Living the Good Life in Spain
If you’re moving to Spain, you can look forward to a great quality of life, a culture that’s easy to get used to, and good personal finances. Career expats might want to head elsewhere, though.
In Brief
Since 2022, Spain consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Expat Insider survey. And 2025 is no exception, with Spain placing 9th out of 46 countries.
The country continues to receive good grades for the Ease of Settling In (13th) and Personal Finances (11th). The biggest draw, however, is the high quality of life, with Spain placing 1st in the respective index for the fourth consecutive year.
Survey respondents are less satisfied with the underlying factors of the Working Abroad (27th) and Expat Essentials (23rd) Indices. When all is said and done, 84% of expats in Spain are happy with their life (vs. 67% globally).
Seeking the Sun
When asked about the main reason for their move to Spain, one in five respondents (20%) names the search for a better quality of life (vs. 7% globally). Judging by Spain’s 1st place in the Quality of Life Index, it looks like they couldn’t have picked a better destination.
The index’s subcategories Travel & Transit (7th) and Environment & Climate (7th) receive top 10 results, with expats predictably loving the local climate. More than double the global average say the weather is very good (58% vs. 25%).
Even better, the country ranks 1st in the Leisure Options and Healthcare Subcategories. For instance, around four in five expats agree medical care in Spain is affordable (83% vs. 59% globally), readily available (82% vs. 68%), and of high quality (81% vs. 67%).
Find out more in our dedicated article on the Quality of Life Index.
Easy to Feel at Home
Three-quarters of expats in Spain feel both at home (75% vs. 58% globally) and welcome in the country (75% vs. 62%). So much so that a large share is planning to stay possibly forever (41% vs. 24%).
Possibly influenced by ongoing protests against overtourism in popular parts of Spain,1 opinions regarding the friendliness of the local population towards foreign residents have slightly worsened compared to 2024 (from 77% positive ratings to 70% in 2025). However, it’s still above the global average of 60%, with Spain placing 13th in the Ease of Settling In Index.
Not the Place for a Career
Spain receives its worst result in an index for Working Abroad, placing 27th. Expats are not convinced by the state of the economy (30th), the local job market (33rd), or their personal career opportunities (30th). In fact, only about two in five (42%) agree relocating to Spain improved their career prospects (vs. 55% globally).
It’s a good thing then that work is much less likely to be named as the main motivation for moving to Spain: just 19% give job-related reasons, compared to 36% of all respondents worldwide.
Still, an above-average share is at least satisfied with their work–life balance (67% vs. 60% globally). The average full-time working hours among expats in Spain is at 40.7 per week (vs. 42.5 h globally). Plus, twice the global average say they can work remotely all the time (38% vs. 19% globally), which might help with that work–life balance.
Personal Finances, Paperwork & More
Incomes are on the lower end in Spain, with 61% of respondents reporting an annual gross income of 50,000 USD or less. That’s nearly ten percentage points more than the global average of 52%.
However, expats also benefit from lower costs. Worldwide, 40% rate expenses in their host country negatively. In Spain, it’s only a quarter (25%). All in all, the country lands in a good 11th place in the Personal Finance Index.
Housing is often one big expenditure point, though it very much depends on where in the country you settle. On average, Spain is in the lower midfield for affordability of accommodation (25th). It receives similar results in the Admin Topics Subcategory (26th), with 55% of respondents disagreeing that it’s easy to deal with local paperwork and authorities (vs. 41% globally). In fact, close to a quarter (24%) share that bureaucracy was one of their main concerns before moving to Spain (vs. 13% globally).
Other aspects of the Expat Essentials Index — where Spain ranks 23rd overall — are a bit better: expats regard Spanish an easy language to learn (9th); agree that access to online services is unrestricted (9th); and find it easy to get high-speed internet set up (12nd).
The Typical Expat in Spain
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Kathrin Chudoba
Editor in chief
