Moving to Spain in 2026: The Complete Step by Step Checklist

Before you go: 6 to 3 months before departure

1. Decide which visa you need

If you are an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen, you do not need a visa. You have free movement rights and can move to Spain whenever you choose. Your administrative path is the green card (Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión) via EX-18. If you are a non EU citizen, your visa decision shapes everything that follows. Three main routes cover most situations: the Digital Nomad Visa via the in-Spain route for remote workers who can enter Spain visa free; the Digital Nomad Visa via the consular route for remote workers who need a Schengen visa or prefer to arrange the permit before travelling; and the Non-Lucrative Visa for retirees and the financially independent. British citizens fall under the same non EU rules since Brexit. Choose your route now, because the income and asset thresholds you need to meet (200% SMI for the DNV, 400% IPREM for the NLV) take months of bank statement history to prove.

2. Decide where in Spain you will live

Region affects everything: cost of living, inheritance tax, regional autonomía rules, climate, English speakers, healthcare quality, and the speed of administrative offices. Madrid and Barcelona are expensive and fast. Costa Blanca, Costa Cálida, and Andalucía are cheaper and slower. Valencia balances both. Visit at least twice in different seasons before committing. Spain in February is not Spain in August. If you have not visited yet, do not commit a year long rental contract before you arrive.

3. Gather and apostille your documents

This is the step that catches everyone. You need: your passport (with at least 12 months validity), your birth certificate (apostilled), your marriage certificate if applicable (apostilled), your university diploma if you plan to work in a regulated profession (apostilled), a criminal background certificate from each country where you have lived in the past five years (apostilled and sworn translated), and bank statements for the past 6 to 12 months. The apostille is the international document legalisation under the Hague Convention. Get it from the relevant authority in your home country. Sworn translations into Spanish must be done by a traductor jurado registered with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Budget 300 to 800 euro for translations alone.

4. Get health insurance lined up

If you are applying for a visa (DNV, NLV, or other), private health insurance is mandatory and must meet specific Spanish requirements: no co payments, full coverage, valid in Spain, no waiting period, and minimum coverage equal to the Spanish public system. Insurers that specialise in expat compliance include Sanitas, Adeslas, ASISA, DKV, and Mapfre. Premiums start around 60 euro per month for healthy adults under 50 and climb with age and conditions. UK pensioners with an S1 form retain UK funded access to Spanish public healthcare and may not need private cover after arrival, but a bridging policy for the visa application is still required.

5. Sort out your finances

Budget realistically. Most singles need 1.500 to 2.000 euro per month for a comfortable life outside Madrid and Barcelona; couples need 2.200 to 3.000 euro; families of four 3.000 to 4.000 euro. These exclude one off relocation costs: deposits (typically 2 to 3 months rent), removals (3.000 to 8.000 euro for a small household), apostilles and translations (500 to 1.000 euro), visa application fees (TASA 790-038 for DNV is approximately 80 euro), private health insurance (first year prepaid often 800 to 1.500 euro), and a buffer for the first 6 to 12 months of unexpected expenses. Open a multi currency account (Wise or Revolut) to move money cheaply across borders during the transition.

6. Submit your visa application (non EU only)

For the consular route or the Non-Lucrative Visa, you apply at the Spanish consulate in your home country before travelling. Book your cita previa, prepare all documents, attend the interview, and wait one to three months for the decision. For the in-Spain DNV route, you fly to Spain first as a tourist and submit through the UGE-CE portal within 60 days of arrival. EU citizens skip this step entirely.

Your first week in Spain

7. Find temporary accommodation

Do not sign a long term lease before you have lived in your chosen area for at least two weeks. Book a furnished short term rental (Airbnb, Booking.com, idealista, fotocasa) for the first month. Use that time to walk the streets at different hours, test the supermarket access, check the noise levels, and assess whether you want to actually live there long term. Many regret buying or signing in their first week.

8. Register at the town hall: empadronamiento

The empadronamiento is your municipal registration. You register at the Ayuntamiento (town hall) of the municipality where you live. You bring your passport, your rental contract or a property deed (escritura), and your fingerprints in some municipalities. In some places it takes 15 minutes; in others it takes weeks for an appointment. Once registered, you receive a volante de empadronamiento (paper certificate). This document is the key that unlocks everything else: NIE/TIE, Seguridad Social, school enrolment, driving licence exchange. Get it in your first or second week.

9. Open a Spanish bank account

Some banks accept non residents with just a passport. Once you have your NIE, you can convert to a full resident account. Major Spanish banks for newcomers: Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank (traditional, branches everywhere), and N26, Openbank, Revolut, Wise (online, mobile first, faster setup). A Spanish IBAN is required for IMPORTASS (Seguridad Social), for paying utilities by direct debit, and for most landlords. Bring your passport, NIE (if you have it), proof of address, and proof of income.

10. Get your NIE or TIE

If you are an EU citizen, book your EX-18 appointment at the Policía Nacional and apply for your green card. You will receive your NIE number as part of the process. If you are a non EU citizen, you applied for residence via the visa route. You now book your TIE appointment (EX-17) within 30 days of arrival. The TIE is your biometric residence card. Both appointments require a paid Modelo 790 code 012 (approximately 12 to 16 euro), one passport photo in the Spanish 32x26 mm format, and your empadronamiento certificate.

Your first month: settling in administratively

11. Get your Certificado Digital

The Certificado Digital is your digital identity for every Spanish government portal. Without it, you cannot file taxes online, register for autonomo, access the UGE-CE portal, request certificates electronically, or sign and submit documents to Spanish authorities. Get it as soon as you have your NIE: request the code on the FNMT website, verify in person at a Hacienda or Seguridad Social office, then download and install in your browser. The whole process takes one to two days.

12. Register with the Seguridad Social

If you have a Spanish employer, they register you. If you are self employed (autónomo), you register yourself at the TGSS via the IMPORTASS portal. If you are on a Non-Lucrative Visa, you cannot register through work; you access public healthcare via the Convenio Especial after one year of residency. For UK pensioners with an S1, register the S1 at the INSS to access public healthcare on UK funding. Family members of registered workers are also covered.

13. Get your Tarjeta Sanitaria

After you are registered with the Seguridad Social, go to your local centro de salud (health centre) with your Seguridad Social number, NIE/TIE, and empadronamiento. They assign you a family doctor and issue your Tarjeta Sanitaria (the physical health card). This card gives you access to public healthcare for routine appointments, specialists, and the local pharmacy network.

14. Set up utilities and internet

Electricity (Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy, or alternative suppliers like Repsol or Holaluz), water (varies by municipality, usually a regional company), gas (Naturgy, Endesa, or bottled butane), internet and mobile (Movistar, Vodafone, Orange, MasMovil, or budget options Digi and Lowi). All require your NIE, a Spanish IBAN, and your empadronamiento. Bundling internet and mobile saves 10 to 25 euro per month.

15. Inform your home country tax authority

Notify your home country tax office that you have emigrated. The UK: HMRC P85. The Netherlands: BSN deregistration and Belastingdienst notification (M-formulier). Germany: Abmeldung at the Einwohnermeldeamt and Finanzamt notification. Spain becomes your tax residence if you spend 183+ days per calendar year here, or if your economic centre of interest is here. Your home country may still have a residual tax claim under the double taxation treaty. Talk to a cross border tax advisor in your first month, before you make decisions that affect both jurisdictions.

Your first 90 days

16. Sign your long term rental contract

Now that you have lived in the area for a month, you know whether you want to stay. Spanish long term rentals are typically 12 month contracts with the right to extend for up to 5 years (LAU 2013). Deposits are usually one month for residential, two months for furnished, sometimes higher in tight markets. Landlords ask for your NIE, recent payslips or invoices, your contract or proof of income, and references.

17. Exchange your driving licence (if applicable)

EU, EEA, and UK licences can be exchanged for a Spanish licence through the DGT, no driving test required. The process involves a RESPER verification with your home country (one to four weeks), a medical exam at a Centro de Reconocimiento (20 to 40 euro), and a DGT appointment. Total cost is around 55 to 80 euro. Your foreign licence is surrendered to the DGT permanently. Licences from countries without a bilateral agreement require the full Spanish driving test.

18. Register children for school

Public school enrolment runs in March to May for the following academic year, but mid year enrolment is possible if spaces are available. Bring your child's birth certificate (apostilled and translated), vaccination record, school records from the previous school, empadronamiento, and NIE/TIE. Public schools are free; concertados are semi private with some fees; international schools (British, American, German, French) cost 6.000 to 18.000 euro per year. The local Dirección Provincial de Educación assigns school spots based on proximity to your registered address.

19. Set up tax compliance

Spain's tax year is the calendar year. Your first Spanish tax return (Modelo 100 / declaración de la Renta) is filed between 2 April and 30 June for the previous tax year. If you have foreign assets above 50.000 euro in any category (bank accounts, investments, real estate), you also file Modelo 720 by 31 March each year (or Modelo 721 for crypto). If you are autonomo, you file quarterly Modelo 130 (IRPF advance) and Modelo 303 (IVA). Decide now whether you self file with your Certificado Digital, use a gestor (200 to 600 euro per year), or use a specialist expat tax service.

20. If you qualify, opt into the Beckham Law (DNV holders only)

If you hold a Digital Nomad Visa and were not a Spanish tax resident in the previous ten years, you can opt into the Beckham Law for a 24% flat tax on Spanish income up to 600.000 euro per year (instead of progressive IRPF rates up to 47%). You file Modelo 149 within six months of starting work in Spain. The regime lasts six years. For incomes above 50.000 euro, the savings are substantial. NLV holders are not eligible.

21. Make a will under your home country's law

Spanish inheritance law applies by default if you die as a Spanish resident. This can disadvantage spouses in blended families because of the Spanish Legítima (mandatory share for children). The EU Succession Regulation (EU 650/2012) lets you make a choice of law in your will, applying your home country's inheritance rules instead. Visit a Spanish notary, draft a will with a choice of law clause, and protect your family. Cost: 150 to 300 euro per will. Most newcomers put this off; do not be one of them.

After 5 years: permanent residency

After five years of continuous legal residence, EU and non EU residents both qualify for permanent residency (Residencia de Larga Duración). Continuous means no absence longer than six consecutive months or ten months in total during the five years. Permanent residency removes work restrictions (for NLV holders), removes the need to prove income or insurance at renewal, and gives you the right to stay indefinitely. After ten years, you can apply for Spanish citizenship (two years for nationals of Hispanic countries). Permanent residency is the strategic destination of every move.