Get the right permit
EU and EEA citizens can live and work in Spain freely. If you stay longer than three months, you register as a resident and get your NIE, the foreigner number you need for almost everything.
Everyone else needs a national visa from a Spanish consulate before travelling: for work, study, family, non-lucrative residence or the digital nomad route. After arrival you book an appointment for your TIE residence card.
Check visas with SpainRead our visa guides
Find work in Spain
With your NIE you register with Social Security, open a bank account and sign a contract. Employers ask for both.
Tourism, hospitality, teaching English and tech in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Málaga hire international staff. Non-EU workers usually need a job offer first, so start your search early.
Search jobs on EURESStudy in Spain
Public universities are affordable for EU students, and fees are set by each region. Many master’s programmes and business schools teach in English.
Non-EU students need a student visa. Spanish courses at a language school are a popular first step, and a great way to arrive with friends.
See study abroad
Find a home
Search on Idealista and Fotocasa. Long-term leases give tenants several years of security, and the legal deposit is usually one month’s rent.
Many villages in rural “empty Spain” offer jobs, cheap rent or grants to new residents. Rules change often, so always check with the town hall.
Plan your budgetFeel at home
Lunch is the big meal, dinner starts at nine or ten, and the sobremesa (long talks at the table) is sacred.
Spain has several languages: Catalan, Basque and Galician live alongside Spanish. A few words of the local one win hearts.
Discover Spanish cultureMore on culture shock
Pick your city
Start with Valencia: what a month costs, how the youth bus pass works, which paperwork comes first and what Spanish to learn before you land. More Spanish cities are coming.
Planning the whole country? Read our budget breakdown for 2026.
Living in ValenciaCost of living in SpainLearn Spanish first
Speaking Spanish opens doors at the town hall, at work and with your neighbours.
Start the Spanish courseBook a relocation call