Moving to Spain can be one of the best decisions you ever make — but that doesn’t mean every part of the move goes perfectly.
Some regrets come from choosing the wrong place. Others come from rushing, misunderstanding the paperwork, underestimating the money, or simply not thinking far enough ahead about what everyday life in Spain will actually feel like.
In this week’s YouTooSpain live show, I spoke to Chris from Upsticks about the five regrets people can avoid before moving to Spain.
Watch the full video here:
A lot of people know they want to move to Spain.
The harder question is:
Which Spain?
That matters because Spain is not one single lifestyle.
Living on the coast can feel completely different from living in a city. A pueblo blanco is very different from a busy resort. Living in the campo can look idyllic — until you realise how much driving you have to do.
One of the biggest dangers is choosing somewhere because you enjoyed a holiday there.
A place that feels wonderful for two weeks in August may feel very different in January.
So before making a big commitment, it’s worth asking yourself:
We also talked about whether it makes sense to rent before buying, how long someone should really experience an area before committing, and whether people underestimate how quickly they can outgrow their first location.
It’s a timely one for me personally, as I’m preparing to move from Cómpeta towards Algarrobo.
Moving abroad is exciting.
That excitement can also cause problems.
People sometimes decide on a moving date first and only afterwards start asking whether the visa, paperwork, finances and practical arrangements can realistically be completed in time.
That’s backwards.
Good planning often means starting much earlier than people expect.
I asked Chris:
One of the key questions was:
Does enthusiasm sometimes become the biggest enemy of a successful move?
The full answer is in the video.
This is where Chris really earns his keep.
Spanish bureaucracy is famous for a reason.
And the problem isn’t always that the rules are impossible.
Quite often, it’s that people assume something is optional, misunderstand what a document proves, or rely on advice from somebody whose circumstances were completely different.
We discussed:
And of course there was the obvious question:
Is there a Spanish government department whose official translation is basically: “You Should Have Brought Another Photocopy”?
Possibly.
Probably.
Almost certainly.
“How much money do I need to move to Spain?”
It sounds like a simple question.
It usually isn’t.
The real issue is not just whether you can afford the move.
It’s whether you can afford the first year of actually living here.
That means thinking beyond rent or mortgage payments.
Prospective movers can forget about:
A property that looks cheap at first can quickly become expensive if it needs work.
And somebody receiving income in pounds while spending in euros also has currency risk to think about.
This part of the discussion wasn’t really about the cost of living.
It was about something more useful:
Which financial assumptions later turn into regrets?
This may be the biggest one of all.
It’s easy to plan the move.
It’s harder to plan the life that comes afterwards.
Once the sunshine and novelty wear off, you’re left with normal life.
That means friendships, routines, family, transport, language, health, hobbies, shopping, work and all the other ordinary things that actually determine whether you enjoy living somewhere.
We talked about:
None of these necessarily means moving to Spain is a mistake.
They simply mean moving country does not remove the need to build a satisfying life.
That was the final question I put to Chris:
Of all the people you’ve helped move to Spain, what separates the ones who thrive from the ones who eventually say, “We made a mistake”?
That’s really the heart of the whole programme.
There is no way to remove every risk from a move abroad.
But good preparation can remove an awful lot of unnecessary ones.
Choose your location carefully.
Don’t rush.
Understand the paperwork.
Be realistic about money.
And most importantly, plan for the life you’ll actually be living once the moving van has gone.
If you already live in Spain, I’d love to know:
What’s the one thing you would do differently if you started again?
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Peas & Fluff!
Article by Skatz
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