One of my close friends sent me an email recently to tell me that he was considering moving to Spain from the UK following the UK’s Brexit vote and how things are developing over there.

He is already an ex-pat, having moved away from Malta with his family a few years ago. Moving is no easy chore, so I felt bad for him having to deal with this after having moved just a couple of years ago. Clearly, his original intention was to stay in the UK and himself and his family had been feeling happy and settled. On the other hand, I also felt excited about having been asked to share my experience of living in Spain and possibly welcoming him and his family here in the near future.

Since I’ve been planning to write a post about living in Spain for quite a while, I decided to hit two birds with one stone and do that as I think it will be helpful for my friend and for others who are also considering this move.

Before we even delve further, I must emphasize the fact that the choice of where to live is a very personal one. You might love a country or city that your wife or children will absolutely despise. Your preferences might also change in a few years’ time. For example, I absolutely loved living and studying in England in my early twenties, and there’s no other place I would have chosen if I were to do it again. On the other hand, now that I’m in my thirties, I definitely think that there is no better place in the world than Barcelona. In my late twenties, I also spent a few years being a digital nomad, and again, changing countries every few months was the best thing ever for me at that stage. I don’t feel any inclination to do that at all right now.

If you’re lucky, you will be able to move to a place that your entire family agrees upon. In my case, both I and my wife felt very deeply that Barcelona was the right place for us at this stage of life, so it was an easy decision. Not to mention, that if you’re in the position of choosing which country to live in, you’re already one of the privileged ones, as most people can’t move so easily.

With that out of the way, let’s shift our focus to Spain. I’ve already summed up the main reasons why I love Barcelona in a separate post that I wrote a couple of years ago. It’s a good place to start in order to understand why we moved here.

Over the years I’ve had the chance to visit many parts of Spain, although there are still many places I want to visit. Apart from Barcelona, I’ve also lived in Mallorca. The first thing I would mention is that Spain is a very diverse country. Each region has its own personality. The southern cities like Seville, Toledo, and Granada have a totally different vibe to Madrid, which in turn is really different from Barcelona. Then there is the Basque country up north, with their amazing food and beautiful seaside town of San Sebastian. Along the East coast, you will find Costa Brava with some truly breathtaking landscapes and great small coves. Barcelona and Girona are two great options if you want to move here.

Further down south one finds Costa Blanca, with many long sandy beaches and tourist resorts. This is really not one of my favorite parts of Spain, mainly because it caters to cheap tourism with all the negative effects that brings about. I do love Valencia and Tarragona though. Many expats decide to make Javea their home, and I’m curious to visit and see why it’s so popular. The Balearic islands are world-famous, and I really enjoyed my time in Palma de Mallorca. The only downside is that the winter months tend to be a bit too quiet, as these are places that live and breathe tourism. In the summer months, things really get going and there’s lots of stuff happening. One should also keep in mind that the Canary Islands are also part of Spain. I haven’t been there yet but I’ve heard a lot of good things. I don’t think I would consider living there though simply because they’re a bit too far from the rest of Europe, and I really value having the facility to travel easily within Europe.

Barcelona has its own way of life really. Quite apart from the independence debate and whether it’s a good thing or not for Catalonia, I do feel that Barcelona provides a totally unique offering for expats. Let’s start with the integration factor. I recommend learning Spanish before you move here, or start learning immediately once you’re here. While Catalan is widely used by the locals at home or with friends, it’s not that common to have opportunities to speak it in daily life. Still, I am making an effort to learn Catalan too to further integrate. With a decent command of Spanish, you will find it very easy to integrate, it’s that kind of city that makes you feel very welcome. People are very friendly and live a very outdoors-based social life, so you will find plenty of opportunities to make friends.

Spain, as we all know, has passed through tough times due to the famous crisis, but the major cities now in full swing and property prices are shooting up. This is one of many encouraging signs that the worst is already behind us and there is a lot of growth and good things to come. It can, therefore, be a good place to invest in. I’ve already written about investing in local property through crowdfunding platforms. Actually living here puts you more in tune with the emerging opportunities, so far anyone who is business-minded and wants to profit from the city’s growth, it’s a great place to be.

One thing I dislike in Spain is the current trend towards populism coupled with negative sentiments against entrepreneurship and “rich” people. I put the word in inverted commas because people have some skewed notions of who the rich people are. Basically, anyone not on a basic salary here is considered to be rich, and that means that anyone who works hard at his job and earns a top position, or even many entrepreneurs, get automatically classified into the “evil rich” category, even though they may be earning just a few thousand more than the average salary here.

Moreover, what really disappoints me, is that instead of the Spanish adopting an attitude of working harder and trying to achieve more success, they just resort to barely doing their jobs and hating those who have worked hard to be in a better position. There is no “American dream” culture here, and that is one of the main reasons why the country never advances to being a true market leader with efficient and productive workers and low unemployment. People prefer to cheat by working in the black economy and hating on anyone who is successful.

This is being reflected in the governments that people are electing, and ideas such as the Catalan independence drive. It’s easier to just blame the rich for all the problems and implement measures like higher taxation and rent controls (both proven to be bad solutions throughout history) while the real rich people continue to be unaffected and perhaps get even richer. Unfortunately, Spain is not unique in these kinds of mentalities, the whole Southern basin of Europe seems to be plagued by these ideas.

Notwithstanding that, I still think that right now Spain is definitely ahead of any other country in terms of living quality for me and my family.

What about other countries?

Many of you know that I’ve visited many countries, and I often get questions about why I didn’t consider living in these other countries/cities. In most cases, it’s not so much that I didn’t consider it, but rather that I did consider it but Barcelona still came up tops. Here are a few of the ones I get asked about frequently, and my reasons for me not considering them to be an ideal place for us:

Thailand (Chiang Mai) – Terrific country. Incredible nature plus friendly and welcoming people. I loved being immersed in such a different culture from the one I grew up in. It challenged me in many ways and helped me grow in my understanding of myself and humanity in general. Perhaps its biggest attraction is also the biggest disadvantage: we could never settle there and integrate completely with the locals. We would always stick out like a sore thumb by the very way we look, not to mention our mannerisms, jobs, outlook on life etc. Perhaps if one were to marry a Thai, things would be different, but for us, this was the main point that made it unsuitable. In addition, the fact that it is so far from Europe and that it is very difficult to obtain a visa to live and work there.

United Kingdom – Life in the UK is pretty good, we considered living in one of the major cities such as London or Edinburgh. I love visiting these cities, and they have an incredible vibe going on, especially London. The startup, finance and tech scenes are world-class and you can pretty much do anything you fancy. With such a multicultural population, fitting in wouldn’t be a problem. Airport connections are easy and a huge plus for living there. The big downsides are the weather, cost of living, and now the Brexit uncertainty.

Germany – In general, I love the German ethic of doing things the right way and in an efficient manner. The cost of living is higher than in Spain and there is a significant language barrier, although English is also widely spoken. In the end, it pretty much boils down to weather and my feeling more comfortable having the sea close by. Perhaps not the most convincing of reasons, but keep in mind that many Brits and Germans do move to Spain purely for the weather.

Netherlands – I haven’t spent much time in the Netherlands but I really like this country. People also have a very professional way of conducting business. Within the WordPress space, I know many great developers and companies based in the Netherlands. The first WordCamp Europe was also held there. Nature there is beautiful and it is one of the best places for using bicycles. I can’t think of any negative thing about the Netherlands. Of course, there is a language barrier if you really want to integrate, but I’ve found Dutch people to be some of the best English speakers in Europe. It’s not their native language but they speak it as if it were so. Ultimately, however, if good weather plays a big part in your decision, Spain will definitely win over the Netherlands.

Portugal – Lisbon is one of my favorite cities in Europe. It’s up and coming and I think there’s a lot more in store for it. It has a similar vibe to Barcelona but on a smaller scale. The Portuguese tend to speak better English than the Spanish, so that might be a good point to consider if you don’t speak either Portuguese or Spanish. If I had to leave Barcelona for some reason, I would probably go to Lisbon. The one thing that really makes Spain a winner over Portugal at the moment is that it is a much more advanced country overall, and one of the big players in Europe. Portugal in fact has a problem with lots of its young people moving abroad to get a better education and better job opportunities. Here’s what a young Portuguese had to say about this:

18 year old Portuguese answering here. I’ll be straight and hide nothing in my answer. I turned 18 two weeks ago. I’ve always lived in Portugal. And not gonna lie, Portugal was an awesome country to grow up in. I will always feel grateful for having been raised with no security problems, access to school, medical care, food, good history & culture (part of it) and very good weather the biggest part of the year. But truth is, and I started confronting myself with that reality 4 years ago when I first went abroad, nowadays Portugal is really in the back compared to other countries. There’s so much things that need to be update, so many conflicts to be solved, and the government’s priorities (not only the current one, but all the governments I was alive to see working) are not well defined. In September, I will start my last year of high school. But I will also start my university application to the United Kingdom and to Denmark. And once I go, I don’t intend, right now, to go back after I conclude my studies. I don’t feel Portugal can give me a future. At least a future where I can be financially independent from my parents while I’m still working or where I’ll have a chance to get a job once I finish university. It’s sad to see my own country loosing the young people everyday to other countries, seeing the population getting older in the stats and the newborn’s stats also decaying more and more every year and seeing the government doing something useless or even nothing about it. I’m really grateful for the childhood Portugal offered me but it can’t give me a future and I have to be the one fighting for it, somewhere else. Maybe I’ll be back someday. When I’m older, have a good job, my life organized and with stability. But for now, I will belong to the stats section of young people who went to get superior formation in other country and probably will end up staying there.

This feels a lot like my experience of growing up in Malta and partly why I left that country. It also suffers from a high degree of corruption and loads of bureaucracy.

On the plus side – it’s much easier to find English-speaking locals, and most importantly the government is actually incentivizing foreign entrepreneurs and investors to relocate to Portugal, mainly through the NHR scheme. Spain’s politics and anti-entrepreneur feeling has been growing and for this reason I wouldn’t be surprised if Portugal eventually overtakes Spain as the country of choice for entrepreneurs wishing to relocate for better weather and taxes.

What about Malta?

So that brings us to my country of birth: Malta. I grew up there and left in my mid-twenties. The Maltese Islands consist of three islands that are blessed with great natural beauty. On the other hand, there are several important factors that eventually led me to leave. I consider it a place where you can live for a short while, perhaps as a digital nomad, but I don’t think of it as a great place for a young adult or even when thinking of educating my children there. The big thing it has going for it is a strong economy and that English is one of the native languages (the other being Maltese). If you want to educate your children in the public system and avoid spending money then Malta is probably a great option since they would be taught in English, and that’s pretty unique in Europe.

Wrapping Up

All I can say that Barcelona is a fabulous place to live in. There is a bit of everything here. I’ve been lucky to meet some incredible people here that have helped me grow in many areas. I’ve discovered a sport (padel) that has become a big part of my life, and I am genuinely very happy to be living here. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about anything I mentioned in this post, so fire away in the comments section.

Thinking of buying a new car in Spain VS a used one? In many countries, you now have the option to buy officially reconditioned used cars that may be less than a year old and in superb condition, practically like new. In any case, the biggest con of buying a new car is the depreciation you will be hit with as soon as you walk out of the dealer with the car keys in your hand.

Let’s take a look at some statistics on how cars depreciate. Keep in mind that some models and brands depreciate less than others. For example, Audi and Mercedes cars keep their value much more over the years than, say Opel and Citroen cars.

If you buy a new car, it will devalue around 17% in its first year of use. From then onwards, it depreciates around 10% a year during the first six years of its lifetime. Following this period, cars will depreciate at around 5% per year, and from the 9th year onwards the change in value is very little since the car would have already lost 84% of its value.

Some cars, especially luxury ones, tend to devalue more rapidly. The Volvo S80 will loses 32,6% of its value in the first year, while the Mini Cooper loses 29,3%.

If you want to retain the maximum value when buying a new car, you need to consider which cars are most popular, including colors, type of fuel used, extras etc. In Spain, the cars that used to retain value best were diesel compact cars. This has changed though as in the coming years as many European capital cities are implementing circulation restrictions on diesel cars and want to eliminate them completely in the near future.

Here’s a depreciation schedule I have for the car I bought

Basically, you should avoid diesel cars like the plague unless you have a very specific use case.

Apart from the fact that nobody wants diesel cars anymore and the value will drop significantly, these cars harm people and it’s just not worth the harm to humans for saving some money. If you’re not yet very familiar with how the public has been duped about “clean diesel” for many years, watch this documentary:

and this:

You can calculate the value of a used car in Spain using the Supertasador tool.
If you’re looking to buy or sell a car in Spain, these are the best web portals to look at:

• Coches.net
• Motor.es
• AutoScout24
• Wallapop
• Milanuncios

Keep in mind that certain towns also have a used cars market on a regular basis, and cities like Barcelona have a yearly used car fair. They are good occasions to try out many different cars and see which ones you like best. If you’re just starting your search for a car and you’re not sure which one you like best, this can be a huge time saver.

If you want an experience that comes very close to buying a new car, you can visit the major brands’ used cars showrooms. These cars would have been given a thorough cleaning and sprucing up and are guaranteed by the manufacturer. They are typically cars that have been previously used by car rental companies or management and would have up to 20,000km on the clock. It is quite common to find the latest models on sale, so you’re effectively getting the latest model at a significant discount. Keep in mind that car rental companies tend to stick to particular brands and models of cars, so while you will find lots of Audis, BMWs, and VWs, the offer for Mazdas will be scarce since they don’t tend to be used by car rental companies.

Should You Even Buy a Car?

In the major Spanish cities like Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, owning a car is not common, as people are realizing that it makes much more financial sense to use car-sharing services like Ubeeqo instead. I’ve written a separate article about carsharing services in Barcelona which I suggest you check out if you’re not 100% sure that you need a car.

New standard car VS used premium car

Another consideration is whether to buy a new car VS a similar car in the premium category in a used state. Some examples could be a new Seat Ateca vs a used (20k on the odometer) BMW X1 or Audi Q5. When buying a new car you get the car in a perfect state, with a longer guarantee, and you can configure it exactly the way you want to. You will also probably have fewer maintenance costs and the latest technology.

On the other hand, you will be hit with strong depreciation and perhaps you won’t impress that many people. With regards to a used luxury car, the points in favor are lower depreciation, better aesthetics, and less risk in the sense that the car has already been in the market for some time and kinks ironed out. You will also know if that particular model had a significant flaw or not. On the negative side, maintenance costs will be higher, technology will be older, worse fuel efficiency, and a shorter warranty period.

Car cost breakdown

Buying a car brings with it a yearly bill even if you don’t use the car at all. Here’s the typical breakdown of costs on a yearly basis for moderate to regular use, assuming a new or fairly new car:

• Depreciation – 45%
• Fuel – 28%
• Maintenance and repairs – 13%
• Insurance – 8%
• Tyres – 6%

Guide to buying a used car in Spain

If you want to buy a used car in Spain, you have several options, and it’s getting more convenient every year. You can go the traditional route and visit a used cars dealer or even buy from individuals. This is perhaps the preferred way of buying if you know how to haggle and know how to check a car properly. It’s also the riskiest way of buying a car as many cars have their odometers tampered with and harbor hidden issues that the vendor won’t tell you about.

Another option is to go to an authorized brand showroom. For example, you will find Audi dealers that sell both new and used cars. These dealers can’t afford to ruin their reputation by tampering with the cars’ odometers, and they also perform a standard refurbishing procedure.

Vehicles purchased from these dealers tend to come with more information, such as the previous use of the vehicle (typically rental or management personnel). They also don’t sell vehicles which have been involved in accidents, as these are sent back directly to the manufacturer. The reason is of course that these cars are more likely to develop serious issues down the road and possibly harm the reputation of the dealer and the parent brand.

Note that going for this option of buying cars will be around 1,000 to 3,000 euro more expensive than buying the car from an individual. Of course, if you buy from an individual, you don’t get any warranties nor the peace of mind that the car has been refurbished before being sold on to you.

The most modern option is to buy online. I know this might sound strange, but there are some new startups that are trying to change the way we buy used cars. By operating purely online and having no showroom and salespeople, they are able to pass on the cost savings to the customer, thus they can offer the best prices without the need for haggling. I personally hate the process of haggling with a salesperson, and always come out of such deals feeling that I made a bad deal. Thus I am more inclined to use one of these websites when buying a car.

The main two online used car sites in Spain are Clicars and Quadis Select. Both these sites also offer a very convenient way to sell your car. You only need to enter some details about your car and upload photos and these guys will send one of their people to your house to inspect the car and make you an offer. If you accept, they will come to your house and collect the car, which makes it an incredibly convenient service. They also take care of all paperwork involved. They buy cars that have a full service history, have not been involved in any serious accidents, are less than 10 years old and have less than 150,000km on their clocks. Of these two sites, Clicars is the most established and its growing very rapidly.

Clicars has a slightly different model than Quadis Select, and is by far the larger of the two. You will also find higher-end models on Clicars. If you buy a car from Clicars, they offer the service of taking in your old car and paying you for it (essentially discounting from your new purchase). You can visit Clicars offices without any appointment, and of course you can also view their selection online. Their Madrid showroom is the biggest in Spain (40km squared) with 1,000 cars available. They are very transparent as they put up high-res images on the site that show the car in its real state without trying to hide any scratches or light damage.

According to Clicars, more than 79% of their clients reserve the vehicle without having seen it in real life. That’s why they need to be very transparent with their offer. They employ a rigorous check of 250 points and also have excellent customer support.

When buying a car from this website, you get a trial period of 15 days or 1000 kilometers, whichever comes first. If the client is not satisfied, Clicars will return all the money. That’s an awesome offer and gives a lot of peace of mind when buying in this manner. Quadis Selet offer similar conditions (10 days / 1000km).

If you prefer to view the car before buying, you can also visit Clicars in Madrid and check out some cars there. You only need to contact them beforehand to set up an appointment.

Clicars is clearly the leader in this kind of online car retail in Spain.

Idoneo, on the other hand, is another service that offers renting instead of outright purchasing of vehicles.

Types of Second Hand Cars on the market

In Spain you will find different types of second-hand cars, so here’s a handy breakdown of these types.

• KM 0: All car showrooms in Spain register a few vehicles which they then sell after a couple of months as “KM 0”. Prices are advertised as a lot lower than brand new, but you should check just in case. Contrary to what their name suggests, KM 0 cars have actually been used, for example for test drives, but they tend to have a lower number of km on the clock than ex-rental cars. On the plus-side, these cars will still (normally) be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
• Ex-rental cars: These cars must pass the official vehicle inspection (ITV) 2 years after purchase instead of the usual 4 years for a new car. Many people don’t know this and it can invalidate your insurance if you have to make a claim and the car hasn’t passed the ITV. If the car is under two years old, it will have to pass the ITV for you to be able to put it in your name. This may also apply to KM 0 cars too, it depends on how they were originally registered.

Used cars offered by dealers must include, as a minimum, the following details:

• Price and validity (must be valid for at least 10 days).
• Owner’s details.
• Brand, model, cc, chassis number and license plate.
• Age, km and last service details.
• ITV (official vehicle inspection): date and test result. Also, any additional ITV tests if the vehicle has been involved in an accident or has been significantly modified/tuned.
• Date vehicle purchased by the seller.
• Warranty (legal and commercial – they may differ). The minimum warranty is 1 year.
• Any outstanding debts or charges.

Buying from a dealer could mean you get a discount if you trade in your old car, also this is rarely a good deal and you’re much better off selling the car yourself if you have the time for it. Also, keep in mind that many offers you see online assume you will be financing the car. The price for settling the bill without any financing tends to be around 1,000 to 2,000 euro higher.

How much can you save?

Let’s consider an example of buying a premium used car that’s almost new. The Audi A3 pictured below is being sold by a dealer for the price of 29,900 euro. If you configure the same car on the Audi website it costs around 36,000 euro, which implies a saving of around 6,000 euro when buying used. The car only has 1,000km on its odometer.

This particular car has been for sale since September, and I’m writing this post in January, so it’s been at the showroom for at least 4 months. My guess is that since it’s a premium class car, it’s tougher to sell.

In my opinion, if this is the car you are looking for, it makes a lot of sense to buy used and save 17% of the cost of the car. It’s the latest model of the Audi A3, so you’re not even getting an older model. In my mind, it would be very hard for me to justify buying new when I’d have the opportunity to get this car.

The biggest issue I’ve found in my search is that most cars tend to be diesel and not petrol. This is due to the fact that the Spanish nation had been duped for many years into buying diesel, so, for now, there’s nothing to be done about that. We have a big pool of older cars that their owners feel like replacing, so those go on the second-hand market, and they’re mostly diesel. On top of that, dealers have realized that the public does not want diesel cars anymore, so they’re trying their best to sell their new and demo car stock at significant discounts. They don’t need to do that for petrol cars as they are in high demand.

In the coming years, I hope that this will start to change. Another issue is that there typically are only a few colors available. The most common colors are white and black, followed by silver, light grey, red and blue. The white and black cars are by far the most common though, so for every 100 cars, I would say 80 of them would be either black or white, with the other 20 cars being one of the other colors I mentioned.

Every car has a set of different trim levels. In this case, the Audi A3 is sold in four different trim levels in Spain. They’re Standard, Design, Sport, S Line, and Black. I personally strongly prefer the S Line and Black trims, however, most of the cars available on the second-hand market are the standard model or come with the Design trim. So that’s another limitation to consider when searching for a used car. You’ll either have to wait until the model you like becomes available (if ever) or adapt your wants to what the market is offering.

Savings on a KM0 car, when compared to new, should be in the range of 17-25%, depending on the car and how many KM it has on the clock.

Paperwork and taxes

When buying a second-hand car in Spain from a dealer you’ll have to pay sales tax (IVA – included in the price).

If buying from a private seller you’ll have to pay the Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales. This tax will be calculated on the official value placed on the car (make, model, age) and NOT the selling price. Most regions in Spain have an online tax calculator, here’s the one for Catalunya.

As for the paperwork, buying from a company means they’ll deal with it directly. Otherwise, you’ll be responsible for the paperwork for changing the vehicle over to your name.

When dealing with a private seller always draw up a contract, even if you’re buying from a friend.

Keep all documents until you sell or scrap the car.

Driving Permits

Before you drive in Spain, make sure that you have the necessary permit to do so.

Driving licenses issued in any Member State of the European Union and European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are valid for driving in Spain while in force and have not been withdrawn for any reason, provided that the age required for driving corresponds to that required to obtain the equivalent Spanish driving license.

You could also exchange your country’s permit for a Spanish one, register your permit in the Spanish record, renew your license if it is about to expire (you will get a Spanish one) or get a duplicate if you have lost, impaired or have it stolen.

I have been stopped once by a policeman who claimed that I should have a Spanish driving license instead of my Maltese one, since I’ve been living here for more than two years. This is incorrect due to what I said above. There are some cases where this is true (see conditions here) but in my case it wasn’t. Beware of the fact that some traffic police don’t actually know the laws properly and you might get fined unjustly.

Driving licenses that have been issued in countries with which there is agreement can be exchanged for equivalent Spanish license when a number of administrative requirements are met. In some cases it will be necessary to test additional ability to perform the swap.

If your permit has not been issued from the European Union, European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and does not appear in the special list of countries with which Spain has an agreement, you’ll have to get a new permit.

There aren’t many reasons to change your driving permit to a Spanish one if you’re a European citizen. In my case, I opted to do so since I needed an international driving permit to drive in the United States and in Thailand. To get one I would have needed to apply for it in Malta, which was inconvenient and more expensive, so I opted to apply for it here. In order to do so, I had to change my driving permit to the Spanish one and only then be able to apply to the International Driving Permit here in Spain. You need to prepare some papers and get an appointment here.

A note on International Driving Permits: You may be thinking of getting an IDP for driving in Spain. These types of permits are issued by a select number of national authorities in each country, however there are many websites that claim to offer an IDP with a validity longer than one year, a plastic card and a digital version.

These are all scams, and while they can indeed work due to police or rental desk people not knowing the difference between a real and fake IDP, I would always recommend you get a real IDP from your country of residence. If you are caught in a fix and you’re already in a foreign country and need to drive with an IDP, then you can take a risk and use one of these websites as they can deliver you the fake IDP in a question of minutes or hours, but again, it’s not the option I would suggest.

Here are a few of these scammer websites:

1. 1. https://www.e-ita.org/
   2. https://internationaldriversassociation.com/
   3. https://international-permit.com/

Car Insurance in Spain

Full coverage is usually a good idea if your car is less than 5 years old. This is especially true if it’s an expensive car. The reason is that when a car is newer there are more chances of it getting robbed or it sustaining accidental damage that you will want to have repaired.

The more expensive the car the more expensive the repairs generally are. If you want to reduce the high premiums of full coverage insurance, you can opt for full coverage with an excess that you’d have to pay out of pocket in case you make a claim.

The most value for money full insurance packages are those that are “con franquicia” where you will have to pay a part of the damages should there be any, and the insurance company would pay the rest. However you can cut the yearly cost of the insurance by half or more in this way.

After 4-5 years cars would have lost almost half their value, and you might want to switch to third-party insurance only.

Some leading car insurance companies to check out

• RACC
• Mapfre
• Allianz

On the other hand, AXA, DIRECT and Mapfre tend to be the cheapest. I’ve always worked with AXA and Direct so far.

You can find the best deals on comparison sites such as Rastreator, Acierto or Rankia.

It’s also worth checking with your dealer whether they can offer you an insurance policy, and compare it with the rest of the quotes you got yourself. Another good idea is to use an app like Prudenzia (previously Coverfy) to manage your insurance policies and ask for quotations. I use it to manage all the insurance policies I have in Spain and find it very convenient. You will have one assigned person that you can consult for any questions about your policies.

Gas Stations in Spain

The quality of fuel available at gas stations around Spain is known to vary depending on the additives that each company uses. There are also two types of petrol available: 95 and 98. The latter is more expensive and usually results in less engine clatter as well as better performance. People also report that fuel from different gas stations can affect the car’s autonomy by up to 20km.

My favorite gas station is Repsol. You can use this tool to find the cheapest fuel nearby.

Diesel VS Petrol

The Spanish government, after promoting the sale of diesel vehicles for many years, has now decided to wage war on diesel. Unless you absolutely need it, I would highly discourage you from purchasing a diesel-powered vehicle.

Only purchase such vehicles if you’re doing 80% of highway driving and doing more than 20-30 thousand kilometers per year. Even then, I would honestly think twice, since the price of diesel is almost as high as petrol and diesel vehicles are soon to be banned from the major European cities. Another reason for buying diesel would be if you need to tow something regularly (boat, caravan etc.) as that type of engine is more suitable for this work due to the torque it can generate.

Due to the impending issues with diesel, you can find some incredible deals for diesel vehicles, and you have much more leeway for negotiating with the salesmen.

Car Care

It’s best to avoid automatic car washes as they mess up the paintwork. If you absolutely must use them, use the ones that have chamois leather rolls instead of the typical bristles. In Barcelona I found Hanna to be a good option. I use Auto Glym products for the exterior and interior cleaning of my car, as they are considered to be among the very best. You pay a premium price but you get peace of mind that you’re using the best products on your car.

What to Do If You’re Involved in a Car Accident in Spain

This is one of the topics that is not really a fun topic, but it’s very important to know your rights and duties if you’re driving in Spain.

First of all, you should know that you have the right to indemnification for both material and personal damage.

Material damages refer to the car you’re in and other objects in it (laptops, phones etc) as well as economic damages such as foregone income in the case of taxi drivers.

Personal damages refer to physical injuries to the driver and passengers of the vehicle as well as any psychological issues caused by the accident. These damages are assessed by a medical expert after the accident.

If there are any injuries, you have the right to choose where you will receive free medical treatment and rehabilitation, be it public or private. You can check all the centers available by clicking on this link.

According to Spanish law (Real Decreto 1507/ 2008), and Ley 41/2002 the costs of medial attention received will be borne by the insurers of the car. This does not depend on whether the patient has a private health policy or whether he chose a private or public hospital to get treatment.

You also have the right to receive consultancy for diagnostics of any injuries. Note that both the driver and passengers are always covered in accidents, provided the cars are insured.

Procedures to Follow

Remember that the emergency number is 112.

There is also a free number you can call in Catalunya that provides support for victims of accidents and their family. They help with getting all the papers done and also to know what rights you have as well as receive any support and psychological attention you might need. The service is called SIAVT and the number is 900 100 268.

If you’re involved in an accident that is not a serious one, you should always fill in the papers that you’ll find in your car together with the other party. It’s best if both parties can agree on how the accident occurred. Remember that both parties must sign the forms.

If an agreement cannot be reached or there is serious material or personal damage, you should call the national police or the Guardia Civil. In this case, when the police arrive on the scene they will take notes of the accident themselves. If the other driver is not collaborating you should take down his details just in case you need them further down the road when dealing with insurance and tribunals. You must inform your insurance that you were involved in an accident within the next 7 days.

If you will be asking for damages to objects damaged in the accident, make sure you keep the damaged objects and the original purchase receipts if possible. You also have the right to ask for a replacement car while yours is being fixed.

Further Reading

• Accidentes Trafico
• Further details in Spanish
• Stop Accidentes
• P(A)T
• TraCE

Car Repairs in Barcelona

If you’re in Barcelona and need repairs for your car, especially after paintwork damage, I can recommend VTC.

Apps

I recommend using the ElParking app to save 50% on ITV as well as booking airport parking and finding electric charging points in your city.

Buying New

If you still want to buy a new car, I found the Carnovo site to be really useful. Instead of you having to visit various dealers and haggle with them until you get the best offer, you can do all that from the comfort of your living room.

Carnovo allows you to select and configure the car you want, then receive offers from various dealerships, who will generally give you a discount on the sticker price of between 7-15%. This is very much comparable to what you would get if you had to haggle with them at the showroom. For people like me who hate these kinds of silly negotiations, this is a perfect solution to this inconvenience when buying a new car.

Make sure you check out my post about how to negotiate the best price on a new car in Spain.

In conclusion, if I were looking for a family SUV I would definitely go for KM0 and buy a quality car such as the BMW X1. Buying KM0 means you’re getting a practically new car so there are no issues of hidden defects and damages. You’re just as safe as when buying a new car, and you don’t have to think forever about which extras to choose because that choice is done already.

On the other hand, if I wanted a coupe or sports car I would most definitely buy a used model, perhaps around 10 years old. You can get a quality car such as an Audi TT at a great price when you follow this strategy. I would only buy an older car if it is a sports car, and the reason is that sports cars tend to be well cared for and always garaged, which means less wear and tear and damage. Manufacturers also invest a lot in the design and engines of their sports cars, meaning that they typically age much better than SUVs or your everyday family hatchback.

Having said the above, I ended up buying a new SUV, because there were no KM0 options for that particular model, even after waiting for several months. In the end, it’s about buying a car that makes you happy every time you drive, and that feeling is priceless.

What do you think about buying a new or used car?