Moving to Spain
Moving to Spain from the UK
Guides, articles and visa routes for British people preparing a move to Spain, organised around what you need to know next.
Costa Bridge helps British nationals prepare calmly, with written guidance, document preparation support and honest signposting. This library brings together free resources in one place. It is planning support, not immigration, tax or legal advice.
Start here
If you are early in your research, these are sensible first stops.
The complete guide
Moving to Spain from the UK, step by step: visas, money, healthcare, paperwork and timing.
Open →Moving to Spain After Brexit
Understand your starting point as a British national after Brexit.
Open →Compare visa routes
Plain-language route overviews — Non-Lucrative, Digital Nomad and more.
Open →Documents & admin
NIE, TIE, padrón and the paperwork most people underestimate.
Open →Free Move Planner
A structured questionnaire to map your situation and next steps.
Open →Guide hubs
Planning Library
Structured guide hubs organised around a typical British research journey — from first plans through visas, paperwork, costs and settling in.
Planning your move
Where British nationals stand after Brexit and how to work out what needs doing first.
Visas & residency
Residence routes, eligibility and what preparation support can — and cannot — cover.
Admin & paperwork
NIE, TIE, padrón, appointments and the bureaucracy most people underestimate.
Money & costs
Cost of living, banking and when you need a qualified tax adviser.
Choosing an area
Shortlisting costas and towns — climate, services and realistic trade-offs.
Settling in
Healthcare, housing and day-to-day life once you are in Spain or nearly there.
Healthcare in Spain
S1, public registration, private cover and what to arrange before you move.
Explore hub →Housing & Property
Renting vs buying, contracts, utilities and practical property considerations.
Explore hub →Day-to-Day Life
Culture, language, transport and the rhythms of everyday life in Spain.
Explore hub →Second Homes & Property Buying
NIE for purchase, conveyancing signposting and second-home practicalities.
Explore hub →Your situation
Guides shaped around how you are moving — as a family, retiree or remote worker.
Moving with Children
School registration, local services and planning a family move with fewer surprises.
Explore hub →Retiring to Spain
NLV context, healthcare, income proof and practical planning for retirement relocators.
Explore hub →Remote Working from Spain
DNV eligibility, remote-work evidence and working legally as a British national.
Explore hub →Browse the full structured hub index on our Practical Guide Library.
Visa routes
Route-specific overviews to help you orient before professional advice. These pages explain suitability and common documents — they do not replace a qualified immigration adviser.
Non-lucrative visa
The main route for British retirees and anyone living off pensions, savings or investments: residence in Spain without working there.
Read the guideDigital nomad visa
For British people who work remotely for employers or clients outside Spain and want to live in Spain while they do it.
Read the guideFamily of a Spanish or EU citizen
If your spouse, partner, child or parent is Spanish or an EU citizen, you can usually live and work in Spain on a five-year family card, without the income tests of the other routes.
Read the guideWork visas: a Spanish job or your own business
To work for a Spanish employer or run a business in Spain you need a work permit. The routes, the salary thresholds and how hard each one is for British applicants.
Read the guideStudent visa
For British people taking a full-time course in Spain, from a degree to a long Spanish language course, with the right to work up to 30 hours a week.
Read the guideVisiting: the 90/180-day rule
No visa needed for short stays: British passport holders can spend up to 90 days in any 180 in Spain and the Schengen area. Here's how the count works and what's changing at the border.
Read the guideLiving in Spain before 2021: the Withdrawal Agreement
If you were living in Spain before 1 January 2021, your rights are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. You need a TIE, not a new visa.
Read the guideGolden visa (closed)
Spain's investor visa closed to new applicants on 3 April 2025. Buying property no longer gets you residence. Here's what replaced it for most people.
Read the guideArticles & insights
Shorter explainers, checklists and comparisons — grouped by format so you can browse without wading through a flat list.
Practical guides
Practical guides
Moving to Spain from the UK: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide
Everything British people need to move to Spain after Brexit, in the order you need it: the visa routes, how much money you need, healthcare, choosing where to live, the documents to prepare in the UK and the paperwork after you arrive.
Reviewed 13 Oct 2026
Read more →Practical guides
Importing a UK Car to Spain: Costs, Paperwork and Whether It's Worth It
Since Brexit, bringing your UK car to Spain is an import from outside the EU. Customs duty and IVA (unless you qualify for relief), registration tax, technical approval for a right-hand-drive car, the ITV inspection and Spanish plates, and when selling up in the UK makes more sense.
Reviewed 11 Oct 2026
Read more →Practical guides
Modelo 720: Declaring Your UK Assets as a Spanish Tax Resident
Once you are tax resident in Spain, you must tell the Spanish tax agency about UK bank accounts, investments and property worth more than €50,000 in each category. How modelo 720 works, what changed after the 2022 EU court ruling, and the mistakes that catch British movers out.
Reviewed 11 Oct 2026
Read more →Practical guides
Spanish Tax Residency and the UK–Spain Double Tax Treaty
When you become a Spanish tax resident, how the 183-day rule and the centre of vital interests work, and how the UK–Spain tax treaty decides which country taxes your pensions, rents, savings and gains.
Reviewed 11 Oct 2026
Read more →Explainers
Explainers
Can British Citizens Move to Spain After Brexit?
Yes — but not with automatic residence rights. Most long stays need a visa or family route, then Spanish residence paperwork.
Reviewed 13 Jul 2026
Read more →Explainers
What Does 'Correspondence-First' Relocation Support Actually Mean?
How Costa Bridge’s written preparation model works, what to confirm before booking and where specialist professional advice is needed.
Reviewed 7 Jul 2026
Read more →Explainers
30 Useful Facts About Spain for Visitors and Future Residents
Thirty checked facts about Spanish geography, regional organisation, heritage and the practical distinctions that matter when planning a move.
Reviewed 6 Jul 2026
Read more →Comparisons
Comparisons
Costa del Sol vs Costa Blanca: An Honest Comparison for British Expats
Compare specific towns on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca using housing, climate, transport, healthcare and year-round community evidence.
Reviewed 7 Jul 2026
Read more →Comparisons
Renting vs Buying in Spain: What British Expats Get Wrong
Compare flexibility, transaction costs and Spain’s actual residential tenancy protections before choosing whether to rent or buy.
Reviewed 7 Jul 2026
Read more →Comparisons
Which Spanish Costa Is Right for You? A Costa-by-Costa Guide
Compare Spain’s main coastal areas by town, services, transport, language and everyday needs rather than broad expat stereotypes.
Reviewed 7 Jul 2026
Read more →Where in Spain?
Area and town notes to help you shortlist locations — climate, services and realistic trade-offs for British relocators.