Cost of living in Spain - 2017

Large gas canisters currently cost about E290 for 5 tanks.  Over winter we have been using 4 every 20 to 22 days, heating water, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an open plan lounge, kitchen, diner. This is for 2 people. So around E330 to E350 per month.  Electricity for December was around E70.  I guess in summer cost will switch round, less gas more electric for AC.  We don't pay for the water but I understand that is surprisingly cheap.

Our grocery bills for the last couple of months, looking at supermarkets on our bank statements, were around E580 per month but that doesn't include cash purchases.

Eating out is cheap if you want good simple food.  Set menus are common around E9 to E15, for 3 courses, bread and wine.   The wine is cheap (but good!) and defrays the cost considerably. However, if you want a higher quality and sophistication of dining the cost is not much less than a reasonable gastro pub in the UK.   E15 to E20 for a main course on average.  Again its the cost of even the best local wine that really makes the difference. Seriously, you can drink reasonable wine here for less than the more expensive bottled water! Wayyyyy too easily. :-)

Clothes and shoes seem cheaper than the UK but we haven't bought much yet. I did get a pair of good quality shoes for less than E37.

Property - from what we've seen so far you can both rent and buy cheaply. But caveat emptor.  There were a lot of cowboys around in construction for a while and we've heard some horror stories from both expats and locals.  Like dining, you pay for quality.  It also depends on your own needs. Many places only have a single fireplace, no heating. And winter gets surprisingly cold and damp, even south of the midline!  Ok I'm a soft southerner. My Scottish forebears would be horrified at me. :-)

I assume you are in north or central Spain. Cost of living will depend greatly on where one is located. It is very inexpensive in Alicante, where I live.

I have to correct my post - the grocery costs were in pounds sterling as we were still using our UK bank account then.  So around E686 plus cash costs.  We are in central Spain, north Costa Blanca. Ie the Denia, Javea, Moraira and inland from there bit.

Food costs are pretty good compared to the UK, but one thing that is hugely more expensive - used cars. The prices are bonkers!
A tip - as electricity, therefore heating, is also very expensive, replace every seal in your windows and doors - it makes a difference!

I could write so much but there is soooo much bull written about daily stuff, especially from uk people, who have no idea what living is about in a foreign country, so misleading, all of their reportage, they are still in India if you ask me, why do they bother,

I'll give my input from someone from Canada:

Energy costs such as electricity run us about 70-80 euros a month for our home with a pool but we are concious about our usage and there are options available to pay less during certain hours
For example, we pay 0.06 centimos/ kw between 10am-2pm and 8pm-mid which are the hours we would run our pool filter system.
0.15 céntimos all other hours. We also don't have Air Conditioning keep in mind.

-water is relatively cheap and costs around 35-40 euros a month

-gas (propane in our case) is expensive like the other member mentioned. 5 bottles is almost 500 euro). Lasts about 1.5 months for us



-Food and alcohol cheap relative to Canada
( I bought ONE clementine orange yesterday in Canada product of Spain it cost me 1 euro!)

-Medication is cheap relative to Canada
(Ex. Box of 20 ibuprofen 600grams 2-3 euros, Canada it would be 10 euros for 400gr)

-rent you can find decent sized apartments for 300 -350 euros a month and possible less( 20-30 min outside Valencia Spain)

-property tax for our home I believe is around 500 euro for the year

-cell phone plans are cheap, 15 euro a month (close to 60+ euro in Canada)

-home insurance 300 euro a year

-3 barras ( baguettes) of bread = 1 euro


Eating out is probably my favourite part about Spain. In Canada, I barely dine out because I'd rather not spend the money and a glass of wine or a beer is easily 4-5euros. For those interested in moving to Spain, many meals when you dine out include any beverage in their price ( beer, wine, pop)

"Almorzar popular" ( or lunch 9am-11am) 4 euros - includes sandwich, beverage, coffee  and usually side of peanuts and olives to snack on as well ( my favourite meal)

"Menú del día" ( 2pm-4pm) around 10-14 euro I'd say. Usually includes an appetizer, beverage, main, desert.

There's also a lot of "take away food" options in most towns outside the mwhere you can get typical local foods like "paella" or "arroz a banda" for 2-3 euros and is enough for almost 2 people. An option I use quite frequently in the afternoon or " hora a comer " because of the convenience and great price.

Hope that helps someone me people looking for information.

Chris

I haven't done a cost of living comparison for this year, but the prices haven't changed from last year. I did do a detailed post listing everyday items and how much we pay for car insurance, pet care, health care, cable etc in Seville. Here is the link if anyone is interested. Definitely cheaper than our U.S costs. https://nextbiteoflife.com/2016/04/04/c … pain-2016/

I've just looked at KemKems report for last year and would say that here in Alicante area most things were more or less the same then.

Many things included there I cannot comment on this year as our live have changed, but I will indicate where I can.

Bottled gas 13kgs cost €15.5  last week, but this is winter price and we know this will be reduced by government decree in about two months from now and last summer the price was €11.10 for 13kg
The procedure is that most prices increase annually by about€0.15 annually on both the winter and summer costs.

Bottled drinking water however has remained the same price for at least four years and costs us  €0.76 per 8litre bottle.

Domestic water costs us €50.00 for a tanker load of 12.5 tonnes.

Riego water for the garden is €0.08 per cubic meter.

We don't use any of the British Food shops and don't look for labels familiar from uk. Supermarket own brands are of very good quality on pretty much everything we need including 330cl tins of 4.5% beer at €0.22 per can if we buy a complete pack of  24 which lasts us for the month.
Spanish grown fruit,veg, greens and salads have increased by less than €0.05 per kilo, despite all the rumours of silly prices due to poor weather conditions.......quality remains good too!!

Hope this is helpful and that you enjoy Spain living as much as we do 🍀🍀🍀

we have some great tips for estimating the cost of living and share our costs for a full year in Spain.  We weren't in Valencia, but it is a data point for you.  Look up "Wagoners Abroad Cost of Living"  you will find us along with many tools to help you calculate.

Numbeo is another good resource

Hi EmmaW1984,

Have a look also at a post by KemKem  dated 27:02:2017 and another by me dated 04:03:2017
Every little helps 😊