Moving to Spain Checklist: Your First 90 Days

Most moving-to-Spain guides hand you a long list and wish you luck. The problem is never the list. It's the order. Half these steps are locked until you've finished an earlier one, so out of sequence you'll book an appointment you're not yet allowed to attend. This is the same checklist, sorted the way it actually has to happen across your first 90 days. The dependencies are spelled out, so you stop hitting walls.

Two quick notes first. Rules, fees and waiting times shift often, so treat every figure here as a current ballpark and check the latest before you rely on it. And none of this is legal advice. It's the friendly, in-order version we wish someone had handed us. Whether you're moving to Spain from the UK, the US or elsewhere, the sequence is broadly the same. EU citizens skip the visa but still walk most of the same path.

Why order beats the list

Spanish setup is a chain, not a menu. Each link needs the one before it. You can't get a public health card without your social security number and your padron. You can't get the padron without an address. You can't open a full resident bank account without your NIE. Skip ahead and you waste a booked slot, which in a busy city can cost you two or three weeks.

So the smart move is to read the whole chain once, then work it in order. Do the quick, unblocked jobs on day one. Start the slow ones early, because they gate everything downstream. The phases below map to roughly the first, second and third months, though your own dates will slide with appointment availability.

How much money to have ready before you land

This is the question behind "how much money to move to Spain", and it splits in two. There's the one-off cushion you need to land and get set up. And there's your ongoing monthly cost of living, which we cover further down.

For the upfront cushion, budget for a rental deposit, usually two to three months of rent, plus a possible agency fee of about one month. Add your first month paid in advance, and a buffer of a few months of living costs while paperwork catches up. On top of that, keep something aside for private health insurance, translations and the odd official fee. In Barcelona or Madrid, a realistic landing fund for one person often sits in the low thousands of euros before you've earned a cent locally.

Treat that as a planning range, not a quote. It swings with your flat, your city and whether you use a relocation helper. If you want the full picture of visa and setup fees, our guide to how much a Spanish visa costs breaks the numbers down.

Before you land: the prep that saves weeks

The single best thing you can do sits in your home country, before the plane. Gather and, where needed, apostille and translate your key documents: passport, birth or marriage certificates, and any criminal-record check your visa needs. Apostilles and sworn translations are slow, and a stale document gets bounced, so time them to your travel date.

Sort your entry route too. If you're from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, you don't need a visa. You register once you arrive and get a green certificate, the Certificado de Registro. Everyone else needs the right visa first, and after arrival you swap it for a TIE card. Our moving to Spain from the US guide and the digital nomad visa guide cover the routes in depth.

Last, book temporary accommodation for a month or so. You want a base you can actually register at, or a landlord willing to let you, because your address is what opens the padron. A short-let flat where the owner agrees to registration beats a hotel here.

Week 1: a SIM, a first bank account, and your NIE

Start with the jobs nobody blocks. Get a Spanish mobile number. A cheap prepaid SIM is fine, and you need a local number for appointment confirmations and bank security codes. This one takes ten minutes in any phone shop.

Next, open a basic bank account. You can usually open a non-resident account with just your passport, which is enough to receive money and pay bills while the rest catches up. You'll upgrade it to a full resident account later, once your NIE and padron are in hand.

Then push on your NIE, the Numero de Identidad de Extranjero, your personal foreigner ID number. It's a number, not a card, and almost every official step asks for it. If your visa didn't already assign one, you apply through a police station or, from abroad, a consulate. Our NIE guide for Spain walks the process, with city detail for a NIE in Barcelona or a NIE in Madrid.

Weeks 1 to 4: the padron, your master key

The empadronamiento, or padron, is registering your home address at the town hall. The certificate you get, the certificado de empadronamiento, is the key that opens the second half of this list. Your TIE card, your public health card and school places all ask for it, so start this the moment you have an address.

You'll need your passport or NIE, proof of address such as a rental contract or a recent utility bill, and the town hall form. Almost every city runs on cita previa, a prior appointment, so booking the slot is the real hurdle. Our cita previa guide explains how the system works and how to actually land a slot.

Here Madrid and Barcelona differ in the details. In Madrid you book through your local Junta Municipal de Distrito, the district office for your address. In Barcelona you register through the city's citizen-service offices, the Oficines d'Atencio Ciutadana. Both need the appointment and the same core documents, and both hand you the certificate on the day. City steps are in our empadronamiento guide, with detail for Madrid and Barcelona.

Weeks 4 to 8: social security, TIE fingerprints, a resident account

With your NIE and padron in hand, the chain opens up. Three jobs sit here, and the order still matters.

Your social security number. This is the number that lets you be hired or register as self-employed, and it's a prerequisite for the public health card. You need your NIE first. You can apply online with a digital certificate, or in person at a social security office with an appointment and the standard form. It's often issued the same day or within a few days.

Your TIE fingerprints. Non-EU residents swap the entry visa for the physical TIE card, the Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero. You book a fingerprinting appointment at a police station, hand over your padron certificate and photos, and the card follows a few weeks later. Book this as soon as your padron is ready, because slots vanish fast.

Upgrade your bank account. Now that you hold your NIE and a padron certificate, you can move from the basic account to a full resident one. That means lower fees and proper direct debits for rent and bills.

Weeks 8 to 12: healthcare, a long-term flat, your transport card

By the final month you're turning setup into settled life.

The public health card. Once you have your social security number and your padron, you register at your local health centre, the centro de salud, and are assigned a doctor. You receive your health card, the tarjeta sanitaria, usually within a couple of weeks. Note the sequence: padron and social security come first, then the card. Until then, and for most visas from the start, you carry private health insurance, which many people keep on top for shorter waits and English-speaking doctors.

Your long-term rental. With paperwork moving and an income picture to show, you're ready to sign a proper long-term contract instead of the short let. Spanish tenancy law protects tenants well, but the contracts have their own logic, and Barcelona in particular has a tight, capped market. Read our guide to renting long-term in Barcelona before you sign anything.

Your transport card. One of the easiest wins, done alone at a machine. In Madrid you want the Abono Transportes monthly pass for your zone, or a ten-trip ticket on a Tarjeta Multi if you ride less. In Barcelona it's the T-usual monthly pass or the T-casual ten-trip ticket on a T-mobilitat card. The names differ, the logic is the same. Our guide to transport cards in Barcelona and Madrid picks the pass that saves you the most.

Cost of living: Madrid vs Barcelona

Once the paperwork settles, your monthly budget is the number that matters. Spain is noticeably cheaper than most big US or UK cities, but rent in both capitals has climbed and no longer feels like a steal.

As a rough guide, a one-bedroom flat in central Barcelona often runs around €1,100 to €1,500 a month, with Madrid a touch lower. Both drop as you move out from the centre. A single person's other monthly costs, food, transport, utilities and a little fun, tend to land around €700 to €900 on top of rent. So a comfortable solo budget in either city commonly sits in the €1,800 to €2,400 range.

On the cost of living, Madrid versus Barcelona is close. Barcelona often edges a little higher for central rent, while Madrid tends to score well on transport value. Both are pricier than Valencia, Seville or Malaga, which is why plenty of newcomers start in a capital, then compare. Treat these as ballparks that move with the market, not quotes.

The dependency chain at a glance

If you remember one thing, remember what blocks what.

• Address comes before the padron. No registered address, no registration.
• NIE comes before a resident bank account, social security and most contracts.
• Padron comes before your TIE card, your public health card and school places.
• Social security number comes before the public health card, and needs your NIE.
• Everything easy, the SIM and the transport card, you can do alone, any time.

Work the chain in that order and the whole move stops feeling like a maze.

Where an English-speaking pro saves you weeks

The hard part is rarely the rules. It's doing them in a language and a system you don't fully know yet, where one wrong form means another month of waiting. Locallista is a directory of English-speaking local service providers in Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon. You can hand the sticky parts to someone who does them every week.

For the NIE, the TIE and the visa side, an English-speaking immigration lawyer earns their fee fast. Compare a few in Barcelona or Madrid. For the padron, the social security registration and the general admin, a gestor, a paperwork specialist, is the person you want. Find one in Barcelona or Madrid. Every business is screened before listing, reviews are phone-verified, and it's free to browse and get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do first when I move to Spain?

Two things open the door to everything else: a place to live that you can register at, and your NIE foreigner number. Most later steps, from a resident bank account to social security, ask for one or both. Sort a temporary address, get your NIE moving, then book your padron appointment.

Can I open a Spanish bank account before I get my NIE?

Often yes, as a non-resident account with just your passport, which is enough to receive money and pay basic bills. A full resident account, with lower fees and direct debits, usually needs your NIE and a padron certificate. Plenty of people open the basic one first and upgrade later.

How much money should I have saved before moving to Spain?

Plan a cushion that covers a rental deposit of a couple of months, an agency fee, and your first month up front. Add a few months of living costs while you settle. Actual amounts vary a lot by city and flat, so check current figures before you lock your budget.

Do I really need the padron before anything else?

It's the master key. Registering your address at the town hall, the empadronamiento, feeds your TIE card, your public health card and school places. You can start a few things without it, but you can't finish the important ones, so book that appointment early.

Is it cheaper to live in Madrid or Barcelona?

They run close, and rent is the big swing. Central Barcelona often edges a little higher, while Madrid tends to be strong on transport value. Smaller cities stretch your money further. Treat any figure you read as a moving target and check the latest before you commit.

Do I need to speak Spanish to get set up?

There's no language test to live here, but almost every form, website and appointment is in Spanish. You can do the easy steps yourself. For the NIE, the padron and social security, an English-speaking lawyer or gestor saves you weeks of guessing.