After considering and visiting many countries, Lyman and Jackie have decided to move for retirement to Spain and have never regretted this choice. More than a year in their life in Malaga, they kindly agreed to share with us their experience and “take-aways” from this move.
Where are you from and why did you decide to move to Spain?
We are from the United States. We lived in Boston, Phoenix, Dallas and then Phoenix again. We considered and visited many countries and cities, some more than once, before deciding where to move. Sunny weather, a stable government, an excellent medical system, and a rea- sonable cost of living all counted toward our decision to move to Spain.
When did you move & where in Spain did you settle?
We arrived in Spain on 3 February 2023. We already had our destination city determined: M´alaga. We rented two holiday apartments for two weeks each while searching for a more permanent place to live. We looked at apartments in Benalma´dena and in the M´alaga Commercial Center (modern downtown). We finally settled in a penthouse apartment in the commercial center. Our rental started at the end of February 2023.
Did you move on your own or as a family?
We are only a couple and moved together. Before moving, we sold about three quarters of our belongings at auction and put the rest into climate-controlled storage for later shipment.
Did you use professional help for the immigration procedures (visas, per- mits, any admin paperwork) and/or any relocation services (property search, schools, etc)?
We had assistance, almost from the start, from Balcells Group in Barcelona. Their service was terrible. They often ignored us for weeks at a time, forgot that we had paid them in full ahead of time, and switched us from lawyer to lawyer again and again. Stay away from Balcells.
Just prior to and after our arrival, Irina Saltmarsh was, and remains our “go to first” advisor on all matters legal and business related in Spain. She arranged for our NIE cards, our Spanish banking and guided and represented us while finding a residence. She is kind, understanding and encyclopedic in her knowledge about living as an expat in Spain.
We cannot stress strongly enough that getting experienced, knowledge- able assistance for all of the required international and Spanish legal immigration procedures and processes is an absolute necessity. We are both highly educated professional people, but without the invaluabe assistance in these matters our immigration and moving experience would have been doomed.
How difficult was it to find your first home and do you still live in the same place? If you moved - tell us why
Spain has a very good real estate listing website, Idealista. However, (1) the market moves quickly and the listings are generally not promptly removed when a property sells or is rented; (2) calling to get a viewing appointment requires fluent Spanish skill; and (3) you will generally be required to show that you are financially able to afford a property prior to getting an appointment for a viewing. You may be in a position to negotiate with the owner at the viewing, but unless you are fluent in Spanish and a skilled and experienced negotiator, your prospects are dim. Having Irina Saltmarsh represent us to the property owners saved us from a potentially very bad deal with one less than scrupulous owner and made everything easy with the owner of the place we settled on. We are still in our original rental and have no plans to move at this time despite some annoying little issues.
What is your occupation in Spain - tell us a few words. Has it changed compared to what you did in your home country?
We are both retired and our visas are of the “non-lucrative” type. Thus, we have no occupations in Spain (or anywhere else; the rules about this are very strict and very constraining). That said, Lyman is tutoring a bright high school student in physics, chemistry and mathematics (for free) and is planning to volunteer to present some lectures at one of the bi-lingual high schools nearby. Jackie is writing a memoir and has started a book on philosophy.
How integrated do you feel into the local community and lifestyle?
We are still learning Spanish and not nearly at the rate that we would like. While this rate is accelerating, we still cannot have meaningful conversations with our neighbors (who all seem very nice). We have made some close Spanish friends who speak English, and they are wonderful people!
Do you have any regrets about your move to Spain and/or miss anything from your home country?
No regrets, for sure! Moving to Spain continues to be a very positive experience for both of us.
Things we miss:
• Window screens! Our home (like all the other places we have stayed in Spain) has no screens on the windows. Most homes are designed to take advantage of breezes for cross flow ventilation. But leaving your windows open for the clean, fresh air in M´alaga is an invitation for flying bugs of all kinds. Some of them are dangerous because they carry diseases, like Tiger Mosquitoes in the Springtime. (Note: We bought screens in the Spring of 2024.)
• The “get it done and do it right” attitude in the US. If you call an electrician or a plumber in the US, they will tell you a date and time that they will arrive. They might be a few hours late, but they will certainly arrive and do a professional and complete job. In the same circumstances in Spain, they may or may not tell you when they might come to solve your problem, but even if they do, they may not show up for a week or more (or ever!) and the work they do may not be very good if they do arrive. They don’t like it if you complain about shoddy work and may leave with the job unfinished if you do complain about something not being right.
– Update: Even the locals have this problem. However, getting referrals and recommendations from your local Spanish friends is a very effective remedy to this issue. A Spanish engineer friend recommended and even came with a superb electrician who fixed all our problems beautifully.
• Greek Food. While there are a few “Greek” restaurants in M´alaga, their food can be best described as “Spanish food with a side of pita bread”. Having lived in Greece, we know better.
• While there are plenty of choices of cuts of pork, we have yet to find decent bacon.
• We miss all the low-carb or keto foods that were a big part of our diets in the US. Spain, it would appear, does not do low-carb.
• We miss our friends, of course. We’re slowly making new friends here and keeping in touch with our friends in the US by occasional Zoom meetings.
What was the main advantage and the main challenge you experienced with moving to Spain?
The main advantages of moving to Spain are a safer, less expensive, healthier life with many new and interesting experiences.
By far the greatest challenge was getting health insurance as older peo- ple. This turned out to be extremely difficult. Try Adeslas Seguros Se- niors first (Carlos A Blanco Rey). He is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. (Nota Bene: It turned out that the insurance from Adeslas does not meet the visa requirements, even though their representatives claim strongly that it does. Go with the recommendation of Irina instead.
A secondary challenge is all the paperwork involved in opening a bank account or renting an apartment, or really anything involving a contract (more than 80 signatures required for opening a bank account).
Any advice you would like to give to those considering or in the process of moving to Spain.
Use all available help. Learn Spanish as early as possible. Be prepared and flexible for lots of small (and a few not so small) differences. Find and join in to the various Expat groups. Some of the members have been in Spain for decades. They are fountains of good information.