Spain · Retiring from the UK
Retiring to Spain from the UK means a residence visa before you go, your UK State Pension paid in Spain and still uprated every year, and Spanish state healthcare funded by the UK through an S1 once you draw that pension. Built from official Spanish spending data, an illustrative month for a couple who own their home outright comes to about €2,200, before any private health cover.
Looking at a home in Spain? Four quick questions, then Rory tells you plainly what your budget reaches and whether the timing works.
See what fits →Spain's statistics office, INE, surveys what households actually spend. In 2025 couples without children spent €36,334 on average, about €3,028 a month. About a third of that sits in a housing line that includes a notional rent INE assigns to owner-occupiers, money nobody actually hands over.
The table keeps INE's figures for everything else and swaps that housing line for the running costs an owner does pay. Read it as a picture of Spanish spending habits, not a quote for your life: a second car, eating out most days or frequent flights home would all push it up.
| Cost | € a month | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Food and non-alcoholic drinks | 487 | INE, couples without children |
| Transport, including running a car | 343 | INE, couples without children |
| Restaurants, cafés and hotels | 275 | INE, couples without children |
| Recreation, sport and culture | 155 | INE, couples without children |
| Health costs paid directly (pharmacy, dentist, private visits) | 134 | INE, couples without children |
| Insurance and financial services | 125 | INE, couples without children |
| Furniture, appliances and household upkeep | 107 | INE, couples without children |
| Phone, internet and devices | 89 | INE, couples without children |
| Clothing, personal care, drink, tobacco and other | 260 | INE, couples without children |
| Electricity, gas and other fuels | 105 | INE, average of all households |
| Water, refuse collection and other home services | 79 | INE, average of all households |
| Minor repairs and maintenance | 18 | INE, average of all households |
| IBI, the local property tax | 23–36 | Catastro, average bill per urban property, 2025 |
| Total | about 2,200 | Before health insurance |
How this was worked out: INE Encuesta de Presupuestos Familiares 2025, annual averages divided by 12. The first nine rows are INE's 'couple without children' household type; the home rows are averages for all households (about 2.5 people), as INE does not split them by household type. IBI is the Catastro's 2025 average bill per urban property receipt, €272 to €438 a year across the seven provinces in the regions table; receipts include garages and shops, so a house can pay more. Figures are rounded.
Community fees on a development with shared pools and gardens come on top and vary widely. So does health cover before your S1 starts, which is the largest extra for anyone retiring before State Pension age. For scale, two full new State Pensions come to about €2,440 a month at the European Central Bank's reference rate on 28 September 2026 (€1 = £0.85785), before Spanish income tax.
On the broadest official comparison, Spain is cheaper. Eurostat's 2025 price level index for household spending puts Spain at 91.6 and the UK at 123.3, against an EU average of 100, so the same basket cost about a quarter less in Spain at 2025 exchange rates. Within Spain, INE found spending per person lowest in Andalucía (€12,197) and Murcia (€12,408) and highest in the Basque Country (€16,642).
Your UK State Pension is the turning point. Once you draw it and live in Spain, you can register an S1: the UK then meets the cost of your Spanish state healthcare, and you and your dependants are treated as a Spanish citizen would be. Basic services are then free, and prescriptions usually carry a co-payment of 10% to 60%.
Before State Pension age you need another route. The non-lucrative visa itself requires health insurance with a company authorised to operate in Spain, or proof that an S1 is already registered.
| Your situation | Cover | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Drawing the UK State Pension | S1: state healthcare funded by the UK | No premium; prescription co-payments |
| Under State Pension age, first year in Spain | Private policy from an insurer authorised in Spain | €156 at 55–59 and €199 at 60–64 on one national insurer's 2026 list; not sold to new customers over 64 |
| Resident for a year, no S1 | Convenio especial: paid access to the public system | €60 under 65, €157 at 65 or over; prescriptions at full price |
| Resident for five years, no S1 | Permanent residence: state healthcare as a resident | No premium once registered with INSS |
Private prices: first-year premiums per person, with two people insured, for a policy the insurer sells to visa applicants, in its standard band covering Alicante, Málaga, Murcia and Almería. The provinces it prices separately, including Madrid, Barcelona and the Balearics, cost more, and a 0.15% Consorcio surcharge applies. Convenio fees: Andalusian Health Service; regions that add services may charge more.
Sources disagree on when the convenio especial opens. GOV.UK says you need a year on the padrón first. Spain's health ministry and the Andalusian Health Service count periods of residence in the UK or the EU towards the one-year requirement, and ask only that you are on the padrón when you apply. Check with your regional health service before you rely on it.
One cost falls at home. The NHS is residence-based, and GOV.UK warns that UK nationals who move abroad permanently should not expect free NHS treatment on visits unless an exemption applies.
For 2026/27, DWP rates put the full new State Pension at £241.30 a week and the full basic State Pension, for people who reached pension age before April 2016, at £184.90. Spain belongs to the European Economic Area, so your pension still rises each year in line with the UK rate rather than staying at the level you left with.
You can claim from Spain once you are within four months of State Pension age, through the International Pension Centre, and have it paid every 4 or 13 weeks into a Spanish or UK account. Payments into a Spanish account are converted at the exchange rate of the day, less a 0.39% conversion charge.
Some support stops at the border. You cannot get Winter Fuel Payment if you usually live outside England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and income-related benefits such as Pension Credit and Housing Benefit stop once you are abroad for more than four weeks. If the DWP sends a life certificate, return it signed by a witness, or your payments may be suspended.
You are resident for Spanish income tax if you are present for more than 183 days of a calendar year, or if the main base of your economic interests is in Spain; residence is also presumed when your spouse and dependent under-18 children live in Spain (Ley 35/2006, article 9). Short absences still count as days in Spain unless you can prove tax residence elsewhere. Once you are resident, the 2013 UK–Spain tax treaty decides which country taxes each pension:
Spain splits income tax into a state half and a regional half. The state half runs from 9.5% on the first €12,450 of taxable income to 24.5% above €300,000, and each region sets its own scale on top. Interest, dividends and gains are taxed separately at combined rates of 19% to 30%, and the personal allowance of €5,550 rises by €1,150 over 65 and by a further €1,400 over 75.
Residents also file Modelo 720, an information return listing bank accounts, investments and property abroad once any of those groups is worth more than €50,000 (Agencia Tributaria). All of this is information, not advice: have an independent Spanish tax adviser (asesor fiscal) check your own position before you move.
INE's census counted 266,462 British nationals living in Spain on 1 January 2025, 40.6% of them aged 65 or over. Seven coastal and island provinces hold 73% of them.
| Province | Britons resident (1 Jan 2025) | January average high / low | Spending per person in the region, 2025 | Main airport: UK routes on Aena's list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alicante (Costa Blanca) | 68,904 | 17.0°C / 6.3°C | €13,704 (Valencian Community) | Alicante-Elche: 23 |
| Málaga (Costa del Sol) | 49,298 | 16.8°C / 7.4°C | €12,197 (Andalucía) | Málaga: 23, plus Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man |
| Balearic Islands | 18,448 | 15.2°C / 3.8°C | €14,217 | Palma: 26 |
| Murcia (Costa Cálida) | 16,522 | 16.6°C / 4.7°C | €12,408 | Región de Murcia: 9 |
| Almería (Costa de Almería) | 15,397 | 16.9°C / 8.3°C | €12,197 (Andalucía) | Almería: 9 in summer, 2 confirmed for winter 2026/27 |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 13,118 | 21.7°C / 15.2°C | €12,652 (Canary Islands) | Tenerife South: 20 |
| Las Palmas (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura) | 12,622 | 20.8°C / 15.0°C | €12,652 (Canary Islands) | Gran Canaria: 17 |
Sources: INE Censo Anual de Población 2025; AEMET climate normals 1981–2010 (Murcia 1984–2010) at the Alicante and Murcia city stations and the Málaga, Almería, Palma, Tenerife South and Gran Canaria airports; INE household spending per person by autonomous community, which includes imputed rent; Aena route lists checked on 28 September 2026 (summer timetable); Almería's winter routes from La Voz de Almería, August 2026.
The British in Almería, Murcia and Alicante are the oldest British communities of any Spanish province, with average ages of 63.9, 62.5 and 62.0 against 48.5 in the Balearics. At the four mainland stations, January afternoons average 16.6°C to 17.0°C with 180 to 194 hours of sunshine that month; the Canaries are warmer, above 20°C.
Check the winter timetable before you choose a coast. Almería has only Gatwick and Liverpool confirmed out of its nine UK routes for winter 2026/27, and route lists change every season. Our Almería guide covers that coast in detail, and the official numbers on British buyers show where they buy.
| Area | Pro | Con |
|---|---|---|
| Money | Prices about a quarter below the UK's; State Pension uprated each year | Pensions arrive in sterling and are spent in euros; Winter Fuel Payment stops |
| Health | UK-funded state healthcare with an S1 once you draw the State Pension | Private cover or a paid scheme before then; no free NHS care on visits |
| Climate | Mild, sunny winters, warmest in the Canaries | Hot summers inland: Murcia averages 34°C on July and August afternoons |
| Community | 266,462 British residents, most on the coasts | Falling: more British over-65s left than arrived in 2022, 2023 and 2024 |
| Paperwork | English-speaking lawyers and accredited gestores available | Scarce appointments for residence cards; forms and certificates in Spanish |
| Rights | A vote in Spanish local elections after three years' residence | No dual nationality with the UK; no vote in general or regional elections |
Paperwork and language. Residence cards, padrón certificates and tax returns go through offices that work in Spanish, and visa documents need sworn translations. GOV.UK acknowledges that some Britons struggle to get appointments to apply for or renew their TIE card, and suggests a gestor, a private administrative agent, or an immigration lawyer when that happens.
Heat. AEMET's normals put July and August afternoons at 34.0°C and 34.2°C in Murcia city, against 30.3°C to 31.0°C at Alicante, Málaga and Almería.
People leave. INE recorded more British nationals aged 65 and over leaving Spain than arriving in each of the last three years published: net outflows of 3,064 in 2022, 5,132 in 2023 and 2,698 in 2024. The British population as a whole fell from 291,365 in 2022 to 266,462 in 2025.
You can test a winter first as a visitor, within the 90-day rule of 90 days in any 180. Staying longer needs the non-lucrative visa, and buying brings its own taxes and steps, set out in buying property in Spain.
The step-by-step moving guide puts the paperwork in order, including how to register an S1, and property for sale in Spain covers the regions. If Spain is one of two options, Portugal vs Spain compares them.
Weighing up a home in Spain?
Rory speaks to every buyer before anyone is introduced: fifteen minutes, your budget and your timing, and a straight answer on whether it fits.
Talk to us about Spain →Built from INE's 2025 household spending survey, an illustrative month for a couple who own their home outright comes to about €2,200, including utilities and IBI but before health insurance. Until you draw the UK State Pension and register an S1, add private cover: one national insurer's 2026 list charges about €199 a month each at 60 to 64. The non-lucrative visa also has its own income test.
Yes. Within four months of State Pension age you can make the claim from Spain, via the International Pension Centre, and choose payment every 4 or 13 weeks to a bank in Spain or in the UK. It keeps rising with UK rates because Spain is part of the European Economic Area. In 2026/27 the full new State Pension pays £241.30 a week.
Once you draw the UK State Pension and live in Spain, you can register a UK-issued S1 with INSS, Spain's social security institute. The UK then pays for your Spanish state healthcare and you are treated like a Spanish patient: basic services are free and prescriptions usually carry a 10% to 60% co-payment. Before that you need private insurance or, after a year's residence, the paid convenio especial.
If you are tax resident in Spain, usually through spending more than 183 days there in a calendar year, the UK–Spain treaty makes the State Pension and workplace or personal pensions taxable only in Spain. Pensions for UK government service, such as civil service or armed forces pensions, stay taxable only in the UK. Ask an independent Spanish tax adviser to confirm how this applies to you.
Alicante province, on the Costa Blanca, has by far the most British residents: 68,904 on 1 January 2025, according to INE's census. Málaga (49,298), the Balearic Islands (18,448), Murcia (16,522) and Almería (15,397) follow. The British communities in Almería, Murcia and Alicante are the oldest, with average ages above 62.
On Eurostat's 2025 price levels for household spending, yes: Spain scored 91.6 and the UK 123.3 against an EU average of 100, so the same basket cost about a quarter less in Spain. The gap moves with the exchange rate, and your own costs depend on housing, health cover and how often you fly home.
Last checked 2026-09-28. Rules and rates change; this is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own position with an independent Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you act.