Clearing your belongings through customs in Spain

Of course within the EU there is free movement of goods so no customs requirenents as far as I know 

PS.    Brexit may change that for  U.K. nationals but at present no one knows what will happen if Brexit proceeds

Goods to or from UK, to or from Spain,   see  https://www.gov.uk/moving-to-uk

We used an international removal company who were happy to accept a part load (prices based on cubic meters). They collected our belongings from our address in the UK and they were delivered within a week. They were unable to deliver to our door as they had a large lorry and we lived down a fairly long and narrow rough track; however, they accompanied us on numerous loads in our vehicle until the delivery was complete. Excellent service. We did check with the government site to ensure we were not transporting any banned or restricted items. As John says, no issues with customs due to free movement at that time.

Bee.   The question was

Clearing your belongings through customs in Spain

Not the transportation

We moved over here almost four years ago. We brought everything and in a removal van. They went straight through with no bother. Hope this helps.

I guess depends where you coming from. If is EU or UK you will not have custom or anything similar. If its outside of EU shouldn't be problem while things you bringing in are not NEW. You should go to Spanish embassy in your country of residence and ask for certificate that you can use for 12 months from day you arrive in Spain. Here is link, sorry but in Spanish. http://www.claradelrey.es/docs/AduanasEspanoles.pdf
They say, everything must be used more then 6 months in your country and that is all.
All together should be free of cost.

As everyone has said so far, there are no restrictions on bringing in, or sending, personal belongings to Spain from anywhere in the E.U. including - at the moment - from Great Britain.

Depending on how much you have to move, you can either use a transport company, hire a van / truck yourself or fill up your own car or van.  The costs will of course vary, but the principles are the same; there is free movement of good within the E.U.

Even if there is a "no deal" Brexit on 29th March 2019, it is unlikely that Spain will impose customs tariffs or duties on personal belongings immediately, if at all.  But for peace of mind and full information you will need to watch political developments carefully if you plan an international move in the near future.

It might come as a shock to the Brits here, but people move to Spain from many nations that are outside of the EU. In fact, more people are here from non-EU nations than from the all of the EU, let alone from the UK.

Clearing customs is unfortunately a difficult issue in Spain for those that have to do it. We chose to not ship our belongings and have never once regretted it; instead, we just packed 4 large suitcases for 3 people and paid the fee for the extra bag.

A friend of mine just finally got his belongings- about 250 cubic feet of boxes and such- out of customs after quite a struggle here in Valencia.

Tips that I have heard make it easier include clearing at a different nation's port (apparently at least one company that ships from the US does the clearance in the Netherlands) and then shipping intra-EU to Spain; or, as Andreabcn points out, going to the consulate or embassy in one's home nation and getting certified there to make the process easier.

I urge people who are thinking about moving to Spain to carefully consider the customs issue when it comes to their stuff. It really can tie things up a long time and you will likely rack up storage fees and such.

costabravamark wrote:

Even if there is a "no deal" Brexit on 29th March 2019, it is unlikely that Spain will impose customs tariffs or duties on personal belongings immediately, if at all.  But for peace of mind and full information you will need to watch political developments carefully if you plan an international move in the near future.

I disagree on this score. There's no indication that new moves from the UK to Spain, post-Brexit, will be treated differently than any other non-EU citizen. Obviously the date that matters (assuming Brexit happens at all) would depend on a deal (with a transition period that extends the date well into the future) or a no-deal (29 March) scenario.

At this point, on March 4, the reality is that a UK citizen thinking of moving should hope for either no Brexit at all, or at least an extension of Article 50, or a negotiated deal that runs the clock out into the future.

...

Hi all, it's good to hear it has been easy for everyone to ship goods from the UK to mainland Spain, I wish it had been that easy shipping to Gran Canaria, NIE is required, no problem with that but then your Padron is required to prove that you have a HOME address and not shipping goods for resale in a shop etc etc , it's proving to the Town Hall ( Ayunamento) that this is the case , be prepared for lots of questions proving your authenticity.

Martin.  I have just done a little reasearch on the internet and see that The Canaries are not within the E.U. customs area.   Thus, the rules applying there, just like say The Channel Isles, are not the same as the E.U. generally

When I moved to Spain in  1987 I had to declare everything I was transporting in my car.  Shortly after my arrival the Guardia civil came to check everything I had brought. Two years later they returned to ensure I had not disposed of any of the items

Apart from the customs declaration form I do not remember what other paperwork I needed.    It was though before the introduction of the NIE registration and I was not on the padron. 

Also, when I moved to spain very few people,especially in officialdom, spoke any English, and even those few who did, were reluctant to do so

Things have become much simpler on the whole since 1987 so ‘count your blessings' Martin

Hi John,
We did have a visit from the police immediately after being granted the Padron, fair enough for that .
Also we had to itemise everything that was in a twenty foot container, it'll be interesting to see if they come around sometime in the future to see if we still have everything listed !
The biggest problem we had was convincing the customs people why we were only importing our furniture etc after actually owning our apartment here for over two years , they struggled with the fact we only used the apartment for holiday use with the furniture that came with it ,but then after selling our property in the UK, we wanted to replace the old stuff with our own far better quality belongings, it took a lot of convincing that was the plan and was not bringing it over (at considerable expense I might add) to sell it on ! They have a very blinkered vision of expats , always thinking we're trying to do something illegal, I'm sure some are but being tarred with the same brush does become tiresome at times.

Hi Priscilla,

Leaving the EU,(Brexit) will possibly revert back to the old form of International Goods movement, TIR Carnet, or ATA carnet, or for the fore-see able future the more easier CMR form will suffice.
CMRs can be bought and filled in by the driver of the Vehicle used for the transport of goods, so in this case, if you have a suitable vehicle (own or hire) you can pack the goods into boxes,or loose and an inventory made on the form.Which you then carry with you and give to the appropriate authorities along the route.
Further clarifications can be obtained online.Although the easiest way to transport your goods is via a reputable International Mover, there are plenty online and you can receive quotes quickly by filling in the information relevant.

Hello,
My wife and I decided to move to another city. And to avoid stress, we decided to order the relocation of our belongings. We are looking for a good shipping company that can deliver our items quickly and carefully. We found the company http://vanguardvanlines.com/long-distance/ in which you can use the calculator on the site to calculate the cost of the move. Tell someone already used the services of this company?
Are the cargo vans reliable in this company?