Living costs in Spain

Hi Jan! I think the living costs depend on the area you're planning to go to. But I found a short article that might give you a first impression:

Cost of Living

It is quite hard to give anything more than a rough guide to the cost of living in Spain. Prices vary greatly by area, with the cost of living much higher in the urban centers such as Madrid and Barcelona than in the rural Spanish villages and towns.

In the Spanish urban centers, the price of housing is high relative to the other costs of living. Spaniards who did not buy housing when prices were lower now find it necessary to pay more than half the average income to get average housing, which is a very high percentage. On the other hand, a good cup of café con leche can be had in many cafes in Spain for an Euro or less, and the cost of fruit and vegetables can be a bargain. As a consequence, many Spaniards in the big Spanish cities live packed into quite small apartments and observe a social life centered in cafes and restaurants rather than their homes.

Since the introduction of the Euro, there has been a perceived inflation in prices in Spain. With the conversion, some prices were rounded up to the nearest Euro equivalent, with more increases coming in time.

With all those caveats, here are some very rough costs for you that can be used for gauging the cost of living.

Electricity: For two people bills are around 30 to 35 euros per month.

Telephone: Flat-fee of about 20 euros per month with the calls that you make on top of that.

Food: For two people bills are generally 300 Euros a month. An average restaurant bill is eight to fifteen Euros (much cheaper at lunch), with a glass of beer or wine one to two Euros.

Cinema: Around five to six Euros to see a movie.

Nursery: To look after a child it is about eighty Euros per month for 5hrs a day, but the price will vary depending on the qualifications of the caretaker.

Schooling: Public schools in Spain are often Catholic parochial schools supported by the state. Charges are nominal.

Hey,
living costs can be pretty high in Spain. To cut down, you can reduce your bill my getting a cheaper connection like the one that I have. It is easy to use, free and affortable. It can be found at www.gonuts4free.com Hope its of use to you! :)

Thanks for your replies! Seems like the living costs are just like in other Western countries....
Does anyone have an idea what the average income is?

Me again! I found a quite informative article about average income in Spain:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Average wage in Spain
Average salaries in Spain 34% lower than the rest of the EU

The average salary in Spain is 34% lower than in the rest of the EU according to a study published today by Adecco and IESE with reference to figures taken from 2006.
The report shows that the average gross salary in the EU was 32,414 euros while in Spain it was 21,402 euros. Furthermore, it shows that in countries like Denmark, the UK or Germany that the average salary was over 40,000 euros a year compared to the average salary in Eastern European countries where it didn’t reach 10,000 euros.

Furthermore, the study underlined the fact that the difference between Spain and the rest of the EU has been increasing over recent years. Between 2002 and 2006 the average salary in the EU increased in real terms by 3.9% while in Spain it only went up by 1.3%.

However, Spain did come out better with respect to the difference in salaries between men and women. On average in the EU men earn 15% more than women while in Spain this difference is just 13%.

By sectors the highest average salaries are found in the banking, insurance and finance sectors at around 50,186 euros a year (gross) compared to the hotel and restaurant sector where the average salary was found to be 21,461 euros. Spain shows the same tendency with average salaries in the finance sector at 40,012 euros and average salaries in the hotel sector at 15,164 euros.

The study also shows that while Spain created 90% of the employment generated in the EU in 2003 this figure now stands at just 3% which in real terms means that the rate of creating new jobs on a year to year basis stands at 0.3%. This not enough to cover the increase in the active population (3.1%) which has resulted in unemployment going up by 35.3% - the biggest increase out of all the countries analyzed in the study.

Moreover, the study forecasts that Spain will continue to have the highest inter-annual increases in its unemployment rate. It predicts that in December unemployment will have gone up by 34.2% compared to the same time last year and there will be a total of 2,586,000 unemployed.

The unemployment rate in Spain is also the highest out the rest of the EU and the study predicts that the unemployment rate in Spain will be around 11.2% by the end of the year.

The slowdown in the creation of new jobs is mostly in male dominated jobs. In fact men have seen their access to employment go down by a third compared to this time last year (from 1.9% to 0.6% in the second quarter of 2008). On the other hand, female job occupation has gone up at a similar rate compared to last year (from 2% to 2.1%).

Thank you a lot for all this stuff!
And now the last big question: What's a nice place to live in Spain (I'm not thinking of Madrid or Barcelona, but some nice, medium-sized cities)?!
Questions will never come to an end, it seems ;-)
Jan

Hi Jan! Depends on where you want to go...in the north: Bilbao is really cool. South: I can recommend Sevilla, very beautiful city!

Saludos
Gonzalo

Thanks for your advice! I think we'd rather go south because of the weather. Are there any more cities directly at the sea?

Hi Jan! If you're looking for a city in the south of Spain, you could consider Alicante, Málaga or Cádiz!

Julia

Thanks for those tips, Julia!
The cities seem quite nice! But I fear that there might be lots of tourist in the summer!

Yes you might be right with this. Seems like this is the price you have to pay if you wanna live in a city at the sea ;-)

Saludos
Gonzalo

Wow that's really one of the most difficult decisions in my life...Why can't I just have THE dream town in Spain, without thinking much about it? ;)
Well, any more recommendations?

Regards
Jan

I think Sevilla is the most beautiful city of Spain! Lots of students, lots of day- and nightlife, and the best of all: orange-trees all around!