Join me as I take you on a journey through my life in Spain, sharing both the challenges and joys, and my favorite places and things to do. Follow along and discover something new before moving or living in Spain.
NIE, residency, taxes, housing. The admin, in the order you'll actually meet it.
Cities, coastlines and day trips we've done with the family, and what they cost.
Three years of life here, written as it happened. Start at year one.
Spain wouldn’t register us as residents until we had private health insurance. Three years on we have SIP cards too, and one hour in a public waiting room plus twenty minutes at a private one explain why we kept both.
The paperwork step that felt small but quietly unlocked everything after it - the NIE registration, the SIP cards, our son’s school place.
We had one viewing in Paiporta and fell for the place. Then we had to convince the landlord’s insurance company that we were worth the risk.
We brought two Dutch cars to Spain and registered both ourselves, no gestor. It took a summer of appointments, Google Translate and a private parking space, and it was a lot less scary than it looked.
Checked and dated, so you know what still applies before you book an appointment.
I'm a PHP and NodeJS developer who was born in Amsterdam, NL but now lives in beautiful Valencia, Spain. I work remotely full-time and enjoy blogging about everything related to this wonderful country. Let me know if you have any questions about Spain — I'd be more than happy to help!