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Which are the cheapest cities to live in Spain?

14 May
2019
4.7 (94.29%) 14 vote

Click on any flag to get an automatic translation from Google translate. Some news could have an original translation here: News     Nouvelles     Nieuws     Noticias     Nachrichten 

 

Why should you consider Spain as a place to live?

 

The cost of life is much lower than in many places in Europe!

Of course, you will tell me you want to go to Spain for the Sun or for the beaches…

There are plenty of other good reasons as well but when you look at finding a place to live, I guess the cost of life is very important!

We did the work with the help of the Statistics from Eurostat as of December 2017 to compare Spain vs all the other countries in Europe so that you could compare to your actual country of origin.

Here are the results:

 

 

If you compare Spain on this Chart in Orange colour with Europe in Blue colour, you will notice that Spain is more expensive in 3 areas: “Electricity, Gaz and fuels”, “Furniture and Furnishings” and “Transport and Equipment”. A Fourth area not represented on this chart is Communication.

For those 4, Spain is between 2% and 4% more expensive. For all the other sectors, Spain is cheaper!

 

Let’s have a look at the data:

 

If you prefer a chart, here it is:

 

So, next time you visit Spain, enjoy the sun, the beaches, the many cultural wealth and of course all the rest… like the tapas!
As you can see on this table with the General Index: Spain is on average more than 11% cheaper than the rest of Europe!

 

Spain is much cheaper than Europe for

Spain is very cheap for “Transport Services”, “Restaurants and Hotels”, “Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco”, I guess you all noticed? , “Transport Equipment”, “Clothing” and yes the list doesn’t stop here… Spain is really cheap for “Food and Drinks”. So keep enjoying the beers and the Tapas.

 

Spain is more expensive than Europe for

Communication, (28%) and Utilities and Fournitures (3%).

Check the detailed electricity price comparison made by Eurostat.

A good news, Europe just made it cheaper for communications!

 

Which cities are the cheapest to live in Spain?

Numbeo, is a website comparing the cost of living in many different cities all over the world thanks to their members inputting those data twice per year for many cities.

According to Numbeo, in May 2019, here is the ranking of all the main Spanish cities vs their cost of living:

Rank
City
Cost of Living Index
Rent Index
Cost of Living Plus Rent Index
Groceries Index
Restaurant Price Index
Local Purchasing Power Index
1 Palma de Mallorca 63.5 27.5 46. 50.9 65.4 69.4
2 Barcelona 60.6 32. 46.8 46.1 61.8 74.7
3 Madrid, 59 31.3 45.6 45.9 59.4 85.8
4 Granada 56.7 16.4 37.2 43.7 53.1 80
5 Valencia 54.7 19.7 37.7 44.4 52.4 85.1
6 Seville (Sevilla) 53.8 20.2 37.5 43 52.4 80.7
7 Alicante 53.6 15.5 35.1 43.7 54.5 81.9
8 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 52.6 19.5 36.5 46 53.7 69.1
9 Malaga 51.9 21.6 37.2 43.8 48.4 76.5
10 Santa Cruz de Tenerife 48.9 18 33.9 39. 49.9 74.4

Source: Numbeo.com : May 2019

Click on any of those cities hyperlink to find the latest number of any of those cities.

 

How to understand those numbers?

These indices are relative to New York City (NYC). Which means that for New York City, each index should be 100(%). If another city has, for example, rent index of 120, it means that on an average in that city rents are 20% more expensive than in New York City. If a city has a rent index of 70, that means on an average in that city rents are 30% less expensive than in New York City.

  • Cost of Living Index (Excl. Rent) is a relative indicator of consumer goods prices, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. Cost of Living Index doesn’t include accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. If a city has a Cost of Living Index of 120, it means Numbeo estimates it is 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).
  • Rent Index is an estimation of prices of renting apartments in the city compared to New York City. If Rent index is 80, Numbeo estimates that the price of rents in that city is on an average 20% less than the price in New York.
  • Groceries Index is an estimation of grocery prices in the city compared to New York City. To calculate this section, Numbeo uses weights of items in the “Markets” section for each city.
  • Restaurants Index is a comparison of prices of meals and drinks in restaurants and bars compared to NYC.
  • Cost of Living Plus Rent Index is an estimation of consumer goods prices including rent comparing to New York City.
  • Local Purchasing Power shows relative purchasing power in buying goods and services in a given city for the average wage in that city. If domestic purchasing power is 40, this means that the inhabitants of that city with the average salary can afford to buy on an average 60% fewer goods and services than New York City residents with an average salary.

For more information about used weights (actual formula) please visit Numbeo Motivation and Methodology.

To discover real current pricing for any city, of course, always good to double-check later, click on any city on our table to discover the details published by Numbeo:

 

Here is the current pricing of cost of life for Valencia calculated by Numbeo as of April 2019 (data collected during the last year)

Restaurants Range
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 10.00 € 8.00–12.00
Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 35.00 € 20.00–50.00
McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) 7.00 € 6.00–8.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) 2.00 € 1.50–2.50
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 2.00 € 1.50–3.00
Cappuccino (regular) 1.53 € 1.30–2.00
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) 1.40 € 1.00–2.00
Water (0.33 liter bottle) 1.01 € 0.90–1.10
Markets
Milk (regular), (1 liter) 0.72 € 0.56–0.90
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) 0.82 € 0.50–1.00
Rice (white), (1kg) 0.84 € 0.60–1.00
Eggs (regular) (12) 1.46 € 1.20–2.00
Local Cheese (1kg) 12.71 € 8.00–15.00
Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) 5.98 € 5.00–8.00
Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) 10.57 € 6.00–15.00
Apples (1kg) 1.57 € 1.10–2.00
Banana (1kg) 1.40 € 1.00–2.00
Oranges (1kg) 1.10 € 0.70–1.50
Tomato (1kg) 1.43 € 1.00–2.00
Potato (1kg) 0.83 € 0.60–1.20
Onion (1kg) 0.92 € 0.45–1.60
Lettuce (1 head) 0.90 € 0.60–1.00
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 0.41 € 0.25–0.60
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 4.00 € 3.00–5.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 0.61 € 0.30–0.90
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 1.04 € 0.70–1.50
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) 5.00 € 5.00–5.25
Transportation
One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 1.50 € 0.85–1.50
Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 40.50 € 35.00–45.00
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 4.00 € 2.30–4.00
Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) 1.08 € 1.00–2.20
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 19.57 € 18.00–22.00
Gasoline (1 liter) 1.27 € 1.18–1.40
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) 18,000.00 € 15,000.00–21,000.00
Toyota Corolla 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) 19,428.57 € 17,000.00–22,000.00
Utilities (Monthly)
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment 109.40 € 80.00–145.00
1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) 0.20 € 0.10–0.30
Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) 40.00 € 30.00–50.00
Sports And Leisure
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 30.38 € 20.00–40.00
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 11.55 € 10.00–20.00
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 8.00 € 6.00–9.00
Childcare
Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child 336.27 € 250.00–450.00
International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child 6,809.09 € 5,400.00–9,600.00
Clothing And Shoes
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 71.09 € 30.00–100.00
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, …) 29.09 € 17.00–40.00
1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) 70.00 € 60.00–90.00
1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes 84.13 € 60.00–120.00
Rent Per Month
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 584.78 € 500.00–750.00
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 408.70 € 300.00–550.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 995.00 € 850.00–1,200.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 680.00 € 550.00–850.00
Buy Apartment Price
Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre 2,670.79 € 2,000.00–3,000.00
Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre 1,487.50 € 1,000.00–2,000.00
Salaries And Financing
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) 1,321.30 €
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate 2.35 1.50–3.00

Prices in Valencia

These data are based on 1361 entries in the past 18 months from 148 different contributors.
Last update: April 2019

 

The three most expensive Spanish cities are:

  1. Palma de Mallorca
  2. Barcelona
  3. Madrid

 

The three cheapest Spanish cities are:

  1. Santa Cruz de Tenerife
  2. Malaga
  3. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 

 

Why Spain is such a nice place to live in?

If you take the last column of the table of Numbeo, you earn on average 69 to 85% of what you would earn if you lived in New York but at the same time, the cost of life plus rent index (third data column) is between 33 to 47%.

Discover all our detailed reviews of the beautiful Spanish Costas.

Of course, that’s why Spain is as well such a nice place to retire or enjoy holidays

If in addition to that, you take into account that Spain is the healthiest country in the world to live in as we wrote in our last article and Spain has so many experiences to enjoy, that’s why it is the number one holiday destination in Europe.

 

Compare the cost of living directly for two cities in the world

Compare two cities with Numbeo, here we took Valencia and Malaga

Check the city comparator of Flying Yack

 

If you want to find out quickly which is the cheapest city in any region in the world, don’t forget to check the colour maps of Numbeo.

 

Another interesting paper on a related subject: 10 reasons why you should buy a property in Spain.

 

FAQ Why Spain is so cheap to live?

What is the cheapest city in Spain to fly into?

Of course, Madrid has the most flights towards Spain and is followed by Barcelona. That makes those two airports the cheapest way to Spain. The other most active airports in Spain are: 3. Gran Canaria airport 4. Malaga airport 5. Tenerife South airport 6. Palma airport 7. Alicante airport 8. Lanzarote airport 9. Valencia airport 10. Fuerte ventura airport

Where is the cheapest place in Spain to holiday?

1. Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2. Malaga 3. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Of course many smaller cities are cheaper, compare other cities with those main cities in our article

What is the best city to live in Spain?

Expats love Barcelona and Madrid for sure. If you compare those two cities with other international cities, they are on the top of it. Expats love as well many smaller cities like Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Malaga, Marbella... Discover those cities with the articles we wrote on each one

Is Spain a cheap place to visit?

Spain is on average 11% much cheaper than Europe.

Spain is very cheap for Transport Services, Restaurants and Hotels, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Transport Equipment, Clothing and yes the list doesn’t stop here… Spain is really cheap for Food and Drinks. So keep enjoying the beers and the Tapas.

 

Looking for an expert in Spain? Ask us directly!

 

 

 

 

 

Stéphane 

Senior analyst and strategist at HTBIS

Check the full HTBIS team here

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4.7 (94.29%) 14 vote
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