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.
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.
We went to Madrid for Shakira and drove home via Toledo the next morning. Our son loved the escalators, we all loved the old town, and I learned that a stroller and Toledo’s hills don’t get along.
Port Saplaya was our very first address in Spain - a month in a temporary apartment by the beach while we chased NIE appointments. We still think of it as where it all started.
The digital certificate turned out to be the key to every Spanish government website we needed. Getting mine took an online request and a short visit to the tax office, and the download email arrived before I’d left the building.
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!