Moving to Barcelona: Expat Barcelona Relocation Guide
Sponsored by BCN Life.
Photo by Oh-Barcleona.com (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
Moving to Barcelona
Barcelona relocation services cater specifically to expats moving to Barcelona. Whether you’re dealing with American expats, British expats, European expats or English-speaking expats from all over the globe, the reason they want to move to Barcelona is simple: it’s the best place in the world to live. Those that end up moving to Barcelona often have one thing in common: they use the Barcelona expat relocation services of BCN Life.
Why Is Barcelona the Best Place to Live?
Barcelona has fabulous weather, wonderful beaches, great culture, beautiful architecture, mild winters and an open-minded, international community.
To the north lies the rugged coast of the Costa Brava dotted with deep blue coves and sandy beaches stretching all the way to France. To the South is the hip town of Sitges and long, golden beaches which give the Costa Dorada its name.
Inland you find the mountainous Collserola Natural Park—a wonderful natural space crisscrossed with trails for hiking and cycling. And beyond Collserola are the Pyrenees mountains, extending into France and Andorra, which make for amazing skiing. With everything this chic Mediterranean city has to offer combined with the natural beauty of its surroundings, Barcelona is the perfect place for families, young expats, remote workers, students and retirees alike.
How Easy Is It to Move to Barcelona?
With all these great things going for it, however, moving to Barcelona is, unfortunately, very complicated. To start your new life in this fabulous city right, you need to make sure to find the right experts to help. Why do you want to risk any chance of ruining this once-in-a lifetime opportunity by doing things yourself? Believe it or not, there is one company in Barcelona started by American expats who went through all the complications in moving to Barcelona and never wanted that to happen to another expat ever again.
What Relocation Company Helps Expats Move to Barcelona?
The answer is BCN Life. Created by an American expat couple, BCN Life has one mission: to help expats create their best life when moving to and living in Barcelona. Because of a laser focus on this mission of only working with clients who also wanted as their number one goal to create their best life in this fantastic city, BCN Life has become the number one Barcelona relocation services company for American expats moving to Barcelona, and now for British expats moving to Barcelona from the UK after Brexit.
For these reasons, BCN Life receives thousands of requests from expats wanting to relocate to Barcelona and live their dream life.
From all the relocation services that BCN Life offers, below is a list of the 10 most popular relocation services that expats use when moving to Barcelona.
10 Most Popular Relocation Services that Expats Use When Moving to Barcelona
1. Rental Home Finding Services
This is by far BCN Life’s most popular Barcelona relocation service. It is also the most important step in creating new life in Barcelona. The importance of this step cannot be stressed enough; finding the right home is key to experiencing the life that you have always imagined living in your new adopted city.
BCN Life takes a step-by-step approach to finding your new home in Barcelona. First, the focus is on finding the perfect neighborhood for you to live in. Do you want to be near an expat social community in the Bohemian, family-friendly neighborhood of Gràcia or in the pockets of Eixample or Sant Gervasi that surround it? Or, do you want more space, a quieter area, or a more posh expat community area like Turó Park? Selecting the right neighborhood for you is essential to realizing your goals for your new life. For this reason, BCN Life’s neighborhood tours to find your perfect home are very popular.
After you’ve selected the neighborhood you want to live in, the relocation experts at BCN Life find the perfect home based on your requirements and budget. They organize and attend the visits with you, or can do so on your behalf and provide videos so that you know that the photos match what is actually on the internet. Once they’ve found the perfect flat then they assist with landlord approval and then the lease terms and lease signing to make sure you are fully covered.
2. Buying Property
After the rental home finding service, BCN Life’s Barcelona home buying package is the most popular Barcelona relocation service.
Neighborhood selection is even more important when buying a property in Barcelona because the decision is more permanent. But not only is finding the perfect neighborhood important, you always have to make sure that you are legally protected in your real estate transaction. In Spain, real estate agents only represent the sellers, so many questions arise.
- Who is going to protect you and make sure you’re getting the best deal?
- Who is going to represent you against the sellers and their real estate agents?
- What happens if you don’t qualify for the mortgage and you’ve already made your mandatory 10% “arras” payment?
- What happens if the property has defects structurally or with the title?
- Who is going to take care of your property if you can’t because you’re living in another country?
- How are you going to get your golden visa if the former mortgage on the property is not canceled?
- What notary are you going to use?
- How are you going to buy the property if you’re not in Barcelona?
These are just a few of the many questions that property buyers have to deal with in Barcelona. There are so many things that can go wrong. But there are so many things that can go right. This is why the Barcelona home buying package is extremely popular.
3. Spanish Visa or NIE
Because BCN Life was founded by American expats, the majority of its clients are American expats relocating to Barcelona from the US. Also, since Brexit, a growing number of clients that are moving to Barcelona from the UK use BCN Life’s services. As third country nationals (non-EU citizens) Americans, and now citizens from the UK (thanks to Brexit), have a difficult time moving to Barcelona.
If you are from the EU, the path to living in Barcelona is easier because you do not need to get a visa. Instead, you just have to obtain a NIE. However, be aware that for an EU citizen to get a NIE there are specific requirements, such as a long-term lease written in a certain way or a Spanish bank account with a particular amount of available funds.
But for Americans, UK nationals, and others from outside the EU, you will need to obtain a Spanish visa to legally reside in Barcelona.
The three most popular Spanish visas that BCN Life provides assistance with are:
- Golden Visa: requires you to use a minimum of €500,000 euros of your own funds to purchase real estate in Spain. This visa generally gives you and your family access to live in Spain indefinitely, with authorization to work, for as long as you own the property.
- Non-Lucrative Visa: requires you to have a certain amount of liquid savings and no criminal record. However, it doesn’t give you authorization to work in Spain, so it is popular with remote workers, owners of businesses in their home country and retirees. While this is the most popular visa that expats use to live in Barcelona, it is also the most difficult visa to obtain. The non-lucrative Spanish visa generally gives you and your family access to live in Spain and you can obtain permanent residency after five years.
- Student Visa: requires you to be enrolled in a Spanish school or university and have enough savings to cover you financially while living in Spain. It does, however, allow you to work up to 20 hours a week. Though you can only live in Spain for the period that you are enrolled in the school.
The other thing to note is that with all of these Spanish visa options, you will also need to obtain private health insurance.
4. How to Live Your Best Life in Barcelona
This is probably the most overlooked Barcelona relocation service and one that truly separates BCN Life from any other relocation company.
The BCN Life mission is to help you create your best life in Barcelona. This means much more than just helping you obtain your visa and NIE, finding your perfect home and making sure your children are okay at school and socially. BCN Life also helps you with the last phase of your relocation to Barcelona, which is actually having the best experience possible as you build your new life.
Accordingly, BCN Life’s Full All-inclusive Barcelona Relocation Package includes a unique relocation service for living your best life in Barcelona. This Welcome & Social Integration Package includes the followings services:
- One year of helpline support
- City insights and airport transportation, if applicable
- Friends and social group meetups (including families with children)
- Social life and activities support
- Coordination of extracurricular sports and activities
- Neighborhood essentials
- Public transportation assistance
- Spanish class recommendations
- Summer activities
- Daycare assistance
- Babysitting assistance
- Assistance with misc needs (driver’s license, car registration, social security number, autónomo registration, starting a company, etc.)
- Other recommendations based on interests
5. Finding the Right School for Your Children
When moving to Barcelona with children, the most important thing that needs to happen is that your children need to be happy here. If your children are unhappy in your new home, then your move will surely end in failure.
The first thing that you need to get correct is finding the right school for your children. While this seems like a simple step, it is not an easy one. You have to consider your children’s age, language abilities, academic strengths, learning style, social abilities, costs of school tuition, international schools: British or American School, concertada schools, etc.
Secondly, your children need to be in a social setting and neighborhood that allows for the type of social environment that is best for them so that they enjoy living in Barcelona. Is your neighborhood close to areas where they can meet friends locally? Would you like your children to be in social settings where they have the ability to meet other children? Do you know the best extracurricular activities available for your children?
These are things that you must consider to make your relocation to Barcelona a true success for your children.
6. Administrative: Setting-up Bank Account, Utilities, Internet & Phone Service, Etc.
Once you’ve gotten your immigration paperwork in order and you’ve gotten your living situation squared away, you’ll need to next get all of your settling-in administrative needs taken care of.
First, you’ll need to open a Spanish bank. The problem here, however, is that banks in Barcelona don’t generally allow you to open a bank account without already having your NIE. So you need to have connections with banks to get an appointment to open your bank account and, more importantly, get a bank representative who speaks English.
Next, you’ll need to get internet and most likely a Spanish phone number. However, in order to do this, you’ll need to have a Spanish bank account. This means you might even need a mobile Wi-Fi device until you have obtained internet service.
In some cases, landlords may also require rental insurance as part of your lease. So you’ll need to be connected with a representative who can help you out with this as well.
Lastly, you need to get your utilities set up. Utilities are called suministros in Spanish which translates to “supplies” in English. Spanish people will use the term “supplies” when referring to utilities in English. Just like ordering furniture in Barcelona as discussed below, the problem is that getting your utilities set up is a nightmare. Transferring or stopping and starting utilities doesn’t work like in the US or UK. The process is difficult and can be very frustrating and overly time-consuming, and in many cases simply too difficult to do yourself.
7. Furnishing & Remodeling
Because BCN Life’s two most popular relocation services are the rental home finding and home buying packages, the furnishing and remodeling service is very valuable when you rent a home unfurnished or when you buy a flat and you need to make some renovations or furnish it.
You might ask why, when moving to Barcelona and searching for a rental flat, would I ever rent a place unfurnished? Well, there could be several reasons. It might be because you’re absolutely in love with a particular flat, because it’s a lot cheaper to rent unfurnished, because it is the only flat available that permits pets or because you’re planning to ship your furniture from your previous home.
When you buy a home in Barcelona, you’re going to need to furnish it, and, more than likely, you’re going to need to make some upgrades. Keep in mind, ordering furniture in Barcelona is a nightmare. Delivery times are almost always vague and incorrect and customer service and accountability are really lacking. Then you need to find a proven design expert or architect who can do the additional improvements to make your new home perfect. For all these reasons, this package has become more and more popular.
8. Buying Land and Building a House
Because buying property in Barcelona has become such a popular Barcelona relocation service, what is also becoming popular is building your dream house in Barcelona, especially in beach towns like Sitges. In this scenario, you need to find land in the best location for the best price, but you need to make sure the title is accurate otherwise your arras deposit can turn into a legal battle or delay. But when it comes to building a house in Barcelona, what is key is finding an excellent architect. The architect will ensure that you can build on the land the way you want to. While the real estate attorney is also an important part of the process, the architect is key when building a house in Barcelona.
The process roughly goes like this: first, you find the perfect area to build your home. Second, you look to acquire a plot of land from a real estate agency or directly from the owners. Third, you work with an architect to make sure the plot of land that you’re building on allows for the type of build you want. Fourth, you work with the real estate attorney to make sure that there are no defects to the title. Fifth, you acquire the land through a purchase contract transaction. Sixth, the architects get all the permits you need which can take about a year. Next, BCN Life monitors the building process along with the architect for you and provides weekly status updates. Lastly, once the house is built, BCN Life makes sure everything is registered properly with city records.
The building process can take a while, but it is very rewarding when you have your dream home in Barcelona.
9. Pre-Planning Relocation Package
This Barcelona relocation package is really popular with expats who plan to relocate within a longer timeline. In this package, the relocation experts at BCN Life start with moving to Barcelona Q & A sessions so they can answer many of the questions, worries and stress points concerning your move. They develop an action plan for you to move to Barcelona eliminating stress and provide a timeline for when and how things need to get done.
Popular things discussed include the following:
- Selecting the right visa or residency path
- What is it like to live in Barcelona
- Where are you going to live
- Tax consequences
- Moving companies
- Pet relocation
Overall, in the pre-planning stage, the aim is to set a clear path for how you can relocate to Barcelona as stress-free as possible.
10. Taxes in Spain
Consultations discussing how taxes in Spain work have become a very popular Barcelona relocation service. Many people that move to Barcelona don’t work in Spain. They normally work remotely or own a business in their home country. So the key is trying to determine how taxes function in Spain and how that might affect you, especially if you plan to work or open a business in Spain.
When you work for a Spanish company, it is clear that you’ll be paying taxes in Spain which can be high. However, one way to reduce your taxes significantly is to work under the “Beckham Law” or under a subsidiary company, or it may be better to open a representative office and take dividends.
The issue gets a little bit more complicated when you live in Spain for more than half a year. There are several rules of thought when living in Spain under the non-lucrative visa, the golden visa or after obtaining permanent residency. The key is to understand your circumstances to determine how you should or can best protect yourself concerning taxes in Spain.
Based on all of the above, these are 10 of BCN Life’s most popular Barcelona relocation services. Please visit Barcelona relocation packages to learn more.
Lia Morse Mashaka, Akida Mashaka.
Akida Mashaka is co-founder of BCN Life, the Barcelona relocation company for Americans and English-speaking expats moving to Barcelona. Akida is an American Harvard trained attorney and a former restaurant group CEO. Akida and his wife Lia, the other co-founder, moved to Barcelona from Los Angeles in 2017. They live with their two children and dog in the Barcelona neighborhood, Gràcia.
Sponsored by BCN Life.
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