In order to know the cost of living in Spain, it’s necessary to first determine some important aspects that will influence the price.

Factors to consider when living in Spain

The cost of living in Spain, like anywhere else, is influenced by different factors. The main ones will be: the geographical area of Spain where you will live, whether you rent a room or an entire apartment, transportation, the type of food, and the leisure activities you engage in. With this information, you can get an average of the cost of living in Spain.

It’s also important to know the country’s minimum wage (SMI). As of June 2022, the SMI in Spain is 1,080 euros in 14 payments, which equals 14,000 euros annually or 1,166.7 euros monthly.

From here, we will analyze the main expenses of an average Spanish person: housing, transportation, and food. According to different estimates, the cost of living in Spain would be between 800 and 1,100 euros.

Housing costs

As you can imagine, the cost of housing is not uniform throughout Spain. There are two major population centers, Madrid and Barcelona (and the surrounding cities), where rent is very high. Living alone in a rental rarely drops below 700 euros, and sharing an apartment can reach up to 600 euros per month, although the average is usually around 400 euros. To this, you must add the cost of electricity, water, gas, and internet.

Other significant centers are: Valencia, Zaragoza, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, and Granada. In these cities, rents are more affordable than in Madrid and Barcelona, and there are also differences among them.

Keep in mind that if you decide to live in a smaller city with fewer inhabitants, the cost of housing (and others) will be reduced, although there will be fewer options to choose from, and you will have fewer job and leisure opportunities.

Transportation costs

If you’re going to live in major population centers, you’ll likely need to allocate money for transportation (public or private). This includes the subway, buses, trams, and taxis or companies that provide taxi services.

Prices will vary depending on the area where you live and the type of travel passes you buy: single trips, 10-trip passes, monthly passes, quarterly passes, etc. In some cases, prices also differ based on age (especially monthly passes).

Food cost

It is estimated that you should allocate between 40 and 50 euros per week for groceries. This is variable and depends on each person’s diet. Some people can live perfectly well on 30 euros per week. For this, it’s essential to have a good connection with different supermarkets and compare prices: shopping sensibly can save you a lot of money annually.

Total cost to live in Spain

As we have seen, it’s important to study all the factors to adjust our budget. In addition, there will be other expenses that we haven’t considered, such as: gym membership, eating out, cell phone, going out for drinks, clothing, etc.

In summary, it’s necessary to have between 800 and 1,200 euros per month to live in Spain.

If you need help choosing the area of Spain that best suits your characteristics, feel free to contact us! We’d be happy to help.