thousands of banking offices located in each city: Santander, BBVA, Sabadell, etc. You just have to choose one! Transferwise (service that can help you in international transfers) shows you in this post what you need to open the account and other useful information.
Get a Spanish SIM card
Although there are no longer roaming problems in Europe and if you come from a European country you can enjoy the privilege for a while, you should bear in mind that the freedom of roaming only lasts a few months and eventually you will have to obtain a local SIM card – this is even more important if you come from outside the European Union. Here is a post with useful information on how to get your Spanish SIM.
Choose what you want to do in Spain!
Everything is ready and established, now it is necessary to choose what you really want to do in this wonderful country. This is the true land of abundance: would you like to work? Do you want to study in one of the best universities in Europe? Do you want to travel and start a tapas blog or take a sabbatical season and meet interesting people from all over the world? These are just some of the endless options that Spain offers you.
These are WifiAway’s suggestions you can use to fully enjoy your Spanish adventure. And, if you like to know some of the best tips to move to Spain from an expat’s point of view, we suggest you to visit Emily’s blog, “This is the Milk”.
And remember: may the Wi-Fi be with you.