Where to live in Spain
We track 13 cities in Spain, including Barcelona, Madrid and Seville. Average temperatures run from 14°C to 20°C. We estimate a couple needs €2,837 to €3,256 a month to live centrally. Spain sits in our high tax tier. For citizens from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, long-term residency is comparatively open.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
- Tax tier
- High
- High personal income tax
- Languages
- Spanish
- Some English
- Safety
- 65/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 79/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~200 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 13 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alicante | mid-sized | coastal | 19°C | 296 mm | €2,987 |
| Barcelona | large | coastal | 17°C | 576 mm | €3,177 |
| Bilbao | mid-sized | coastal | 15°C | 1,144 mm | €2,987 |
| Córdoba | mid-sized | near the coast | 19°C | 525 mm | €2,979 |
| Donostia / San Sebastián | smaller | coastal | 15°C | 1,244 mm | €2,911 |
| Granada | smaller | near the coast | 17°C | 379 mm | €2,939 |
| Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | mid-sized | coastal | 20°C | 167 mm | €2,999 |
| Madrid | large | inland | 16°C | 378 mm | €3,256 |
| Málaga | mid-sized | coastal | 20°C | 509 mm | €3,051 |
| Santiago de Compostela | smaller | coastal | 14°C | 1,676 mm | €2,837 |
| Seville | mid-sized | near the coast | 20°C | 524 mm | €3,069 |
| Valencia | mid-sized | coastal | 18°C | 396 mm | €3,091 |
| Zaragoza | mid-sized | inland | 17°C | 322 mm | €3,069 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
Spain sits in our high tax tier: high personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Comparatively open, for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Realistic self-funded routes are the non-lucrative visa (passive income/sufficient means) and the digital nomad visa (remote work), alongside sponsored work permits and the EU Blue Card; the property-based golden visa was abolished in April 2025, so no capital-investment route remains. EUR converted at 1.1637 USD/EUR as of 2026-06.
Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights here.
Bilateral arrangements make it easier for citizens of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for Spain:
- Income: about $2,793 a month (Spain non-lucrative (non-working) residence visa, 400% of IPREM = EUR 2,400/mo (EUR 28,800/yr), single applicant; as of June 2026)
For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter visa-free and 105 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).