What does emigrating to Spain cost?
Answer four questions and you have an honest range for your situation. Every item shows whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. What surprises most people: the paperwork is the cheapest part here.
Looking for the whole route to Spain, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 2.600 – € 6.800
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 2.500 – € 6.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 40 – € 400
- De verhuizing
- € 100 – € 400
- De eerste maanden
- € 2.500 – € 6.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Registration certificate (modelo 790, code 012)€ 10 – € 15
- Gestor and sworn translations(estimate)€ 30 – € 400
This item depends on two things: whether you can get appointments yourself, and which translations your municipality asks for. If you cannot get an appointment, a gestor arranges it for you. That is a Spanish administrative agency that handles paperwork for you. Gestors typically charge € 50 to 100 per procedure. You only pay for translations where they are asked for, and that differs per municipality.
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 100 – € 400
One way outside the high season, by plane or in your own car.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 2.500 – € 6.000
Deposit and rent in advance, temporary housing, and your living costs while no income is coming in yet.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 10 to 15% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 25.000 to € 37.500.
Most of it is transfer tax, and that depends on the region and the type of home. For an existing home you pay the ITP, the Spanish transfer tax. Each autonomous region sets it itself: 6% in the cheapest, 7% in Andalusia, up to 10% in Valencia and Catalonia. If you buy a new build, 10% VAT replaces the ITP, and 1.5% stamp duty (AJD) comes on top. Notary and registration together cost roughly one to two thousand euros. A lawyer of your own is customary and sensible in Spain, and charges around 1%. The bottom end belongs to an existing home in a cheap region, the top end to a new build on the coast.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 7 August 2026.
Ready to get started with Spain?
The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 199 one-off, no subscription.
Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible, and where you start? Take the departure scan for Spain →
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with four questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: how many children, which household contents, pet or not. It also watches the order of every step. A one-off € 199, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Spain: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Spain change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
64 journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, and the plan keeps an eye on your deadlines. You pay once, and then it's yours.