SpainEase
Retirement relocation to Spain
You have worked for this. The hard part is not finding the house — it is knowing which residence route applies to you, what Spain will tax, how your healthcare works when you are 74 rather than 64, and who inherits what. We handle all of it, in the right order, with one person you can phone.
- We live on the Costa Blanca — Jávea, Dénia, Moraira, Altea, Calpe
- Immigration, tax and property work done by named professionals
- Pension tax and inheritance planned before you move, not after
- We never promise a visa decision or an appointment date
Short answer
What SpainEase does for people retiring to Spain§
Four questions decide whether this works, and nobody lies awake about the NIE. These are the four that matter, and the four that almost no relocation company will answer properly before you have paid them.
- 01 Will my healthcare hold up? EU pensioners can often transfer state cover with an S1. Everyone else needs private insurance that a consulate will actually accept — and it has to keep accepting you at 78, not just at 63. This is the question we get asked first, every time. Healthcare for retirees
- 02 What will Spain tax? Spend more than 183 days here and Spain taxes your worldwide income. Which pension is taxed where depends on the treaty and on whether it is a state, occupational or government pension. Get it wrong and it costs thousands a year, every year. Pension tax in Spain
- 03 Who inherits, and what do they pay? Spanish succession law is not your country’s. You can elect the law of your nationality in a Spanish will — but only if you actually make one. The Comunitat Valenciana has generous reliefs for spouses and children; whether you qualify depends on residency and on the will you leave. Wills and inheritance
- 04 Are we buying the right place? The house that is perfect in May can be a 40-minute drive from a hospital in February, on a hill you will not want at 80. We work for you, not the seller, and we are paid by you — so we can tell you not to buy it. Buying property in Spain
How SpainEase works, step by step§
Six steps, and only two of them are yours. The real sequence, with who does each part and roughly how long it takes. The step drawn in dashes belongs to the Spanish authorities — we prepare for it and watch for it daily, and that is all anyone can honestly offer you.
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01
Feasibility
Passport, pensions, savings, health, family. Which route is open, what it will cost you in tax, and whether we would advise it at all.
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02
Tax and estate plan
A tax adviser models what Spain will take, and where your will has to change. Before you sell anything at home.
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03
Your documents
Pension statements, bank certificates, criminal record, medical certificate, apostilles, sworn translations. We send an exact list.
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04
The appointment
Your consulate or the immigration office releases its own slots. We watch daily, book the first workable one and rehearse it with you.
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05
Home and arrival
Search, viewings, survey, lawyer, notary, taxes, keys, utilities, padrón, bank, healthcare registration.
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06
The first year
Spanish will signed, first tax return, residency renewals, driving licence, the letter you cannot read. One number to call.
- You Only you can do it — we tell you exactly what and when.
- SpainEase We do it, and you can see it happening.
- Partner A named, qualified professional: lawyer, tax adviser, agent.
- Administration A Spanish authority decides. Nobody can promise this one.
Who SpainEase works with§
A German pensioner and a British one do not do the same move. Your passport decides whether this is a registration or a visa application — pick the one that describes you.
Germany, Netherlands or another EU country
No visa. Registration, a NIE, the padrón, and an S1 form so your home country keeps paying for your healthcare. Cheaper and faster than people expect — and still easy to do in the wrong order.
Usually: EU registration + S1
United Kingdom
Since Brexit you are a third-country national, so it is a visa application from the UK before you move. If you draw a UK state pension, an S1 may still cover your healthcare here — that detail is worth thousands.
Usually: non-lucrative visa + S1
United States or Canada
Non-lucrative visa at your nearest consulate, private health insurance, and a serious conversation about how the treaty treats your pension, your IRA and your Social Security.
Usually: non-lucrative visa
We already own a place here
You have been coming for years on 90-day stays and now want to stop counting days. The property helps prove your ties; it does not give you residency. Different starting point, same routes.
Route depends on your passport
One of us is not well
Pre-existing conditions, ongoing treatment, or a diagnosis you are weighing up. Insurance and timing become the whole conversation, and it needs a person, not a form. We will tell you honestly if we think you should not move.
Needs a conversation first
Following our children
Your family already moved and you want to be near the grandchildren. If a child is an EU citizen or resident here, there may be a family route that is faster and cheaper than the obvious one.
A family route may apply
Not on this list? The retirement check covers every nationality — and when the honest answer is “not on these facts”, it says that too.
Where we work
Where SpainEase works: the Costa Blanca
This stretch of coast has been the retirement capital of northern Europe for fifty years. That is not a slogan — it means English-speaking specialists, hospitals that are used to you, and neighbours who did this ten years ago. It also means a lot of people selling to newcomers.
- Jávea, Dénia, Moraira, Altea, CalpeWhere northern European retirees actually settle, and where we can meet you, drive you around, and come to the notary with you.
- We know which hill you will regretDistance to a hospital, whether a village has a winter, how steep the walk to the bakery is. The things that decide whether you are still happy here at 80.
- Nationwide on paperwork and taxVisas, residency, pension tax and wills we handle wherever you settle in Spain. The in-person part is the Costa Blanca first.
Photography of the Costa Blanca goes here — real towns, real clients.
What SpainEase costs§
Published prices, because you are entitled to compare before you speak to anyone. Your exact figure is fixed in writing after the feasibility review, when we know what your case actually needs — and it does not move unless your circumstances do.
Residency
The visa or registration, done properly.
From€1,490 per household
- Feasibility review and route decision
- Immigration lawyer on your file, named to you
- Non-lucrative visa or EU registration
- Health insurance that consulates accept, or your S1
- NIE, padrón, TIE and digital certificate
- Appointments booked, prepared and attended
- Government fees, apostilles and sworn translations
Settled
Residency, home, tax and estate — the whole move.
From€4,900 per household
- Everything in Residency
- Tax adviser: what Spain will actually take, modelled before you move
- Spanish will and election of your national law
- Property search with a buyer’s adviser working for you
- Lawyer, survey, notary and purchase taxes coordinated
- Bank, utilities, healthcare registration, driving licence
- Twelve months of one named coordinator
Every year after
One number to call, for as long as you want it.
From€590 a year
- Annual tax return and Modelo 720 if it applies
- Residency and TIE renewals, tracked before they expire
- Healthcare admin, appointments and prescriptions
- Any official letter, read and explained
- Two hours of coordinator time a month
Government fees, apostilles, sworn translations, lawyers’ and tax advisers’ fees are passed to you at cost, with the invoice. We take no commission from insurers, banks, estate agents or developers — and if that ever changes on a specific recommendation, you will be told before you act on it.
Who does what: SpainEase, you and the Spanish authorities§
Every relocation company promises to take care of everything. Here is the real division of labour on a retirement case, including the rows that are not ours to give.
| What has to happen | Who does it | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Work out which route is open to you, and model the tax | SpainEase | 48 h |
| Advise on pension taxation and residency | Partner | tax adviser |
| Obtain pension statements, bank certificates and police checks | You | 2–4 weeks |
| Medical certificate in the required form | You | 1 week |
| Arrange insurance a consulate will accept, or your S1 | SpainEase | included |
| Prepare and legally sign off the application | Partner | immigration lawyer |
| Release the appointment slot | Administration | not ours to control |
| Watch for slots daily and book the first workable one | SpainEase | ongoing |
| Attend the appointment and give your fingerprints | You | 1 morning |
| Grant or refuse the visa | Administration | not ours to control |
| Search, view and negotiate on your side of the table | SpainEase | 4–10 weeks |
| Legal and technical checks on the property | Partner | lawyer + surveyor |
| Sign the deed at the notary | You | 1 morning |
| Draft your Spanish will | Partner | lawyer + notary |
| Padrón, bank, utilities, healthcare, driving licence | SpainEase | first month |
We never guarantee a visa decision, an appointment date or a processing time. Those belong to the Spanish authorities, and any company that promises them is either guessing or selling. What we do guarantee is that you will never be the one waiting on us — and that if we think the honest answer is “do not do this yet”, we will say so and refund the review.
How much income do I need to retire in Spain?
For the non-lucrative visa, Spain sets the threshold as a multiple of the IPREM indicator, and it rises for each family member joining you. The figure moves when the IPREM moves, so we check it against the current year rather than quoting a number that will age badly.
Savings can count as well as income, and pension statements, investment income and bank certificates are all normally accepted. What matters as much as the amount is the form the evidence takes — consulates refuse files for the wrong paperwork far more often than for the wrong number.
EU pensioners face a lighter test: sufficient means plus healthcare cover, assessed at registration.
Will I lose my home country healthcare?
If you draw a state pension from an EU country, or from the UK under the withdrawal agreement, an S1 form can transfer the cost of your healthcare to that country while you use the Spanish public system. That is the single most valuable thing many retirees do not know about.
If you do not qualify for an S1, you need private insurance — and for the visa it must be a full policy with a Spanish insurer, no co-payments and no waiting periods. Not every policy sold as suitable actually is.
Either way, plan for the long term: check what your insurer does at 80, and what happens if you need residential care.
Will Spain tax my pension?
Once you spend more than 183 days in a calendar year in Spain, you are tax resident and Spain assesses your worldwide income. Which country taxes which pension is decided by the double taxation treaty — and treaties commonly treat state, occupational and government pensions differently.
There is also the wealth tax in some regions, and Modelo 720, the declaration of assets held outside Spain. Neither is a reason not to come. Both are excellent reasons to model the numbers before you sell a house at home.
This is where a single hour with a tax adviser routinely pays for itself many times over, and it is included in our Settled package.
What happens to our estate? Do our children lose out?
Spanish succession law reserves shares for certain heirs, which can differ sharply from what you intend. Under the EU Succession Regulation you can elect the law of your nationality to govern your estate — but that election has to be recorded, normally in a Spanish will.
Separately there is Spanish inheritance tax, which is regional. The Comunitat Valenciana, which includes the Costa Blanca, has substantial reliefs for spouses and children, but whether you qualify depends on residency and on the structure you leave behind.
A Spanish will costs a few hundred euros. Not having one has cost families we have met a great deal more.
Should we buy straight away?
Our standard advice, which costs us the property fee: rent for six to twelve months first, through one winter. Then buy.
Spain in February is a different country from Spain in July — the village that hums in August can be shuttered and windy in January. The people who regret their purchase almost always bought in the first three months.
Are you lawyers or estate agents?
Neither, and we are careful about it. SpainEase coordinates: we own the plan, the order, the documents and the deadlines, and we are paid by you.
Immigration applications, tax advice, wills and property conveyancing are carried out by qualified professionals we work with, named to you. We take no commission from them, from insurers or from sellers — which is precisely what lets us advise you not to buy something.
More about retiring to Spain§
Retiring to Spain
- Retire in Spain
- Cost of living in Spain
- Best places to retire in Spain
- Care and getting older in Spain
- Exchanging your driving licence
Money
- Pension tax in Spain
- Spanish wills and inheritance
- Banking and transferring money
- Buying property in Spain
Visas & residency
- Non-lucrative visa
- EU residency in Spain
- NIE number in Spain
- TIE card
- Empadronamiento (padrón)
Working with us
- Retirement relocation to Spain
- Property search
- Settled — annual support
- Pricing
Two minutes
Find out where you actually stand
Six questions about your passport, your pension and your health. No sign-up, no email, and no sales call at the end unless you ask for one.
The check is an orientation, not a decision. Anything that matters is reviewed by a qualified professional before you act on it.