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Tips for a stress free expatriation to Spain
| Published: | 9 Mar at 6 PM |
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Whether would-be expats like it or not, learning the local language is essential to making your lifestyle change successful and stress-free.
Moving overseas is a massive challenge to the majority of would-be expats yearning for fresh fields and pastures new, with tackling the basics and preparing yourself for inevitable changes is the way to make your transition as stress-free as is possible. If you’re heading for Spain, learning Spanish is far easier than tackling many other tongues in expat-favoured countries, and will help you integrate with locals as well as making bureaucratic tasks far easier.
Outside Spain‘s major tourism and expat hotspots, English isn’t widely spoken, making the Spanish language essential for expats looking to live in a rural area. The best way forward is to take a course in the language before your move, backing it up and moving forward via the internet once you’ve arrived and settled in. Most expats admit the language wasn’t the challenge they’d expected, so there’s no excuse for giving up.
Moving overseas has one thing in common, wherever you’ve chosen to hang your hat. Forms need to be filled in and paperwork needs to be exact and endlessly copied, with Spain no different from any other expat destination as regards bureaucracy. You’ll need a foreigner ID number to do almost anything, including buying a vehicle, getting a bank account and either renting or buying your new home.
Admittedly, Spain’s red tape gets a bad press for a good reason – it’s obsessive as regards copies of everything and extended waiting times for important decisions. Keeping everything in hard copy as well as online is recommended and, if you’re totally confused, the local paid intermediary should be able to put your mind at rest, especially when you’re forced to attend local offices rather than simply sending the required paperwork online.
Moving overseas is a massive challenge to the majority of would-be expats yearning for fresh fields and pastures new, with tackling the basics and preparing yourself for inevitable changes is the way to make your transition as stress-free as is possible. If you’re heading for Spain, learning Spanish is far easier than tackling many other tongues in expat-favoured countries, and will help you integrate with locals as well as making bureaucratic tasks far easier.
Outside Spain‘s major tourism and expat hotspots, English isn’t widely spoken, making the Spanish language essential for expats looking to live in a rural area. The best way forward is to take a course in the language before your move, backing it up and moving forward via the internet once you’ve arrived and settled in. Most expats admit the language wasn’t the challenge they’d expected, so there’s no excuse for giving up.
Moving overseas has one thing in common, wherever you’ve chosen to hang your hat. Forms need to be filled in and paperwork needs to be exact and endlessly copied, with Spain no different from any other expat destination as regards bureaucracy. You’ll need a foreigner ID number to do almost anything, including buying a vehicle, getting a bank account and either renting or buying your new home.
Admittedly, Spain’s red tape gets a bad press for a good reason – it’s obsessive as regards copies of everything and extended waiting times for important decisions. Keeping everything in hard copy as well as online is recommended and, if you’re totally confused, the local paid intermediary should be able to put your mind at rest, especially when you’re forced to attend local offices rather than simply sending the required paperwork online.
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