My wife and I are in the process of buying a little cave house in Spain. Why you might ask? Well, it would be nice if I could say that we discovered it. It would be fun to imagine that Spain is the quiet, shy boy or girl in the romantic comedy that gets a costume change, loses the dorky glasses, and has a couple of Tequila shots and is suddenly way hotter and more fun than the popular kids who owned the school at the beginning of the movie. But, I can’t.
Spain is Frickin’ Awesome.
There is nothing quiet or shy about Spain or its people. It has amazing food, incredible architecture, and beautiful beaches, not to mention Jamón, Sangria, y Tapas.
The Spanish Tourist Board sucks.
Spain has done a lousy job of marketing itself to Americans. Spain gets lots of tourists. But, according to Wikipedia, nearly all of them are from Europe. More Belgians visited Spain last year than Americans. The population of Belgium is 1/30th that of the USA. Twelve times more Britons than Americans visited Spain in 2015. In fact, four times more Americans went to France than Spain in 2016. Americans must be very romantic, non?
Spain really is Frickin’ Awesome.
Ok, so Spain is under-appreciated and a fantastic tourist destination. But, would anyone want to buy a house there or retire there? The answer is absolutely “YES!” Spain is cheaper(see below) and safer than the USA. It was recently ranked as the 7th best place to retire abroad by Forbes. And, IMHO, the top 3 all have serious drawbacks: Mexico: crime, Panama: humidity, and Ecuador: crime again.
What about the financial crisis?
For us foreigners, the financial crisis is good news. That’s right. Good news. According to this article from Investopedia, you can retire in Spain for $20-25,000 per year. Here is a cost of living comparison between the USA and Spain (you can adjust it by putting in specific cities). It shows that living in the USA is roughly twice as expensive as Spain. Houses in Spain are 30% cheaper than they were before 2008. And, the dollar is nearly on par with the euro which means that everything is cheaper. The exchange rate alone can save you thousands of dollars on a major purchase, like a house.
Next post: How to Find a House in Spain…
-S
Yeah! You’re blogging! I LOVE IT!!!
Thank you!
Yes that sounds like the Spain we know. Having lived here on and off (mostly off) for 9 years and now into our second 6-month stretch (which almost makes us “locals” aside from having a vocabulary limited largely to “2 small beers and the menu, please”) – I’m happy to say your description fits the bill. I should perhaps clarify that my view applies to RURAL Spain -the big cities, like all big cities are another matter – Barcelona has it’s share of crime. Here in the middle of no-where, the Spanish people are really friendly and helpful, food and drink is relatively cheap and the weather… well – coming from the land of eternal rain I’m certainly not complaining. But lest anyone should get the impression that we live in the dark ages here, mobile phone access is good and WIFI is often free in town centres.